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Hey folks. I’ve got another gadget for you. DiseaseProof’s now on Reddit!
I’ll be adding to it frequently. So start voting for DiseaseProof posts today!
Here’s the link: reddit.com/user/diseaseproof. And don't forget about our Twitters!
Hey everyone. I just setup DiseaseProof on Twitter. Check it out: twitter.com/diseaseproof.
And don't forget Dr. Fuhrman's Twitter too: twitter.com/drfuhrman.
Sign up and start following today! Stay tuned, more cool gadgets to come.
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Hey everyone. I hope you're enjoying DiseaseProof's new look. I have. It's been great!
Now, we're still working out the kinks and making subtle improvements, but in the meantime, do me favor. Let me know if you've encountered any problems reading the blog.
Make a comment or send an email to diseaseproof@gmail.com. Thanks!
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Dr. Fuhrman has helped A LOT people. They’ve lost weight and overcame chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease and much, much more!
Even me, DiseaseProof’s dopey blogger, slimmed down and straightened up using nutritional excellence. And, I was crazy enough to post it on the blog!
So, are YOU brave enough? Will you share your story with thousands of readers? That’s right. I’m calling you out.
If you’ve lost weight, beat diabetes, kicked heart disease or just learned how to eat better, whatever! We want your story.
Send an email to diseaseproof@gmail.com and I’ll give you the details. I look forward to it!
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Say hello to the NEW DiseaseProof.com!
DiseaseProof has come a LONG way. From a lowly blip on the blogosphere, to an EVER-GROWING information source, regularly picked up by Reuters and other MAJOR news outlets.
Posting AMAZING numbers for a niche-blog. DiseaseProof continues to BREAK its own traffic numbers month after month. And this month figures to be the BEST yet! Cracking 100,000 total visitors.
DiseaseProof’s revamped image is just the NEXT step in its evolution. And it’ll only get better!
Kicking off the new design, this week will feature guest articles from our friends and colleagues, like Jim Foster of Diet-Blog and Jennifer McCann of Vegan Lunch Box, and special follow up posts on Operation Banana Hunt, my GREEN tomato and more!
Myself, Dr. Fuhrman and all of team Fuhrman THANK YOU for your loyalty and support! We’re glad to have you and we appreciate your help in making DiseaseProof an exciting and up-and-coming brand.
I’ll be around ALL day, ironing out all the kinks. So please explore the new look. Click around and let me know what you think. Make lots of comments. And thanks again, you guys ROCK! Peace.
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Like organic foods and all things green? So do I. That’s why I’m excited to announce I’m NOW a regular contributor on OrganicAuthority!
I’ll be posting there Monday through Friday. So, can find me on OrganicAuthority, at Diet-Blog and as always, right here on DiseaseProof. Thanks for reading!
Just a reminder, DiseaseProof is having its first offline meeting, Saturday, August 23rd at Sacred Chow in New York City.
You remember Sacred Chow. It’s an Eating to Live on the Outside favorite—making it the perfect place to hang out!
If you’ll be in NYC on the 23rd come chill with me! Now, I haven’t worked out a time yet or if the day will include other activities, but I’ll keep you posted.
This won’t be an official Dr. Fuhrman event, just a casual meet and greet. If you’re interested, send an email to diseaseproof@gmail.com. A bunch of people have already signed up!
I saw Dr. Fuhrman on TV in 2003. I was really fired up about his eating program and told my friend. My friend was thrilled I was showing concern for my health so she brought me a copy of Eat to Live. I read the book from cover to cover! To this day, I still carry Eat to Live with me! It is my second Bible. I really LIVE by the book, passages are underlined, notes are in the margins, etc. Yes, I experienced headaches, and cravings the first 5–7 days, but because I could eat without weighing food or counting calories, I felt it was an “even” exchange.
After a few weeks I truly felt energized! My poor body was getting some sound nutrition! I finally got weighed and confirmed that I weighed 448 ½ pounds. During the next 8 weeks, I lost 34 ½ pounds. From that moment on, I never looked back!
Week after week, I continued to lose weight. Eight and half months later, (July 2004), I lost my first 100 pounds. By the following August, 2005 I lost my second 100 pounds. By the summer of 2006, I lost another 50 pounds. Of course, as I am approaching my ideal weight, the weight is coming off more slowly. I now belong to a gym and have incorporated walking and weight training into my weekly routine.
Today, I embrace my new high nutrient eating lifestyle. I don’t eat cheese, bread of any type, rice, or pasta. I only eat veggies, fruits, raw nuts, and beans. People are confused when they see how I eat. Many are astonished by the facts; for instance, 100 calories of broccoli offers more protein than 100 calories of meat. People question how I eat so much food and still lose weight or how I am satisfied eating salads and vegetables.
I have purchased and given Eat to Live to many people. My own family doctor is amazed at my transformation.
Wow, yes my life has changed! I literally lived in my own isolated world before I committed to losing weight. Ironically, the bigger I became, the more invisible I became to the people around me! I went from a world of being ALL alone with a good friend or two (who saw the real me hiding under all that weight) to this world of so many people. I am still adjusting to this, too, as it can be overwhelming. Previously, I shopped late at night to avoid people making comments about me during "normal" shopping hours. I could only buy clothes from big women's magazines. The clothes had no style and were just big baggy dresses. I avoided restaurants. I could not fit into a booth and having a chair pulled to the end of a table was so embarrassing. I could never use a public bathroom because I could not fit in the stall. I could go on and on and probably will when I write the book everyone keeps encouraging me to write.
I owe my life to the Eat to Live lifestyle. Dr. Fuhrman saved me from literally eating myself to death. How grateful and blessed I am. Whatever lies ahead, I am ready for it!
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Dermatologists insist that food has nothing to do with acne, rheumatologists insist that food has nothing to do with rheumatoid arthritis, and gastroenterologists insist that food has nothing to do with irritable and inflammatory bowel disease. Even cardiologists have been resistant to accept the accumulating evidence that atherosclerosis is entirely avoidable.As for dermatology, a new study has determined that foods like milk and refined carbohydrates are responsible for an increased incidence of acne. Via Family Practice News:
The link between milk consumption and acne has been extensively pursued by investigators at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, said Dr. Mancini. In a prospective cohort study of 6,094 girls, aged 9–15 years, who were children of Nurses' Health Study II participants, self-reported greater consumption of milk—whether whole, low-fat, or skim—on food frequency questionnaires was independently associated with acne severity in a multivariate analysis, said Dr. Mancini, head of pediatric dermatology at Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago.Dr. Danby is a champion of the diet-acne connection. Here are a couple more links to his work:
Those who drank two or more servings of milk per day during the 2-year study period were roughly 20% more likely to have acne than were girls who drank less than one serving per week. The results weren't significantly altered by excluding girls using contraceptives or restricting the analysis to those who were less than 11 years old at baseline (Dermatol. Online J. 2006;12:1)…
…In an editorial accompanying an earlier study by the group, Dr. F. William Danby, a dermatologist at Dartmouth University, Hanover, N.H., noted that 75%–90% of all milk reaching the marketplace comes from pregnant cows. This milk contains progesterone, other dihydrotestosterone precursors, somatostatin, prolactin, insulin, growth factor-releasing hormone, insulinlike growth factors 1 and 2, and numerous other substances that could stimulate pilosebaceous activity (J. Am. Acad. Dermatol. 2005;552:360-2).
Dr. Mancini noted that the link between acne and a high-glycemic-load diet rich in processed carbohydrates was made by Loren Cordain, Ph.D., and coworkers at Colorado State University, Fort Collins. In contrast to the near-universal prevalence of acne in adolescents in modern developed countries, they reported a rate of essentially zero in two non-Westernized populations: the Aché hunter-gatherers of Paraguay and Kitavan Islanders of Papua New Guinea. These subjects also had low serum insulin and high insulin sensitivity.
Most chronic illnesses have been earned from a lifetime of inferior nutrition, which eventually results in abnormal function or frequent discomfort. These illnesses are not beyond our control, they are primarily genetic, and they are not the normal consequence of aging. True, we all have our weakest links governed by genetics; but these links need never reveal themselves unless our health deteriorates. Superior health flows naturally as a result of superior nutrition. Our predisposition to certain illnesses can remain hidden.In fact, here's a great success story from one of Dr. Fuhrman's patients. Check out Caitlin's triumph, told by her proud mother:
For approximately a year before consulting with Dr. Fuhrman, our daughter Caitlin suffered from progressive fatigue, severe acne, and chronic stomach upset. It caused numerous absences from school, which was troubling because Caitlin was an honor student who had always done well academically. After seeing several doctors with no diagnosis, Caitlin became exceedingly frustrated and asked us to enroll her in counseling for stress management. We began counseling as a family. Caitlin’s symptoms worsened and she was eventually diagnosed with ulcers. Six weeks later, we learned that the tests revealed an alarmingly high presence of the antibodies that fight bacterially-based ulcers. According to the doctor, Caitlin probably had the bacteria in her stomach for more than a year. He immediately prescribed a course of four antibiotics taken simultaneously, which destroyed her digestive system. She was worse than ever. We asked our counselor to recommend a physician who practiced nutritional medicine and we were led to Dr. Fuhrman. He immediately put Caitlin on a cleansing diet with lots of green vegetables and high nutrient soups, but no medication of any kind. Over those first two months, as her digestive system healed, Caitlin regained her energy and her skin cleared. No more stomach upset, no more acne, no more fatigue. Caitlin was healthy in body and spirit and she was discharged from counseling. She graduated from high school with honors and received a scholarship to pursue her college education. We are so grateful to Dr. Fuhrman and nutritional medicine and can’t imagine where we would be without this approach.
I think dermatologists need to expand their minds a little and not take themselves so seriously. Dr. Cox from Scrubs would agree. Take a look:
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Sunday, May 18th
Monday, May 19th
- Breakfast: Wholegrain toast with natural peanut butter and apricot jam. Cup of tea.
- Lunch: 4 mini falafel bites, hummus, salad (spinach, watercress, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, grated carrot, green peppers, and lemon juice).
- Dinner: Tomato, spinach and yellow lentil curry with basmati rice and a dollop of plain yogurt.
- Snacks: Apple, 2 cups tea.
- Breakfast: 1/2 cup plain yogurt with blueberries, small banana, 3 tbsp natural muesli, and 1 tbsp sunflower seeds.
- Morning snack: 2 oatcakes with almond butter and tea.
- Lunch: Leftover spinach and tomato curry with rice.
Awesome! Thanks Shauna! And good luck with that marathon—go Aussie go! Okay, now here’s Deborah from Drop the Fork. Check it out:Tuesday, May 20th
- Dinner: Grilled salmon, stir-fried spring greens with garlic and lemon juice.
- Afternoon snack: Apple, walnuts, and tea.
- Exercise: 1 hour kickboxing class.
Wednesday, May 21st
- Breakfast: 1/2 cup plain yogurt with blueberries, small banana, 3 tbsp natural muesli, and 1 tbsp sunflower seeds.
- Morning snack: 2 oatcakes with almond butter and tea.
- Lunch: 4 mini falafel bites, hummus, salad (spinach, watercress, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, grated carrot, green peppers, and lemon juice) and 1 wholegrain tortilla.
- Afternoon snack: Orange and tea.
- Dinner: Grilled salmon, stir-fried spring greens with garlic and lemon juice.
- Evening snack: Hot chocolate (made with 1 cup 2% milk, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1 tbsp cocoa).
- Exercise: Yoga DVD, 30 minutes.
Thursday, May 22nd
- Breakfast: 1/2 cup plain yogurt with blueberries, small banana, 3 tbsp natural muesli, and 1 tbsp sunflower seeds.
- Morning snack: 2 oatcakes with almond butter, apple, and tea.
- Lunch: Whole meal pita bread, 2 boiled eggs, salad, and Dijon mustard.
- Afternoon snack: 35g Green & Blacks chocolate bar and tea.
- Dinner: Salad with green lentils, arugula, roast vegetables (peppers, tomatoes, and zucchini), balsamic vinegar, and a poached egg on top.
- Exercise: Boot camp circuit training DVD, 1 hour.
Friday, May 23rd
- Breakfast: 1/2 cup plain yogurt with blueberries, small banana, 3 tbsp natural muesli, and 1 tbsp sunflower seeds.
- Morning snack: Apple and cup of tea.
- Lunch: Whole meal pita bread, 2 boiled eggs, salad, and Dijon mustard.
- Afternoon snack: Slice of carrot cake and cup of tea.
- Dinner: Chinese takeaway (beef and veggie satay, rice, and a spring roll).
- Exercise: 5 mile walk.
Saturday, May 24th
- Breakfast: 1/2 cup plain yogurt with blueberries, small banana, 3 tbsp natural muesli, and 1 tbsp sunflower seeds.
- Morning snack: Handful of cherry tomatoes and tea.
- Lunch: Lentil and vegetable soup and wholegrain toast.
- Afternoon snack: 1 mango.
- Dinner: Homemade butternut squash and red lentil dahl, brown rice, chapati, dollop of each mango chutney and plain yogurt.
- Breakfast: Oatmeal with milk and banana, 2 slices wholegrain toast with peanut butter and apricot jam, and tea.
- Exercise: 16 mile walk.
- Exercise snack: Snickers bar and water.
- Lunch: Pita pizza (wholegrain pita, sun-dried tomato pesto, mushroom, peppers, onion, olives, and low-fat mozzarella), and tea.
- Dinner: Homemade vegetable lasagna (green lentils, tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, carrots, cottage cheese, whole-wheat lasagna sheets, and parmesan), and steamed green beans.
- Dessert: Homemade peach crumble (peaches, oats, brown sugar, flour, and butter) with plain yogurt.
Sunday, May 18th
- Breakfast (on the bike): Tall skim no-whip mocha coffee, “black-n-white” bagel, toasted, lite cream cheese; 643 calories.
- Snack (post-ride): 1 cup chocolate soy milk and cherries; 193 calories.
- Lunch: Buffalo chicken sausage kabob (onion, peppers, and cherry tomatoes), Trader Joe’s Masala Naan, white rice, mango black bean salsa, apple, and 20 grapes; 705 calories.
- Afternoon snack: Thomas’ Lite muffin with 2 Laughing Cow lite cheese wedges; 170 calories.
- Dinner: Baked wild Chinook salmon with Dizzy Pig “Raging River Rub” seasoning, gorgonzola/parmesan polenta, stir-fried broccoli and asparagus with garlic, cracked pepper, and sesame oil, and 1 glass Vouvray; 809 calories.
- Exercise: 18.6 mile bike ride (13.6 mph pace), 1.25 hours rollerblading; 1016 calories burned.
Monday, May 19, 2008
- Pre-breakfast: Grande skim no-whip mocha coffee; 223 calories.
- Breakfast: Blueberries and raspberries, Thomas’ Lite English muffin with orange fig spread and Laughing Cow Lite Garlic ‘n Herb Cheese; 337 calories.
- Morning snack: Cheerios; 139 calories.
- Lunch: Health Valley No Salt Added Black Bean Soup, Banana, and 3 Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate mini’s; 491 calories.
- Afternoon snack: Tall skim no-whip mocha and 1 oz dry-roasted almonds; 326 calories.
- Dinner: Salmon and shrimp in red Thai curry sauce with asparagus and orange bell peppers, rice, sliced heirloom tomato, and stir-fried mushrooms; 727 calories.
- Snack (post-lifting): 1 glass Silk chocolate soymilk; 137 calories.
- Exercise: 9.36 mile bike ride (13.6 mph pace), 5 minutes incline treadmill (warm-up for lifting)
- 30 minute lifting session (beginning Phase II of Alwyn Cosgrove’s workout in “The New Rules of Lifting for Women,” by Lou Schuler); 433 calories burned.
Tuesday, May 20th
- Breakfast: Blueberries and raspberries, Thomas’ Light English muffin with Orange fig spread and Laughing Cow Lite Garlic ‘n Herb Cheese; 347 calories.
- Snack: Skim no-whip mocha coffee; 169 calories.
- Lunch: Buffalo style chicken sausage kabob with peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes, rice, salad greens with light dressing, 1 banana, and 1 Hershey’s Special Dark mini chocolate; 506 calories.
- Snack (firm meeting): Chocolate chip cookie and mini chocolate-covered pretzel; 279 calories.
- Happy Hour (after meeting): Hefeweizen beer; 215 calories.
- Dinner: Roasted salmon, polenta with gorgonzola and parmesan, and stir-fried broccoli with olive oil; 493 calories.
Wednesday, May 21st
- Breakfast: Skim no-whip mocha coffee, raspberry scone, and strawberries; 722 calories.
- Lunch: Turkey wrap on whole-wheat tortilla with tomatoes, carrots, avocado, peppers, and cucumber, almonds, and 1 banana; 751 calories.
- Snack: Skim no-whip mocha coffee; 167 calories.
- Dinner: Shrimp curry over toasted whole-wheat bread and sliced tomato; 409 calories.
- Snack: Silk chocolate soy milk; 140 calories.
- Late night snack: Wine; 124 calories.
- Exercise: Bike ride; 615 calories burned.
Thursday, May 22nd
- Breakfast: Skim no-whip mocha coffee, raspberry apricot thumbprint scone, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries; 551 calories.
- Snack: Cheerios; 139 calories.
- Lunch: Progresso lower sodium minestrone soup, King Oscar sardines, Reeses chocolate miniatures, and 1 Banana; 688 calories.
- Snack: Girl Scout Thin Mints cookies and skim no-whip mocha coffee; 245 calories.
- Dinner: Royal Red sockeye canned salmon, success brown rice, and carrots; 430 calories.
- Late-night snack: Potato chips and Chevre and crackers; 290 calories.
- Exercise: Bike ride; 329 calories burned.
Friday, May 23rd
- Breakfast: Hell’s Kitchen spicy peanut butter on light English muffin, blueberries and raspberries, and skim no-whip mocha coffee; 566 calories.
- Lunch: Korean lunch buffet (variety of foods: rice, spicy chicken wing, fried fish, dumpling, tempura, stir-fried veggies, and salmon); 748 calories.
- Snack: Gettysburg Mud ice cream from Kilwin’s in waffle cup, wine-tasting at Adams County Winery (wine and crackers); 568 calories.
- Dinner: 2-egg omelet with Chevre and light Laughing Cow cheese wedges, and salad with shredded parmesan and light feta dressing; 462 calories.
- Snack: 2 glasses of wine and Cheerios; 389 calories.
- Exercise: Cycling in the Gettysburg battlefield; 629 calories burned.
Saturday, May 24thWow, thanks Deborah and big ups for cycling the Tour de Brooklyn and your fastidious calorie-counting (Deborah's pictures from the tour). Okay, my turn. Here’s my food and exercise for the week:
- Breakfast: Panera chocolate chip bagel with raspberry cream cheese, fruit cup, and orange juice; 692 calories.
- Lunch: “Provence en Boite,” restaurant in Brooklyn (Crêpe salée with Swiss cheese, béchamel sauce, and mushrooms, lamb sausages, and salad with vinaigrette); 1106 calories.
- Snack: Egg cream (no egg, no cream: chocolate syrup, milk, seltzer water) and raspberry truffle; 199 calories.
- Snack: Happy hour (1 glass of wine at an Italian enoteca); 150 calories.
- Dinner: Rain, a pan-Asian restaurant (veggie chips, Singapore curried rice noodles with shrimp, egg, chicken, Vietnamese spring rolls with sauce, 1 slice of roasted duck, mixed Asian vegetables, and wine); 1,265 calories.
- Exercise: Hours of walking; 780 calories burned.
Sunday, May 18th
- Exercise: Elliptical stepper machine (5 minute warm up: Max incline and max resistance) and 5k treadmill run (1.10 miles at 7mph, 1.50 miles at 7.5mph, and .50 mile at 8mph: 25:30 minutes).
- Breakfast: 1 shot of pomegranate juice, Gerry’s chocolate pudding, pineapple chunks, and water.
- Lunch: 1 bag of steamed baby spinach with a tomato, garbanzo bean, VegiZest, unsweetened plain soymilk, tahini sauce, and a glass of Silk Light chocolate soymilk.
- Dinner: Flounder cooked with stewed tomatoes, onions, and capers, Asian stir-fry vegetables, roasted potatoes with olive oil, and water.
- Snacks: Fresh blueberries, 1 tangerine, pineapple chunks, and water.
Monday, May 19th
- Exercise: 5k treadmill run (2.6 miles at 7 mph and .50 miles at 7.5 mph), elliptical machine (20 minutes: Interval, alternating between 11 and 8 resistance: 3,000 strides), and weight training (chest, back, and abdominals).
- Breakfast: 1 shot of pomegranate juice, Gerry’s chocolate pudding, pineapple chunks, and water.
- Lunch: Veggie sushi (with avocado, brown rice, carrots, cucumber, and nori) and water.
- Dinner: Steamed broccoli, carrots, beans sprouts, with a garlic, unsweetened plain soymilk, tahini, and garbanzo beans sauce, and water.
- Snacks: 1 tangerine, 1 golden delicious apple with peanut butter.
Tuesday, May 20th
- Exercise: 5k treadmill run (2.6 miles at 7 mph and .50 miles at 7.5 mph), elliptical machine (20 minutes: Interval, alternating between 11 and 8 resistance: 3,000 strides), weight training (legs, back, and abdominals), and 90 minute Saraswati Yoga class.
- Breakfast: 1 shot of pomegranate juice, Gerry’s chocolate pudding, and water.
- Lunch: 1 bag of baby spinach, 2 oranges, and water.
- Dinner: Lentil soup (with carrots, potatoes, celery, and spices), 1 boiled corn on the cob, and water.
- Snacks: 5 chocolate Pop’ems, 1 tangerine, and 1 apple.
Wednesday, May 21st
- Exercise: 5k treadmill run (2.6 miles at 7 mph and .50 miles at 7.5 mph), elliptical machine (20 minutes: Interval, alternating between 11 and 8 resistance: 3,000 strides), weight training (shoulders, back, and abdominals), and 90 minute Ashtanga Yoga class.
- Breakfast: 1 shot of pomegranate juice, Gerry’s chocolate pudding, and water.
- Lunch: 1 bag of baby spinach, 2 plums, and water.
- Dinner: Escarole with white beans, garlic, and olive oil and water.
- Snacks: 5 chocolate Pop’ems and a glass of unsweetened plain almond milk.
Thursday, May 22nd
- Exercise: 5k treadmill run (2.6 miles at 7 mph and .50 miles at 7.5 mph), elliptical machine (20 minutes: Interval, alternating between 11 and 8 resistance: 3,000 strides), and weight training (arms, back, and abdominals)..
- Breakfast: 1 shot of pomegranate juice, Gerry’s chocolate pudding, and water.
- Lunch: 1 bag of baby spinach, 2 peaches, and water.
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- Dinner: Steamed broccoli, celery, Bok choy, carrots, snow peas, scallions, and mushrooms, steamed edamame beans, and water.
- Snacks: 1 orange, 5 chocolate Pop’ems, and a glass of unsweetened plain almond milk.
Friday, May 23rd
- Exercise: 90 minute Saraswati Yoga class.
- Breakfast: 1 shot of pomegranate juice, Gerry’s chocolate pudding, and water.
- Lunch: Chopped fresh pineapple and a glass of Silk Light chocolate soymilk.
- Dinner: Chicory with white beans, garlic, and olive oil and water.
- Snacks: Fresh cantaloupe chunks and water.
Saturday, May 24th
- Exercise: 60 minutes of yoga done at home.
- Breakfast: 1 shot of pomegranate juice, some fresh pineapple, strawberries, cantaloupe, cherries, and water.
Alright, so there you have it, three different people with three very different diets. Now, it's time for you to play the nutritionist. How’d we do? Is there room for improvement? Any suggestions? Go ahead, be brutal.
- Lunch: 2 tangerines and water.
- Dinner: Steamed asparagus, carrots, 2 golden delicious apples with peanut butter, and water.
- Snacks: Some cherries, strawberries, and water.
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After college, Gerry Pugliese, 27, of Somerville, N.J., landed a stressful job with long hours that proved to be a bad fit. Short on time, Pugliese stopped exercising and found relief in food. He soon added 60 pounds to his 5-foot-5 frame. "I kind of collapsed inward," he says. "All my healthy habits went out the window."It was great talking to Sally. Thanks again Sally! Oh, and I “started the regimen” in 2006, not 2007. For more on my weight-loss story, check out: Healthy, with a Vengeance!
Then he landed a job writing about health, diet and fitness for a blog publisher. The company teamed him with physician Joel Fuhrman to produce a blog on health, including a mostly vegetarian diet. When the company was acquired by another firm, Pugliese and Fuhrman continued their blog, DiseaseProof, on their own.
Pugliese says his diet epiphany came while writing a blog on healthful eating and noshing on fried Chinese takeout. That's when he started following the tips that Furhman espoused: eating a mostly vegetable-based diet and getting plenty of exercise. Since he started the regimen in 2007, he has lost 60 pounds and now does yoga, lifts weights and trains for 5K runs. "I'm your average guy," Pugliese says. "And I can make it work."
Dear Dr. Fuhrman,
Last August I had a telephone consult with you for my RA with a follow up 6 weeks later. I've been following the plan you gave me religiously since then. I've even come to enjoy the watercress in my morning smoothie and the daily juiced cruciferous greens.
My RA is in complete remission, all blood tests are normal and I have no joint pain at all. A great side effect is that my asthma has gone. I have not used any asthma meds since November and despite this being peak allergy season for me, my lung function tests are perfect.
I can't thank you enough for the changes to my health that your advice has made possible. This is the first time in my adult life that I have no systemic inflammation. No active RA, no iritis, no corneal rejection and no asthma. I didn't realize that a body could feel so good.
Many thanks for changing my life.
Sherene
The rebirth of Scott Cutshall began Thanksgiving day 2005, a bowl of vegetable soup for breakfast kicking off a new life where nothing would be the same. Cutshall, living in Jersey City at the time, weighed 501 pounds. He was having breakfast. And then he was getting ready to go on a bike ride…But as they say, the proof is in the veggie-based pudding. Here’s Scott before:
… Back up to 2004. Cutshall, a freelance jazz drummer, husband and father, 38 years old, was not sure if he'd live to see 40. He wore size XXXXXXXXXXL pants and could not tie his own shoes. He could walk only nine steps at a time. Breathing was sometimes difficult. A doctor said he would be dead in six months without stomach-reduction surgery and heavy medication…
…He ate essentially the same thing every day, three base meals developed off research from the book "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, a New Jersey physician. The food equaled a daily dose of about 1,200 calories and provided all the nutrients, protein and vitamins essential for good health, though nothing more, Cutshall said…
…Cutshall emphasizes that this meal plan is not a diet. In fact, don't even say that word around him. After years of trying fad diets to lose weight, the D-word no longer exists in the Cutshall nomenclature. "It takes a total lifestyle change, with food being one part of a larger picture," he said.
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Oh man. When I first met Gerry, he was a smart guy. He was a hard-working guy. And he was a friendly guy. But was not what you'd call an "athletic" guy.You might remember Henry. He was actually DiseaseProof’s first blogger and he’s the dude who hired me to write for blog. So if you don’t like my stuff you’ve got him to blame. Just kidding Henry! Thanks for your ongoing support and infinite wisdom.
But man, things have changed. He's so skinny and buff and all that that it's almost hard to remember that he didn't always go for a run, or to the gym, for fun.
Okay, so Henry introduces me to this overweight comedian who is going to write for me. Yeah right, I'm thinking to myself, he'd be more in his element writing for Pizza King or Burger Hut. Reminds me of all those cardiologists and other specialists who say to me, "Yeah, that might work for you, but none of my patients would ever do that."Let me point out. I actually asked Dr. Fuhrman to be very snarky in his comment. I figured the sappy success story thing was too played out—so this was perfect! This is exactly the kind of tough-talk a guy like me thrives on. Thanks Joel. As I always say, you da’ man!
I'm thinking, just because you don't see the tremendous personal benefits and enhanced enjoyment in life from eating healthy, you assume none of your patients would want to forgo bypass surgery, dialysis and dementia and learn about a great tasting disease-protective, disease-reversing, life extending diet-style.
Yet, I did almost the same thing with Gerry. I figured, about one chance in a hundred I am going to convince this junk-food addicted guy that healthful eating is worth the benefits, I thought to myself. Was I wrong! You can never sum people up and assume anything; they all deserve your best shot.
The first words that come to mind when I look at you now is, happy and confident.This from the women who used to scold me with a wooden spoon and then seconds later would tearfully apologize for doing it. Love you mom! But seriously, happy and confident? At my most unhealthy I was neither one of those things—far from it in fact. Those words are great to hear and they’re doubly sweet coming from my mom. Thanks mommy.
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In the study of children with appropriately-treated asthma, supervised aerobic exercise training improved aerobic fitness and curbed feelings of breathlessness induced by physical activity.Sure, exercise is important, but did you know asthma can be controlled with proper nutrition? Just check out these success stories:
Moreover, daily doses of inhaled steroids were reduced by 52 percent in children who participated in the exercise training, while the doses remained unchanged or increased for children in a comparison "control" group who did not exercise.
"Physical conditioning in asthmatic children receiving appropriate medical treatment also improved health-related quality of life, especially their asthma symptoms and exercise capacity," study author Dr. Celso R. F. Carvalho, at the University of Sao Paulo, told Reuters Health.
People with migraines also may be suffering from some brain damage as brain cells swell and become starved of oxygen -- a finding that may help explain why migraine sufferers have a higher risk of stroke, researchers reported on Sunday.Now, for years I thought headaches were just one of those things. Don’t know what causes them, just got to deal with them. Not so, according to Dr. Fuhrman. He’ll tell you, nutrition excellence knocks headaches and migraines right out of the box. From Eat to Live:
Similar brain damage can occur with concussions and after strokes, the researchers said in this week's issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience.
They said their findings suggest that migraine sufferers should not simply get pain relief but should take drugs that prevent the migraine, which is often preceded by "aura" -- a series of visual disturbances that can include flashes of light or black spots.
Recurrent headaches are not much different. They are almost always the result of nutritional folly and, like other reasons that keep doctors' offices busy, are completely avoidable.I don’t know about you, but, I’d rather eat lots wholesome natural food instead of popping handfuls of high-dose ibuprofens any day of the week. Now, Dr. Fuhrman has had a lot of success treating headache and migraine suffers with nutritional excellence. Here are couple stories:
The relationship between food triggers and migraines has been the subject of much debate, with varying results from medical researchers. Headache specialists such as Seymour Diamond, director of the Diamond Headache Clinic of Columbus Hospital, report that about 30 percent of patients can identify food triggers.1
My experience in treating migraine and severe-headache patients with a more comprehensive nutritional approach has shown that 90 to 95 percent of patients are able to remain headache-free after the first three-month period. These patients avoid common migraine triggers, but also in the healing phase they adhere to a strict natural-food vegan diet of primarily fruits and vegetables rich in natural starches like potatoes and brown rice. These patients must avoid all packaged and processed foods, which are notorious for containing hidden food additives, even though they are not disclosed on the labels. They also avoid all added salt.
You can travel to one headache specialist after another and try a hundred different remedies. But if you want to understand why you get headaches and how to beat them forever listen in to this fascinating show! Dr. Fuhrman explains how eating a high-nutrient diet can alleviate headaches, which are usually associated with other health-related problems.Continue Reading...
According to a survey of 1,022 adults (515 women and 507 men), 69% of Americans would prefer to try a dietary approach, whereas only 21% preferred treating diabetes with medicines. The survey reinforces results from clinical research on diabetes, which has consistently found that people with diabetes adapt well to low-fat vegetarian diets and gain important health benefits. A dietary approach to diabetes based on scientific research shows that a low-fat vegan diet can lower high blood sugar levels three times more effectively than oral medications.Well gee, I don’t know, would it work? Consider these success stories:
Frederick Conroy of Colorado shares his success on the Eat to Live diet:
If life is a journey, and we stop along the way to meet and dance and share knowledge and experience, the road I have been on is a search to learn how to eat properly.
This is my tale. It begins in the row houses of suburbia, with long green lawns kept up with Scott's fertilizer and new paint jobs every eight years. It is the computer age, the age of pollution and throwaways, a time when man was learning to live in natural harmony and rhythm with his world.
Have you ever woken up feeling disoriented, in the doldrums, without any energy or direction in your life? This is the state I found myself in until I met Dr. Fuhrman and I changed my lifestyle to conform to his system of natural health.
Since my twenties I had read in magazines or seen on the TV stories of people whose lives have been changed simply by the food they eat. Whether it was the nutritional advice of Adelle Davis, with her advice on whole grains or vegetables; or William Dufty in Sugar Blues, warning about the dangers of sugar and diabetes; or Frances Moore Lappe whose Diet for a Small Planet warned of the dangers of an overpopulated world of hungry malnourished people, if we continue our dependence on a national diet based on the standards of the cattlemen and dairy industries. I was interested and attracted to the logic and reasoning of the arguments made by the proponents of a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, beans and other natural foods because of 1—the direct link between good nutrition and health and 2—the negative effects of fast foods, junk food.
My family history also played a key role in the decision-making process I made about my health in my adult life. My father grew up in a blue-collar Irish community in New Jersey. His family lived and worked in one of the most developed and industrialized cities in the world. Smokestacks, railroads, yards of thrown away tires and automobiles, rivers with debris which became polluted with chemicals and undrinkable. Growing up in the 1930s and 1940s they made every mistake possible. My father and his peers smoked filterless Camel cigarettes, drank alcohol, and in his youth my father pumped gas. Success was measured not by your health and living in a countryside of beauty and peace, but cars, apartments, drinking and lack of inhibition. Economics certainly do play a role in our medical hygiene and history. After World War II my father and most of his peers pulled themselves up by their bootstraps to a middle class lifestyle, moving from the blue collar homes to the suburbs.
My mother's family was a mix of German and English roots. She grew up in a New Jersey of lawn parties, canoe clubs, golf, and private schools, and even during the depression her father worked. My mother had marked good eating habits, did not smoke and drank in moderation. She was well educated. She also was active physically, and encouraged all of her offspring to exercise daily, whether it was skiing, bicycles, tennis, or marathon running.
As a result of their ecology, my father and two of my uncles died young of cancer. Today diabetes runs rampant through my remaining family, and they have serious problems with obesity and heart disease.
I was on my own trying to learn how to eat correctly. There are so many negative influences out in the world, whether it is peer influence to use alcohol, to be a couch potato, the cafeteria food we were served in high school and in universities, or the mess hall food in the Army, high in calories, low in essential fresh whole foods-—a diet centered on meat, flour, oil and sugar; not vegetables and fresh fruit. There is also the negative influence of media, television and billboards promoting fast food, soda, cookies and candies for instant gratification.
When I reached my mid-forties I had a wake up call and all of this caught up with me I developed bloody diarrhea. I got so nervous I checked myself into the Strang Cancer Center in NYC, and I thought I might die. The symptoms really frightened me. I was told I needed medications to stop the bleeding.
I was at a dead end. I was frightened and lost. I tried changing my diet and symptoms only intensified. I then did a very interesting thing which changed my life forever. I went to the book shop, and I was browsing books on medical care. Then I saw Dr Fuhrman's book, Fasting and Eating For Health. I thought awesome; it remains one of the best books I have read in my life. What could be in this? Was it a traditional Indian method of healing? Had this tradition ever been successful with people in the culture I had grown up in? It sounded like tough talk, that only a strong person would be successful at this. Yet, I was attracted to the logic of Dr. Fuhrman's arguments.
I bought the book and I began the road to recovery, immediately my symptoms disappeared. More importantly, there were no scars—or residual problems that continue after this experience.
Now ,after reading Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live, I am hooked for life. I knew this was what I needed. I think I read the entire book in about four days, it was so interesting. It remains one of the most influential and best written books of my life. Because of Dr. Fuhrman my faith in self-healing has developed to a much deeper and mature level. I believe I was guided to Dr. Fuhrman by some inner compass some sixth sense that is divine inside me. I have tried to deepen my understanding why I reached this particular conclusion, and perhaps it is because I believe in the experience of déjà vu. Maybe I have been here before.
As my health came back to me, I began to run long distances, and gradually became involved in running several half marathons and longer distances. Sometimes I feel like my life is similar to that of Diogenes, the Greek who went in search of an honest man, by carrying a lamp in broad daylight throughout Athens. From the beginning everything was right here. If I had not failed, not suffered, I would never have discovered the answer to all my health questions and the healthiest way to live and eat. I have found that when things are their worst, if we believe and sincerely search, there is an answer, a light.
On another level, I am also a little wiser now for the disinformation which was the reason that I came to this point. I believe that we should have a mature education system in this country where true information on nutrition and diet and health are available to people who want to change. This information should and would be in the hands of the media; we would blitzed by information on whole foods and vegetables; and their effect on our lives—physically, mentally, psychologically, and spiritually. This information would be on the radio, computer, TV and billboards. There would not be the need for hospitals that we have today, nor would we rely on surgery and drugs in order to correct problems which primarily arise from the foods we eat. We would learn to eat correctly as the first step to recovery, as the basic building block to a healthy world.
Even though it's only a few months old, DiseaseProof has already accumulated a pretty big library posts and podcasts on various health topics. If you ever feel like searching through those archives (either by clicking on a topic at the left and then scrolling through relevant results, or better yet typing a keyword in the search box at the upper left) you'll see there's all kinds of interesting stuff.
Here's a rundown of some of the more popular posts from our first few months:
The New England Journal of Medicine recently published a study claiming that two popular arthritis supplements don't work. Gina Kolata of The New York Times reports that despite the $734 million Americans spent on glucosamine and chondroitin in 2004, trials revealed few results.
In the member section of his website, Dr. Fuhrman has said "I think glucosamine and chondroitin are safe and have some clinical evidence to show they are mildly helpful. So if they are helping you, great."
He is more interested in looking at the bigger picture. He says that poor diets can cause rheumatoid arthritis and similar conditions. Adopting a nutrient rich vegetable based diet offers you the chance to eradicate it. This is from Dr. Fuhrman's book Eat to Live:
Some people, especially other physicians, may be skeptical. There are so many exaggerated and false claims made in health field, especially by those selling so-called natural remedies. Nevertheless, it is wrong to underestimate the results obtainable through appropriate nutritional intervention. Even many of my patients with autoimmune illnesses (such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and hyperthyrodism) are able to recover and throw away their medications.He also includes this table of diseases that can be caused by poor diet.
When one of my patients who had a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis went back to her previous physician, a rheumatologist, and told him she was now well and did not require any medication, he replied, "It must just be that you are resting more." She said, "I'm not resting more. In fact, I am more active than ever because my pain is gone, and I stopped the drugs." He replied, "It's just a temporary remission; you'll be back soon with another crisis." She never went back.
| acne | allergies | angina |
| appendicitis | asthma | arthritis |
| atherosclerosis | constipation | colonic polyps |
| diabetes(adult) | diverticulosis | esophagitis |
| fibromyalgia | gallstones | gastritis |
| gout | headaches | hemorrhoids |
| high blood pressure | hypoglycemic symptoms | indigestion |
| irritable bowel syndrome | kidney stones | lumbar spine syndromes |
| macular degeneration | musculoskeletal pain | osteoperosis |
| sexual dysfunction | stroke | uterine fibroids |
Carolee from Fairfax Virginia recently sent us an email exclaiming her and her son's excitement over starting Eat to Live:
I just purchased and quickly finished reading Eat To Live. I am on day three of the six-week program and enjoying it so far. I JUST got an email informing me that my copy of Disease-Proof Your Child is in the mail RIGHT NOW - I can hardly wait. I look forward to learning more about how I can feed the whole family the RIGHT way. In the meantime, my three-year-old son is eagerly joining me in gorging on veggies. This picture shows him eating his lunch: a whole-wheat pita smeared with roasted-red-pepper-hummus and stuffed with baby greens, shredded carrots and sliced red-pepper. He drank a glass of water and had a clementine for "dessert." He's clearly happy with it - I don't anticipate that he will have a difficult time with this transition.
THANK YOU SO MUCH for the work you have done to get these books out.
Carolee
Fairfax, VA
To follow up the migraine talk of yesterday, here's a success story from high school freshman Renee who conquered her chronic migraines with nutritional excellence.
When I first met Dr. Fuhrman in the end of April, let's just say I was skeptical. After seeing six neurologists and countless other doctors, I wasn't very optimistic. You see my life was turned upside down three and a half years ago.March of 2001 I started to experience migraines that became so severe I was admitted to the hospital that August for a treatment. By that time, I had already seen many doctors and had been put on more medications than I could count.
That whole August I was unable to get a restful sleep. I was tired all the time and had a single migraine for five months straight.
I was re-admitted into the hospital the next March, that following September, and then that January with the treatment helping less and less each time. All of this caused me to miss out on most of my middle school years because I had to be tutored while in bed with my illness.
I then saw a chiropractor who thought I should go see Dr. Fuhrman. I was very skeptical when Dr. Fuhrman told me I would start to see improvements in my illness within a few months if I followed his nutritional advice. That month wasn't pretty as it included some of the worst migraines I had experienced, but as the month came to an end I started to feel a whole lot better. As the months went on I was able to attend summer camp this past summer and have spent more time with my friends then I had in years.
Today I take no medication and attend private high school as a freshman and have only missed two days because of migraines, which is amazing. Although my migraines occasionally return if I veer too much from Dr. Fuhrman's nutritional advice, I have learned that being sick is not just bad luck. I've had excellent health results from nutritional excellence.
From Dr. Fuhrman's book Eat to Live:
A patient came in for his yearly checkup. He was not overweight and had been following a vegetarian diet for years. I did a dietary review of what he ate regulary. He was eating "healthy" flaxseed waffles for breakfast, lots of pasta, whole-wheat bread, and vegan (no animal products) prepared frozen meals on a regular basis.
I spent about thirty minutes pointing out that he was certainly not following my dietary recommendations for excellent health and presented him with some menu suggestions and an outline of my nutritional prescription for superior health, which he agreed to follow.
Twelve weeks later, he had lost about eight pounds and I rechecked his lipid profile, because I didn't like the results we received from the blood test taken the day of his checkup.
The results speak for themselves:
2/1/2001Cholesterol 230
Triglycerides 226
HDL 55
LDL 130
Cholesterol/HDL Ratio 4.185/2/2001
Cholesterol 174
Triglycerides 57
HDL 78
LDL 84
Cholesterol/HDL Ratio 2.23
Janice S. Lehet discusses how Eat to Live changed her life (This story originally appeared on Dr.Fuhrman.com):
"There is no failure, except in no longer trying; no defeat, except from within; no insurmountable barrier, except our own inherent weakness of purpose." Anonymous
Four months ago, I was grossly overweight, had triglyceride and cholesterol levels of nearly 400, and received reports that my liver function tests exceeded the normal range by 25%. Experiencing numbness in my face and foot, I checked into the emergency room at a local hospital fearing that I might have been experiencing a stroke. I don't think I had a stroke since I was released after an overnight stay, but my admittance to Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, New Jersey changed my life.
After ten years of knowing that I had diabetes, I had regressed to a position of taking three daily potent time release pills to manage my glucose levels in spite of my sincere efforts to manage the disease as carefully as possible. I found that as my pill intake increased so did my glucose levels. Still, my doctors continued to increase the medicine's dosage in spite of my discussions with them about articles in the New York Times and other publications revealing that the drug could potentially cause heart failure and kidney disease. One doctor dismissed the articles and touted the benefits of taking the drugs, again weighing such "benefits" against the deleterious effects of the disease.
The pills prescribed to lower my triglycerides and cholesterol levels ravaged my body with pain since I was among the small percentage of patients who cannot safely tolerate statin drugs. Still, the doctor who prescribed the drugs kept changing the prescriptions to other statins, which caused the same symptoms.
As I noted the drugs' potential side effects that I had read about on the Internet, my doctor at the time advised me, "Stay off the Internet. You need to take these or suffer the consequences." Then, he gave me several packets of Baycol. Of course, Baycol was removed from the market because of its serious side effects! Luckily, I had graciously taken the packets but never ingested them.
I don't believe that traditional doctors mean to overmedicate their patients. I believe that they do the best they can based on their training and current medical practices. Most doctors follow a specific path according to having always treated illnesses by medicating their patients. I must add in their favor that some modern medicines have prolonged the human life span even though medicines are not the "magic bullet" for all patients or all diseases.
I need to mention that I did try a nutritional approach to management throughout my bout with diabetes, and I committed myself fully to following the advice of those nutrition professionals. I now believe that I did not receive suitable or even accurate advice in both of the programs. My previous nutritionist kept telling me how "great" my diet was although my glucose average kept rising.
I believe I am an example that Type 2 diabetics can reverse their disease, but only the most courageous and innovative thinkers in the medical profession can help us free ourselves of medicine and direct us to healing our own bodies by eliminating the causes of the disease. I found such a doctor in Joel Fuhrman, M.D.!
Dr. Fuhrman, a board-certified family physician in private practice in New Jersey who specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional and natural methods, had recently opened an office at the hospital's professional center, and I read about his work in reversing patients' diseases while I was waiting to leave the hospital.
In mid-June, I had my first appointment with Dr. Fuhrman who put me on a nutritional plan phasing in specific kinds of healthy foods, supplements and exercise as part of a program that worked wonders for me within a four month period. By July, I had lost 11 pounds. By August, I had lost 21 pounds and reduced my serum cholesterol to 180 and my glucose level to a thirty-day average of 110. Now, in October, my thirty-day average is 103. To date, I have lost 40 pounds and still plan to lose an additional ten since the plan is so easy to follow.
Under the guidance of this knowledgeable physician, I found that I had the power within myself to be healthy and diabetes free once again. The journey to restored good health took only four months under Dr. Fuhrman's direction.
I sincerely hope that my personal renaissance-my delivery to excellent health-will be an inspiration of hope to many other senior citizens and others who suffer from Type 11 diabetes, high triglycerides, high cholesterol, and/or potential liver or kidney failure or worse. At age 66, I am now in better health than I was twenty years ago since I no longer have diabetes, high serum cholesterol levels or high triglycerides, and I am medicine free.
At this writing, I find myself in excellent health once again. I feel great and look six dress sizes better-since I literally plummeted from a size 12 to a size 6 within the first three months under Dr. Fuhrman's care. Most important, is that I have enormous energy and can complete five miles of rigorous exercise on my tread mill within an hour with little effort each day. I feel better now than I did at age 50!
Dr. Fuhrman is one of our country's leading experts on nutrition and natural healing. I feel lucky to have discovered him. He has appeared on hundreds of radio and television shows including Good Morning America, CNN, Good Day NY, TV Food Network and many more. He has been interviewed for Esquire, Woman's World Magazine, Food and Wine, Ebony, Health Confidential, Mothering Magazine, Health Science, Bottom Line, and many others.
Dr. Fuhrman is committed to sharing his formula for successful diabetes reversal through this book, for diabetics, this is a "must own" publication. I can testify to that-by my "new" body, my flood of energy, my good health, and the knowledge I have gained that will help me control my own future health. I am a living example that Dr. Fuhrman's writings and practices are most effective!
A footnote: To those senior citizens who feel that it is too late to improve their health, I point them to Alexander Graham Bell who said,
"Sometimes we stare at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open."
Here's a great e-mail that recently came into Dr. Fuhrman's office:
I just wanted to tell you that I've been eating primarily a vegan diet for the last seven months, with a lot of it being raw fruits and veggies.I have personally dropped ten pounds, and feel great. I really didn't need to lose this weight, but I am loving it! I am 5'2" and now weigh 112lbs. That being said, I workout almost everday so I am also a lot of muscle.
Recently my HDL increased substatially as well, which is truly amazing. My fiance has lost over thirty pounds, and I am so proud of him!
I also find your way of practicing medicine ideal. I am personally a pharmaceutical rep and promote a diabetic medicine. It is interesting to me the corelation between diabetes and eating. You would also be amazed at the offices I call on. When I order healthy, vegetarian lunches for offices, they complain that it's not some deep fried chicken choice! And these are the same people who are telling their patients to eat well.
It's astonishing. I am constantly being picked on in these same offices for my dietary choices too! It's weird. This is the problem with our society today. It's easier for physicians to just throw medications at patients, rather then really consult with them about diet and exercise.
That being said, those that do consult with these patients--a lot of the patients are not compliant. It's like asking an alcoholic to quit drinking. These behavioral patterns are embedded early into these patients.
I want to tell you thank you for all the good work you do. If more people followed your advice, we would find Americans would be living much healthier, productive lives. Let's face it: diabetes and cancer are expensive! Seeing the typical diabetic will be on about six medicines, if not more!
Thank you.
Tor from California shares his encouraging results: (Share your milestones)
I have been on a vegan diet for the past 13 years and just turned 40. In honor of that momentous event, I had a physical exam and blood work done and discovered that my total cholesterol was 155 and LDL was 101. After reading Dr. Fuhrman's book on cholesterol and heart disease, I realized I could do better, so I incorporated pomegranate juice into my diet (approximately 4 oz/day) and started supplementing with Dr. Fuhrman's LDL Protect formula (three times per day at meals). My latest cholesterol results are 115 for the total and 68 for the LDL, both of which are a significant improvement. Next steps include a more full implementation of the diet Dr. Fuhrman recommends in Eat to Live (ETL) - at home I eat close to an ETL diet, but I still fall prey to the siren song of restaurant food too frequently. In 2006, I hope to eat even better than I am now.
With best wishes and gratitude for your important work.
Tor
Lucille talks about her first big win with Eat to Live: (Send us your accomplishments too)
Well, my first big win on Eat to Live (ETL) is that I am LOSING weight. I had gone on a vegetarian diet so many times and always gained weight. So I said....well, I guess that's not for me. But I'm very, very pleased with the results so far - about 4 pounds in less than 2 weeks.
I notice I fall asleep faster and wake more rested. I don't crave anything. I may look in the freezer at some ice cream but then I say...nah. Today I saw a huge chocolate cake at work and I just shrugged. I won't say it wasn't tempting but the awareness of how I would FEEL in about 20 minutes stopped me cold. But also, I really didn't crave it. I can't tell you how much cake and desserts I used to eat at gatherings. I'd keep going back to stuff myself. If someone talked to me, I couldn't wait to get rid of them so I could go back to the dessert table.
I eat less at meals, too. I used to feel like a pig because I couldn't stop eating. Now I know it's because I wasn't being nourished.
Before ETL, it had gotten excruciating to walk up and down the stairs - my knees hurt bad. Now it's about 60% better. It's only been 2 weeks.
My husband is coming around, too. He stopped making French fries and he eats salad every night.
I can honestly say I've found it. It's not difficult at all to eat like this. And I love preparing the food. I made the anti-cancer soup - outrageous! I never dreamed dishes with no oil could taste that good.
I have a long way to go but I know I'll get there.
Lucille
Here's an inspiring success story from Roz: (Email us your story!)
My name is Roz and I was diagnosed 30 years ago with Crohn's disease and colitis, I also was in severe pain, throwing up and having no control over my bowels. I was told then that I would need to have a large portion of my intestine removed because of a near blockage and a fistula. I had known back then of this way of living and eating and fasting and opted to by pass the doctor's treatment and did my first fast at one of the certified fasting practitioners. My disease was put in remission and the scar tissue in the intestine had flaked away opening up the area and the blockage was no longer. The fistula closed and I was educated on eating a vegetarian diet. Since then I have fasted at many institutes throughout the United States. However I have continually had periodic inflammation in my blood, suffered from acute depression all my life, was listless and continued eating dairy products and junk foods from the health stores. I continued having a weight problem. I may have developed some serious health conditions down the road with some of these conditions if I had not had a terrible relapse a few years ago.
At that time I developed more severe pain than I had 30 years ago and the doctors said I would have to go on drugs or I would be in serious trouble. My sedimentation rate of my blood skyrocketed.
Prior to this event in my life, the depression had gotten so out of hand I was suffering on a daily basis and was not able to perform even the simplest of tasks. I contacted Dr. Fuhrman whom I had gone to and worked with occasionally when I lived closer to his office. He immediately ran some tests and put me on supplements, one of which was DHA. I had never taken any supplements in my life and the first month I did not notice a change but one day I realized how great I was functioning. From that day to this I have not experienced any depression and this is the longest ever in my life I have not. It is several years that I have felt wonderfully free from this debilitating emotional illness.
So when this crisis came about with the Crohn's and colitis I called Dr. Fuhrman for his advise. During our consult he advised me to try some fasts at home under his watchful supervision and with monitoring my blood. This began the transformation of my health and my life. I have been continuing regular fasts at home under his care and have become a vegan. Something I never dreamed I could do. With his help I have found new recipes and new ways of cooking and preparing delicious meals that are so satisfying and so healthy. He has also taught me why certain foods are beneficial which makes eating more healthful easier. This has become a lifestyle I will never give up. The pain went away. In fact one doctor who tested me prior to me working with Dr. Fuhrman actually told me I needed to have my gall bladder removed. Thank God I did not listen to that one. I feel wonderful. No pain. Have energy. Lost all my weight. My sed rate has dropped considerably although I have to be monitored on a regular basis to keep it down. I continue to take periodic fasts under Dr. Fuhrman's care and continue to see positive results on a regular basis. And then there is that wonderful forum where I get support from others who follow the Eat to Live lifestyle. I cannot say enough great things about the care and concern Dr. Fuhrman has for not only myself but for everyone he works with. I am blessed and I am grateful for I have been given and real golden opportunity to live out the rest of my life in the highest level of health possible. And I owe it all to that wonderful doctor. Dr. Joel Fuhrman.
Roz
DiseaseProof recently sent out e-mail requests for success stories. (E-mail us yours!) One of the first to respond was Michael from the Bahamas:
Started reading your book (Eat to Live), 12 November 2005. Strarted the diet (new way of eating - 6 week plan) 2 December 2005. Weighed 266lbs. To date, 28th December, down to 248lbs (lost 18 lbs). Two more weeks to go. Energy through the roof. Asthma gone.
More than 1.5 million people will have a heart attack this year with about 1 million deaths due to heart disease. This amounts to another needless death every 30 seconds. In 1997 the direct medical costs attributed to heart disease came to 59 billion--more than any other medical condition. Drugs, medical procedures and surgery are the recommended approach to deal with heart disease in America. As a result, the demand for high-tech expensive, but largely ineffective, medical care is high, causing medical costs and insurance rates to skyrocket. The medical answer to heart disease is both financially devastating and futile. An entire industry has blossomed to attempt to deal with the dangers of heart-disease-causing food. It wouldn't be so bad if patients were told there was another option that was more effective and could reverse heart disease and protect their life with certainty. If good information was distributed to all patients, then they could choose which road was right for them.
If all the physicians in America gave patients this information, we would have a new major problem. The patients would get well, the doctors and hospitals would lose most of their business and the drug companies would lose billions. People would have to be re-trained for new careers as a multi-billion dollar industry would lose almost all of its customers. Not a likely scenario. Nevertheless, my goal is to recruit an army of heart-disease-proof individuals, who will be winners in the war against unnecessary heart disease deaths.
High cholesterol and resultant heart disease is a far too common problem--but it is both preventable and reversible. The risk of cardiovascular disease, resulting in a heart attack or embolic stroke, is directly related to your cholesterol level.
Today's cardiac protective recommendations are:
-LDL cholesterol below 100 mg/dl
-Total cholesterol below 150 mg/dl
Unfortunately, less than 10% of adults in the United States meet this requirement and heart disease and stroke kill more people than all other causes of death combined.
Dramatic cholesterol lowering results, without drugs
In my medical practice, I have helped thousands of patients successfully lower their cholesterol levels without drugs. I recommend that my patients lower their cholesterol through natural methods whenever possible, using prescription drugs only when absolutely necessary because of their potentially serious side effects. Almost all of my patients prefer this judicious approach and it is very rare that they are not able to achieve these protective levels naturally.
Hundreds of my patients have dropped their cholesterol into the favorable range and protected themselves against heart disease, without drugs, using my methods.
Just for an example, in one day, last month I had five patients who dropped their LDL cholesterol below 100 mg/dl. Don't forget, this was just one day in my practice!
Not only did all these individuals have dangerously high cholesterols, but each patient also reported numerous health problems. Peggy suffered from chronic anemia, Eugene was tired all the time, Keith had chronic heart burn and allergies, and Maria had become severely ill from a statin drug prescribed to her by her prior physician. These four patients needed help and they realized that prescription drugs were risky and not the answer. They all returned to my office between 6 and 8 weeks after their first visit and this is what we found.
Continue Reading...Mike lived many years of his life in pain. By the time he was age 36, his back was such a problem for him that he could not sit for very long. For weeks at a time, he had to hire a driver to take him to work each day, so he could lie down in the back seat. He saw a chiropractor three times a week, and went to a rheumatologist for prescriptions for pain medications and muscle relaxants. He traveled to New York City to see specialists -- osteopaths and orthopedic surgeons -- who he thought could help him with his pain. X-rays of his back showed degenerative back disease, and, in addition to his back pain, his knees and hips bothered him, too.
By the time Mike came to see me, he was age 46. He weighed 236 lbs., his cholesterol was 245 mg/dl, and he frequently complained of burning when he urinated, the cause of which no doctor could discern. As you might imagine, he was sick of suffering ill health and disability at such a young age and hoped I could help him.
His was certainly not an unusual case. Many Americans suffer with similar complaints. What makes Mike's case atypical is that he followed my nutritional recommendations and persevered until he achieved a complete recovery. His urinary problems ended after about six weeks. After one year, he weighed 178 lbs. and his cholesterol came down to 190 mg/dl. Unfortunately, his chronic back complaints and joint aches had not yet gone away.
To his credit, Mike did not let the continual back and joint problems dissuade him from his commitment to a healthy lifestyle. He enjoyed the high-nutrient diet and lifestyle I designed for him and was firmly committed to healthful eating for the rest of his life. After two years, he weighed 168, his cholesterol was 175, he no longer had knee and hip complaints, and he had noted a definite improvement with his back problem. Over the next year, his back aches simply faded away. Now, five years after first seeing me as a patient, Mike feels terrific. His total cholesterol is down to 160, he goes to the gym, does abdominal and back exercises, and can drive around in his car without any problems.
This story originally appeared in Dr. Fuhrman's Healthy Times newsletter.
One of Dr. Fuhrman's patients sent in the following story a few years ago. It appeared previously in his Dr. Fuhrman's Healthy Times newsletter.:
As a graduate student in the mid-1980s, I suffered from asthma, headaches, and allergies. I took the oral medication theophylline, plus two inhaled medications for my asthma, Tylenol for my headaches, and Sudafed for my allergies. I developed bronchitis at least once each year, for which I took antibiotics and sometimes codeine. After a while, I developed recurring migraine headaches, for which I tried the standard medication.
My diet had always been fairly mainstream. I had experienced many food allergies throughout my life, and found that raw fruits and vegetables made my tongue, throat, and the inside of my mouth itchy and uncomfortable. As a result, I ate all of my vegetables cooked, except for lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes. I avoided fruit altogether, hoping to prevent allergic reactions. As years went by, I became more aware of the importance of healthful eating and improved my diet somewhat. But it wasn't until after my first child was born that I found out about a truly healthful approach to eating.
My son was born in 1994. By the time he was 18 months old, he was on antibiotics and suffering with his fourth ear infection. Fortunately, I was referred to Joel Fuhrman, M.D. After one consultation with Dr. Fuhrman, I changed my son's diet. He has never suffered another ear infection.
After reading a few articles and information sheets about nutrition by Dr. Fuhrman, and attending one of his lectures, I began to make small changes in my diet. For one thing, I began to eat a large salad with my lunch every day, without fail. I felt a little bit healthier, but I still wasn't committed to following all of Dr. Fuhrman's nutritional advice. The real turning point for me came when Dr. Fuhrman helped me through a severe sinus infection. Only then did I realize I had found an expert on whom I could confidently rely for tangible benefits.
I often got a cold early in the winter. My sinuses would clog up, and I would feel uncomfortable for months. Dr Fuhrman gave me a menu plan of nothing but raw fruits and vegetables, and stated that my sinuses likely would clear in three days. I pointed out that this condition had already lasted almost two months, to which he replied it might take as long as ten days. I followed his instructions exactly, and one week later my sinuses were clear. I was hooked; I use this method whenever I catch a cold and have not had bronchitis or sinusitis since. No more antibiotics for me!
There were more benefits to come. I had my second child in 1999, and during the pregnancy I developed psoriasis. I consulted with a dermatologist who put me on a strong steroidal ointment. When I told Dr. Fuhrman about it, he increased my intake of omega-3 by adding a tablespoon of ground flaxseed and a handful of walnuts each day, increased the amount of vegetables, and had me totally eliminate milk products. The outbreaks came less frequently, which was good, but they didn't go away completely. By the time 2002 rolled around, I was totally fed up with the psoriasis (and using steroid creams). So I went back to Dr. Fuhrman again and asked how I could really fix it. He put me on what I call my "green diet," which is essentially the same as the diet he recommends in his book Eat To Live.
These days, I eat a pound of raw veggies (mostly leafy greens) and a pound of cooked green veggies each day, with unlimited fruits and beans, and eat only a small amount of starchy vegetables and grains. I consume no extracted oils, about one half an avocado, and only a small amount of raw, unsalted nuts and seeds in addition to my flaxseed and walnuts. I include eggs and fish in my diet about once each week.
On this plan, my psoriasis has mostly disappeared, reoccurring only when I deviate from my diet and include too many starches. Even then, it is much milder. I can use the ointment for a few days and the psoriasis won't reappear for months. I feel good. Headaches, asthma, bronchitis, and severe allergies are in the past. I take no medications and breathe easily. Although I did not switch all at once to Dr. Fuhrman's recommended diet, each step I took was permanent. I have made steady improvements in my health over the course of sixteen years. This step-by-step approach has worked wonders for me.
The diagnosis and treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has skyrocketed in recent years, with a tremendous increase in the percentage of our elementary school children who are taking amphetamines and stimulants such as Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta, Cyclert, and others. These medications, with their reported adverse effects and potential dangers, were simply unnecessary for so many children whom I have seen as patients. I have witnessed consistently positive results when these children followed a comprehensive program of nutritional excellence.
One such success story involves George Grant, age eleven, the nicest and most polite boy you would ever meet. Although his parents reported an improvement in his concentration and behavior since beginning Ritalin two years prior to his appointment with me, they were unsatisfied. George had frequent headaches and stomachaches from the medication, and he had tried the other stimulant medications and found that the same problems occurred.
I enjoyed meeting George and talking to him; he was surprisingly mature and interested in his school performance, and did not want his grades to suffer. I told them that it would take about three to six months to really evaluate whether nutritional intervention would work as effectively as the Ritalin, but there was one thing I could promise them: George would feel better, sleep better, have a better appetite, and his headaches and stomachaches would go away within a few weeks with high-nutrient eating.
Continue Reading...Asthma is an inflammatory disorder of the lungs that has skyrocketed in incidence and mortality worldwide in recent years, doubling within the last 30 years in children. Suffering and deaths continue to rise in spite of declines in air pollution. An amazing 16 percent of children develop asthma, according to a 2001 survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
I've written before about the dramatic effect a nutritional diet can have on a child's asthma. Jonathan, another patient of mine, serves as another example.
Jonathan is an eight-year-old third grader who had developed asthma when he started first grade two years earlier. He was seen by his pediatrician and given a nebulizer, and later inhaled steroids, to deal with recurrent episodes of wheezing and the inability to exercise without fatigue and breathing difficulties.
Jonathan was an excellent student and was keenly interested in learning how what he ate affected his health and his breathing problem. At the initial visit to my office, Jonathan was instructed on using a spacer with an inhaler and was taken off his three times a day nebulizer treatments. I told him his recovery hinged on the amount of green vegetables he was capable of eating. He was more than cooperative. This eight-year-old said to me, "I will eat dirt if you can fix my breathing." So I said, "How about if I give you great-tasting real food to fix your asthma. You can be a lot better within a year." Jonathan is now in fourth grade. It took about eight months until he no longer required any medication. He is now the picture of health and uses no inhalers or other asthma medications.
This anecdotal case is not the same thing as a double-blind study, but when you consider the overwhelming evidence in the scientific literature and then apply that knowledge to real kids with medical difficulties, you see lots of great kids who have made impressive recoveries from their allergies and asthma after a year or two of nutritional intervention.
The story of Jonathan (not his real name) is from Disease-Proof Your Child.
Ear infection, or otitis media, is the most common medical problem for children in the United States, and is the most common reason for prescribing antibiotics for infants and children. The typical doctor does not take care to avoid the overuse of these potentially dangerous drugs, and he does not champion nutritional excellence to prevent future infections.
When Stephanie Rogers, a typical seven-year-old girl, became my patient, her parents handed me a printout from the local pharmacy documenting the filling of 67 rounds of antibiotics at the cost of $1,643.80 by the ripe age of seven. Once the pediatric group started prescribing the antibiotics for minor complaints of fever and cough, it escalated to ear infections, sinus infections, and finally visits to the ear specialist by the age of four. She received 15 separate prescriptions of antibiotics when she was five years old. The first year she was my patient, the entire family changed its diet style. Stephanie went along for the ride and did fine. I did use an antibiotic once for her that next winter, when she had a persistent high fever and a red painful eardrum; however, that was the last time an antibiotic prescription was necessary. Luckily, Stephanie has been free of antibiotics ever since.
An international study following more than 3,000 children treated by general practitioners in nine countries showed that antibiotics did not improve the rate of recovery from ear infections. But nearly 98 percent of U.S. physicians in the survey prescribed antimicrobials routinely, the biggest percentage of all countries surveyed.
As a result of accumulating evidence documenting the dangers of antibiotics and their overuse, new guidelines for treating ear infections in children were just released from a joint effort of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics. These guidelines represent a major shift in policy and thinking by physician leadership. The guidelines encourage doctors to initially manage the pain and not prescribe antibiotics for children with ear infections and to defer antibiotic use for the sicker children who are not improving two or three days later. I hope doctors will heed this message.
The story of Stephanie Rogers (not her real name) is from the book Disease-Proof Your Child.
Here is a fun letter Dr. Fuhrman recently received from Janine Kroner--the mother of one of his patients.
Dr. Fuhrman,I thought you might like to hear a cute story related to your vegetable soup and your carb advice you gave me for our son, who is our track star.
Back in May when you started treating our daughter, our son decided to apply proper eating toward his track program. He eats your vegetable soup, or what our kids have now renamed the "Green" soup, everyday. Well he had an amazing spring track season and we would jokingly say it was the green soup with a chuckle. His track friends/teammates found out about it and decided they wanted the soup. It is now cross country season and two of his teammates asked to come for dinner the night before yesterday's meet and have Green soup, sweet potatoes, and pasta. So the three boys ate us out of house and home, hoping the Green soup would work its magic. Well, yesterday the boys had their first meet and won. It was not even close. Not only did they win, but their times were great. When they recovered from the run, they came over to me all excited and said it was the soup. They have now decided they would like to have Green soup parties instead of pasta parties before big meets. Two other moms came to me and asked for the recipe. I found it all pretty entertaining, but hey who knows maybe we're on to something.
Actually, all three of these young men are amazing athletes who have trained hard for months and I do think they would have done well yesterday without the soup, but if it gets them to eat right let there be soup!Very best,
Janine Kroner
Here is the version of Dr. Fuhrman's soup recipe that Janine uses:
Kale and Collards
Swiss Chard
Broccoli rabe
3 stalks leeks
Broccoli sprouts
Mushrooms diced
3 carrots, diced
3 parsnips, diced
4 zucchini
Spit peas 1/2 cup
Lentils 1/2 cup
Adzuki beans 1/2 cup
3 onions
celery juice 10 oz.
carrot juice 20 oz.
30 oz water
Vogue - Vegebase 2 tablespoons (Whole Foods will have this)
-Fill large pot with water, juices, and two tablespoons of VegeBase.
-Put peeled onions, unpeeled zucchinis, carefully cleaned leeks and beans in large pot, and simmer until zucchinis, leeks & onions are soft enough to blend or food process.
-While waiting for veggies to soften in pot, blend or food process all other ingredients until smooth. (I use half of the bunches of greens.)
-You will need a big bowl to put them in while waiting for zucchini, onions, and leeks to soften for food processing.
-When zucchini, onions and leeks are soft, blend or food process them.
-Put everything in the pot and simmer on low for 1.5 hours.
Making Green soup takes some time--but if you have a really big pot you can cook two weeks' worth at once. If you can't find or are missing an ingredient or two it really will not matter.
A major national television news magazine is interested in following a handful of children as Dr. Fuhrman treats their disease with excellent nutrition. If you are in reach of Dr. Fuhrman's Flemington, New Jersey office and are interested, e-mail us.
Financial assistance may be available.
How can we lower high glucose levels, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, lose weight and not need to take drugs such as insulin and sulfonylureas which cause weight gain?
Here is the simple answer---the best diet for humans to live longer in superior health is also the best diet for one with diabetes. That is a diet with a high nutrient per calorie ratio as described in my book, Eat To Live. When one eats a diet predominating in nature's perfect foods---green vegetables, beans, eggplant, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, garlic, raw nuts and seeds and limited amount of fresh fruit, it becomes relatively easy for people to eat as much as they want and still lose weight relatively quickly. This includes lots of great tasting food, great recipes, but no oil, butter, cheese, flour or sweets. My experience has demonstrated that those choosing to follow my nutritional recommendation have their diabetes melt away astonishingly fast even before they have lost most of their excess weight.
One of Many Success Stories
James Kenney was referred to my office from his nephrologist at St. Barnabus Hospital in Livingston, NJ. Mr. Kenney was originally referred to the nephrologist by his endocrinologist (diabetic specialist) at the Joslin Clinic because of kidney damage that resulted from very high glucose readings in spite of maximum medical management.
First Visit
At his first visit, Jim weighed 268 pounds and was taking a total of 175 units of insulin per day. He had already suffered from severe complications of Type 2 diabetes, including two heart attacks and Charcot (destructive inflammation) joint damage in his right ankle. In spite of this huge dose of insulin and six other medications, Jim's glucose readings averaged between 350 - 400. This was the case "no matter what I eat," he said. Jim told me that he was already on a careful ADA diet, and was following the precise dietary recommendations of the dietician at the Joslin Clinic.
He started my Eat To Live program right away and I immediately reduced his insulin dose down to 130 units per day. Jim and I spoke on the phone over the next few days, and I continued to decrease his insulin gradually.
Five Days
After five days, Jim's glucose was running between 80 and 120, and he had lost ten pounds. At this juncture, I put him on 45 units of Lantus insulin at bedtime and 6 units of Humalog regular insulin before each meal for a total of 63 units per day.
Two Weeks
At his two week visit Jim had lost 16 pounds. I stopped his blood pressure medications and he was taking a total of 58 units per day of insulin.
One Month
After the first month of my Eat To Live program, I was able to stop all of Jim's insulin and start him on Glucophage. He lost 25 pounds in the first five weeks and his blood glucose readings were well controlled without insulin. His blood pressure also came down to normal and he no longer required any blood pressure medications.
Five Months
Five months later: No more diabetes medication, and a 60-pound weight loss Five months later, Jim was off all medications for diabetes, no longer had high cholesterol or high blood pressure, and was more than 60 pounds lighter. His kidney insufficiency had normalized as well.
This case illustrates not merely how powerful the diet from my Eat To Live approach is, but how the standard dietary advice given to diabetics from conventional physicians and dieticians is insufficient. Jim Kenney would likely be dead by now had his nephrologist not referred him to me for an effective dietary approach.
The following story comes from 30-year-old Shawn Powers in Indian River, Michigan.
I wanted to send a sincere thank you. On a whim, I googled for a diet plan to help with blood pressure. Eat to Live happened to be the first I ran into. I drove a half hour to the bookstore, and bought a copy. I read the whole book that afternoon.
I could go on and on about struggles, cravings, relief from cravings, addiction, etc. -- but I'll just put my current results as an "attaboy" for the doctor.
Continue Reading...The following was written by Brad Hibler after he read Dr. Fuhrman's book Eat to Live.
I want to thank you for publishing your views! I recently (within the last few months) purchased your Eat to Live book (recommended by a co-worker) because my Cholesterol numbers were in the mid 300's. I never considered myself overweight or considered my self a bad eater. I really didn't snack on the so called junk food. I'm 6' and was 175lbs. I weigh in at 165 lbs now and have lost over 2 inches of belly fat--not the important thing... the important thing is; my numbers have dropped to what the medical industry calls normal! I am striving to get my numbers down to what you call good in your book.
In the beginning my doctor put me on Lovastatin. I took it for almost a month and got side affects that I didn't like so I stopped. I sure am glad there is an alternative to medicines to correct issues as I have/had.
Plus I don't get the low blood sugar feelings anymore and I have plenty of energy!
In short: "Thank you." I'm sure you hear that a hundred times a day!
The following story was written by Rosario P. who lives in Clifton, New Jersey.
In March 2004, Julisa developed a rash and after consulting several doctors, it was treated as poison ivy with topical medications. When the problem persisted, we took Julisa to St. Joseph's Hospital in Patterson, NJ. Following many tests, including kidney DNA, she was diagnosed with stage-four lupus (end stage), and placed on immunosuppressive drugs and steroids, including prednisone, creating very difficult side effects for a teenage girl. Desperate for alternative treatments, Julisa's mother and I searched the Internet for lupus information and found Jill Harrington's book, The Lupus Recovery Diet. The book credits included Joel Fuhrman, M.D. and we made the first appointment in August 2004.
Dr. Fuhrman explained the benefits of natural, balanced nutrition and prescribed a completely plant-based diet to cleanse Julisa's system. Of course, we were very skeptical that a diet could have such a drastic impact on her condition.
About the same time we took Julisa to a kidney specialist at Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, who told us that she was facing kidney dialysis and placed Julisa on the national kidney transplant list. We struggled with the options facing her and the family. On one hand, Julisa would endure a weekly routine of dialysis sessions and eventual kidney failure, if a transplant wasn't found. On the other hand, she (and the family) would have to completely change eating habits -- no more pizza or cheeseburgers -- to comply with Dr. Fuhrman's program, and we weren't sure it was going to work.
Under Dr. Fuhrman's care, we finally decided to stop all Julisa's medications and treat her lupus with a plant-based diet. April 2005 testing revealed absolutely no trace of lupus in Julisa's system. Her kidney function has improved dramatically and continues to return to full function. Julisa recently celebrated her "Sweet Sixteen," with a healthy future and junior year in high school ahead of her. We all take every opportunity to tell other lupus patients and anyone we know about the miraculous results obtained from Dr. Fuhrman's nutritional approach. We are so very grateful to Dr. Fuhrman.
The following story was written by Lori M. who lives in Statesville, North Carolina.
Dr. Fuhrman immediately struck me as being very knowledgeable, very committed to his work, and amazingly informed about how nutrition affects each part of the body and its specific function. My husband and I both converted to Dr. Fuhrman's plant-based approach to eating, enjoying a tremendous increase in energy levels, lower cholesterol, loss of excess weight, and we were able to conceive our first child. I enjoyed two complication-free pregnancies, no small detail, giving birth to our son at age 39 and our daughter at 44. While pregnant, Dr. Fuhrman helped tremendously with bouts of nausea, but there were no other complications.
I believe that our nutrition choices -- pre-pregnancy, during pregnancy, and as we introduced foods to our children -- have changed their lives forever. Because our children have always eaten a plant-based diet, they enjoy all types of fruits and vegetables and meal time is a pleasant experience. Neither has ever needed antibiotics -- no ear infections, allergies, asthma or persistent childhood illnesses. They do get the occasional cold, but quickly recover. My son is now a very energetic six-year old, but very well-behaved and not hyperactive. He has an excellent attention span for his age and excels as a home-schooled student.
I am so thankful that Dr. Fuhrman offers the option for telephone consultation, since it is very difficult to find classically-trained medical doctors who understand and advocate the nutrition component of disease prevention and natural living, without the use of medications.
My experience working with asthmatic children has demonstrated that nutritional excellence enables the asthma to resolve in a predictable time frame and can routinely resolve even in cases when the allergies and asthma could be considered severe.
Jeff and Brian are twin brothers who both had severe allergic reactions. Soy milk, cow's milk, peanuts, corn, strawberries, cats, and dogs, in fact, almost anything set them off with severe skin rashes and breathing difficulties. It seemed they required daily treatment with inhaled asthma nebulizers just to survive. They were my patients since they were three years old. With my guidance, their parents worked very hard to raise them in a clean environment with little exposure to dust mites, and, of course, no cats. They took fatty acid nutritional supplements and ate a very healthy diet. By the time they were five, they had only occasional wheezing when they suffered with a viral illness, and by the time they were seven, their allergic condition had totally resolved. I can't prove their upbringing with superior nutrition resolved their very strong allergic tendencies, but it seems pretty likely that their eventual recovery and excellent health was the result of their wonderful efforts at superior nutrition.
The story of Jeff and Brian (not their real names) is from Disease-Proof Your Child by Joel Fuhrman M.D. To learn more about this new book, or to buy a copy of Disease-Proof Your Child, click here.
In my practice, it is common for me to see a parent whose child only eates macaroni and cheese, french fries, chicken nuggets, pizza, and cold cereal with milk. Parents routinely tell me, "Johnny won't eat any fruits and vegetables!" Incredible as it seems, high-calorie, trans-fat-filled french fries are the most common vegetable eaten by young children today. Twenty-five percent of children eat fast food french fries daily.
The Petersons brought their three-year-old son, Joshua, to see me because his prior physician had prescribed twelve seperate antibiotic prescriptions for recurrent ear infections in less than nine months. Most often, within a few weeks of stopping the antibiotic, he was sick again with another illness. The latest advice from their pediatrician was to put Joshua on a low dose of antibiotics continuously to help reduce the incidence of these infections. I explained to them that for Joshua to stay well and not require antibiotics, he had to adopt a dietry program of superior nutrition. They laughed.
The Petersons didn't need me to tell them that Joshua's diet was inadequate. They clearly knew it. They did not think it was possible to get Joshua to eat healthy food. They were wrong. The followed my advice for reforming their picky eater and when they returned to my office one month later, they proudly reported to me that he was eating a diet of all healthy food. Importantly, they accomplished this without difficulty. We stopped his antibiotics, and he proceeded through that winter without any further ear infections.
When a family first brings their chronically ill child in to see me, I insist that the entire family come--both parents and all siblings--so that we can devise a new eating plan for the entire family. The focus is never solely on the ill child. For the ill child to recover, the crucial first step is for the entire family to make a recovery from their less than optimal diet style.
When the Petersons insisted, "Josh won't eat fruits or vegetables," I explained to them that all children would eat healthfully if ship-wrecked. True hunger is difficult to deny. If faced with limited options, they will gleefully eat whatever food is available, without intellectual gymnastics to get them to.
It is not necessary to coax them to eat or to eat healthfully. In fact, battling about food with your child is counterproductive. The trick here is to adhere to this one most important rule: only permit healthy food in your home. Children will eat whatever is available. They will not starve themselves to death; they will adapt easily and learn relatively quickly to like the food that is offered.
The story of Josh Peterson (not his real name) is from Disease-Proof Your Child by Joel Fuhrman M.D. To learn more about this new book, or to buy a copy of Disease-Proof Your Child, click here.
A 62-year-old man, appearing to be in good health, came to my office in March 2003 with a six-month history of elevated PSA levels. He was very nervous about his probable prostate cancer.
Almost all men who eat the Standard American Diet (SAD) or something like it will develop prostate cancer. There is no point in screening for it because if you are over 60 you most likely already have some prostate cancer cells in your prostate. If you choose screening, screen for the rise in PSA (PSA velocity) and ignore the total PSA number.
The good news is that even if you already have prostate cancer, it can be induced to grow faster or grow slower based on your diet-style. If you have a slow-growing, less-aggressive cancer, dietary excellence alone can offer tremendous assurance that your cancer never will become aggressive. I have observed numerous patients who have prostate cancer significantly drop and maintain lowered PSA readings through nutritional interventions.
Finding out that you have prostate cancer, and learning how powerful dietary intervention is for inhibiting this cancer, actually may save your life. If the fear of this cancer causes you to change your diet and lifestyle as I recommend, you will lower your risk of dying from heart attack and stroke as well. The prostate cancer can be the wake-up call for you to make the dietary changes you knew you should have made years ago.
If your cancer is aggressive, dietary excellence may cause it to become less so, and hormonal blockade can be very effective in slowing its advance. Prostate cancer predictably responds to dietary excellence, and with the addition of a few testosterone-suppressing drugs, even aggressive cancers can be put to sleep.
In this instance, my patient and I reviewed the four separate PSA tests that had been done during this six-month period, and they were all between 4.5 and 6.0. Some of the higher readings were earlier in this time frame. His internist, and the urologist he had consulted, were pressuring him to have a prostate biopsy.
I explained to him that since his PSA clearly was not going up over time, these tests did not indicate he had cancer. I also explained that PSA velocity--which notes the rate of increase of PSA over time, is a more accurate indicator of prostate cancer than the height of a single PSA test. We also discussed the fact that about 50 to 60 percent of men in their sixties have prostate cancer somewhere in their prostate, even those with normal PSA readings, so it would not be a surprise if his biopsy did show cancer.
Since his PSA did not show a steady increase, but varied up and down erratically, my opinion was that his elevated PSA was the result of benign prostate enlargement. Nevertheless, prostate cancer could be hidden in there.
I informed him that even if the biopsy did find cancer, it wasn't likely he could have an aggressive form of prostate cancer, and since his PSA was not climbing, there was no need to rush to do anything. From my perspective, his PSA readings were reassuring, not alarming.
He followed my nutritional protocol for prostate cancer, and three months later his PSA had dropped down to the 3.5 to 4 range. He was thrilled with the results of this approach, especially when he found his LDL cholesterol had dropped from 189 to 124 as well.
He continues to visit me as a patient two to three times a year. He is doing great, and his health improves with every passing year. His PSA level now runs 3 to 3.5. We still don't know for sure that he doesn't have cancer, but he is no longer worried about it.
This story is from the July 2005 edition of Healthy Times, Dr. Fuhrman's quarterly newsletter. Access to the entire catalog of Healthy Times is part of what you get when you become a member of DrFuhrman.com.
