Books

Stay off My Operating Table®: A Heart Surgeon's Metabolic Health Guide to Lose Weight, Prevent Disease, and Feel Your Best Every Day

By Philip Ovadia

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What foods to put on your table so you don't end up on mine 

For the past century, we've been bombarded with diet ads and advice from gurus and governments. Yet heart disease remains the #1 killer worldwide, and 88% of adults are metabolically unhealthy. Up to 95% of dieters gain back all the weight they lost while following both dietary guidelines and popular fitness fads.

Here's why they fail.

Most diet books teach you to set short-term weight loss goals. Whether low-carb or low-fat, the typical plan goes like this: restrict your food choices, exercise until exhaustion, and swallow stacks of supplements. These "solutions" do a better job of lightening your wallet than lightening you.

Meanwhile, the healthcare industry fails to prevent chronic disease. Rather than showing people how to remain healthy and prevent illness through proper nutrition, the system offers drugs and surgery to manage symptoms.

As a heart surgeon who used to be morbidly obese, Dr. Philip Ovadia has seen firsthand the failures of mainstream diets and medicine. He realized that what helped him lose over 100 pounds was the same solution that could have prevented most of the thousands of open heart surgeries he has performed-metabolic health.

What you eat determines how long and how well you live. Yet most doctors don't learn that in medical school. And pharmaceutical companies and food manufacturers have a vested interest in the public not knowing how to live and eat metabolically healthy.

In Stay off My Operating Table®, Dr. Ovadia shares the complete metabolic health system to prevent disease and optimize your health, a system that the diet and drug industries don't want you to know about. Unlike quick-fix, "7-day," radical diets, Dr. Ovadia's approach is a sustainable, long-term solution that works.

Whether you've suffered from chronic diseases or want to prevent them decades from now, Stay off My Operating Table® will help you take back control of your health from the institutions and experts that have failed you.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Stay off My Operating Table® is a must-read. This is the book for any physician or patient who wants to prevent disease if possible and to otherwise improve outcomes. Dr. Ovadia understands the central role metabolic health plays in the body, knowledge which enables him to keep potential future cardiac patients off his operating table. I am sharing this book with other doctors at the USC Keck School of Medicine so they can learn how diet affects everything we do in medicine."

–Robert Lufkin, MD, Chief of Head Neck Imaging/Neuroradiology, Prohealth Advanced Imaging Network & Clinical Professor of Radiology, USC Keck School of Medicine 

"Most so-called 'health experts' have no idea what they're talking about. In fact, their advice usually results in you getting sicker, fatter, and angrier. And you're left with no clue about what to do different. Dr. Philip Ovadia changes everything. Not only is he an actual doctor who understands the problems with our sick-care system, he knows how the human body actually works. In Stay off My Operating Table®, Dr. Ovadia shows you how to get your metabolic health right and, in turn, get everything else right. Your weight, your blood sugar, your blood pressure, your cholesterol and triglycerides, your energy, everything."

–Vinnie Tortorich, Author, Fitness Confidential

"Working in clinical medicine for more than twenty years has demonstrated to me that we often overlook the root cause of chronic disease in an effort to manage symptoms. I firmly believe that if we could help identify the real etiologies and reasons for chronic illness, and the lifestyle contributors to inflammation, insulin resistance, etc., we would have a much healthier population. Dr. Philip Ovadia's book brilliantly identifies how best to empower our current medical establishment to help reverse current statistics and metabolic inflexibility."

–Cynthia Thurlow, Nurse Practitioner, Intermittent Fasting and Nutrition Expert, and Two-Time TEDx Speaker

The best I've ever read!

Stay Off My Operating Table® is a very well-written and easy to understand book that clearly explains what metabolic health is, along with presenting the keys to improving your overall health and preventing some of the major diseases like heart diseases that plague so many people. But perhaps what I like best is that the author Dr. Philip Ovadia is a practicing heart surgeon doing life-saving surgeries in major hospitals. He has seen firsthand the devastating results of poor metabolic health, and has developed a clear system for how you can improve it. That's a high level of credibility in my book.

In addition, Dr. Ovadia's writing style is very accessible and very relatable, and he lists references that back up his recommendations. I like that he comes across as a very knowledgeable yet humble and overall good guy. Yes, you have to eat right and exercise, but the program he outlines is very flexible and adaptable, and can fit many different types of lifestyle and dietary preferences, from carnivore to vegan.

I have read many books on health including heart health, and I have to say that this one is the best I've ever read.
I highly recommend it.

Thank you Dr. Ovadia
Chris from NY

Common sense (ain't so common!)... explained exquisitely!

I came to Dr Ovadia's book with some knowledge, having read Taubes, Teicholz, Bikman, Berry, Westman, etc. His personal story is of significant interest, as I have family members in a similar boat. His before/after picture (Twitter) is especially compelling.

In this book, he walks the line beautifully between explaining how the human body works without so much biochem that you need an advanced degree to comprehend. He provides open and honest tactical guidance - because he has walked in these shoes.

His experience on both sides (doctor and patient) affords him a unique perspective. He presents what he has learned from both roles...which admittedly, could feel overwhelming and hopeless from anyone else.... into straightforward, inspiring and, importantly, feasible steps for ANYONE, no matter their current level of metabolic health.

In fact, my 78 year old Dad, who is in severe metabollic distress and understands very little about why, found the book so easy to read (aka digestible..pun intended) and compelling that he took it home with him. With any luck, it may just be the start of a new journey!

Great book to begin learning, and I am very grateful for Dr Ovadia, his story, and his continued work!
Michelle

Take Control of Your Health Before It's Too Late

As we have followed government health guidelines, and eat more and more processed foods, our health and quality of life has plummeted. It's not rocket science, yet so many people let their health take a backseat until it's too late.

Dr. Ovadia distills the science and data into what could be the most important health book you can read. You can take control of your health.

Stop acting like you don't have time to make it a priority. People waste hours on television, and take better care of their homes or cars, but ignore their bodies? Never has the health of people, especially in America, been worse.

This should be a wake-up call that we are doing many things wrong, but we can changes right now. This short book is an investment you cannot afford to not make.

AncientDiscovery

Customer Reviews

Review

5.0 out of 5 stars 

Great book on metabolic health

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2023

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The book provides specific examples of how to eat metabolically healthy if you follow a certain diet (carnivore, keto, gluten free and vegetarian). I gained insights on how to track the state of your metabolism and what to do to improve it. Easy to read format. Wish more doctors did this!

5.0 out of 5 stars


Excellent How To Book

Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2023

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I ran across Dr. Ovadia on You-Tube by accident and ended up listening to a short video and became interested in what he had to say about metabolic health. I checked with my kids and asked their opinion which came back positive. I ordered the book and have even started buying extra copies for family and friends. This book is simple to read, to understand, and gives excellent guidelines to get you started if you decide to pursue his recommendations. This is a book focused on metabolic health, not dieting in the normal sense. While it does provide some excellent information regarding different diets, it is directed primarily toward living a healthy life by controlling what we eat. Weight loss is a side benefit.
I am 78 years old, was 60 pounds overweight, and I can recommend it.


5.0 out of 5 stars

 A medical doctor with sense

Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2023

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Over the past few decades, I have watched as the people around me have gotten less healthy while diligently following a doctors advice on how to be healthy. I chose to follow my own path by eating whole foods, choosing to control carbs and sugar, and by continually keeping up with a common sense approach to actually BEING healthy. I have gotten mass amounts of negative feedback from friends and family.

Our health is our own to protect. Dr. Ovadia has risen above the arrogant dogma of the medicine for profit industry to give us the truth about what it takes to be healthy, not just alive. Because I have been doing these things for decades, I find myself healthy, happy, and I've NEVER been on a pharmaceutical drug well into my 60's.

My advice? READ THIS BOOK! The advice is priceless coming from an actual doctor who bucked the rigged system to find health for himself. Now, when people tell me I'm crazy for living low carb, carnivore and no sugar, I can refer them to a real doctor who will give them the facts they need to know to live life truly feeling wonderful, happy and grateful for being healthy.


5.0 out of 5 stars

A great book for everyone who wants to lose fat and keep it off

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2021

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Dr Ovadia's book explains what is metabolic health, why it is so important, how it is impacted by our lifestyle choices and the food we eat, and how it can be improved. He clearly describes what are healthy food choices and why, in a manner that is both actionable and sustainable. Dr Ovadia writes with great empathy as – in his own words – he was on both sides of the office visit as a heart surgeon and as a patient. At the end of the book, the readers will be much more aware of their food choices, how they impact their metabolic health and will be presented with a clear path forward for a healthier and longer life. I personally encourage everyone to read this book and follow Dr Ovadia's advice, which has benefitted me greatly in the past year since I've known him. My wife, an endocrinologist with 20+ years of clinical experience treating diabetes and obesity, plans to recommend this book to her colleagues and patients alike.


5.0 out of 5 stars

Compact, essential guide for metabolic health

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2021

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In 150 pages Dr. Philip Ovadia provides a concise guide for measuring and obtaining what's now termed "metabolic health." He provides five basic ways everyone can measure her/his MH [metabolic health] from measuring your circumference at the waist, to blood pressure readings to numbers gleaned from blood panel draws. He suggests resources for these blood measurements outside of traditional doctors' office visits The book revives an ancient practice – footnotes, hooray, however tiny the type – but discards another, an index. Hence, I had to jot down the page numbers of subjects of particular interest, such as insulin resistance and continuous glucose monitors. An especially gratifying feature is Dr. Ovadia's repeated reminders, or emphases, on where the profit motive resides in medicine. Hospitals, insurance, supplements, you name it. All institutions and services originally devised to benefit our health have metastasized into center of unimaginable profit. Beware the hype when you can take charge of your health with the assistance of your interested physician. Another useful feature is Ovadia's critique of five popular and promoted diets: carnivore; keto, paleo, Atkins, and low-carb diets; gluten-free; Mediterranean; vegetarian and vegan. The pros and cons of each are presented.

 

5.0 out of 5 stars

This book is a game-changer

Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2023

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What's stunning is how my entire mindset, attitude and approach to eating changed halfway through this book. I'm still tweaking out a plan and learning how to shop, but there was a sudden shift where my brain won't let me reach for crap foods anymore. I've been recoiling from packaged food as if it's poison - There is no feeling of being deprived, it's more a confidence that the foods I do eat now all work to help my body run in a healthy way. My new routine includes checking the ingredients on everything (supermarket olive oil can be mixed with seed oils? Who knew?!?) and going with whole food options when I am unsure. Definitely worth the purchase for an expert and efficient description of both the problem and the solution.


5.0 out of 5 stars

This Doctor understands health - and it's not about meds and surgery

Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2022

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I'm on my second read of Dr Ovadia's book. It's beaten up with underlines, highlights and MUSTS do's get me back to the health I had and enjoyed. I really feel he understands what it takes to feel better, have more energy and create tiny habits to get you there with any complicated diets, cleanses etc. I implemented about 80% of his content with very little effort and some determination and courage on my part. I highly recommend not only reading this book but taking action (he makes it easy to do) as you read! Congrats on this book doctor. Phil

About the Author

Dr. Philip Ovadia is a board-certified Cardiac Surgeon and founder of Ovadia Heart Health. His mission is to optimize the public's metabolic health and help people stay off his operating table. As a heart surgeon who used to be morbidly obese, Dr. Ovadia has seen firsthand the failures of mainstream diets and medicine. He realized that what helped him lose over 100 pounds was the same solution that could have prevented most of the thousands of open heart surgeries he has performed-metabolic health. 

In Stay off My Operating Table®: A Heart Surgeon's Metabolic Health Guide to Lose Weight, Prevent Disease, and Feel Your Best Every Day, Dr. Ovadia shares the complete metabolic health system to prevent disease. 

Dr. Ovadia grew up in New York and graduated from the accelerated Pre-Med/Med program at the Pennsylvania State University and Jefferson Medical College. This was followed by a residency in General Surgery at the University of Medicine and Dentistry at New Jersey and a Fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Tufts – New England Medical School.

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