What have we learned so far? First, eating foods with too few nutrients is bad for your health. Second, a large amount of animal
products in your diet correlates with a vast number of diseases. Last, unrefined plant foods offer the best protection against
disease. The question is, how can we translate this data into a health program that will help us achieve a healthy weight,
maximize our well-being, and let us enjoy meals at the same time? That is, in part, what the rest of this book will answer.
The first part of this chapter describes exactly what I want you to do for the next six weeks of your life. The rest of the
chapter shows how you can incorporate these principles into the rest of your life in a practical and sensible way—the Life
Plan—with more flexibility than the Six-Week Plan, including both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. The life plan is
a nutritarian diet. I coined the term nutritarian to describe someone who strives for more micronutrients per calorie in their diet style. A nutritarian understands that food
has powerful disease-protecting and therapeutic effects and seeks to consume a broad array of micronutrients via their food
choices.
The Six-Week Plan
Get ready for the most exciting six weeks of your adult life. If you follow my program precisely for the next six weeks, your
body will undergo a remarkable transformation and you will be witness to its miraculous self-healing ability. With no compromise for these first six weeks, you will unleash a biochemical and physiological
makeover that will change you forever. You will be thrilled with how easily your weight drops and the subtle changes you experience
in your physical and emotional well-being. Maybe even more meaningful than the weight loss, you will feel better than you
have in years. Your nose won’t feel stuffed, your allergies can disappear, and your constipation will go away. Most people
quickly find they are no longer aware that their digestive tract even exists, as they no longer experience stomachaches, cramping,
and intestinal discomfort. You will no longer require headache remedies, pain pills, digestive aids, and other drugs that
attempt to alleviate the suffering caused by unhealthy eating. I always like to compare the health of my patients after this
initial six-week intervention with how they felt when they first came in with their typical complaints of diabetes, high blood
pressure, and high cholesterol and triglycerides. The results are remarkable when their weight, blood pressure, and blood
tests are rechecked. I encourage people to do a scientific test: do this very strictly for just six weeks and see how much
weight you lose. Most get so excited with the results during the six-week “trial” that they are motivated to keep going. Results
encourage change, and results motivate. The stricter you are, the more quickly your taste will change.
The Six-Week Plan includes none of those optional, low-nutrient foods described later in this chapter. Whether you have a
serious medical condition or not, your body will undergo an energizing and healing transformation. It will overcome food addictions
and get the physiological housecleaning it has been yearning for. It will be hard, initially, but the immediate results will
help keep you focused.
I know many of you have not succeeded with diets in the past or have been disappointed with your rate of progress. Such will
not be the case here. Your life is too important. Your ideal weight is within reach. Give this diet a true test and do as
I recommend. See how much weight you lose, how far down you can get your lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides), and how many
symptoms such as headache, gastritis, indigestion, and nasal congestion disappear. Once you see the incredible results, you will be
so pleased that you will feel comfortable with only occasional deviation from this ideal diet. Eat to live for the first time
in your life and give yourself this life-changing opportunity.
The Six-Week Plan gives your body time to adjust to this new way of eating. At the beginning the weight comes off quickly,
but as you approach your target weight, your weight loss will slow down. Your taste buds will change. They will actually become
more sensitive to the subtle flavors in natural foods, and six weeks is sufficient time for any symptoms arising from the
new diet to subside. Results beget results. After you have lost about twenty-five pounds, you will feel like exercising more
and be thrilled to see even more spectacular results when you go to the gym and sculpt the body you have always dreamed of.
It is not unusual for my patients to lose one pound per day over the first ten to fourteen days on this plan. Sometimes more.
One patient, George, who came to me with high blood pressure, lost eight pounds in the first three days. Much of that was
probably water weight from cutting out all the salt in his diet; nevertheless, his blood pressure came down and he continued
to lose weight over the next few months at a rate of about ten pounds per month. He had a little turkey on Thanksgiving and
made a few other minor deviations from the plan, but he found the diet easy. He used some of my recipes and recommended products
and soon lost the full hundred pounds he needed to take off.
Raw Vegetables (Including Salad)
These foods are to be eaten in unlimited quantities, but think big. Since they have a negative caloric effect, the more you
eat, the more you lose. Raw foods also have a faster transit time through the digestive tract and result in a lower glucose
response and encourage more weight loss than their cooked counterparts.1 The object is to eat as many raw vegetables as possible, with a goal of one pound (sixteen ounces) daily. Meeting this one pound goal is not that hard to do. A small head of romaine lettuce is 6
to 8 ounces, a medium tomato or bell pepper weighs about 4 to 6 ounces, Include raw vegetables such as snow peas, red bell
peppers, carrots, raw peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, and sprouts. The entire pound is less than 100 calories of food, and when
you chew very well and spread this out between meals, you may find it easy to consume this amount each day.
Cooked Vegetables
Eat as many steamed or cooked green vegetables as you can. Cooked non-green nutrient-dense vegetables such as eggplant, mushrooms,
peppers, onions, tomatoes, carrots, and cauliflower are unlimited as well. My saying, “The more you eat, the more weight you
will lose,” also applies here. Again, the goal is one pound per day. If you can’t eat this much, don’t force yourself, but
the idea is to completely rethink what your idea of a portion is; make it huge. One of the keys to your success is to eat
a decent portion of food; so when you eat these greens, try to eat a much larger portion than you might have in the past.
A serving of 1½ cups of cooked kale weighs 7 ounces, 2 cups of cooked broccoli or Brussels sprouts weighs 11 ounces, and 2
cups of cauliflower weighs 9 ounces.
Go for variety in your cooked vegetables by using string beans, broccoli, artichokes, asparagus, zucchini, kale, collards,
cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, okra, Swiss chard, turnip greens, escarole, beet greens, spinach, dandelion greens, broccoli
raab, cauliflower, peppers, mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes.
Beans or Legumes
Beans or legumes are among the world’s most perfect foods. They stabilize blood sugar, blunt the desire for sweets, and prevent
mid-afternoon cravings. Even a small portion can help you feel full, but in the Six-Week Plan I encourage you to eat at least
one full cup daily.
Beans contain both insoluble and soluble fiber and are very high in resistant starch. While the benefits of fiber are well-known,
resistant starch is proving to be another highly desirable dietary component. Although it is technically a starch, it acts
more like fiber during digestion. Typically, starches found in carbohydrate-rich foods are broken down into glucose during
digestion, and the body uses that glucose as energy. Much like fiber, resistant starch “resists” digestion and passes through
the small intestine without being digested. Because of this, some researchers classify resistant starch as a third type of
fiber.
Beans are the best food source of resistant starch. Overall, the starch in beans is about evenly divided between slowly digested
starch and resistant starch, although the amount of resistant starch can vary depending on the type of bean and the preparation
method. This means that a significant amount of the carbohydrate calories listed for the beans is not absorbed.
Resistant starch offers many additional unique health benefits. It:
-
Aids weight loss and digestive health
-
Helps prevent constipation
-
Helps to maintain lower blood sugar levels
-
Reduces the risk of developing diabetes and heart disease
-
Reduces the risk of colon cancer
Legume or bean intake is an important variable in the promotion of long life. An important longitudinal study showed that
a higher legume intake is the most protective dietary factor affecting survival among the elderly, regardless of their ethnicity.
The study found that legumes were associated with long-lived people in various food cultures, including the Japanese (soy, tofu, natto), the Swedes (brown beans, peas), and Mediterranean peoples
(lentils, chickpeas, white beans).2 Beans and greens are the foods most closely linked in the scientific literature with protection against cancer, diabetes,
heart disease, stroke, and dementia.
Consider beans your preferred high-carbohydrate food. They can be flavored and spiced in interesting ways, and you can eat
an unlimited quantity of them. Eat some beans with every lunch. Among your choices are chickpeas, black-eyed peas, black beans,
cowpeas, split peas, lima beans, pinto beans, lentils, red kidney beans, soybeans, cannellini beans, pigeon peas, and white
beans.
Fresh Fruit
Eat at least four fresh fruits per day, but no fruit juice. Shred or cut up apples and oranges and add them to your salad
for flavor; they will help you feel full. Clementines are a nice addition to a green salad. Pineapple is good with vegetables
and can be cooked with tomatoes and vegetables for a Hawaiian-flavored vegetable dish. On the Six-Week Plan, no fruit juice
is permitted, except for small quantities for salad dressings and cooking. Juicing fruits allows you to quickly consume three
times the calories without the fiber to regulate absorption. The nutrient-per-calorie ratio is much higher for the whole food.
Frozen fruit is permissible, but avoid canned fruit because it is not as nutritious. If you need to use canned fruit as a
condiment (mandarin oranges, pineapple), make sure it is unsweetened.
Dried fruits should be used only in very small amounts for sweetening. Exotic fruits are interesting to try and will add variety
and interest to your diet. Some of my personal favorites are blood oranges, persimmons, and cherimoyas. Eat a variety of fruits;
try to include many of the following: apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, clementines, grapes, kiwifruit,
kumquats, mangoes, melons, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, persimmons, pineapples, plums, raspberries, starfruit,
strawberries, and tangerines.
Starchy Vegetables and Whole Grains
These two food categories are grouped together because either can be the culprit for those who have difficulty losing weight.
While wholesome high-carbohydrate foods are a valuable addition to a disease-prevention diet, they are more calorically dense than the nonstarchy vegetables. Therefore, cooked high-starch
vegetables and whole grains should be limited to one serving daily on the Six-Week Plan. Diabetics, those who want to lose
weight more rapidly, and those who have difficulty losing weight no matter what they do may want to restrict these foods altogether,
at least until they have arrived at their target weight. Eating lots of greens makes it difficult to overconsume high-starch
vegetables. You just won’t have room for that much. Examples of starchy vegetables include corn, sweet potatoes, white potatoes,
butternut squash, acorn squash, winter squash, chestnuts, parsnips, rutabagas, turnips, water chestnuts, yams, and pumpkins.
Grains include barley, buckwheat (kasha), millet, oats, quinoa, brown rice, and wild rice. On some days, you may choose to
have a cup of oatmeal or other whole grain at breakfast. On other days, save your serving of starch for dinner.
One final note: soaking whole grains, such as brown rice, buckwheat, and quinoa, for a day before cooking them increases their
nutritional value.3 Certain phytonutrients and vitamins are activated as the grain starts to germinate. These include powerful chemopreventive
phenols that inhibit the growth of abnormal cells.4 A twenty-four-hour soak induces the early stage of germination, but you will not see the sprouts. Soaking a day ahead also
shortens cooking time.
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds contain 150 to 200 calories per ounce. Eating a small amount—one ounce or less—each day, however, adds valuable
nutrients and healthy unprocessed fats. Nuts and seeds are ideal in salad dressings, particularly when blended with fruits
and spices or vegetable juice (tomato, celery, carrot). Always eat nuts and seeds raw because the roasting process alters
their beneficial fats. Commercially packaged nuts and seeds are often cooked in hydrogenated oils, adding trans fats and sodium
to your diet, so these are absolutely off the list. If you find that you tire of eating nuts and seeds raw, try lightly toasting
them at home—this process does not deplete their beneficial properties and adds some variety for pleasure. Among the raw nuts
and seeds you can add to your diet are almonds, cashews, walnuts, black walnuts, pecans, filberts, hickory nuts, macadamias,
pignolis, pistachios, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, and flaxseeds.
Spices, Herbs, and Condiments
Use all spices and herbs, except for salt. When using condiments, a little mustard is okay, but pickled foods contain too
much salt and should be avoided. If you love to use ketchup or tomato sauce, you may find a lower-calorie, unsweetened ketchup
at the health-food store and a tomato sauce made with no oil. Better yet, make your own tomato sauce with onion and garlic
but no oil or salt.
Ten Easy Tips for Living with the Six-Week Plan
1. Remember, the salad is the main dish: eat it first at lunch and dinner.
You have the tendency to eat more of whatever you eat first because you are the hungriest. Raw foods have high transit times;
they fill you up and encourage weight loss. You can’t overeat on them. Successful, long-term weight control and health, as
you know by now, are linked to your consumption of raw greens. They are the healthiest food in the world. Many of my patients
with obesity or diabetes eat lettuce with every meal, including breakfast. They might have iceberg lettuce with their fruit
breakfast, a mixed baby greens salad at lunch, and a romaine-based salad at dinner. You can eat more than a pound if you like,
but don’t fret if you are too full and can’t eat the whole pound. It is merely a goal; just relax and enjoy eating.
2. Eat as much fruit as you want but at least four fresh fruits daily.
Eat as many fruits as you would like with your meals. Four fruits are about 250 calories, but here it is okay to splurge,
even during the Six-Week Plan, particularly if you have a sweet tooth. Finish lunch or dinner with watermelon, a whole cantaloupe,
or a box of blueberries or strawberries. The best dessert is fresh fruit or blended frozen fruit. Eating lots of fresh fruit
is satisfying and filling and helps win you over to the Eat to Live way.
3. Variety is the spice of life, particularly when it comes to greens.
Variety is not merely the spice of life, it makes a valuable contribution to your health. The nice thing is that you never
have to be concerned about overeating raw vegetables, salads, or cooked greens. There are a variety of foods that you can
use to make vegetable salads, including the following: lettuce (including romaine, bib, Boston, red leaf, green ice, iceberg,
arugula, radicchio, endive, frisée), watercress, celery, spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers,
onions, radishes, kohlrabi, snow peas, carrots, beets, cabbage, and all kinds of sprouts.
Even more vegetables can be eaten cooked. They include broccoli, kale, string beans, artichokes, Brussels sprouts, bok choy,
spinach, Swiss chard, cabbage, asparagus, okra, zucchini, and collard, mustard, and turnip greens. These vegetables can be
flavored in various ways. Greens are always great with mushrooms, onions, garlic, and stewed tomatoes. If you don’t have time
to cook, just defrost a box of frozen green vegetables. Throw a box of frozen artichoke hearts, asparagus, or peas on your
salad. This is less than 150 calories of food. Cooked greens are very low in calories but give you the nutritional power of
ten pounds of other foods. Frozen greens such as broccoli and peas are nutritious and convenient—they are flash-cooked and frozen soon after being picked and are just as nutritious as fresh.
4. Beware of the starchy vegetable.
For the Six-Week Plan, limit cooked high-starch grains and vegetables to one cup a day. One cup of a high-starch vegetable
would be one corn on the cob, one small-to medium-size baked potato, or one cup of brown rice or sweet potato. Fill up on
the raw vegetables and cooked green vegetables first. However, most of your starch consumption should come from colorful starchy
vegetables—such as butternut or acorn squash, corn, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, and sweet potatoes—rather than starchy grains.
All whole grains should be considered high-starch foods. If you do use bread, a thin whole wheat pita is a good choice for
sandwiches because it is less bread and can hold healthful fillings such as vegetables, eggplant, and bean spreads. When you
eat grains, use whole grains such as brown or wild rice, and use them in place of a cooked starchy vegetable at dinner. Refined
starchy grains (such as bread, pasta, and white rice) and white potatoes should be even more restricted than the vegetable-based
starches, which are more nutrient-dense. Restricting the portion size of rice, potatoes, and other cooked starchy vegetables
to one serving is not necessary for everybody to lose weight on the Life Plan, only for those whose metabolism makes it difficult
to lose weight. Many can still achieve an ideal body weight by cutting out refined starches only, such as white bread and
pasta, without having to limit starchy vegetables to merely one serving. Your diet should be adjusted to your metabolic needs
and activity level.
5. Eat beans or legumes every day.
Beans are a dieter’s best friend. On the Six-Week Plan the goal is to eat an entire cup of beans daily; you may have more
than one cup if you choose. Beans are a powerhouse of superior nutrition. They reduce cholesterol and blood sugar. They have a high nutrient-per-calorie profile and help prevent food cravings. They are digested slowly, which has a stabilizing
effect on your blood sugar and a resultant high satiety index. Eggplant and beans, mushrooms and beans, greens and beans are
all high-nutrient, high-fiber, low-calorie main dishes. Throw a cup of beans on your salad for lunch. Eat bean soup. Scientific
studies show a linear relationship between soup consumption and successful weight loss.5 As a weight-loss strategy, eating soup helps by slowing your rate of intake and reducing your appetite by filling your stomach.
6. Eliminate animal and dairy products.
For the Six-Week Plan, eliminate animal products completely or, if you must include them, use only lean fish (flounder, sole,
or tilapia) once or twice a week and an egg omelet once a week. No dairy products are permitted in the Six-Week Plan.
7. Have a tablespoon of ground flaxseeds every day.
This will give you those hard-to-find omega-3 fats that protect against diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.6 The body can manufacture EPA and DHA from these omega-3 fats for those of us who do not consume fish. An additional source
of omega-3 fat might be a few walnuts or soybeans. Edamame, those green soybeans in the freezer section of most health-food
stores, taste great and are a rich source of omega-3 fat. I also recommend a nutritional supplement containing DHA, especially
for those who are poor DHA converters (which can be determined via a blood test). Vegetable-derived (from microalgae) DHA
is a good choice.
8. Consume nuts and seeds in limited amounts, not more than one ounce per day.
Pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and other nuts and seeds may be rich in calories and fat, but scientific studies consistently
report that nuts and seeds offer disease protection against heart attack, stroke, and cancer and also help lower cholesterol.7 They can be used in larger amounts once you reach your ideal weight. Raw nuts and seeds are ideal foods for kids, athletes,
and those who want to gain weight. One ounce of nuts is about 200 calories and can fit into a cupped hand, so do not eat more
than this one handful of nuts per day. They are best used in salads, salad dressings, and dips, because when eaten with greens,
they greatly enhance the absorption of nutrients from the green vegetables. You should never snack on nuts and seeds; they
should be part of a meal.
9. Eat lots of mushrooms all the time.
Mushrooms make a great chewy replacement for meat. Exploring their variety is a great way to add interesting flavors and textures
to dishes. Store them in paper bags, not plastic, as too much moisture speeds spoilage. Try adding them to beans, seasoned
with herbs and lemon juice. Even though they are a fungus and not a real vegetable, mushrooms contain a variety of powerful
phytochemicals and have been linked to decreased risk of chronic diseases, especially cancer.
10. Keep it simple.
Use the basic skeleton plan below to devise menu plans so you will know what to eat when there is no time to decide.
You do not have to prepare fancy recipes all the time. If you’re going to be out for a while, just grab some leftover vegetables;
lettuce and tomato on whole grain bread or stuffed into a whole wheat pita pocket; and a few pieces of fruit. Wash and dry
plenty of heads of romaine lettuce on the weekend or when you have the time.
“The best prescription is knowledge.”
—Dr. C. Everett Koop
The Life Plan
Losing weight will do you no good unless you keep it off. When you adopt a nutritarian diet style as a longevity plan, slimness
will be a by-product of your new commitment to excellent health. Once the Six-Week Plan is over, you will move on to the Life
Plan, which offers more choices. This is a critical juncture. You have lost a great deal of weight; you don’t want to revert
to your previous unhealthy diet. You need to decide not only how to maintain the benefits you have achieved but how to change
your diet forever. Many of my patients have found a good balance by following the 90 percent rule.
The 90 Percent Rule
For longevity and weight loss, the Life Plan diet should aim to be made up of at least 90 percent unrefined plant foods. My
most successful patients treat processed foods and animal foods as condiments, constituting no more than 10 percent of their total caloric intake.
The obvious corollary to the principle of consuming a large quantity of nutrient-dense foods is that you should consume smaller
quantities of low-nutrient foods. Therefore, if you want to follow a nutritarian diet style to achieve dramatic health and
longevity benefits, you must not have significant amounts of animal foods, dairy, or processed foods in your diet. If you
desire these foods, use them occasionally or in very small amounts to flavor a vegetable dish. After the Six-Week Plan, if
you want to add animal products back into your diet, then add a little white-meat chicken or turkey once a week, and beef
even less frequently. In this manner, you can alternate: one night with a small serving of animal product and the next night
a vegetarian dinner. Use animal products primarily as condiments—to add flavor to soups, vegetables, beans, or tofu—not as
the main dish.
If after the first six weeks you choose to reintroduce dairy back into your diet, use fat-free dairy only (skim milk, nonfat
yogurt). You can add an unsweetened fat-free yogurt or soymilk yogurt to your fruit breakfast, but do not eat fruit-flavored
yogurt, as it contains sugar. Your total animal-product consumption (beef, poultry, fish, dairy products) should be limited
to twelve ounces or less per week. Keep a close eye on your weight with both these additions.
How does this work out in terms of calorie consumption? The accepted wisdom is that the “average” woman should consume fewer
than 1,600 calories daily, and a man fewer than 2,300 calories. To hold to the 90 percent rule, I recommend women not consume
more than 150 calories per day of low-nutrient food, or about 1,000 calories weekly. Men should not consume more than 200
calories of low-nutrient food daily, or about 1,400 calories weekly.
In real life, this means that if you choose to have a bagel for lunch, you use up your 150-calorie allotment of low-nutrient
food for the day. If you put one tablespoon of olive oil or a few ounces of animal food on your salad for lunch, then you
should have only plant foods for dinner, with no added oils, pasta, or bread. Using the 90 percent rule, you are allowed to eat almost
any kind of food, even a small cookie or candy bar, as long as all your other calories that day are from nutrient-dense vegetation.
In general, the Life Plan dictates that you eat not more than one or two items of low-nutrient foods daily. Everything else
must be unrefined plant foods. The number of calories consumed will vary from person to person. Those who exercise or who
are naturally thin can eat more than those who exercise less and have a weight problem. Therefore, the number of calories
permitted from these low-nutrient foods should decrease as your total caloric intake goes down. For those who have a lot of
weight to lose, eat less than 100 calories per day of low-nutrient foods.
Most people are addicted to the foods they grew up with. They feel deprived if their diet denies them the foods they love.
With the Life Plan these food loves will become condiments or rewards for special occasions. You will be surprised how much
more you will enjoy a healthier diet once you become accustomed to a different way of preparing foods and eating. It will
take time; there will be a period of adjustment.
The USDA Food Guide Pyramid that most people are familiar with is designed around the foods Americans choose to eat already.
Its goal is to improve the poor eating habits of Americans, but it fails. The USDA pyramid does not encourage the consumption of nutrient-dense plant foods. Anyone following the USDA
guidelines, eating six to eleven daily servings of refined grains (breads, cereals, pastas) and three to five servings of
animal products and dairy, is certain to obtain insufficient antioxidants and phytochemicals, depriving himself or herself
of the opportunity to maximize prevention against common diseases. However, I do not recommend a grain-based diet. Potatoes,
rice, and even whole grains do not contain the phytochemical power of fruits and vegetables. As I showed earlier, a high intake
of refined grains in the diet is linked to common cancers. A high intake of fruits has the opposite effect. Fruits protect
powerfully against cancer.8
My food pyramid represents a nutritarian diet style emphasizing high-nutrient foods as the base of the pyramid. These nutrient-dense
foods provide the majority of calories, while other foods contribute only a minimal amount.
THE LIFE PLAN: DR. FUHRMAN’S FOOD PYRAMID
Going for Broke: Serious Health Conditions Require Serious Intervention
Before coming to my office, most of my patients failed to achieve the results they sought. They experienced either a worsening
of their heart condition or weight gain no matter what program they chose, even those who followed a vegetarian diet. In my
care, these same patients are able to achieve impressive results for the first time, because they “do it” 100 percent. For
some, “trying” is definitely not good enough; it doesn’t work. The 10 percent of optional calories of low-nutrient foods is
just that, optional; you might find that you feel better and don’t need to include even that much. If you want to lose weight
more rapidly; if you have a particularly slow metabolic rate, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease; or if you are a health
and longevity enthusiast, kiss even these 150 (low-nutrient) calories good-bye and make the Six-Week Plan your Life Plan.
Considering what a struggle it is to make a 90 percent change, it is not much harder to do it all the way.
I will now turn to the most commonly asked questions I hear in my office.
What if I Fall off the Diet?
Since the goal is to eat at least 90 percent of your diet from nutrient-dense plant foods, if you fall off the plan in one
area, make up for it in another. If you accomplish the goal stated above—eating all the recommended amounts of green vegetables,
beans, and fruits—you will have consumed fewer than 1,000 calories of nutrient-dense food, with more than 40 grams of fiber.
By consuming so many crucial nutrients and fiber, your body’s drive to overeat is blunted.
Do you see the difference between these recommendations and those of more traditional authorities who recommend eating less food to lose weight? With my program you are encouraged
to eat more food. Only by eating more of the right food can you successfully be healthy and well nourished and feel satisfied.
On this plan you consume more than ten times the phytochemicals and ten times the fiber that most Americans consume. Keep
in mind that it is the undiscovered nutrients in whole natural foods that offer the greatest protection against cancer.
Is This a Low-Calorie Diet?
Yes. Excess calories don’t just make you overweight—they shorten your life. This diet style enables people to feel satiated
with 1,000 to 2,000 calories per day, whereas before it took 1,600 to 3,000. The simple trick is to receive lots of nutrient
bang for each caloric buck.
Of course, those who are considerably active or involved with exercise or sports need more calories, but that’s okay—they
will have a bigger appetite and need more food to satisfy their hunger. They will get more protein and other nutrients needed
for exercise by consuming more food, not a different diet.
Some people can lose weight merely by switching their calories to a healthier plant-based cuisine while maintaining approximately
the same caloric consumption. Chinese consume more calories than do Americans, yet are about 25 percent thinner than Americans.
This is because the modern American diet receives about 37 percent of its calories from fat, with lots of sugar and refined
carbohydrates. The combination of high fat and high sugar is a metabolic disaster that causes weight gain, independent of
the number of calories.
Other people are not able to lose weight as easily. They need the entire package: the metabolic benefit of the natural plant
foods, along with the satiety that results from both the greater bulk of my “unlimited” foods and the consequent nutrient
fulfillment. These patients need even fewer calories. The good news is that they can be satisfied with fewer calories permanently.
The Eat to Live plan has both these benefits, making it a powerful weight-normalization plan as well as the healthiest possible
diet.
The menus, recipes, and strategies for eating explained in this book also make it possible to achieve the current dietary
guidelines of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for those desiring
to lose weight. According to these guidelines, women should choose a diet with fewer than 1,200 calories a day and men one
with fewer than 1,600.9
A computer analysis of many different diets has shown that the Eat to Live plan is the only way to meet the National Institutes
of Health guidelines for calories while at the same time supplying adequate nutrients and fiber content. Even the dietary
menus for 1,200-calorie and 1,600-calorie diets published in the National Institutes of Health’s guide for physicians do not
meet the RDAs, because the traditional American food choices are too low in nutrients. The NIH diets are too low in important
nutrients such as chromium, vitamin K, folate, and magnesium, whereas the Eat to Live plans and suggested menus more than
meet all RDAs within the NIH’s caloric limits.
How Do I Know How Many Calories I Should Eat?
Don’t worry about it. Try to follow my rules for a longevity diet and just watch the weight fall off. If you were never able
to lose weight in the past, be happy with about one to two pounds per week. If you are not losing weight as fast as you’d
like, write down what you eat and how much, to see if you are really consuming a whole pound of raw vegetables a day and an
entire pound of steamed green vegetables a day. If you are an overweight female following my guidelines and losing about one
to two pounds per week, you are probably consuming about 1,100 to 1,400 calories a day. You can count calories if you want,
but it is not necessary; you will feel sated and content on fewer calories than you were eating before.
My observations over the years have convinced me that eating healthfully makes you drop unwanted pounds efficiently, independent of caloric intake. It’s as if the body wants to
get rid of unhealthy tissue quickly. I have seen this happen time and time again. Eating the exact same diet, many patients
drop weight quickly and easily and then automatically stop losing when they reach an ideal weight. Time and time again, I
have seen individuals who were not overweight nonetheless lose weight after the switch. In a few months, however, they gravitated
back to their former weight as their health improved. It is as if the body wanted to exchange unhealthy tissue for healthy
tissue.
What if My Family Does Not Want to Eat This Way?
Nobody should be made to eat healthfully. Encourage your family to learn about what you are doing and to read this book so
that they can help support you. The key is for them to learn what you are doing out of love and respect for you, not because
you are trying to force this way of eating down their throats. That will be their decision later. The best way to help other
people is by setting an example. Lose the weight, get in great health, and wait for your friends and family to ask how you
did it. Very few people object to the presence of healthy foods as long as you do not take away their comfort foods. You can
always make healthful meals for yourself and some extra food for the rest of the family. Over time it will get easier. Keep
in mind that some people require more time to make changes.
My patient Debra Caruso faced this dilemma. Her teenage son and daughter told her they were definitely not going to eat this
way. Debra knew they could all afford to lose weight. There was so much junk food in the house that it was even tempting her.
Yet Debra lost more than fifty pounds that first year. Luckily, she had a loving and supportive husband who tried his best
to help in any way he could. The first thing he did was buy an extra refrigerator that they kept in the garage. Debra and
her husband had a family meeting to enforce the rule that any unhealthy food would be kept in one cupboard and in the refrigerator
in the garage. If the teenagers wanted something other than the food prepared by their mom, they could make it themselves and
clean up after themselves. She agreed to cook their favorite main dishes, whatever they wanted, twice a week. Some off-limits
foods such as ice cream, cheese, and other rich desserts would not be allowed in the house. They had to be consumed in another
location. Debra and her husband also took the teenagers to the health-food store to purchase healthier snacks. It was important
to give the children some say in what they ate. Finally, the entire family came to two of my lectures. After that, Debra’s
children chose a healthy diet for themselves as well.
It may not work out the same way for you. But the main point to bring home is compromise and patience.
What if I Don’t Go All the Way?
The nutrient formula (H = N/C) allows you to approximate the relative disease-fighting power of your diet. If you are like
most Americans, whose diets are only 5 to 6 percent nutrient-dense foods, any step you take in the right direction will lessen
the risks to your health.
If you improve your diet now, and begin consuming even 60 percent of your calories from nutrient-dense plant foods (that’s
ten times as much vegetation as the average American consumes now), it is reasonable to expect a 60 percent decrease in your
risk of cancer or heart attack.
Falling off the plan for one meal should give you more incentive to continue the rest of the week without a setback. Jump
right back so that you eat healthy for the rest of the week so as to make the one meal off the diet almost meaningless. In
other words, follow the 90 percent rule. The 90 percent rule allows you some leeway for imperfection and special occasions
or to have a treat once in a while. You can still retain the benefits and your healthy slim body if you follow that less-than-perfect
“special occasion meal” with twenty healthy meals.
Focus on Your Actions, the Results Will Follow
You have now received a considerable education in human nutrition by reading this book. In my experience, knowledge about
this subject provides the most effective and powerful impetus for change. Superior health and optimal weight are no longer
a matter of chance, but a matter of choice. Try not to focus too much on the weight; focus on what you are doing. The weight
will drop naturally as a result of eating intelligently, exercising, and adopting a healthy lifestyle. Neither you nor I am
totally in control of the amount of weight that you lose or the speed at which you lose it. Your body will set the pace and
gravitate toward the ideal weight for you when you eat healthfully. Don’t worry if a few days go by without your losing weight;
your body will lose at the rate it chooses is best. Weigh yourself as much or as little as you like, but most people find
once weekly is sufficient to keep track of their results.
Most people lose weight and then stop losing when they have reached their ideal weight. You are not the judge of your ideal
weight; your body is. As almost everyone is overweight, many people think they are too thin when they have reached their best
weight. I have many patients who, after following my plan to reverse diabetes or heart disease, report, “Everyone tells me
I look too thin now.” I then measure their periumbilical fat and check their percentage of body fat, and usually show them
that they are still not thin enough.
Stay in Control by Setting a Goal
Be realistic and flexible; give your taste buds time to adjust to the new food choices. Changing your behavior is the key
to success. Moderation, however, does not mean it’s okay to poison ourselves, abuse our body, and then feel guilty. Moderation
means recovering quickly when you have slipped up. Some of us need to plan cheats, once a week or twice a month. Keep to those planned times. A cheat every once in a while is okay if it is moderate
and as long as you go right back to the program immediately and then don’t do it again for at least one week.
Many health authorities and diet advisers recommend only small changes; they are afraid that if the change is too radical,
dieters will give the whole thing up and gain nothing. I strongly disagree. My work over the past twenty years has shown that
those who have jumped in with full effort the first six weeks have been the individuals most likely to stick with the plan
and achieve results, month after month. Those who try to get into it gradually are the ones most likely to revert back to
their former way of eating. Under the gradual approach, they “yo-yo” back and forth between their old bad behaviors and good
ones. Change is hard. Why not do more and glean the results you have always been after quickly and permanently?
The Drug of Choice for Most Americans—Food!
Most overweight individuals are addicted to food. This means almost all Americans are food addicts. Addicted means that you feel ill or uncomfortable should you not continue your usual habits. Unlike tobacco and drug addiction, however,
food addiction is socially acceptable.
Most people thrust into an environment with an unlimited supply of calorie-rich, nutrient-poor food will become compulsive
overeaters. That is, the craving for food and the preoccupation with eating, and the resultant loss of control over food intake,
are the natural consequences of nutrient paucity. The resulting stress on our system can be toxic.
Obviously, there are complicated emotional and psychological factors that make it more difficult for some to achieve success
at overcoming food addiction. Additionally, some physical changes may initially discourage you. Stopping caffeine, reducing
sodium, and dropping saturated fat from your diet while increasing fiber and nutrients may result in increased gas, headaches, fatigue, and other withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms
are temporary and rarely last longer than one week. Eventually the high volume of food and high nutrient content will help
prevent long-term food cravings.
The large quantity of food permitted and encouraged on this program makes you less stressed about overeating. Food cravings
and addictive symptoms end for almost everyone because this diet satisfies a person’s desire to eat more food.
Halting stimulating behavior such as overeating unmasks the fatigue that was always there. The power reserve in a battery
is proportional to its use. The less we use it, the more life it has and the stronger it remains. Likewise, when there is
continual stress on your body from stimulating foods and caffeine, it gives the false sensation that we have energy, when
actually we are using up our nerve energy faster. This ages us. The fatigue is hidden by the stimulating (aging-inducing)
effects of sugar, caffeine, and toxic protein load. Now that you are eating in a health-supporting manner, you may be in better
touch with the sleep your body needs, and sleep better as a result.
Some cravings and food behaviors have emotional overtones from childhood or compensate for stress and emotional dysfunction.
Some food-addicted people eat compulsively in spite of their awareness of the consequences. These people need a more intensive
program than a book can provide. Similar to a twelve-week drug-rehabilitation program, an intensive food recovery program
should include counseling. Food reeducation can work even for the most difficult cases. You no longer have an excuse to fail;
all you need is the commitment.
This program is not for everybody, because added to the desire to lose weight must be the willingness to make a commitment
to achieve wellness. Once that commitment is made, however, there need not be any failures; with proper support and this program,
everyone can succeed.
Go for it.
