Yet another diet book for the brain-dead
I have just had the somewhat dubious privilege of reading yet another diet book — this one called “Eat to Live” by Joel Fuhrman, MD. The reviews on Amazon are glowing. Most of them say it is a life-changing book.…
Article comments
26 - Indygal
What plan would you advocate, if not Furman? I am a dropout of Fat Flush, Rosedale, Zone, etc. I believe I need to seriously limit animal fats, and to reduce regular fat (olive oil, avocados, etc). It wasn't that I could not live with them, I could. Each of them. But after a while health issues would come up. If I perservered, they got worse. If I gave up the plan, they usually got better.
I'm uncertain of how much/what type of carbs to consume. I want something that I can live with, darn it. I'm TIRED of beling misled by people who seem to want only to sell books. BTW, I was a vegetarian for about 18 mo back in the 90's and I really destroyed my health trying that. Some people can get all the aminos they need from plant sources. I didn't seem to be one of them.
In spite of a library full of nutrition tables and many books on vegetarianism, I could not find a formula that worked for me.
27 - dohdoh
I haven't read the book. I've been trying to decide if its worth it. So far, it sounds like the same common sense diet that has been proclaimed for over 100yrs: lots of fruits and green veggies, low carbs and refined foods, cut back on meats and sweets. Sounds like nothing new to me. The extremes that this reviewer claims the book proposes are, as he says, his understanding of it. And he sounds like he gives an accurate description that the author, Furhman, does indeed suggest an extreme form of the common sense diet. So as for sticking to this diet, to me, it doesn't seem necessary. I think suggesting the extreme is the author's way of trying to shift your diet in the continuum of extremes (extremely "bad"/delicious to extremely "good"/misery). Somewhere in the middle should do well for most people with some regular exercise. Hmmmm...balanced diet and exercise? I'm sure I've heard that somewhere before. I guess I dont need to read this book.
28 - Gretchen Goel
Sorry to hear you find eating as many fruits and vegetables as you want every day a hard plan to follow. Personally, I'd rather eat this way than try to fit in with the rest of society and eat Standard American Diet fare that makes you feel lethargic and ill short term and ruins your health long term. I've been following his plan and recommending it for the past three years. I've regained my health after suffering with thyroid disease and high cholesterol and helped friends who were struggling with weight to lose the weight permanently.
Some people may treat this program as diet rather than a long term change of eating habits. Those are the people that will struggle with the plan and possibly worsen their health. Reading Fuhrman's new book, "Eat for Health", will help anyone transition slowly from Standard American Diet to Nutritarian. It is less extreme than "Eat to Live" and helps people transition in gradual steps.
29 - Amane
I have been following the recommendations in this book and feel great. I have lost 50 pounds in 6 months and feel stronger and healthier. Dr. Fuhrman both sees very sick patients who have turned their lives around by following his plan (at least with 90% adherence) and also has numerous reserach citations to back up his theory. REad "The China Project" by T. Colin Campbell - this is the way we should be eating!
30 - Casey
Guatam - you seem to be.. annoyed(?) that people are still talking on here about it more than four years after your original post - but this is a good place to talk about it, and as long as it's still up and comment-on-able, people will still talk.
Personally, I've had success with ETL, I modified it slightly to allow for my personal tastes, so my 10% is more like 15-20% sometimes, and the foods are my old favorites; pasta, ice cream, etc.
It's a diet, and they take willpower. If you're not willing to make some sacrifices for the greater good - your health - that's fine! People make a bigger deal out of this than is necessary, I think. If you want to be healthy, okay. If you don't, okay.
I choose to be healthy, but don't judge those who don't. We all like what we like and no one's the same. Also, different plans work for different people. This happens to work for a lot of people, other things work for others.
Yay for variety and availability!
31 - Natalie
I am reading the Furman diet also and have to admit that I am a bit disturbed about cutting out dairy, eggs, etc. People have been eating eggs for centuries. The other problem is that high cholesterol is bad, but I heard that a cholesterol below 150 makes you more susceptible to cancer. Cells need cholesterol for normal functioning. Cells can become cancerous when they don't have enough cholesterol to protect them. I read that anything below 150 is a concern for a greater risk of cancer.
I can't help but think of Jackie Kennedy O. She was very thin, ate a lot of veggies and fruits, was basically starved. She died of cancer. I wonder what her cholesterol level was? We have to be careful about all this stuff. Frankly, the stress of a toxic system and stress from everyday life can cause heart problems also.
Some people eat a lot of stuff but they're happy and live longer. There is a mind and body connection to consider as well.
32 - karla
Fuhrman's book is basically a rehash of the McDougall and Pritikin books of the 80s and 90s. Nothing new. Since its publications, a lot has been written on the benefit of health fats such as olive oil, coconut, flax, avocado, etc. Still, anybody is going to be better off by incorporating more fruits and veggies and less refined food and meat in their diet. I think while Fuhrman's book may inspire some, a more livable plan is to follow what the American Cancer Society recommends. Fill 1/2 to 1/3 of your plate with fruits and veggies. Eat that first... then have the rest filled with what you normally like. Easy to implement anywhere.
33 - Charlotte
Uh.. you said it doesnt allow dried fruits? -- it does. Desserts -- it does.
ANNDDD.
you can do the "nonvegetarian" diet.
SCREWYOU(:
34 - Lewis
The name of the game is "Practicality". If you can follow the book advice to the last letter, then you're extremely determined. In that case, you deserve to be living better.
The sad truth is that a majority of people simply cannot follow this plan. It has to do with life obligations (jobs, kids, etc). Not to mention, even if half the population switched to this there'd be economic hell to pay.
Extremes in life are bad. Eating donuts for breakfast and snacking on bacon is bad. People out there do that. Eating a pounds of veggies a day, sorry to say, I think is bad too. Not from a health stand point. The sustainability stand point is what I'm talking about.
Also I can't let go of the fact that having a good source of lean protein in the diet is essential. Lean meats (chicken, fish) are almost pure protein. This is how I feel about it and not a jab at anyone who wants to do this diet.
I know the review is 4 years old but my wife and I researched this plan and I wanted to say something. We concluded that we'd have to change our lifestyle around the diet instead of integrating a better diet into our lifestyle. We are creatures of habit and some, in particular, are very moody when habit is disturbed. So a gradual change to a sensible sustainable diet is key for us. I say diet as in what we're eating, not a "diet plan" such as Atkins, Zone or whatever.
We're not going to buy tons of books and use their plan. We're going to research nutrition and what our bodies need. We'll then eat accordingly to both lose some body fat and also gain lean mass.
So, if you can do it, do it! If you can't, there are other things out there for you.
35 - Gautam Patel
@Charlotte: "Screw you"? Because I have a view that doesn't accord with yours? Thanks for the offer, but no thanks. The very least you can do is keep it civil.
The last few comments (Amane, Casey, Natalie, Lewis) make sense. What I genuinely dislike in many of these books (not this one in particular; I've long since contrived to lose my copy) is their direct or indirect trashing of other approaches. Eat carbs. Don't eat carbs. Eat proteins. Don't eat proteins. And on and on. Simple mantra maybe: skip the processed foods, the junk food, the alcohol binges, load up on the fruits, vegetables and salads, drinks lots of water and exercise regularly. Then it doesn't matter if you splurge on that gooey chocolate cake on Sunday. Isn't that about it?