About book Eat To Live: The Revolutionary Formula For Fast And Sustained Weight Loss (2005)
Dr. Fuhrman makes a lot of sense. I started drinking those diet so-called shakes (one in place of each meal) when I was nine years old. Nine. By the time I was at the proper weight for my height and structure, the muscles in my jaw had begun to atrophy from not chewing anything. My friends' mothers said this was a bad idea, and my mother bristled at that, but they were right.Through my teens I went through bouts of fasting; just eating one meal a day; and 900-calorie-a-day diets in order to stay at a good weight. Growing up in the age of Twiggy, I saw how mean everyone was to the obese girls at our school. Fear of that type of treatment scared me away from food for awhile, but then I'd eat four candy bars in a row and have to start over.A doctor suggested I try the Atkins diet before the connection was strongly formed between it (all meat and fish) and heart attacks. I didn't even go there. Why would a diet tell you to avoid vegetables? I KNEW that was stupid!So, there is no picture of me in jeans six sizes larger than what I wear now. I am only starting this system. (But see update at the end). But I appreciate having the logic behind Dr. Fuhrman's dietary plan (not DIET plan) because it sensibly explains in a way that a literate, but not scientifically sophisticated person can understand. (If he tosses chemical formulas out there, he will lose me, but he doesn't do that). I believe that this will work.I have tweaked a couple of things, but my doctor thinks it will still work. I can't drink soy milk. No. It's a deal-breaker. I agreed to drink 1% milk (skim milk is BLUE!) and make it infrequent. Also, my diet soft drinks, which have zero nutrition but also zero calories, and have been part of my life for over 40 years, have to stay, or I can't do it. Thanksgiving Day I'm eating the same stuff as everyone else, and likewise Christmas (but, my doctor told me, remember to eat the vegetables first).That last paragraph is irrelevant to the book itself, but I included it because if it makes sense to you, but there's just one thing in there you cannot stand, maybe it's something you can adjust and have the nutritional methods delineated here still work for you. If you are obese, which one third of Americans are, this book may save your life. It is not written for those who have five or ten pesky pounds they want to be rid of. It is for people who have normal thyroid function, but nevertheless carry far too many pounds. Doctors use this book for patients whose weight and the characteristic physical problems associated with a lot of extra weight, put their lives in jeopardy.There is not a food in this world I would give my life for. If I have to eat tofu to stay alive, I will do that. If it turns out that I can't have my one percent milk from time to time, or that I actually really, really DO have to stop drinking diet soda, then I won't like it, but I will do it. I am pre-diabetic, and I NEVER want to cross over that line.This, by the way, is the first dietician I have ever read who makes the claim that those who are diabetic, can stop being diabetic by following these eating methods.For many years, I was big, but I was healthy and happy. As long as my doctors weren't complaining, I was content to be who I was, as I was. My husband loved me at any size, and my life was good. But now...consider. Once my doctor said it was imperative that the pounds come off to keep me alive significantly longer, that is different. And if your doctor says this to you, especially if your kids aren't all grown and established yet, take it seriously. Give it a try.Update: twelve months later, I am sixty-nine pounds smaller than when I went into this thing. I considered twenty-five a victory and would have been happy to maintain it, but once I gave up the dairy and meat for most meals most days, the pounds fell off. Part of me wants to weep for the women of my generation who were told that we should leave the carbs on the plate (often including vegetables and legumes), but for goodness sake, drink your milk and eat your meat. The other part of me wants to stand up and cheer for having finally found a way to get those pounds gone. I have the occasional feast day, and once in awhile I break down and have greasy Chinese food with my family. The breaches are not enough to undo the progress that's been registered.If you have tried everything and cannot lose weight, and you really need and want to do so, get this book.
The basis of Dr. Fuhrman's theory is H = N/C. In other words, your health depends on the nutrients of the foods you take in in relation to the amount of calories they have - you want most of the foods you eat to be high in nutrients but low in calories. Leafy greens should comprise the bulk of your diet, followed closely by other vegetables and fruits. Grains are a bit of a second class citizen, and all animal products should be eliminated or reduced to less than 12 oz per week. Eat to Live is great for opening up your mind to ways of thinking about food and nutrients that may be new to you. I think most people know you want to get a lot of nutrients out of your food, and too many calories isn't good, but Fuhrman's H = N/C formula really puts things into sharper focus. Learning how wheat can be (and frequently is) over processed, thinking about the nutrients of produce in comparison to that of animal products, and being open to the idea of excellent nutrition combating some of the illnesses we've become resigned to are all great things. The problem with this book is, I can't trust it. It reads like a late night TV infomercial. "Get ready for the most exciting six weeks of your adult life. If you follow my program precisely for the next six weeks, your body will undergo a remarkable transformation and you will be witness to its miraculous self-healing ability." Fuhrman claims his plan will fix just about everything that's wrong with you. Stuffy nose, allergies, constipation, stomach aches, cramping, intestinal discomfort, weight, diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, emotional well being. He also uses a lot of fear tactics. When talking about US heart attack rates: "Every single one of those heart attacks is a terrible tragedy, as it could have been avoided." On AHA recommendations: "WARNING: Do not merely comply with these overly permissive recommendations of the American Heart Association, or you will most likely die of a heart attack." I'm not saying Fuhrman's claims and warnings aren't true. I'm saying the way he presents them makes him an untrustworthy source. At the beginning of his book he acknowledges that it's hard for consumers to know the real story when there are so many conflicting studies out there, yet he goes on to saturate his writing with references to various studies. Some of his information is supported by a long list of studies, but some only by a three page article in some obscure health publication. I know there are studies out there supporting just about every point of view. So how does one writing a book on any subject provide *trustworthy* data to back up their claims? I don't know, but Fuhrman hasn't accomplished it for me.He has presented a lot of intriguing information, and I'll be pursuing more information on the subject... but not from this particular author.
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Listen, I've read a lot of diet books in my day because I'm a lazy fat guy who has a "health blog" as a side project so I have to review some of these diet books. If you want to lose weight and be really healthy--read this book, it has a chance of changing your life. However, the moment you step into the world of Joel Fuhrman realize you're stepping into a infomercial. I mean, yes, his book is full of valid research and tips that are extremely useful to get you to lose weight full of testimonials on how to live a healthy life style, but as he's trying to save your life you can sort of tell he's look'n to make a buck, too. The health and diet industry is huge with a lot of money to be made, believe me I blog about it. Joe Fuhrman is one of these guys, but don't get me wrong, I do think his diet is the most intense and most probably successful diet you'll ever see--it's just extremely intense and requires some intestinal fortitude to walk away from the world of food and gluttony as you know it, and live a mostly fruit and vegetable based diet that extremely limits meat and cheese--yes, this will be tough my fellow Americans.I also want to mention that this book should be listed under "Horror" because every bit of research is about how you're going to die of cancer, heart disease, or some other disease because you eat a modern western diet.
—Jesse Aaron Barnhart
My brother highly recommended this book after he lost 31 pounds in three months, and I am such a naive moron when it comes to diet books that I fell for it. I like the theory behind it: eat more fruits and vegetables and less meat. But Dr. Fuhrman's advice is near impossible to follow. He wants you to start out by eating a pound of raw and a pound of cooked vegetables each day, as well as a ton of fruit. No meat, cheese, dairy, eggs, or egg whites. You can add beans and nuts as the week goes on, but in my opinion, you just can't get enough protein on this diet to do anything more strenuous than pull yourself out of bed in the morning. Most irritating is his tendency to pose stupid question, to wit: did you know there is more protein in 100 calories of lettuce than in 100 calories of steak? I am not sure whether that is true or not, but I imagine that you would have to chew all day to eat 100 calories worth of plain iceberg lettuce. In fact, I suspect that vegetables like lettuce and celery are foods with negative calories, (meaning it takes more calories to chew than it produces in energy). I also made the mistake of getting the abridged Ipad version which contained little videos of Dr. Fuhrman making salad dressing and exhorting the viewer to exercise like he and his son were demonstrating. Some things are better left to the imagination.
—Judith
Dr. Furhman's book starts with a hand full of principles that are helpful to losing weight and then ventures out into lala land with a hypothesis for a vague and unbacked theory about nutrition (H = N/C where H is health, N is nutrition and C is calories) for which he has zero empirical evidence. Using this formula, he extends the principles he brought in past any reasonable application to a point of extremity that is likely to be counter productive for people trying to lead a healthy lifestyle.Along the way he cherry picks his data, uses citations in a misleading fashion and uses what is known in the advertising industry as a hypnotic writing style which is aimed at getting the reader to accept unquestioningly the claims of the book. Dr. Fuhrman would have us `Buy the book, read the book, make the commitment' and guarantees that we will lose weight and be healthier. The cardinal problem is that despite all of his anecdotes, he does not have a single empirical study to suggest that someone following his plan will be able to stick to his plan and lose weight with any better odds than the other diets that he criticizes.
—Lee
