Dr Joel Fuhrman Diet Testimonials

I wish to share my personal experience with Dr. Fuhrman's plant based Nutritarian diet. I started down this path on the advice of my doctor after first undergoing an endarterectomy and then quadruple by-pass surgery. It was made very clear to me by my doctors that, although the surgeries removed blockages, they in no way cured me of the disease. As it turns out, my body is exceptionally good at building artery clogging plaque. My objective is to halt this disease in its tracks and maybe even reverse it a bit. My commitment to maintaining the Nutritarian lifestyle is absolute, because I know that if I were to return to the Standard American Diet (SAD), I would regress very quickly.

I have been following the Nutritarian lifestyle for 20 months, and it has changed my life in many positive ways. Within the first six months, I lost 30 lbs. quite easily while never feeling hungry. It has been easy to keep that weight off and even lose a bit more. I am now quite happy, and a bit smug, at my trim high school weight. My "numbers", i.e. blood pressure, glucose, trigylcerides, cholesterol, etc., are now all well within the low levels that my doctors would like to see for a person with my history. The blockages in my carotid arteries have remained at the same level as those immediately following my endarterectomy which is quite exceptional according to my doctor. And, how do I feel? Simply stated, "great"! My husband and I enjoy ballroom dancing. For a number of years prior to my heart surgery I had to stop frequently when dancing because of discomfort that I now realize was caused by angina. Now I dance all evening.

For those of you who are interested in learning more about the Nutritarian lifestyle, I suggest that the best place to start is with Dr. Fuhrman's first book, "Eat to Live" which is available from Amazon or Dr. Fuhrman's web site. He also has a great cook book, "The Eat to Live Cookbook". The website, with a basic membership of ~ $40/year, is a treasure chest of information. The site has over a thousand recipes, and members receive a new one every day via email. One can also purchase food items and health care related items such as vitamins. I have an upgraded membership that allows me to order products at a discount.  Dr. Fuhrman's salad dressings and vinegars are excellent. I buy them for convenience, although he also provides the recipes for his dressings.  As you might guess, one does have to change the way that one cooks and seasons food. I have fine-tuned the logistics for eating this way.  The food tastes great, and I have never regretted making the lifestyle change.

            You will find fascinating the personal success stories presented on Dr. Fuhrman's web site. I have had the pleasure of attending my first one week "Getaway with Dr. Fuhrman". There I met in person many of the subjects of the success stories on Dr. Fuhrman's website.  One woman, age 68, had suffered from 10 autoimmune diseases from age 35 to age 51 when she began working on her problems under Dr. Fuhrman's care.  After 9 months on the Nutritarian diet, she was off all medications except for her thyroid medication, and her other very debilitating symptoms disappeared. She emphasized that occasionally over the past 17 years she would feel cocky and self-assured that she was now disease free. In those few instances, she backslid to the SAD way of eating and her symptoms reappeared. Needless to say, she backslides no more. This was further evidence for me that one is not cured and cannot go back to the Standard American Diet with impunity. At Dr. Fuhrman's getaway, I was fortunate to be one of eight people interviewed and filmed for a future fundraising event and so had the honor of more broadly sharing my experiences with others.

For many people, giving up the SAD lifestyle appears impossible, and they rather continue a life of eating foods that are basically poisoning them, and to moderate the symptoms of that steady poisoning they take pills that often have side effects that further limit their enjoyment of life. This is unfortunate but understandable, because it is very difficult to overcome an addiction to the high fat, high salt, high oil content, high sugar, and highly processed foods that one has been eating since childhood, and which are often presented as rewards or expressions of love. Recognizing this difficulty, Dr. Fuhrman has on his staff motivational counselors to help his patients make the transition to healthy eating. One of his counsellors, with considerable experience helping people with a variety of addiction problems, informed us that overcoming food addiction is more difficult than overcoming either alcohol or drug addiction.

By the way, I took the Whole Food Plant Based personality traits test, and, as you might guess, I aced all the personality traits for a successful WFPB.  However, I do suggest that the trait "disagreeable" be changed to read "independent minded". What is the message here? Is it that SAD people are agreeable and fun to be around, and those WFPB folks should be avoided? I find it strange that a doctor who strongly advocates the WFPB lifestyle would want to convey that message. But, then again, perhaps I am just being disagreeable.

Elaine C. DeLuca

April 9, 2015

Dr Joel Fuhrman Diet Testimonials

Source: http://www.wholefoodplantbasedrd.com/testimonials/

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