Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

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Dr. Fuhrman reacts to the recent buzz surrounding claims that low-carb meat-based diets cure diabetes:

Research on extremely low carbohydrate diets and diabetes illustrates that both the safety and effectiveness are poor. Just because the standard American diet (rich in processed foods) is so dangerous, does not make the small improvements in weight or glucose with low-carb or Aitkin's type diets favorable. We don't purchase a car by comparing it to a junk yard wreck.

Even the researchers, who studied these meat-based diets which demonstrate only modest benefits in glucose or weight loss, continually warn against the potential long term risks and that benefits of these diets are only moderate at best.1 Furthermore the lower amount of phytochemicals in a diet and receiving the majority of one's calories from animal products predisposes followers to higher inflammatory markers, which are associated with cardiovascular disease.2

I have reviewed over 60,000 research articles on nutrition and disease and reference more than a thousand in Eat to Live. Obviously, I only offer a few articles here but the point is that I come to my recommendations based on the vast preponderance of the evidence not on the basis of one or two studies. My recommendations are not designed to appeal to the many who are addicted to harmful foods, but rather are for those who want the most effective and most longevity-promoting diet-style.

It is accurate to say that vegetarian diets in the manner they are most typically designed (heavy in processed foods) are not ideal either. Nevertheless, the studies done on vegetarian diets and diabetes are at least as favorable as those done on very low carbohydrate, meat-based diets.3

The vegetarian diet contains a portfolio of natural substances that protect against inflammation and lipid abnormalities in diabetes and has various metabolic advantages for the prevention and treatment of diabetes and its complications. DiseaseProof has discussed this in the past (Vegetarian Diets are Not All Created Equal: An Example), my Eat to Live program differs from a vegetarian diet and because of some critical differences has been shown in the scientific literature (Metabolism, April 2001) to improve lipid parameters and reduce weight and blood glucose much more significantly. So the issue for diabetes is not whether one is a vegan or not, the issue is the nutrition per calorie and micronutrient quality of the diet.

Low-carb or meat-based diet advocates may be able to critique a grain/flour heavy vegan diet, but not Eat to Live. It contains the benefits of a vegetarian diet, without the risks from all the lower nutrient, higher glycemic potatoes and grains. And Eat to Live's profound benefits to blood vessel health does not require total exclusion of animal products. It simply keeps to safer, reduced levels.

Regular readers of DiseaseProof know it is not a question of the precise balance of the three macronutrients (fat, carbohydrate and protein) that enables the body to get well, but the ratio of micronutrients per total calorie. My Eat to Live diet-style is unique and simply the healthiest way one can eat. It is not a vegetarian diet in the conventional sense, so studies on vegetarian diets do not accurately speak to the effectiveness of Eat to Live.

In fact, a recent study conducted by Dr. Sarter of USC (pending publication) revealed 63 people following my Eat to Live diet-style showed more weight loss, cholesterol lowering, and diabetic reversal than any other study in medical history. The average patient lost 52 pounds and they were followed for two years. The fact that this diet style is profoundly more successful for weight loss than the meat-based diets, illustrates it is significantly more effective for diabetics too. In fact, most of my patients quickly get rid of their diabetes and are able to stop all their medications following my recommendations even before all their excess weight is lost. My recommendations are mathematically and scientifically calculated to maximize micronutrients and food volume per calorie and enable people to rid themselves of their food addictions and naturally desire fewer and fewer calories.

However, the fact that my high nutrient diet is unique and not broadly studied in no way lends support to the benefits of other better investigated diets, such as the recommendations of the American Heart Association and the American Diabetic Association. In my advocacy of nutritional excellence for diabetic patients I actually speak negatively about all types of diets, including the aforementioned traditional vegetarian diet. So when I discuss the dangers of Atkins type diets, in no way am I supporting or advocating diets high in refined carbs, flour or sweets, they are dangerous too.