Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s Super Immunity Diet

Added to Articles on Tue 03/12/2013

Dr. Joel Fuhrman, author of The Super Immunity Diet, provides a science-based nutrition formula to bolster your immunity so you can lose weight, boost energy and never have another sick day again.

Dr. Joel Fuhrman, a renowned physician and nutritional researcher, has penned several bestselling books on warding off every kind of illness (from the common cold to cancer) simply by changing the way we eat. His new book, The Super Immunity Diet, is based on his firmly held belief that food is medicine. His book relies on what he calls a “nutritarian” diet, based on foods with the highest nutrient per calorie density.

According to Dr. Fuhrman, most people’s immune systems are functioning at only around 50%. Science-based research shows that nutrient-dense foods packed with antioxidants have the power to double your immune system’s function so you can keep disease and illness at bay.

What’s more, as you age, toxins (from both the environment and your diet) build up in the body. By the time you hit your 40s, daily stress, hormonal shifts and years of toxic build-up create a scenario in which you can get sick easier and more often.

Dr. Fuhrman believes that his diet can help boost your immune system so that it’s functioning at 100% of its capacity. By eating nutrient-dense foods, you’ll scrub out and destroy toxins that cause illness, and help your body activate its own clean-up system to provide super immunity. You’ll renew your energy, lose weight, put an end to sick days and increase longevity. In fact, by creating a super immune system, Dr. Fuhrman believes men could live up to age 95, and women could live up to 100 years of age.

Dr. Fuhrman has studied the dietary habits of the longest-living populations around the world and found that they all have one thing in common: Nutrient-dense diets.
1. Base Your Meals on Phytonutrient-rich Foods

These are the foods with the most vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals (organic plant compounds such as antioxidants, including beta carotene, vitamin C, folic acid and vitamin E), and the least amount of calories. Phytonutrient-rich foods include colorful fruits and vegetables such as dark, leafy greens, tomatoes, peppers, and berries. Dark leafy greens contain lymphocytes that aid digestion. Berries, for instance, contain anthocyanins and bioflavonoids that protect the heart and ward off cancer.

Many of the superfoods you are familiar with fall under the nutrient-dense category. See how some of your favorite foods fare on Dr. Fuhrman's index.

2. Eat Slow-Absorbing Foods

Avoid fast-absorbing foods such as saturated and trans fats, sugar and white flour. These “fast foods” create a high glucose response in the blood stream, spiking insulin, which promotes fat storage, weakens the immune system and increases your rick of cancer. By eating slow-absorbing foods, your body is able to properly absorb essential nutrients and use them to fight disease. Slow-absorbing foods include nuts, seeds and beans. The sterols and stanols in nuts and seeds actually help pull bad fats out of the body, allowing good fats to be absorbed to lower “bad” LDL cholesterol, increase brain function and more.

3. Use Meat As a Condiment

The prime building blocks of the nutritarian diet are plant-based foods. Too many animal products in the diet raises the hormone IGF-1, which acts similar to insulin by promoting more fat storage and tissue growth, tied to cancer. Cut back on your meat consumption so that it comprises only 10% of your diet. The best way to do this is to use meat as a “condiment” or flavor enhancer instead of as a main dish.

4. Add 10 More Chews to Every Bite

Chewing your food facilitates the release of important nutrients and releases powerful enzymes that protect our cells. The average person chews each bite of food as few as 15 times. Try adding 10 more chews to every bite. Studies show that people who chewed more often also consumed 10% less food.


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• Dr. Joel Fuhrman's Nutrition Density Chart

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Spotlight on Reversing and Preventing Heart Disease

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Reversing Heart Disease
Heart disease is our nation’s number one killer! The gradual clogging, hardening and damage done to the interior walls of our blood vessels are the primary cause of heart attacks and strokes. This process of atherosclerosis, the hardening of the arteries, results in poor circulation to the extremities, the brain and other organs. Ailments such as senile dementia, leg pain and even erectile impotence have their origin in atherosclerosis. The accumulation of fatty plaque on the inner walls of our blood vessels begins early in childhood and progresses gradually throughout life due to modern day dietary practices.

There is irrefutable scientific evidence that high cholesterol levels are associated with increased risk of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD). It has become increasingly evident that the direct relationship of cholesterol level to risk of heart attack exists at all but the very lowest cholesterol levels. The new recommendations of medical authorities are to maintain your LDL cholesterol below 100. Less than 10% of the adult population in America actually has the cholesterol levels that meet these newest recommendations designed for more significant reduction in cardiac deaths.

More than 1.5 million people will have a heart attack this year, with about 1 million deaths as a direct consequence of heart attacks. That amounts to a death every 30 seconds. In 1997, the direct medical costs attributed to heart disease came to $58 billion, more than any other medical condition, and 17 million new cases of heart disease were diagnosed that year. Are we helpless against this onslaught? The answer is an emphatic “no,” but if we are to put an end to this health nightmare, people need much better diet and health information than they currently are receiving.

You may not have any warning before having a heart attack or stroke. Approximately 50% of men and 64% of women who died suddenly of coronary heart disease had no previous symptoms of this disease. Even if you have been told you have normal cholesterol dont be misled; you may be at risk. Early detection can be critical for preventing a potentially lethal cardiac event.

When it comes to combating heart disease, most information sources promote drugs and surgery as the only viable lines of defense. As a result, the demand for high-tech, expensive and largely ineffective medical care is overwhelming, causing medical costs and insurance rates to skyrocket. This chase for “cures” is both financially devastating and futile. Morbidity and premature mortality from heart disease continue to rise with no sign of abating. Interventional cardiology offers only partial benefits, since these procedures do not remove the causes of the problem. Attempts to intervene with invasive procedures or surgery after the damage already has been done have not been shown to offer a significant reduction in cardiac deaths.

We need to keep in mind that angioplasty and bypass surgery have some significant adverse outcomes, including heart attacks, stroke and death. These invasive procedures only attempt to treat a small segment of the diseased heart, usually with only temporary benefit. Patients treated with angioplasty and bypass surgery continue to experience progressive disability, and most still die prematurely as a result of their heart disease.

The average person is not aware that there are safer, more effective options available. Unfortunately, government agencies are often slow to respond to new scientific information and continue to advocate outdated recommendations. Economic and political forces also make it difficult for Americans to be clearly informed that heart disease is self-induced and totally avoidable by eating a diet of nutritional excellence.

Making significant dietary changes allows people who suffer with coronary heart disease, high cholesterol, overweight or obesity and/or high blood pressure to reduce and to eliminate their dependence on medications, avoiding major surgeries such as heart bypass and angioplasty.

You cannot expect our government or national health organizations to give effective guidance. They must offer a standard approach designed for political acceptance. For example, six of the eleven members, including the chairman of the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines Committee in the year 2000, had financial ties to the meat, dairy and egg industries. Not surprisingly, the foods these industries produce figures prominently in government dietary recommendations in spite of their documented links to increased health risks. Similar problems exist in recommendations by non-profit health organizations. Sadly, even the American Heart Association (AHA) advocates a diet that actually has been shown to increase heart disease.¹

Life Saving Information

Lowering cholesterol with drugs can reduce heart attack deaths by approximately 30 percent. That is a significant number that will add years of life for many. However, I am not satisfied with reducing risk 30 percent. I don’t know about you, but I want to reduce my risk of a heart attack by 100 percent. By learning about and then following this program of nutritional excellence, you will be able to protect your life. If we look at heart disease alone, more than $150 billion a year is spent on expensive medical procedures that attempt to remedy the effects of our rich, disease-causing diets. My work over the last twenty years, which includes reviewing over 30,000 medical studies on nutrition and heart disease prevention and reversal, has convinced me that heart disease, medical interventions and heart attack deaths can be totally prevented. You can make a decision not to die of heart disease. I am hoping I can convince you to make this choice.

Most people are not aware that heart disease can be totally prevented and cholesterol levels drop radically low without drugs with my Eat To Live diet-style; a program for those who want to completely remove their risk of heart disease and not merely lower their risk a little. It is designed for those who are not satisfied with mediocrity and for those who want to know the most effective way to lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, reverse diabetes and reverse heart disease naturally.

My Eat To Live, vegetable-based approach is the only dietary plan that has ever been shown in medical studies to lower cholesterol more effectively than cholesterol lowering medications. Other dietary programs have been relatively ineffective at lowering cholesterol. Though a low-fat vegetarian diet, such as one proposed by Dr. Dean Ornish, has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol 16% and raise triglycerides 18.7%, the LDL/HDL ratio remained unchanged, reflecting minimal overall improvement. The Eat to Live approach is significantly different, and the results showed the difference. The LDL cholesterol was more significantly lowered by 33 percent without unfavorable impact on HDL or triglycerides, reflecting sizable improvement in cardiac risk factors.

We can win the war against heart disease by making a few simple and profound, dietary and lifestyle changes. By following the recommendations in Eat To Live, virtually everyone can improve their heart health. In fact, if you start in time, you actually can make yourself heart attack proof. I believe all people should be informed that they have a choice to protect themselves. There is no magic to heart health. Educating yourself with the latest scientific findings and eating a diet of delicious, natural, unprocessed food allows you to protect yourself and your family from the heart disease tragedies which you see all around you. Following this approach, you can achieve positive results simply by making the right diet and exercise choices—consistently, without the use of drugs or surgery. Almost everyone can achieve protection against heart disease by reaching the following goals:

• Achieve an LDL cholesterol of 100 or lower.
• Achieve a homocysteine level below 10.
• Achieve healthful weight and blood pressure.

These are realistic goals that can be achieved with accurate nutritional information. All who truly desire to protect themselves can do so, without expensive and risky prescription drugs. Nutritional excellence is overwhelmingly more effective than conventional care. My high-nutrient, vegetable-based diet enables patients to achieve remarkable reductions in these cardiac risk factors. Furthermore, by adding natural side-effect-free nutritional supplements for those who do not reduce their LDL to below 100 by making dietary changes, we can enable almost everyone to achieve truly protective cholesterol levels without medications and their risky side effects.

Eating a low fat diet is not sufficient. So many people think by eating a low fat diet, watching their intake of saturated fat with egg whites, fish and chicken, they are protected. They are not. My recommendations are more complex and involve understanding the concept of nutrient density. We must eat a diet-style rich in nutrients that contain the substances needed by the body for blood vessel and heart health. The diet-style that I recommend in Eat To Live takes into account some basic facts:

1. My dietary program that receives most of its calories from vegetables, beans, nuts and fruit has been shown in scientific studies to lower cholesterol more powerfully than drugs.²
   
2. People who adopt this dietary approach consisting primarily of natural plant foods do not develop heart disease.
   
3. Studies have shown that people with advanced heart disease, who combine a plant-based diet with cholesterol lowering therapies, are able to both reverse their heart disease and totally prevent the future occurrence of heart attacks. ³
   
4. Natural (side effect free) substances are effective at lowering cholesterol further, making an LDL cholesterol below 100 obtainable without risky medications for almost all patients.
   
5. The same diet that helps protect you against heart disease reverses obesity, high blood pressure and adult diabetes and also protects against cancer.

Hundreds of people recover with Eat To Live:

John Pawlikoski is a typical patient I see everyday. I am reporting his case here because he has been my patient for 10 years now, so I can report on his long-term results. He first came to see me at the age of 65 with a history of steadily worsening angina. His chest pains interfered with his daily life, so he was unable to perform physical work. He had a stress thallium test which suggested multi-vessel coronary artery disease. He then underwent a cardiac catherization, which revealed a 95 percent stenosis of the left anterior descending artery and had diffuse blockages throughout the left circumflex. He had normal heart function. His cholesterol was 218, with an LDL of 144. He weighed 180 pounds. He was on two medications - one for high blood pressure and nitroglycerin to relieve chest pains.

Within a few weeks of following my dietary recommendations, his chest pains ceased, and he no longer required nitroglycerin. In two months, his weight dropped to 152, a loss of 28 pounds in eight weeks. He remains exactly at 152 pounds today, 10 years later. He has been entirely well these last ten years and is extremely physically active. He takes no medication, and his blood pressure is normal. His LDL cholesterol runs about 80, and his stress test has normalized too. He has no signs or symptoms of heart disease.

My Heart Disease Reversal Program Now in an E-Book

To help spread the message that real heart attack protection is available for all, I have just finished writing a book, Cholesterol Protection For Life, which is available now as an e-book and as a paperback from the store at this site. In about 90 pages, it clearly outlines the methods I recommend to people who want risk reduction naturally, without dangerous medications and invasive surgery. It explains that cholesterol lowering drugs, angioplasty and bypass surgery are not the answer and do not offer real protection against future heart attacks.

Cholesterol Protection for Life supplies the plan and the evidence necessary to show how this program can work to prevent heart attacks. Don’t gamble with your life. Read the information, apply what you learn, and let’s make sure you don’t have a heart attack. Remember, your health is the foundation of your happiness. Protect it!

Conclusion

Researchers have compared a high vegetable and fruit diet, like the diet recommended in Eat To Live with a grain-based, low-fat diet. Study participants who ate the high vegetable and fruit diet experienced a 33 percent drop in their bad cholesterol (LDL) which is a reduction that is greater than most cholesterol lowering drugs. This reduction is dramatically greater than for subjects eating a grain-rich Mediterranean diet or the modern low-fat diet recommended by the AHA.

The conclusion of the nutrition committee of the AHA is something we all agree on:

“There is overwhelming evidence that reduction in saturated fat, dietary cholesterol and weight offer the most effective dietary strategies for reducing total cholesterol, LDL-C levels and cardiovascular risk. Decreases in saturated fat should come at the expense of total fat because there is no biological requirement for saturated fat.”

The main difference between my recommendations and those of the AHA is that I adhere more rigorously to these conclusions than they do. You must do what is necessary to achieve the results desired. The results I see with my patients are consistently more spectacular than other dietary interventions because my advice is generally more rigorous and takes into account the nutrient-per-calorie density of foods to devise a plant-based diet that is maximally effective.

Two things are necessary to predictably reverse heart disease: one is to become thin and superbly nourished with antioxidants and phytochemicals found in natural plant foods, and the other is to get your LDL below 100. Reversal of heart disease then predictably occurs. By following my Eat To Live diet plan, one can both safely and effectively improve their health, while enjoying the benefits of great tasting food.

References

1. Ramsey LE, Yeo WW, Jackson PR. Dietary reduction of serum cholesterol concentration: time to think again. BMJ 303:953-957.
2. Jenkins DJ, Kendall CW, Popovich DG, et al. Effect of a very-high-fiber vegetable, fruit and nut diet on serum lipids and colonic function. Metabolism 2001;(4):494-503.
3. Esselstyn CB Jr. Updating a 12-year experience with arrest and reversal therapy for coronary heart disease (an overdue requiem for palliative cardiology). Am J Cardiol 1999;84:339-341.

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Cholesterol Protection for Life Heart disease is a condition that is reversible through aggressive nutritional intervention and cholesterol lowering. Read more...

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Article On The Diet That Defeats Diabetes

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Spotlight on Reversing and Preventing Diabetes

Death Toll From Diabetes Worse Than AIDS Diabetes is a serious disease, marked by higher than normal levels of glucose (sugar) in the blood. It has been cited as the most challenging health problem in the 21st century. Diabetes affected about 2461 million people worldwide in 2007, and the number of people with this disease has been increasing steadily due in part to an increased number of overweight people. Type II diabetes, or adult onset diabetes is a nutritionally–related disease, one that is both preventable and reversible through nutritional methods and regular exercise. According to the American Diabetes Association, “The world faces a devastating diabetes epidemic, with the annual death toll already exceeding the three million killed by AIDS and set to rise,” the World Health Organization warned. Diabetes takes a severe toll on the person’s health. More than 70 percent of adults with Type II diabetes die of heart attacks and strokes, and these deaths occur at a younger age compared to people without diabetes. Premature death and the devastating complications of this disease simply do not have to happen. Those with diabetes are told to watch their diet, exercise and use drugs to better control the glucose levels in their bloodstream. My message is that the nutritional advice received from the American Diabetes Association (ADA), dieticians and physicians is inadequate and permits countless of unnecessary premature deaths and much needless suffering. I declare, “Don’t live with your diabetes, don’t simply control your diabetes — get rid of it.” The vast majority of my patients, who adopt my nutritional and exercise recommendation for diabetes, become thin and non–diabetic. They are able to gradually discontinue their insulin and eventually other medications. They simply get well. I work with people who have diabetes who want to live a long and healthy life and enjoy the achievement and confidence that they have control this disease. The membership services offered here on this website, and the information in my book, Eat For Health, can get you started on this road to wellness. My hope is that the information below about diabetes will enable you to feel more confident that you or someone you care about can be motivated and work with me to recover their health. One of Many Success Stories James was referred to my office from his nephrologist at St. Barnabus Hospital in Livingston, NJ. He 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. 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 to 400. “This was the case no matter what I ate,” 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. Within 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. 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. 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 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. Types of Diabetes There are basically two types of diabetes: Type 1, (childhood onset or juvenile diabetes), and Type 2, (or adult-onset diabetes). Both types of diabetes accelerate the aging of our bodies. Having diabetes greatly speeds up the development of atherosclerosis, or cardiovascular disease. Diabetes also ages us more rapidly and can harm the kidney and other body systems. Forty thousand amputations per year are due to complications of diabetes. It is the leading cause of blindness in adults and of kidney failure. Let’s look at the most common types of diabetes in more detail and then look at gestational diabetes at the end. Diabetes insipidus is an unrelated disease, which is not common and has nothing to do with high blood sugar. People with diabetes insipidus have diluted urine, have to urinate often and are thirsty all the time. This illness will not be discussed here. Type 2 Diabetes (also called adult onset diabetes) Type 2 diabetes affects hundreds of millions of people. More than 90 percent of diabetics have Type 2 diabetes. For example, over 2.5 million African-Americans have diabetes, and 25 percent of all African-American women over 55 have Type 2 diabetes. The rates of Americans undergoing amputation and suffering from blindness and kidney failure from this disease are skyrocketing. Diabetes significantly accelerates the build-up of plaque inside blood vessels, atherosclerosis, leading to heart attacks. The hallmark of Type 2 diabetes is the body’s increased need for insulin. This is not a disease of insulin deficiency; rather, it typically develops because the body is insulin resistant and requires more insulin than normal. The heavier you are, the greater the risk you will develop Type 2 diabetes. For some susceptible individuals, even moderate amounts of excess fat on the body can trigger diabetes. Our body’s cells are fueled by glucose. When we have more fat on the body, more insulin is required to deliver glucose to the cells as the coating of fat around our cells makes it difficult for the hormone insulin to transport the glucose into the cells. The pancreas is then forced to produce even higher amounts of insulin to accommodate the heightened insulin requirements. Even five pounds of excess fat on one’s frame can inhibit the ability of insulin to carry glucose into our cells. Twenty pounds of extra fat and the pancreas may be forced to produce twice as much insulin to do the necessary job. With fifty pounds or more of excess fat on our frame, the pancreas may be forced to produce 6 times as much insulin as a person who is lean. So what do you think occurs after ten or twenty years of overworking the pancreas? That’s right; it poops out and loses the ability to keep up with such huge insulin demands. Although the level of insulin produced by the overworked pancreas starts to fall, it still is pumping out much more insulin than a thinner person might need, but it's not enough to compensate for extra body fat. Adult diabetes is a disease of insulin resistance, not of insulin deficiency. The pancreas’ ability to secrete insulin continues to diminish as the diabetes continues, and the overweight condition continues year after year. Total destruction of insulin secreting ability almost never occurs in Type 2 (adult onset diabetes) as it does in Type 1 (childhood onset diabetes). However, the sooner a Type 2 diabetic loses the extra weight causing the stress on the pancreas, the more functional reserve of insulin secreting cells remain. When you give an adult diabetic, who has been suffering from the damaging effects of excess insulin for years, more insulin to drive the sugar down, you create more problems. Giving the diabetic patient insulin increases appetite and can cause significant weight gain. As a result of this weight gain, it makes the patient more diabetic. What usually occurs is that they require more and more medication and their condition worsens. Findings from numerous studies also show that high insulin levels promote atherosclerosis, even in non-diabetics. The degree of atherosclerotic blood vessel disease is greatest in those with the highest levels of insulin. Insulin blocks cholesterol removal and delivers cholesterol to cells in the blood vessel walls accelerating the creation of heart-attack-causing plaque. It is not the answer. Diabetes Symptoms Oftentimes, Type 2 diabetes in its early stages comes without symptoms, but it may include frequent urination, thirst and weight loss. A blood test during a routine or other medically related doctor’s visit could detect the presence of abnormally high levels of glucose. Conventional Care Well meaning physicians prescribe drugs in an attempt to lower the dangerously high glucose levels, the high cholesterol and triglyceride levels and the high blood pressure typically seen in diabetics, since elevated levels are strong predictors of damage and/or premature death. Unfortunately, treating diabetes with medication gives patients a false sense of security because they mistakenly think their somewhat better controlled glucose levels are an indication of restored health. This false sense of security provides patients with implicit permission to continue the same disease-causing diet and lifestyle that led to the development of their diabetes. They don’t lose weight. Many continue to gain, and the deterioration of their bodies continues. The Diet That Defeats Diabetes 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 books, Eat To Live and Eat For Health. 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 and great recipes, but no oil, butter, cheese, flour or sweets. My experience has demonstrated that those choosing to follow my nutritional recommendation will have their diabetes controlled astonishingly fast even before they have lost most of their excess weight. Type 1 Diabetes (childhood onset or juvenile diabetes) In Type 1 Diabetes, which generally occurs earlier in life, children incur damage to the beta cells in the pancreas, which produce insulin, so they have an insulin deficiency. About ten percent of diabetes is Type 1. Excess body fat does not cause this type of diabetes, and those with Type 1 diabetes always will require insulin to prevent serious hyperglycemia and life-threatening ketoacidosis. Diabetes Symptoms The most common symptoms for Type 1 diabetes (juvenile or child onset) include, but are not limited to, frequent urination and thirst, vomiting, nausea, and abdominal pain. An immediate visit to one’s health practitioner would be advised. Conventional Care With conventional care, the long-term prognosis for a Type 1 diabetic is dismal. More than one-third of all Type 1 diabetics die before the age of fifty. However, it is not Type 1 diabetes itself that causes such negative health consequences. Rather, it is the combination of the diabetes and the typical nutritional “advice” given to these patients – advice that requires them to take large amounts of unnecessary insulin. The extra insulin and the high glucose levels raise lipids, accelerate atherosclerosis and damage the body. With this in mind, it should be clear that while the Standard American Diet (SAD), which has spread to all industrialized nations, is dangerous for everyone. It is particularly deadly for diabetics. In short, if you eat conventionally you die conventionally, but if you eat the Standard American Diet with diabetes, you will be committing to poor health with food at a much younger age. Live a Long and Healthy Life with Type 1 Diabetes Type 1 diabetics need not feel doomed to a life of medical disasters and a possible early death. With a truly health-supporting lifestyle, including real food designed by nature, even the Type 1 (childhood onset) diabetic can have the same potential for a long, disease-free life, like the rest of us. I find that when Type 1 diabetics adopt a high-nutrient, dietary approach, they can lower their insulin requirements by about half. They protect their body against the heart-attack, promoting effects of the American diet style. They no longer have swings of highs and lows, and their glucose levels and lipids stay under excellent control. Even though the Type 1 diabetic will still require exogenous (external) insulin, but by following my Eat To Live diet-style, they will no longer need excessive amounts of it. Remember, it is not the Type 1 diabetes that is so damaging, it is the S.A.D., the typical dietary advice given to Type 1s and the excessive need for large amount of insulin that is so harmful. It is simply essential for all Type 1 diabetics to learn about my dietary recommendations which can give them the opportunity for a long and healthy life. A Type 1 Diabetic Changes His Diet John Sermos was a 22 year old college graduate with Type 1 diabetes since the age of 6. He was five foot, eight inches tall and weighed 190 pounds. He was taking a total of 70 units of insulin daily. He was referred to my office by his family physician as he was having swings in his glucose levels, too high at times and at other times dangerously low. He also wanted to learn more about nutrition to improve his health and reduce his future risks from having diabetes. I was impressed by his intelligence and desire to change his eating habits to better his health. We spent lots of time discussing the typical problems that befall most diabetics, and I explained to him that using 70 units of insulin a day was part of the problem. I explained that if he follows my recommended diet-style he will stabilize his weight at about 145 pounds and he will only require about 30 units of insulin a day. With this lower level of insulin, to mimic the amount of insulin a non-diabetic makes in the pancreas, he can have a life without the typical health issues that befall diabetics. We cut his nighttime insulin dose down by ten units and his mealtime insulin from 10 to 6 as he began the diet. Over the next two weeks we gradually tapered his insulin and found that he only needed 20 units of Lantus insulin at bedtime and 4 units before each meal for a total of 32 units a day. Almost immediately, with my dietary recommendations, his sugars were running in the favorable range, and he no longer experienced dangerous drops in his blood sugar. He had lost 13 pounds over the first month and by month three weighed 167, a loss of 23 pounds. He was excited about what he had learned and was more hopeful about his life while living with his diabetes. I am convinced, that with the Eat To Live or Eat For Health diet-style, those with Type 1 diabetes can have a long and disease-free life. I feel it is imperative that all Type 1 diabetics learn about this life, saving approach. Gestational Diabetes Gestational diabetes refers to higher than normal blood sugars occurring during pregnancy in women who were not diabetic before becoming pregnant. It is usually detected by discovering higher than normal glucose levels between the twenty third and twenty eighth weeks of pregnancy. In the vast majority of women found to have this condition, there are no symptoms of diabetes, and the diabetes usually goes away after the baby is born. The body requires more insulin during pregnancy as weight is gained and as the placenta grows and produces hormones that block insulin uptake. It is normal for the pancreas to produce higher levels of insulin during pregnancy. Typically most women have no problem producing the extra insulin needed during pregnancy, but for women with gestational diabetes, their pancreas is “pooped out” and can’t secrete the higher levels demanded. Women with gestational diabetes have a strong likelihood of developing adult onset diabetes later in life. It reflects a pancreas that is already overworked that has difficulty handing the increased insulin needs of excess fat on their body and a diet rich in processed carbohydrates. Gestational diabetes marks women with a lower beta cell reserve in their pancreas. They have less of these insulin secreting cells, and when under the stress of pregnancy or if they gain weight later in life, their body will not be capable of producing the high levels of insulin to cover the increased demands. In other words, they are those women prone to develop Type 2 diabetes later in life. The same dietary factors that cause Type 2 diabetes cause gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes reveals the tendency for that to occur. Instead, if women eat the high-nutrient dietary style that I recommend, they will be protected from developing gestational diabetes and diabetes later in life. Nutritional excellence is important during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes is a sign of nutritional inadequacy, and it leads to overweight babies (macrosomia) and the potential for hypoglycemia in the baby immediately after birth. It is important that changes are initiated to restore normal glucose levels as soon as possible during pregnancy, which is accomplished effectively and easily with my Eat To Live and Eat For Health programs. Conclusion The dietary style described in my books entitled, Eat To Live and Eat For Health, is a vegetable-based diet designed to maximize nutrient per calorie density. It is the most effective dietary approach for those with diabetes and is much more effective than drugs. For a Type 2 diabetic, this approach has resulted in complete reversal of the diabetic condition in the vast majority of my patients, and for a Type 1 diabetic it solves the problems with excessive highs and lows and prevents the typical dangerous complications that too frequently befall those with diabetes. Of course, no dietary approach to diabetes will succeed without attention to other risk factors, especially sedentary lifestyle, smoking and lack of sleep. The road to wellness involves making the commitment to regular exercise as well. My clear message is that diabetics can’t just “eat better.” They have to go all the way and commit to nutritional excellence. If you have diabetes, begin by reading my book, Eat To Live or Eat For Health. You can receive the e-book version of Eat To Live right away, by joining the membership center here at DrFuhrman.com. It is important that you do not change your diet, if you are on medication, without medication adjustment under the guidance of a competent physician. Call my office at 908-237-0200, if you desire to set up a phone consultation, so I can help with the medication reductions that will be necessary. I wish you enduring health and a long life... it can be yours. 1. Diabetes Atlas, third edition 2006, © The International Diabetes Federation.

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