A heart-healthy diet

Recently, US News & World Report released its annual assessment of the year’s Best Diets. It was a tie between the Meditarranean Diet and the Ornish Diet for the numero uno spot for the Best Heart-Healthy Diet. While the former has been much written and spoken about, we asked experts for their thought on the latter, lesser-known diet. 

The Ornish Diet was created by Dean Ornish, MD, president and founder of a non-profit Preventive Medicine Research Institute in California, US. He suggested that a vegetarian diet can reverse symptoms of heart disease, way back in the early ’90s. Ornish and his research team argued that a vegetarian diet in conjuction with exercise can reduce stress and help people lose weight. He was considered a revolutionary at that time. Apparently, former US President Bill Clinton follows this diet, as Ornish was his health consultant.

THE DIET

Here are some guidelines of the eating plan:

• Eat plants mostly in their natural forms. This includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and soy.
   
• Have small frequent meals throughout the day and portion control is advised.
   
• Meat, poultry, fish and egg yolks are not allowed. Egg whites are allowed. Instead, eat plant-based proteins like tofu, tempeh, beans, and legumes. 
   
• Sugar is permitted in moderation, but not encouraged. Added sugars such as maple syrup, agave, honey, white or brown sugar, along with non-fat sweets, and refined carbohydrates are to be limited to not more than two servings/day.
   
• Limit refined carbs like white flour and white rice to less than two servings a day.
   
• Alcohol is allowed in limited amount. Just one serving a day.
   
• No more than 10 per cent of daily calorie intake should come from fats. This includes not adding any fats, oils, avocados, coconut and olives to the diet. These 10 per cent of calories should come from fat that occurs naturally in plant foods and small amounts of nuts and seeds.
   
• A total of 4 grams a day of healthy fats in the form of omega-3 fatty acids, flaxseed oil, nuts and seeds.
•  
• Exercise for at least 30 minutes five times a week or 60 minutes thrice a week.
•  
• Caffeine is better avoided. If not, then limit it to one cup coffee/ two cups decaf / two cups of black tea a day.
   
• A low dose multivitamin, mineral supplement with B-12 and fish oil. Calcium, if recommended by a doctor.

A GOOD OPTION FOR VEGETARIANS

There are many plant-based diets that are heart-healthy. Dr Santosh Kumar Dora, senior cardiologist, Asian Heart Institute, says that the Ornish diet is a vegetarian one (with the exception of egg whites), there’s no animal and saturated fat, it aims at just 10 per cent fat intake in a day, focusses on consuming veggies, fruits, grains, etc, so it will be a good option for vegetarians. However, he says, “Many non-vegetarians might not want to completely give up meat and fish, and why be harsh on them? There are alternative healthy diets for them, like the Meditarranean diet, which includes lean meats such as fish and chicken.” The only drawback of the Ornish Diet is that people will be hungry often, since the fat percentage is restricted.

MUST BE CUSTOMISED AS PER INDIVIDUAL NEEDS

Considering the dos and don’ts of the eating plan, it will help in improving the overall health as well as heart health of the individual, provided it is designed keeping in mind a person’s individual conditions as well, opines Pallavi Srivastava, fitness nutritionist, proprietor — Q-Slim Fitness Studio. She adds that this kind of diet will require supplementation of certain vitamins and minerals like calcium, Vitamin B and zinc as certain amount of fat is required by the body to absorb the B group of vitamins. Also, it is important that a good exercise regime is also followed along with any diet, total amount of hydration is also kept in mind.

SCEPTIC SPEAK

Based on the results of the Ornish study — the small randomised trial upon which all the famous claims regarding the Ornish diet are based — the notion that an ultra-low fat vegetarian diet improves Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), should be regarded as an intriguing hypothesis. It is impossible to  attribute any of this benefit specifically to the Ornish diet. This is because the other three interventions applied to the study group (smoking cessation, stress management, and regular exercise) are all known to improve cardiac outcomes in patients with CAD, says Dr Narayan Gadkar, cardiologist, Zen Multi Specialty Hospital, adding, “It is one of the options that can be offered, though not the only diet option. I feel a diet always needs to be customised based on an individual’s compliance.”

DIETARY ADVICE

Dr Narayan Gadkar shares the following gudielines:

• Reduce saturated fats. They are found primarily in red meat and full-fat dairy products, which raise your total cholesterol. 
   
• Eliminate trans fats. They are sometimes listed on food labels as ‘partially hydrogenated vegetable oil,’ and is often used in margarines, store-bought biscuits and cakes. 
   
• Eat foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids like salmon, mackerel, herring, walnuts and flaxseeds.
   
• Increase your intake of soluble fibre found in foods like oatmeal, kidney beans, brussels sprouts, apples and pears. 
   
• Add whey protein to your diet. It is found in dairy products, may account for many of the health benefits attributed to dairy.