Testimonial: The part that was so stunning was how fast the changes happened. In 3 months . . . I did the stick test, you know, at the very beginning, then at the end of 3 months . . . it was dramatic. All the indicators. Cholesterol dropped 50 points, I think from 190 down to 140. I mean . . . in three months. That I thought was pretty stunning.
Dean Ornish: If you’ve been told that your cholesterol levels are too high, the Spectrum program can probably help you.
Cholesterol isn’t too bad; we just eat too much of it. Cholesterol is an essential building block for things that you wouldn’t want to be without like nerve coverings and sex hormones and other things that are essential to life. And it’s precisely because it is so important that the dietary requirement for cholesterol is actually zero. Your body will always make all that you need.
Let’s say that your doctor has told you that your cholesterol levels were too high. Now you have a choice. Begin by making moderate changes to whatever degree you feel like going on each of the four elements of the Spectrum. And if that degree of change is enough to bring your cholesterol level down to where your doctor says you need to be, great, you’re there. If not, it doesn’t mean that you’ve failed diet and now you have to go on drugs for the rest of your life as many physicians would indicate.
If you’re willing and interested in making bigger changes in your lifestyle, going further on each of the elements of the Spectrum, we found that most people can reduce their cholesterol levels an average of almost 40% coupled with what you can get with these drugs without the cost and side effects.
Testimonial: And I just feel healthy. I’m in a tennis tournament. Last week I was playing a guy who was like 25 years younger than I was. We had a 2-1/2 hour match. And I felt great. He had to sit down every time we changed sides and I was ready to go. I beat him—very close—it was a tie-breaker each set. But I felt really good about that. Hey, I can do that at 67 years old. That felt good.
