CNN: Dr. Ornish Discusses Bill Clinton’s Dramatic Weight Loss with Wolf Blitzer
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Dr. Dean Ornish joins CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room after an interview with President Bill Clinton about his dramatic weight loss and the diet that helped him shed two dozen pounds.
We found that more than 82 percent of these people, who made these changes as President Clinton indicated, were actually able to reverse the disease.
Clinton told Blitzer:
“I live on beans, legumes, vegetables, fruit, and I drink a protein supplement every morning. No dairy. I drink almond milk mixed in with fruit and protein powder so I get the protein for the day when I start the day out. It changed my whole metabolism and I lost 24 pounds. I got back to basically what I weighed in high school. But I did it for a different reason. I mean I wanted to lose a little weight, but I didn’t dream that this would happen. I did it after I had this stent put in. I realized, even if it happens often after bypass, you lose the veins because they’re thinner and weaker than arteries.
The truth is that it clogged up, which means the cholesterol was still causing build up in my vein that was part of my bypass. And thank God I could take the stents. I don’t want it to happen again so I did all this research, and I saw that 82 percent of the people since 1986 who have gone on a plant-based diet, no dairy, no meat, of any kind, no chicken, no turkey, have begun to heal themselves. I eat very little fish. Once in awhile, I’ll have a little fish, not often. For 82% of people, their arterial blockage cleans up. The calcium deposit around their heart breaks up.”
President Clinton mentioned Dr. Ornish as the inspiration behind his diet, and Blitzer goes on to interview Dr. Ornish.
“I love and respect President Clinton so I was thrilled to hear that he’s making these changes because I want him to live a long time like so many people do. Whatever your politics, it can inspire many people to make these changes.
We tend to think it has to be a new drug or a new laser or something really high tech and expensive to be powerful, and what we’ve done in more than 33 years of research, is show that these simple changes that we make in our lives, like what we eat, how we respond to stress, how much exercise we get and how much love and support we have can actually begin to reverse, not just prevent, but actually reverse chronic illness like heart disease and so on.
And we found that more than 82 percent of these people, who made these changes as President Clinton indicated, were actually able to reverse the disease. This is rather than getting a quick fix like a bypass or stent done, which doesn’t treat the underlying cause. It’s a little like mopping up the sink while leaving the faucet running.”
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