Health Professionals

A key factor in the cost-effectiveness of lifestyle medicine programs is the more efficient use of the health professionals’ time in the group education setting.

Our program places a strong emphasis on nutrition, and our approach is plant-predominant, whole foods. This is not controversial, it’s the approach taken by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, the Ornish Program and the Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP). The CHIP program has helped tens of thousands of participants across North America and has had over 40 peer-reviewed papers published demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach – e.g. Morton, D. et al. 2014. (5)

• The Multicenter Lifestyle Demonstration Project demonstrated that almost 80% of patients who were eligible for bypass surgery or angioplasty were able to safely avoid it by changing lifestyle. (6)
• There is evidence that lifestyle medicine programs can be cost effective: A Geisinger Health (US) pilot study of a lifestyle medicine approach decreased mean healthcare costs by 80% (from $240,000/member/year to $48,000/member/year.) (7)

• The Nurses Health Study showed that animal protein intake was associated with higher premature mortality from all causes. Plant protein was associated with lower mortality. (8)
• The Adventist Health Study 2 observed a dose response relationship for animal product consumption and diabetes prevalence suggesting that any step in the plant-based direction was beneficial. (9)
• A pooled analysis of 11 prospective studies of 364,696 people found that a 5% reduction in saturated fat (mainly found in animal foods) led to a 25% reduction in deaths from heart disease. (10)
• Levine et al. demonstrated that diets high in animal protein were associated with a 75% increase in total mortality, a 400% increase in cancer risk, a 500% increase in diabetes and higher IGF-1 levels. (11)
• Evidence for the benefits of plant-predominant whole food nutrition extends to many other conditions including low grade prostate cancer (Ornish 2005). (12)
• The Physicians Health Study found that those eating the standard Western diet had a 250% higher risk of prostate cancer-related death and a 67% higher risk of all cause mortality, whereas those eating a mostly whole food plant based diet had a 36% lower risk of all cause mortality. (13)
• The EAT Lancet Commission supports a plant-predominant diet for human and planetary health. (14)

We will support patients with any step they choose to take towards an optimal diet – the evidence shows that it’s not all or none.

1. Ornish, D. et al. Can lifestyle changes reverse coronary heart disease? The Lancet 336: 8708, 129-133. 1990.
2. Ornish, D. et al. Intensive lifestyle changes for reversal of coronary heart disease. JAMA. 280923), 2001-7. 1998.
3. Esselstyn, C. et al. A way to reverse CAD? J Fam Pract. Jul:63(7), 356-364b. 2014.
4. Wright, N. et al. The BROAD study: A randomised controlled trial using a whole food plant-based diet in the community for obesity, ischaemic heart disease or diabetes. Nutrition and diabetes, 7, e256. 2017.
5. Morton, D. et al. The Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP): History, Evaluation, and Outcomes. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2014;10(1):64-73.
6. Ornish D. Avoiding revascularization with lifestyle changes: The Multicenter Lifestyle Demonstration Project. Am J Cardiol. 1998;82(10B):72T-6T.
7. Geisinger Health: www.geisinger.org/health-and-wellness
8. Song M, et al. Association of animal and plant protein intake with all-cause and cause-specific mortality. JAMA Intern Med. August 1, 2016.
9. Orlich, M. and Fraser, G. Vegetarian diets in the Adventist Health Study 2: a review of initial published findings. Am J Clin Nutr 2014: Jul; 100(1); 353S-358S.
10. Jakobsen, MU, Willett W, et al. Major types of dietary fat and risk of coronary heart disease: a pooled analysis of 11 cohort studies. Am J Clin Nutr 2009: 1425-32
11. Levine ME et al. Low protein intake is associated with a major reduction in IGF-1, cancer, and overall mortality in the 65 and younger but not older population. Cell Metab. 19, 407-417, March 4, 2014
12. Ornish, D. et al. Intensive lifestyle changes may affect the progression of prostate cancer. J. Urol. Sep;174(3);1065-9; discussion 1069-70. 2005.
13. Yang M. et al. Dietary patterns after prostate cancer diagnosis in relation to disease-specific and total mortality. Cancer Prevention Research, June 2015 DOI: 10.1158/1940-6207.
14. EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health: https://eatforum.org/eat-lancet-commission/