A Testimonial from Dr. Ornish’s Alzheimer’s Progression Reversal Study

What does improving the cognition and function of Alzheimer's patients with lifestyle medicine actually translate to in terms of human impact?

If you missed Friday’s video, check out Can Alzheimer’s Disease Be Reversed with a Plant-Based Diet? ( ).

For more on Alzheimer’s disease, see these videos:
• How Not to Age ( )
• Controversy Around FDA’s Approval of Biogen Alzheimer’s Drug, Aducanumab ( )
• Alzheimer’s and Atherosclerosis of the Brain ( )
• How to Prevent Alzheimer’s with Diet ( )

For more on Dr. Dean Ornish’s work, check out his book Undo It! ( ). And these videos ( ); for more on heart disease, see these videos ( ).

I have more than 500 videos on plant-based diets. You can check them out here ( ).

The best available balance of scientific evidence suggests that the healthiest way to eat is a vitamin B12-fortified ( ) diet centered around whole plant foods. I go into specifics of the Daily Dozen foods I recommend in Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen ( ). For a more thorough dive into the science on these foods, check out my New York Times bestselling book, How Not to Die ( ).

Get our free Plant-Based Living Series ( ). This resource is a weekly email series that gives you simplified takeaways and actionable tips on healthy eating. Whether you're new to a whole food, plant-based lifestyle or would benefit from reminders on some of the key aspects of healthy evidence-based nutrition, this series is for you. Expanding on our popular Evidence-Based Eating Guide, this free series features even more tips and information, and you’ll get it delivered straight to your inbox on a weekly basis. (Don't have your own copy of our Evidence-Based Eating Guide? You can download it as a digital and printable PDF ( ).)

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Have a question about this video? Leave it in the comment section at and someone on the NutritionFacts.org team will try to answer it.

Want to get a list of links to all the scientific sources used in this video? Click on Sources Cited at . You’ll also find a transcript and acknowledgements for the video, my blog and speaking tour schedule, and an easy way to search (by translated language even) through our videos spanning more than 2,000 health topics.

Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

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Leroy Johnson
 

  • @NutritionFactsOrg says:

    If you missed Friday’s video, check out Can Alzheimer’s Disease Be Reversed with a Plant-Based Diet? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VrfbBN3Um8)

  • @simmiedavissimmiesings8185 says:

    I am so happy for this man. I’m beginning to have signs.

  • @adnaloy9025 says:

    Dr. Greger really presents this information so well! He seems so happy and excited in all the videos! I love it!

  • @frumpd63 says:

    The power of plants, ladies and gentlemen.

  • @serpentsforhair says:

    Very interested in this topic! Thanks for sharing about the correlation between diet and cognitive decline/improvement!

  • @robertkribs9513 says:

    I’ll finish my comment after I finish wiping my tears! :-J This is powerful stuff!

  • @MrPhliptrick says:

    As if the evidence for the prevention of strokes, MS and M. Parkinson weren’t enough, this is the perfect time for Dr. Ornish to release the results of such a thorough trial… I’ve just started working as a neurologist last October and at the end of June I’ll give a presentation to our team of (senior) neurologists at our clinic about the power of lifestyle medicine regarding neurological diseases. Thank you so much for spreading the word!

    • @RC-qf3mp says:

      I’m sure reducing processed foods and added sugars helps. See the research on ketones and ketogenic diets for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Fatty fish, anti inflammatory diet. Brain images show ketones go to parts of the brain where glucose is lacking.

    • @dianeladico1769 says:

      Congratulations and best of luck. Hope they listen to you.

    • @mecarr says:

      What does the literature say about preventing MS? That usually strikes young people, ages 20-40. I have MS, am 41 years old, and doing really well. I’ve adopted mostly a plant based diet. I’m also on a medication that is very effective.

    • @Goodbyeeveryonehere says:

      ​@mecarr Dr brooke goldner has healed MS with her raw vegan diet. She has wellness wednesday episodes on youtube every week.

  • @dianeladico1769 says:

    From the study:
    Diet
    A whole foods minimally-processed plant-based (vegan) diet, high in complex carbohydrates (predominantly fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, soy products, seeds and nuts) and especially low in harmful fats, sweeteners and refined carbohydrates. It was approximately 14-18% of calories as total fat, 16-18% protein, and 63-68% mostly complex carbohydrates. Calories were unrestricted. Those with higher caloric needs were given extra portions.

    • @christinefournier685 says:

      What about the other life changes ?

    • @dianeladico1769 says:

      @@christinefournier685 Supplements and supervised exercises. It’s in the study. They kindly posted the link-YouTube wouldn’t let me. I put the supplements in another post. The exercise was 30 min aerobic plus strength 3x a week as I recall. I can look it up for you if you like.

    • @dianeladico1769 says:

      @@christinefournier685 Exercise. My comments are wonky today. I may be on the naughty list for trying to give the link.

  • @jeanneamato8278 says:

    I was crying for those who are getting their lives back, and for everyone who’ll have more of a future than they thought.

  • @wanda12411 says:

    Hi, totally agree with the studies results, I used to suffer from anxiety before I started a plant-based diet and after about three or four months, I noticed that my anxiety levels had decreased dramatically. It was amazing. I started the diet to lower my cholesterol, which it has, but it was a pleasant surprise to see my anxiety levels also decrease.

  • @KJSvitko says:

    Hospitals, doctors offices and schools should be places where good nutrition is taught and provided not places that contribute to disease and obesity. It is crazy the hospitals are feeding people the very food that caused the heart disease, high blood pressure or cancer that they are treating. Every person in the hospital should receive some nutrition education before being released. Every doctor visit should be an opportunity to educate patients about how food choices impacts their health outcomes. The fact that doctors do not get nutrition training as part of their training makes no sense. Medicare and Medicaid should require nutrition education as part of patient care. Focus should be on food choices. Fasting should be investigated as a treatment for disease.

    • @dianeladico1769 says:

      Couldn’t agree more. Every doctor I approached with my WFPB diet was indifferent at best, most were absolutely discouraging. One paid attention after I dropped three T2D meds and lowered a1c.
      That said, it’s not just the docs. All my family and friends have seen my improvement. Not one is interested in making any changes, including the one with T2, bad knees, heart trouble and is so big she can barely walk. You can lead a horse to water…

    • @RC-qf3mp says:

      Problem is nobody agrees what the best diet is, and likely there’s why individual differences. Keto helped me get off a bunch meds. I eat grass fed beef, but no sausages, lots of fish, nothing processed (except cheese if you consider that “processed”). Mostly meat based whole food with some blueberries and sprouts.

    • @trevorregay9283 says:

      Careful………you could end of in an insane asylum……..the medical system doesn’t want anyone getting better or being healthy……..and they count on mis-information and plenty of other tactics to keep people sick or help them continue to be sick……..

    • @Spock_Rogers says:

      ​@@RC-qf3mpGoogle keto and mortality. Ketosis is an unhealthy state.

  • @sungheelee9358 says:

    What a timing. I am sharing this with my family.
    Thank you Dr. Greger and Dr. Ornish!

  • @slimelove3493 says:

    So the takeaway is that memory retention really imparts a deep sense of identity , I relate to these peoples challenges prior to their diet change, and I’m only 34, but my memory is terrible due to stress and fight or flight environment, not to mention my digestion. I have to make this change. I have been reading Ornish recently too so this is timely. Thanks

  • @lindaborland5123 says:

    I also cried watching the video. I changed my diet to plant based whole food almost 2 years ago after reading the book “The Alzheimer’s Solution.” I feel like I’m thinking more clearly and not stumbling on my words as much. I’m now reading Dr. Greger’s “How Not To Age” and am trying to get the daily dozen in on a regular basis. Thank you Dr. Greger!!

  • @MegaGoddessofLove says:

    That was so very touching. It’s miraculous how the human body works when you give it the right nutrients. I love your channel and have been whole food plant and fungi based since 2018.

    • @Goodbyeeveryonehere says:

      Imagine how well everyone was in stone age times when we just ate vegetables (and an animal maybe 3 times a year when we could catch one)

  • @sparkythesolocruiser6375 says:

    My wife and I are coming up on our seventh anniversary of switching to plant-based. I am almost 67 years old and I just had my second physical with medicare. And my numbers are fantastic and I feel great. Thank you to people like Doctor Greger because I watched a lot of these videos back when I was transitioning and they kept me going and keep informing me and encouraging me. Plant-based is wonderful.Everyone should give it at least three or four weeks to see how they feel….

  • @joedusel says:

    Great information! I had the pleasure of attending and photographing an event on June 9th with Dr. Greger discussing How Not to Age at the UCSD School of Medicine in La Jolla, CA. His talks are informative and also entertaining as he interjects his humor into the very serious discussion. He also very graciously signed copies of his books and did a question and answer session. Thank you Dr. Greger!

  • @kentroskelley1389 says:

    Truly happy for the gentleman in the video and his family.

  • @greenleafyman1028 says:

    When there’s so many studies about disease reversed through plant based diet leads me to conclude that the best doctor we had is our own body. It just need the right diet to function our own healer.

  • @TangoMasterclassCom says:

    Thank you so much for your amazing work that you do, Dr. Greger! Amazing video as always. Wish you all the best with the research & writing of your new book ‘How not to Hurt’. When I discovered your book ‘How not to Die’, my parents, my husband and me all changed to eating whole food plant based. My parents showed some signs of MCI at that time. They improved so much soon after they started eating WFPB. They are now 80 and 86 years young, and they are mentally sharper than many middle aged people.

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