Getting Started
Find your care
Patients in our program consistently improve their health markers and make long-term lifestyle changes. To learn more about the Ornish Lifestyle Medicine Program, call 310-825-0014.
Thank you for your interest in UCLA Health Ornish Lifestyle Medicine Program!
Patients usually enter our program through referral by their primary care physician or cardiologist or by self-referral.
Physicians can easily refer patients by entering the referral portal in CareConnect or by calling (310) 825-0014.
Stop chest pain. Halt the progression of disease in your body. Start feeling better by making lifestyle changes.
UCLA Health Ornish Lifestyle Medicine Program is not just a diet, an exercise regimen, or a prescription. It’s a lifestyle, a way of living that generates long-lasting and life-changing results across a broad range of conditions. The Ornish Program is scientifically proven to reverse the progression of heart disease and prostate cancer, control Type II diabetes, and lengthen telomeres – and it does all of this in a sustainable and achievable manner.
What to expect?
Participants experience the UCLA Health Ornish Lifestyle Medicine Program as a consistent group which has the common goal of reversing heart disease and improving well-being. This outpatient program consists of 18 three-hour sessions, twice per week 4:45 PM to 8:00 PM (M/W & T/Th) for 12 weeks at UCLA Medical Plaza.
This program is a comprehensive lifestyle change program and focuses on four equally weighted elements: stress management, group support, exercise, and nutrition. These sessions are participatory and experiential. During each of these meeting, participants experience stress management (1 hour), emotional group support (1 hour), exercise (1 hour), enjoy a nutritious plant-based meal, and educational lectures (1 hour). Our team will provide patient-centered care during every step of the program to optimize each participant's lifestyle changes.
Grounded in lifestyle changes in four pillars of daily life
Our program focuses on four elements of a participant's life:
- What you eat
- How much activity you have
- How you respond to stress
- How much love and support you have
Each session reinforces these areas of lifestyle change, altering the course of a participant's disease as it instills a new approach to living that can last a lifestyle:
- Nutrition, by healthy eating guidance
- Activity, via supervised exercise
- Stress management, with emphasis on relaxation techniques
- Emotional support, by way of group discussions
Why should you make this commitment?
The simplest answer is because you will experience amazing results.
- When added to current therapies, treatments, and medication the UCLA Health Ornish Lifestyle Medicine Program has been proven to reduce the number of daily medications needed to manage heart disease and reduces the likelihood for repeat procedures.
- Experience delicious heart-healthy, plant-based meals and discover how to prepare them at home.
- Move naturally and build up to eventual moderate aerobic activity. The health benefits of exercise are many from stress reduction to lowering blood pressure, which make for healthier heart and arteries.
- Receive support from others who are going through similar experiences. When you have a support system you are likely to be happier from making the social connections and create lifetime bonds.