The Best Drug: Love

Over the past two decades, Dr. Dean Ornish has scientifically proven that people can open their blocked arteries without drugs or surgery through diet, exercise and meditation.

However, the most interesting find was that loneliness is more toxic than a cheeseburger.

“Love and intimacy are at the root of what makes us sick and what makes us well,” Ornish declares. “I am not aware of any other factor in medicine—not diet, not smoking, not exercise—that has a greater impact.”

Ornish’s research corroborates what is know as the ‘Roseta Effect’. Until 1965, the people who lived in the small town of Roseta, Pennsylvania, seemed immune to heart disease. Compared to the residents in the nearby town of Bangor, they smoked as much and ate similar food. The striking distinction was Roseta’s tightly bonded social life. The communite comprised mostly third-generation italian immigrants, all of whom had strong commitments to family and friends.

Isolation is definitely a health hazard. Here are a few startling facts from actual clinical studies:

• Women who felt isolated were 3 ½ times as likely to die of breast, ovarian or uterine cancer over a 17-year period.

• Heart patients who felt the least loved had 50% more arterial damage than those who felt the most loved.

• Unmarried heart patients were 3 times more likely to die within 5 years.

The authenticity and intensity of our relationships appears to be the deciding factor in health. Your cheeseburger might not be as harmful if you eat it with someone you love.

Here's the link to Dean Ornishes webiste and article ttitled: Love & Survival. Be sure to look around his website as he has some terrific information to share.

Much love, happiness and great health to all my readers!