I have recently been focusing my attention on the concepts that are discussed in Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s book, “Eat to Live”. What I am really looking for is a way to get my weight down to my preferred level while maintaining a very high nutrient diet; i.e., to lose excess weight and keep it off without any feelings or symptoms of starvation. I would like to lose about 15 pounds to look and feel my best, but I want to do it in a way that does not feel like self deprivation. According to Dr. Fuhrman it is possible to take off those extra pounds (i.e., fat) while maintaining high energy and promoting better health by eating a diet consisting primarily of veggies and whole fruits, and lowering your starch and fat intake.
For the first 6 weeks of his eating plan, the aim is to eat about 90% unrefined plant foods, especially low starch vegetables such as dark leafy greens (e.g., romaine lettuce, spinach, turnip and mustard greens, etc.), cucumbers, peppers, sprouts, tomatoes, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, garlic, mushrooms, eggplant, etc. Half of the veggies should be eaten raw as salads or prepared with herbs or spices (no salt though). The other half can be cooked, again with herbs and spices but no added salt. You can also have four servings of fresh fruit per day. You are encouraged to eat legumes instead of grains for your starch quota; you can have one cup or a bit more daily of your favorite beans or tofu. Cooked high starch veggies and grains are limited to no more than 1 cup per day. High fat foods, even healthy ones such as nuts, avocados and olive oil, are to be restricted to about 2-3 ounces. You can also have 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed daily to get your healthy omega-3 fat. I have long been a fan of fruit smoothies and like to incorporate flax seed into them for that purpose.
Dr. Fuhrman includes some great recipes for low fat salad dressings that you can make at home, along with soups and stews, main dishes, shakes and desserts. I personally cannot fathom eating green salads without a nice dressing, and this makes it possible to use a dressing that doesn’t include the unhealthy oils contained in many manufactured dressings.
The goal for the first 6 weeks is also to either completely eliminate or only include a very small amount of animal products (meat and dairy). After that, you can add back some low fat (hopefully healthy organically fed) animal products if you really miss them, but use them more as a side dish rather than the main portion of your meals.
Although some nutritionists are concerned about the level of protein included in an all plant food diet, according to Dr. Fuhrman there are more than adequate levels and varieties of protein (amino acids) contained in green vegetables and other plant foods if they are eaten in sufficient quantities. For example, out of the total calorie content of spinach about 50% is actually protein. And because his diet is very nutrient rich while low in calories overall, you will get enough protein along with the highly beneficial phytonutrients from plants without the body converting excess food into fat for storage. Eating high quality, nutrient dense foods is the key to this diet.
I highly recommend reading this book even if you are not ready to follow his program “all the way”. He shares some valuable information about foods that promote excellent health, and some necessary reinforcement as to the reasons why our typical high fat, highly processed American style diet is definitely not in our best interest. Dr. Fuhrman cites many reasons why he considers green veggies to be the healthiest food on the planet.
The hardest part of the diet for me is limiting whole grain products to one small serving per day during the initial phase. I really enjoy having whole grain toast in the morning and brown rice or whole grain pasta along with lunch or dinner. This is a bit of a sacrifice to me, but if I can lose weight, maintain a good energy level and not feel hungry on a diet of mostly unrefined low starch plant foods I am willing to do it. I must admit I am still working on the resolve to take this 6-week plunge and see what happens.
Right now I am just at the start of a (too-short) 10 day vacation in beautiful Kauai, Hawaii. This is obviously not the best time to go on a strict diet, but I am going to try to ease my way into eliminating starchy foods and high fat dairy while I’m here. More to follow…
