Ornish, A Lose Fat Diet – the History

In his book, A Program for Reversing Heart Disease, Dr. Dean Ornish, M.D. developed a program that became the first diet and lifestyle program scientifically proven to reverse heart disease. Published in 1990, the book has been a long-standing New York Times bestseller. It includes a vegetarian diet plan to lose fat.

Dr. Ornish first became interested in conducting research on heart disease in 1975, when he was a medical student at Baylor College of Medicine. As part of his medical training, he had the opportunity to assist cardiovascular surgeons performed coronary artery bypass surgery. Although he appreciated the skill and expertise of the physicians, Dr. Ornish considered the "treatment," was simply to "bypass" the causes of the disease in search of a temporary fix of the problem. Dr. Ornish began to research the dietary and lifestyle factors that lead to heart disease and to design clinical research trials that would allow him to study the effectiveness of dietary and lifestyle changes as a treatment for heart disease. The results of Dr. Ornish's first clinical trial, the Lifestyle Heart Trial, were published in 1990. In this study, Dr. Ornish's heart patients got healthier simply by adopting new dietary and lifestyle habits. The results of this study were considered revolutionary since, until that point, it was believed that it was impossible to stop the progression of heart disease. It also suggested a cheaper and safer weapon against cardiovascular disease than invasive procedures such as coronary artery bypass surgery.

Aside from the Reversal Diet for people suffering heart disease who want to reverse its effects and lower their heart attack risk, Dr. Ornish also presents the Prevention Diet for people with no heart disease, but with cholesterol levels above 150, or with a ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein (or "good" cholesterol) less than 3.0. To lose fat both diets supply only 10% of calories from fat. It excludes cholesterol and saturated fat, including all animal products (except egg whites and nonfat dairy products), nuts, seeds, avocados, chocolate, olives, and coconuts. Oils are eliminated except a small amount of canola oil for cooking, and oil that supplies omega-3 essential fatty acids. The Ornish diet also prohibits caffeine, but allows a moderate intake of alcohol, sugar, and salt. The diet emphasizes the consumption of high-fiber whole grains and legumes (beans, and peas), fruits and vegetables, and allows processed or refined foods in moderation. There is no restriction on the calorie intake so long as the diet is confined within the recommended foods.

In addition to these dietary recommendations, the lose fat Program involves comprehensive lifestyle changes including moderate aerobic exercise, stress reduction techniques, peer support, smoking cessation, and nutritional supplementation.

From Chewed Wheat to Banana Bread – A Brief History of Bread

Banana bread has been included in many family’s favorite recipes. But, actually how was the idea of making bread came into human mind? Here’s a brief history.

Bread formed the main part of the average person’s diet for centuries. It is one of the oldest prepared foods, dating back to the Neolithic era.

Today, bread is almost always made of wheat but in the past rye, barley, oats, rice and maize (often called Indian corn until recently) were used or mixed. As the standard of living rose, the use of cereals other than wheat declined.

Grown in Mesopotamia and Egypt, wheat was likely first merely chewed. Later it was discovered that it could be pulverized and made into a paste. The first breads produced were not anything close to the banana breads we know now; they were cooked versions of a grain-paste, made from ground cereal grains and water. Set over a fire, the paste hardened into flat breads that kept for several days. Descendants of these early breads are still commonly made from various grains worldwide, with the Mexican tortilla, Indian chapati, Chinese poa ping, Scots oatcake, North American johnnycake, and Ethiopian injera all being examples.

It did not take much of a leap to discover leavened (raised) bread when yeast was accidentally introduced to the paste. It is commonly believed to have occurred in Egypt. The first development occurred by the beginning of Dynastic Egypt and consisted of a grain that could be satisfactorily threshed without being first toasted. Discovery of a wheat variety containing sufficient gluten-forming protein was the second development required for raised bread, which is the basic of banana bread.

The Greeks picked up the technology for making bread from the Egyptians; from Greece the practice spread over Europe. Bread and wheat were especially important in Rome where it was thought more vital than meat. The Roman welfare state was based on the distribution of grain to people living in Rome. Later the government even baked the bread.

Otto Frederick Rohwedder is considered to be the father of sliced bread. In 1912 Rohwedder started work on inventing a machine that sliced bread, but bakeries were reluctant to use it since they were concerned the sliced bread would go stale. It wasn't until 1928, when Rohwedder invented a machine that both sliced and wrapped the bread, that sliced bread caught on. A bakery in Chillicothe, Missouri was the first to use this machine to produce sliced bread.

For generations, white bread was considered the preferred bread of the rich while the poor ate dark bread. However, the connotations reversed in the 20th century with dark bread becoming preferred as having superior nutritional value while white bread became associated with lower class ignorance of nutrition. Luckily, banana breads can go both ways.

Today, even with the competition of a growing variety of foods, bread remains important to our diet and our psyche. It has a prominent place in at the local market, in our cupboards and even in our language. The word "bread" is commonly used as a slang term for money. It connotes importance as when we say that some aspect of our work is "our bread and butter". In many households bread is still served with every meal.

Recently, domestic bread makers that automate the process of making bread are becoming popular in the home, so it is easier for us to make our super delicious banana bread.