Ornish Diet Menu Plans
Ornish Diet Recipes

Part Two chapter two is one of my favorite chapters because it deals with the healing secret of socializing and the "French paradox" which is all about how eating at an hour and with others, that best suits the individual is healthier, and that communing which is where the term communion comes from, helps a person to not overeat and to better digest one food because when we eat amongst those we like, we tend to eat slower and we tend to eat better or healthier foods as well. The story shared in this chapter about the midnight meal is well worth the price of the book itself.

Chapter Seven titled The Healing Secret of Optimal Food is wonderful because it deals with eating healthy whole foods and not getting sucked into believing good food needs to be difficult to prepare or fancy in any way. That having a bowl of fresh apples, oranges, kiwi, bananas, peaches, grapes etc and eating some with pleasure and passion does wonders for the senses. Or a simple fresh spinach salad with lemon juice and oil dressing and cutting off some fresh slices of hearty rustic bread to eat with the salad can be like dining at a quaint café in the French Alps. Or how about some garbonzo beans (chickpeas) with fresh tomato and steamed shrimp with a vision of a Greek seaside café?

The book also speaks of meats and how to choose them wisely and prepare them so they retain their goodness. And eating meat in smaller servings like the French, Italians, Greeks and Asians do, which is more as a condiment in many ways. I was also pleased to read the "Asian Wisdom" section that spoke of how some eat congee which is a soup for breakfast since we eat soup for breakfast a lot. Or even vegetable stir fry.

Come to think of it, the books great value for me, was how it kindly pointed out to Americans that other cultures have a great deal of wisdom to share when it comes to eating well and not being unfit or fat.