I read the new revised 2011 version of "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. It is an excellent book. I recommend it highly, along with "The China Study" by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, for vegans starting out and needing motivation. I had read "Eat to Live", the 2003 edition, in the past and took parts of it to heart but wasn't quite ready yet for the full change.
Dr. Fuhrman coined the term "Nutritarian": a person who strives for the most nutrient intake per calorie. He recommends a micronutrient and fiber rich diet, and documents the medical rationale.
"The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the spread of processed food and American fast food worldwide has made obesity and the diseases of low-nutrient, high-calorie eating bigger contributors to premature death worldwide than starvation."
Traditional American weight loss tables are based on Americans' overweight averages, and are set much too high. They reinforce an unhealthy overweight standard. A good formula for determining ideal body weight is as follows:
Women: 95# for the 1st five feet of height + 4 # for every inch thereafter.
Woman 5'6" = 95# +24+ = 119#
Men: 105 # for the 1st five feet of height + 5# for every inch thereafter.
Man 6' = 165 #
He also feels that if you follow his diet recommendations, your body will eventually settle at its perfect weight.
He has a strict 6 week plan to get started and liberalizes it somewhat thereafter, if you would like. His Life plan is to eat 90% unrefined plant foods.
UNLIMITED: Eat as much as you want:
all raw vegetables (goal: 1 lb. daily)
cooked green and non-green nutrient-rich vegetables (goal: 1 lb. daily)
beans, legumes, bean sprouts, tofu (goal: 1 cup daily)
fresh fruits (at least 4 daily)
LIMITED
Cooked starchy vegetables or whole grains (1 cup per day)
raw nuts and seeds (1 oz. per day)
avocado (2 oz. max. per day)
dried fruit (2 tablespoons max. per day)
ground flaxseed (1 tablespoon per day)
OFF-LIMITS
dairy, animal products, between meal snacks, fruit juice, oils, salt, processed food
Other suggestions are to eat lots of mushrooms all the time, and to keep it simple. I'm all for keeping things simple. He does provide several recipes. The green smoothies are great. I'll be trying the mushroom soup tonight for dinner.
I'm going to give this a go. I am not aiming for the weight he recommends, but am hoping my body will eventually settle into my perfect weight. I will try it for 6 weeks starting tonight, but will probably up the grain/high starch vegetable limit to 2 cups per day. I eat a cup of hot whole grain cereal with flax and fruit for breakfast most days, and don't want to be unable to have a little brown rice in the evening or 1/2 of a sweet potato. I will limit it to that. I went to the store today and stocked up on fresh greens and fruits so am ready to rumble (no pun intended). Wish me luck.
"To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art." La Rochefoucauld
"Don't eat anything your great-great grandmother wouldn't recognize." Michael Pollan
"Let food be your medicine." Hippocrates
Looking together in the same direction.
Sea otters hold hands while they sleep so they don't drift apart.
No comments:
Post a Comment