Undo It!: How Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Reverse Most Chronic Diseases - book cover
  • Publisher : Ballantine Books; Illustrated edition
  • Published : 08 Jan 2019
  • Pages : 528
  • ISBN-10 : 052547997X
  • ISBN-13 : 9780525479970
  • Language : English

Undo It!: How Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Reverse Most Chronic Diseases

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Fight cancer, diabetes, heart disease, weight gain, and even the aging process itself with one simple, scientifically proven plan to reverse disease-as well as prevent and reduce symptoms-from the world-renowned pioneer of lifestyle medicine.

Dean Ornish, M.D., has directed revolutionary research proving, for the first time, that lifestyle changes can often reverse-undo!-the progression of many of the most common and costly chronic diseases and even begin reversing aging at a cellular level.

Medicare and many insurance companies now cover Dr. Ornish's lifestyle medicine program for reversing chronic disease because it consistently achieves bigger changes in lifestyle, better clinical outcomes, larger cost savings, and greater adherence than have ever been reported-based on forty years of research published in the leading peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals.

Now, in this landmark book, he and Anne Ornish present a simple yet powerful new unifying theory explaining why these same lifestyle changes can reverse so many different chronic diseases and how quickly these benefits occur. They describe what it is, why it works, and how you can do it:

• Eat well: a whole foods, plant-based diet naturally low in fat and sugar and high in flavor. The "Ornish diet" has been rated "#1 for Heart Health" by U.S. News & World Report every year from 2019 to 2021. 
• Move more: moderate exercise such as walking
• Stress less: including meditation and gentle yoga practices
• Love more: how love and intimacy transform loneliness into healing

With seventy recipes, easy-to-follow meal plans, tips for stocking your kitchen and eating out, recommended exercises, stress-reduction advice, and inspiring patient stories of life-transforming benefits-for example, several people improved so much after only nine weeks they were able to avoid a heart transplant-Undo It! empowers readers with new hope and new choices.

Praise for Undo It!

"The Ornishes' work is elegant and simple and deserving of a Nobel Prize, since it can change the world!"-Richard Carmona, M.D., MPH, FACS, seventeenth Surgeon General of the United States

"If you want to see what medicine will be like ten years from now, read this book today."-Rita F. Redberg, M.D., editor in chief, JAMA Internal Medicine

"This is one of the most important books on health ever written."-John Mackey, CEO, Whole Foods Market

Editorial Reviews

"This book will change your life. Every day people ask me how they can activate their longevity genes to reverse aging and stave off age-associated diseases. Now I can say, ‘Go read Undo It!'"-David A. Sinclair, Ph.D., A.O., professor of genetics, Harvard Medical School
 
"Dean Ornish is from the future!"-Jack Hidary, senior adviser, Google X
 

"Empowering and inspiring millions of people with new hope and new choices."-Marc Benioff, CEO, Salesforce; owner, Time magazine
 
"This book is a lifesaver!"-Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
 

"If people follow the revolutionary program outlined in this brilliant and game-changing book, we can undo most chronic diseases, reverse global warming, and feed the hungry. Side effects include more energy, inner peace, and better sex."-James Cameron, director, Avatar and The Terminator, and Suzy Cameron, founder and author of OMD

"If you read only one book on health and healing this year, this is it."-Tony Robbins

"This groundbreaking book may be the most practical and helpful book you will ever read."-Neal D. Barnard, M.D., FACC, George Washington University School of Medicine

"The book's depth and detail is impressive. . . . A surround-sound prescription for healthy living, healing, and longevity, and, if needed, reversing chronic disease."- Haute Living

"Dr. Dean Ornish's forty years of revolutionary scientific research essentially created the field of lifestyle medicine.  His new unifying theory is elegantly simple, profound, and life-transforming."-Michael Greger, M.D., F.A.C.L.M., author, How Not to Die; founder, NutritionFacts 

"Everyone needs to read this book and follow its good advice."-Delos M. "Toby" Cosgrove, CEO, Cleveland Clinic, 2004–2017

"Undo It! is the key to transforming your life in every good way. Immerse yourself in the healing that this book promises to unleash."-Kathy Freston, New York Times bestselling author of The LeanQuantum Wellness, and Clean Protein

"This is the only book you need to buy to change the way you eat and to add ten good years to your life. It]is a treasure trove and it is a treasure."-George Halvorson, CEO, Kaiser Permanente, 2002–2014

"This book is a gift you give yourself, and the people you love."-David L. Katz, M.D., M.P.H., immediate past president, American College of Lifestyle Medicine: founder, True Health Initiative; director, Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center

"A breakthrough, evidence-based book that provides a clear guide for living a longer bett...

Readers Top Reviews

Gert LushA. ColeyKin
The book was really disappointing as the ingredients for the recipes are difficult or impossible to find in UK. Also the recipes cater for really large numbers. I only cater for myself and whilst I can freeze 3 extra portions these recipes are for 6, 12. So for me the book was a waste of my money. Perhaps for someone in the US with a large family and wanting to entertain groups this book is for you.
c d may
Same old same old and it seems one third of book is recipes ,when are they going to realise we need facts not a cookery book
KarenLinda Whyte
I just couldn't read some of the more helpful materials in the Appendix easily on any of my devices. I don't like having hardcopy books anymore, and there is no Audible version yet, so it's a bit disappointing.
William Sears, MD
In UnDo It!, Dr. Dean has done it again, this time with a beautiful touch of upgrades by Anne Ornish, who guides the reader to the health benefits of meditation, stress-management, and delicious and nutritious recipes. This book summarizes over 30 years of research on the health benefits of the Ornish disease prevention and reversal program, used throughout the world, taught in top universities, and practiced by smart doctors. Dr. Dean's research gave me a jump start in convincing me about the health benefits of plant-based eating as a path to enjoy vibrant health. Want to live longer, happier, and healthier? Read it and do it!
Pat G.Kelleygirlend
This is nothing more than a promotion of a vegan lifestyle. Title is misleading, simple lifestyle change it is Not. You give up dairy, meat, seafood, oils and of course, sugar. That is Not a simple change. Then they include that you should be active, don't stress, and be around loving people. Your book promotion on Dr Oz implied that you can still have animal protein and carbs, but that's not what you say in the book. A total waste of my money. I'm sure that his statistics and medical reasoning is sound, but call this book what it is, go vegan.

Short Excerpt Teaser

Chapter 1

It Works!

If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.

-­attributed to Albert Einstein

Our favorite key on the computer is the undo button. Click!-­a fresh start.

We've often thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if there were an undo button for our health as well?"

Well, now there is!

This is the era of lifestyle medicine: that is, using simple yet powerful lifestyle changes to reverse-­undo!-­the progression of the most common chronic diseases as well as to help prevent them.

For more than four decades, one of us (Dean) has directed a series of randomized controlled trials and demonstration projects proving, for the first time, that the radically simple lifestyle medicine program described in this book can often reverse the progression of many of the most common chronic diseases. It can be undertaken in combination with drugs and surgery, or sometimes as an alternative to them.

We continue to be amazed and inspired that the more diseases we study, and the more underlying biological mechanisms we research, the more new reasons and scientific evidence we have to explain why these simple lifestyle changes are so powerful, how transformative and far-­ranging their effects can be, and how quickly people can show significant and measurable improvements-­often in just a few weeks or even less.

We are excited that our research and the studies of other investigators are proving that many of the most common and debilitating chronic diseases and even much of the damage of aging at a cellular level can often be slowed, stopped, or even reversed by this lifestyle medicine program. These include:

•    Reversing even severe coronary heart disease

•    Reversing type 2 diabetes

•    Reversing, slowing, or stopping the progression of early-­stage non-aggressive prostate cancer

•    Reversing high blood pressure

•    Reversing elevated cholesterol levels

•    Reversing obesity

•    Reversing some types of early-­stage dementia

•    Reversing some autoimmune conditions

•    Reversing emotional depression and anxiety

Our studies have been published in the leading peer-­reviewed medical and scientific journals and presented at the most well-­respected physician conferences. No other lifestyle program has this level of scientific evidence on reversing these chronic diseases. This is one reason why a panel of independent experts from U.S. News & World Report rated "The Ornish Diet" as "#1 for Heart Health" in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Awareness is the first step in healing, and science is a powerful tool for raising awareness. Our peer-­reviewed research findings provide the credibility to help overcome what is often the biggest obstacle: skepticism that such simple lifestyle changes can have such powerful, far-­reaching measurable improvements-­and how fast you can feel better. In that spirit, we are including this information not to boast but (hopefully) to inspire and empower, to rise above the noise and misinformation that are so prevalent.

We've used high-­tech, state-­of-­the-­art scientific measures to prove the power of this low-­tech lifestyle medicine intervention. The science may motivate you to get started; the extraordinary benefits you are likely to quickly experience are what make it sustainable.

Radically Simple, Yet Powerfully Proven

We learned from Steve Jobs that people who have spent their lives deeply understanding something complex can make it really simple for others to learn. When you really know a subject, you can reduce it down to the essence of what's most important.

For example, Steve said that he was more proud of what he left out of the iPhone than what he included. Although the underlying technology is highly complex, there is an elegant Zen simplicity in its design that makes it extraordinarily powerful and intuitively easy to use because it is based on a deep understanding of what is most important and what really matters-­and what doesn't. You don't even need a user manual. He and Jony Ive applied this same ethos to the ecosystem of all Apple products they created, which made it the most valuable and emulated company in the world.

In that spirit, this book represents the quintessence of what we've learned about the power of lifestyle medicine. We emphasize the research that we have conducted rather than a comprehensive review of the scientific literature. We've included only what's most essential, and we hope you find it to be useful.

We have shown, time and time again...