This my take on the points you quoted from Ornish
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1) Atkins' philosophy is only half-right: American DO eat too many simple carbs but the cure is wrong.
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That's his personal opinion
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2) Studies have shown that a "whole-food" diet (foods with complex carbs) can "reverse the progression of even severe heart disease in most people. These results have been published in the leading peer-reviewed medical journals."
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Yeah, because they stopped eating all the high-carb anti-nutrient junk food that comprised most of their diet...duh. Same thing happens on Atkins
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3) Just because a person loses weight, doesn't mean they have done so in a manner that is healthy.
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There are NO studies that have managed to prove Atkins was unhealthy..... so where's the beef ?
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4) "The only peer-reviewed study of the effects of a high-protein diet on heart function found that blood flow to the heart actually worsened and heart disease became more severe."
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Irrevant when it comes to Atkins, since Atkins is NOT a high-protein diet. It's a moderate protein at best.
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5) People often believe what they WANT to hear regardless of the research and evidence.
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I agree 100%. Ornish is a perfect example of that. However I have no such bias. I have no money riding on wether I'm right or wrong. This goes for most of the people on this website. We only want to be healthy. Show me this research and evidence and I'll be your first convert.
About the only similarity between Ornish and Atkins is that both approach condems refined carbohydrates.
I don't think anyone today ( that isn't already living deep into the food industry's pocket) will argue that refined carbohydrates are a GOOD thing. It fact I am firmly convinced that it's one of the leading cause of today's obsesity epidemic. So it stands to reason that when you do stop eating all those junk carbohydrates, you will improve on many levels. It is also logical that following either Ornish or Atkins will result in immediate improvements. So I am not surprised at Ornish's claims of reversal of heart disease. The only real question here is what is better for you in the medium and long term.
What makes sense to me is to return to the one diet that million of years of evolution has programmed us to thrive on. It's the diet that has help shaped us from the size of our brain to our digestive system. It's the optimum diet for us. And guess what, our ancestors were definitively NOT vegetarians.
I found this great web
site . This is an example of one of their essays. It's a bit technical. If you got LOTS of time on your hands, it will convince you that vegetarianism is not the way to go, if you are doing so solely for health reasons. Pay particular attention to the paleodiet information. Fascinating stuff.