Amen Tana - The Omni Diet: Two Weeks to Lose Weight, Reverse Illness, and Control Your Genes

[ACKNOWLEDGMENTS]

IT IS WITH RESPECT AND gratitude that I would like to thank my team for their amazing dedication, hard work, and perseverance in assisting me in completing The Omni Diet. Id like to recognize the following people, who were an integral part of this journey:

My amazing husband, partner, and mentor, Daniel Amen, who offers love and support in all that I do.

Rick Warren, pastor of saddleback Church, and the participants of the Daniel Plan. Being welcomed as a coach for the Daniel Plan has been an honor and a gift.

Celeste Fine, my agentand a true rock star!

My assistant and best friend, Jeana maiocchi, for her loyalty, hard work, and ability to keep up with me.

My professional mentor, Bernie Landes.

Alice Lesch Kelly, for her exceptional writing and organizational skills.

Nichole Argyres, for her dedication in the editing process. Your attention to detail is invaluable.

The team at the Amen Clinics: David Jahr, Ryan Green, Kirsten Iverson, Murray Brennan, Mark Walters, Corey Liebig, Justin Wong, and Brent Ferguson. Your support and effort are a valued part of this process.

Jim Kennedy, my longtime photographer. Your professionalism and skill make you a joy to work with.

My beautiful daughter, Chloe, for inspiring me to leave a legacy of health.

My gorgeous mother, who is a living example that being healthy, beautiful, and sexy into the sixties is possible. You give new meaning to the golden years.

Robert Sturm, my friend, partner in the Daniel Plan and chef extraordinaire. Your taste in food is impeccable.

The entire Daniel Plan team: The doctors, Dee Eastman, Jenny Ross, Sally Cameron, and Tony Lattimore. It has been a true honor working with all of you. Through love, dedication and perseverance you are changing the world!

A LSO BY T ANA A MEN, B.S.N., R.N.

Change Your Brain, Change Your Body Cookbook

Eat Healthy with the Brain Doctors Wife Cookbook

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[Your History Is NOT Your Destiny ]

Everyone has a doctor in him or her; we just have to help it in its work. The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well. Our food should be our medicine. Our medicine should be our food.

HIPPOCRATES

Kathy has had type 2 diabetes for years and has taken medication to help keep it under control. Although she knew she should stay away from foods containing sugar and simple carbohydrates, she found it difficult to resist her cravings. And, although she also knew losing weight would benefit her health, shedding pounds had always been a struggle.

I MET KATHY AT SADDLEBACK Church in southern California, where my husband and I attend services. The church is led by Pastor Rick Warren, who has inspired millions of followers through his ministry and his bestselling book, The Purpose Driven Life. In 2011, he had challenged thousands of parishioners to lose weight and improve their health with a program called the Daniel Plan. Dr. Mehmet Oz; Dr. Mark Hyman; and my husband, Dr. Daniel G. Amen, helped motivate 15,000 people to lose more than 125 tons of weight. I also was deeply involved in the Daniel Plan, teaching nutrition based on the Omni Diet principles, creating instructional videos, and supplying recipes and motivational tips.

One Sunday morning, an attractive, middle-aged womanKathyintroduced herself to me.

Hi, Im Tana, I responded.

Oh, I know who you are, she said with a big smile. Ive watched your videos on the Daniel Plan Web site. Ive made many of your recipes and have followed your tips.

So, how are you doing? I asked.

Kathys smile grew even wider. I started following the Daniel Plan about ten weeks ago. I had been reluctant to try it because I thought it would be hard. But its really pretty easy. And Ive lost sixteen pounds.

Congratulations! Thats great! I said. You must feel wonderful about your weight loss!

I do, but thats not what Im most excited about.

By this time, Kathy was absolutely beaming.

Once I started the plan, Kathy explained, I lost all my cravings for sugar within a matter of days! I started eating a much healthier diet, and I no longer had an interest in eating cake, cookies, and all of the other sugary junk that I used to love. My blood sugar began dropping immediately.

Congratulations! Thats fantastic! I said. Kathys story reminded me of so many other people I know whose blood sugar and insulin levels had fallen dramatically once they cut out sugar and simple carbohydratefilled foods, such as bread, muffins, rice, pasta, and anything made with flour.

Theres more to the story, Kathy continued. This is the best part of all. When I went for a diabetes checkup last week, my doctor told me I no longer have to take diabetes medication. For the first time in years, Im off my meds! I cant believe its that simple after only ten weeks! Seeing the joy on Kathys face brought tears to my eyes because I know how significant this type of change is in peoples lives. She eliminated her need for a very strong daily medication by doing one thing: eating in a new way.

Simply by swapping life-threatening foods for life-supporting foods, Kathy learned to break free from a disease that plagues more than 25 million Americans and is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. And she did it in only ten weeks! Imagine how much more good health there is in Kathys future if she continues her new way of eating!

It sounds unbelievable, but its true. For Kathy and many other people who suffer from chronic illnesssuch as diabetes, irritable bowel disease, fibromyalgia, rosacea, multiple sclerosis, hypertension, heart disease, depression, and many othersfood can be more powerful than medicine.

WITNESS THE POWER OF FOOD

I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST PHARMACEUTICAL drugswhen used appropriately, they play a crucial role in good health. They have the power to save lives. They saved my life! Let me be clear: I am not telling you to stop filling your prescriptions! Nor should you feel bad or guilty if you do take medicationsI happily take my medication and thank God for it because it helps keep me healthy. The Omni Diet is not an anti-medication program. Its an optimal-health program.

What I do have a problem with is the indiscriminate use of powerful medication alone to manage potentially lethal chronic illnesses without proper education about the incredible influence of simple lifestyle modification. A pill may seem like a quick fix, but in my experience managing a chronic illness is almost never that easy. Ive worked with thousands of people who have been frustrated to find that their prescriptions are rarely the ticket off the roller-coaster ride of illness, medication, side effects, flare-ups, and really bad days that result from poor health. Medication doesnt give your body everything it needs for health or quality of life. You can think you are doing everything right by following doctors orders and still feel incredibly sick.

Food can be as healing as a medication. Or, it can be as toxic as a poison. The trick is to harness its amazing power rather than be destroyed by it. By choosing the right foods you, like Kathy, can break some of the bonds of chronic disease. You can positively change the action of your immune system, hormones, genes, and blood sugar. You can help slash your risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, dementia, and many other diseases. In many cases, food, along with lifestyle modification, can be as effective asor even more effective thanpharmaceutical medications. And great, healthy foods dont have all those frightening side effects that you hear so rapidly described at the tail end of pharmaceutical television commercials.

Mother Nature has packed countless powerful benefits into food. It is truly natures medicine! With the incredible changes you are likely to see with the Omni Diet, you (and your doctor) may discover that you dont need as much medication as you once did. Or you may no longer even need it at all. Even if you do continue to require medication for chronic illnesses, the changes you make as part of the Omni Diet will work with your medication and ultimately boost your energy, vitality, and overall health.