Notes: Eat to Live

by Joel Fuhrman.

I came by this via a fat girl who wrote about watching the doco Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, and using this book as her reference. Now, I've gone 90% vegetarian, given up caffeine, and dairy. Eating fish once a week, but vegetables and fruit are my main staples now. Lost 6.5 lbs in a week. Getting to my 145lb goal probably next week.

• Health equation: H=N/C (Health = Nutrients/Calories). For optimum health and weight loss, you must consume a diet with a high nutrient-per-calorie ratio.
• Do not try; make a commitment to do it right. Commit to six weeks. 
• Do not recommend supplements containing vitamin A, isolated beta-carotene or folic acid.
• Take a high quality multi that does not contain vitamin A or plain beta-carotene. (see website DrFuhrman.com)
• The salad is the main dish.
• Case study: Rebecca lost over 320lbs. No cheese, bread of any type, rice or pasta.
• China Study. Most cancers in direct proportion to the quantity of animal foods consumed. All animal products are low in nutrients that protect us from cancer and heart attacks. they are rich in substances associated with cancer and heart disease. 
• There was also a relationship between animal protein and heart disease. Even low-fat dairy and skinless white-meat chicken raise cholesterol. Eating chicken and fish is also linked to colon cancer. Chicken has the same amount of cholesterol as beef. 
• Best bet is to eliminate all types of meat -- red and white. 
• Cholesterol levels can be decreased by reducing both saturated fat and animal protein while eating more plant protein. 
• Major risk factors associated with heart disease -- smoking, physical inactivity, eating processed food, and animal-product consumption -- are avoidable. 
• Fruit and vegetables. Best correlation with longevity in humans. Most prevalent cancers in our country are mostly plant-food-deficiency diseases. 
• Nutshell: consume high levels of fruits, green vegetables, and beans. 
• Following a strict vegetarian diet is not as important as eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. 
• Long-term vegans (who consume no dairy or other foods of animal origin) almost never get heart attacks. Vegetarians live longer in America. 
• For optimal health you must receive the majority of your calories from unrefined plant foods. 
• We know puberty at an earlier age is a significant marker of increased risk of breast cancer. 
• Green vegetables, beans, tofu, sesame seeds, and oranges contain lots of usable calcium, without the problems associated with dairy. 
• Daily supplement for vitamin D. 
• Dairy to a minimum. Eat 90% health-giving whole-plant foods. 
• One pound-one pound rule: eat at least one pound of raw vegetables a day and one pound of cooked/steamed vegetables. 
• Consume 1 to 2 grams of omega-3 fat daily. (flaxseeds, walnuts, soybeans (green), tofu). 
• Large amounts of fish oil inhibit immune function. Don't eat fish more than twice a week.
• Get fat from avocados, sunflower seeds, and almonds. 
• See "partially hydrogenated" on labeling ... don't eat it. 
• Cheese is the food that contributes the most saturated fat to the American diet. 
• Plant foods have plenty of protein. 
• Symptoms of true hunger: enhanced taste sensation, increased salivation, gnawing throat sensation. 
• Adopt a resolution to be healthy. Focusing on your health, not on your weight, will eventually result in long-term weight loss. Eat as many vegetables, beans and fresh fruit as possible, and less of everything else. 
• Most illnesses are self-induced and can be reversed with aggressive nutritional methods. 
• Higher one's cholesterol, higher the risk of heart disease. Do not be satisfied until your LDL cholesterol is below 100. People below 150 do not have heart attacks. 
• Most Americans have never felt true hunger in their entire overfed existence. 
• Refined carbs -- bread, pasta, sweets, and fruit juice. 
• Six-week plan: Raw vegetables (aim for one pound daily); cooked vegetables (aim for one pound daily); Beans or legumes (one full cup daily); Fresh fruit (four per day); No fruit juice.
• After Six-week Plan, do Life Plan. 90% rule -- 90% from unrefined plant foods. The simple trick is to receive lots of nutrient bang for each caloric buck. 
• Your former side dishes (salads, soups, and vegetables) now become the main dishes. 
• Soup -- daily sodium intake remain under 1,000 mg. 
• Most people lose weight and then stop losing when they have reached their ideal weight. You are judge of your ideal weight; your body is. 
• Water sauteing instead of cooking with oil. 
• Supplements -- omega-3 fatty acids or DHA; B12 (also in fortified soy milk), vitamin D. 
• Low-nutrient, high-fat -- cheese, oil, refined grains. 
• Buy whole grain bread. Don't add salt. Condiments (ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and relish) are very high in sodium. Avoid products with more than 200 mg sodium per 100 calories. 
• Coffee - one cup per day okay. 
• Drinks -- one drink for women; two drinks for men okay. 
• Noncarloric sweeteners signal the body that sugar is on the way and stimulate the pancreas to secrete insulin. Not good. 
• He does not recommend agave. 
• Food preferences are learned. Eating healthy will become a habit.