Scientists are genuinely divided on this question.

Not medical advice — just what the research says.

What's still open

What the evidence found 3 findings
Based on 13 sources:
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PMC peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
ClinicalTrials.gov institutional View
New England Journal of Medicine peer-reviewed View
PMC peer-reviewed View
Circulation peer-reviewed View
New England Journal of Medicine DASH-Sodium Collaborative Research Group study (2001) peer-reviewed
PubMed peer-reviewed View
ResearchGate peer-reviewed View
PMC peer-reviewed View
Based on 15 sources:
PMC/NCBI peer-reviewed View
Facebook/Ornish blog View
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University institutional View
JAMA peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
Ornish Research institutional View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
International Journal of Innovative Surgery peer-reviewed View
PMC - NIH peer-reviewed View
Journal of Family Practice peer-reviewed View
Cleveland Clinic institutional View
PMC - NIH peer-reviewed View
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University institutional View
Science Direct peer-reviewed View
Based on 15 sources:
PMC peer-reviewed View
MDPI Nutrients peer-reviewed View
NCBI Bookshelf institutional View
PMC peer-reviewed View
Frontiers in Public Health peer-reviewed View
MDPI Sustainability peer-reviewed View
PMC - NIH peer-reviewed View
New England Journal of Medicine peer-reviewed View
American Heart Association Circulation Research peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
Nutrients journal peer-reviewed View
PMC peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PMC peer-reviewed View
ResearchGate institutional View
What research hasn't answered 3 gaps
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PMC peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PMC peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PMC peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
PubMed peer-reviewed View
Sources 18 findings
argumentation Unknown
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
Esselstyn, Ornish, Campbell argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
Ornish argumentation
Esselstyn argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
tree-leaf argumentation
argumentation Unknown
argumentation Unknown
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Generated by reaso.ai's editorial pipeline: claim restated, scientific consensus classified via 3-run majority vote, 18 findings enriched with attribution and study type, narrative written in neutral voice. No individual researcher has signed off on this specific analysis — see methodology for how the pipeline works. Built with Claude Sonnet by Anthropic. Updated April 16, 2026. How we do this →

Written by AI. Sources are linked for verification.