The Eat to “Live” 6-Week Disaster

From the book Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.

If you don't have the book, save your money. If you do have the book, give it to someone you don't like. Soon they'll be so fat and unhealthy, you'll take pity on them. Here are the guidelines with my responses in CAPS.

UNLIMITED (eat as much as you want):

all raw vegetables, including raw carrots (goal: 1 lb. daily)
I LIKE THE CARROT, BUT THE RAW VEGGIES HAVE A HOST OF ANTI NUTRIENTS, INCLUDING SOME WHICH ARE ANTI-THYROID AND, THUS, ARE CONSIDERED TO GOITROGENS.
cooked green vegetables (goal 1 lb. daily)
I'D ONLY EAT SEASONAL DUE TO THE HIGHER CONTENT OF PUFA'S.
beans, legumes, bean sprouts, or *tofu (minimum 1 cup daily in total of these)
BEANS CONTAIN LIGNINS AND PHA (PHYTOHAEMAGGLUTININ), BOTH OF WHICH ARE NOT DIGESTIBLE = TOXIC TO THE SYSTEM. ADDITIONALLY, THEY CAUSE GI INFLAMMATION (NOT JUST GAS) AND HAVE HIGH ANTI-THYROID PROPERTIES. OH, YEAH, AND THEY HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO CAUSE HEPATIC NECROSIS! AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON TOFU--GO READ MY ARTICLE, SAY IT ISN'T SOY.
fresh fruit (at least 4 daily).
WOW--HE GOT ONE RIGHT!
eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomato and other non-starchy vegetables, cooked and raw (unlimited)
I CAN HANDLE THIS IF YOU DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH NIGHTSHADES.

*Beans should be eaten daily; tofu should be eaten less frequently.

LIMITED (not more than one serving):

cooked starchy vegetables OR whole grains–Maximum 1 cup per day (butternut or acorn squash, corn, sweet potato, brown rice, cooked carrots, whole grain breads*, whole grain cereals*)
I LIKED THE BELOW GROUND VEGGIES, BUT THE GRAINS ARE A DIFFERENT STORY--WE'RE NOT MADE TO EAT THEM AND THE HIGH PHYTIC ACID CONTENT WILL INHIBIT THE ABSORPTION OF CALCIUM, MAGNESIUM, ZINC, IRON, AND COPPER. GRAINS IS HOW "FARMERS" MAKE THEIR LIVESTOCK FAT (AND UNHEALTHY).
raw nuts and seeds (1 oz. or 28.5 grams a day) or 2 ounces avocado
HIGH IN PUFA'S AND, IN THE CASE OF THE RAW NUTS, PHYTIC ACID AGAIN.
ground flaxseed
PUFA
soymilk, low-sugar preferred–Maximum 1 cup a day
REALLY, SOY AGAIN? IF IT DOESN'T HAVE NIPPLES, YOU SHOULDN'T MAKE MILK FROM IT.

*avoid breads and cereals as much as possible
HE'S GOT ANOTHER ONE RIGHT! MAYBE I'M BEING TOO HARD ON HIM...

OFF-LIMITS:

dairy products
animal products
between meal snacks
fruit juice, dried fruits
salt, sugar
THIS IS ACTUALLY WHAT A PERSON SHOULD EAT!!! I'D MINIMIZE THE DRIED FRUIT AND FOCUS ON RIPE, ORGANIC PRODUCE, OF COURSE.

Dr. Joel Furhman's Eat to Live/Eat for Health plan sounds like a sadly deficient diet with temporary "successes" attributable to a lack of calories. High nutrients good. Low calorie, low animal based nutrition bad-- it's a recipe for thyroid dysfunction along with all the related (and unrelated) diseases: Hypothyroidism can decrease HCl and other digestive juices, leading to malabsorption and resultant nutritional deficiencies. And the low calorie approach is going to do a number on your thyroid. This can cause such issues as atherosclerosis, hypo/hypertension, headaches, skin problems--this DIEt does it all!

What's sad is he will sell lots of books and screw up lots of people. The ones who get do better following his plan (or the dozens of failed diets like it) will come from the Standard American Diet (SAD) and eat shit meat and processed crap. But avoidance of these foods coupled with an improvement in health is not a sign that this diet is effective at anything. Do it long enough, and I guarantee that person will suffer from some of the issues mentioned above along with many other problems. So his methodology is based on anecdotal evidence which confuses cause and association along with a liberal dose of pseudo "science" which only thinly veils a moral (and often economical) agenda.