(Note that the hardback is titled Love and Survival: The Scientific Basis for the Healing Power of Intimacy)

Dr. Ornish comes to this book from a well-known background of proving changing one’s lifestyle can reverse heart disease. In his previous books, his emphasis has been primarily on changing one’s diet. Because of his previous work, he will sometimes, still, be eating in a restaurant with others who will apologize for what they have chosen to eat, mistaking him for the food police. However, it is from looking beyond diet and the questions such study raises, how some foods and activities are harmful for one person but not necessarily for another that this book comes to be written.

From his further studies, Dr. Ornish states, "I am not aware of any other factor in medicine—not diet, not smoking, not exercise, not stress, not genetics, not drugs, not surgery—that has a greater impact on our quality of life, incidence of illness, and premature death from all causes." He is talking about the impact that love and intimacy have on us. It is a strong statement, well backed up by scientific research and his personal observations and experiences as a preventative medicine physician. However, the crux of the book, for me, was the statement, "Anything that promotes intimacy leads to greater joy and healing; anything that promotes isolation and loneliness leads to more suffering and illness." I try to apply that statement to questions and decisions in my life and find it true and helpful to me.

Roughly a third of the book is charts, graphs and the details of scientific studies, which I found boring after a while. Perhaps they could "prove" the points Dr. Ornish is making to skeptics and I read enough of those sections to see they are in fact very carefully built up to make their own convincing argument in support of love and intimacy. So, if you enjoy science and its arguments I can see this book would be a good starting place to get into some of the softer sciences and their arguments.

I have begun to find that my own experience is my most helpful guide in life. If an idea can engage my interest and convince me to try something, I can then perhaps be convinced beyond further swaying. I find an idea or point of view either works or it does not; it is either helpful to me or not. This book, by its very title, caught my interest. I grew impatient with the science because I did not need it; Dr. Ornish was preaching to the choir in my case. However, I am not sure what practical ideas I brought away from this book into my life. Knowing what is true is important but often I need more help with practicing what I know than this book gave me.

Categories: ClientReviews, SelfHelp

Keywords: heart disease, diet