Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss (17 page)
Read Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss Online
Authors: Joel Fuhrman
Dairy protein boosts the amount of IGF-1 in the blood. IGF-1 is found in cow’s milk and has been shown to occur in increased levels in the blood of individuals consuming dairy products on a regular basis.
94
IGF-1 is known to stimulate the growth of both normal and cancer cells. Case-control studies in diverse populations have shown a strong and consistent association between serum IGF-1 concentrations and prostate cancer risk.
95
One study showed that men who had the highest levels of IGF-1 had more than four times the risk of prostate cancer compared with those who had the lowest levels.
96
Investigating the link between lactose (milk sugar) and ovarian cancer among the 80,326 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study, Dr. Kathleen Fairfield and her associates reported that women who consumed the highest amount of lactose (one or more servings of dairy per day) had a 44 percent greater risk for all types of invasive ovarian cancer than those who ate the lowest amount (three or fewer servings monthly). Skim and low-fat milk were the largest contributors to lactose consumption.
97
Dairy products are just not the healthiest source of calcium.
Perhaps the strongest argument against dairy products in our diet: lots of us are lactose-intolerant. Those lactose-intolerant folks, who don’t digest dairy well, are continually barraged with information that makes them believe they will lose their bones if they don’t consume dairy products in some way. They may be better off without it.
If you choose to consume dairy, minimize your intake to small amounts. Remember the 90 percent rule: eat 90 percent health-giving whole-plant foods. Dairy may be a part of that 10 percent; however, it is not essential for good health and carries potential health risks.
You do not need dairy products to get sufficient calcium if you eat a healthy diet. All unprocessed natural foods are calcium-rich; even a whole orange (not orange juice) has about 60 mg of calcium.
CALCIUM IN 100 CALORIES OF:
| bok choy | 775 |
| turnip greens | 685 |
| collard greens | 539 |
| tofu | 287 |
| kale | 257 |
| romaine lettuce | 194 |
| milk | 189 |
| sesame seeds, unhulled | 170 |
| broccoli | 114 |
| cucumber | 107 |
| carrots | 81 |
| cauliflower | 70 |
| soybeans | 59 |
| flaxseeds | 48 |
| fish | 33 |
| eggs | 32 |
| pork chop | 4 |
| T-bone steak | 3 |
Government health authorities advise us to consume 1,500 mg of calcium daily. This is a tremendous amount of calcium. So much is recommended because of all the factors mentioned above. Even this high level of calcium will not prevent osteoporosis, but in a population with so many factors that cause osteoporosis, the extra calcium will make the negative balance less negative and partially slow the rate of osteoporosis. However, the only way to prevent osteoporosis and have strong bones is to exercise and to stop the causes of high urinary calcium excretion.
Eat to Live
describes a diet that protects against osteoporosis.
Nutritional Wisdom Makes You Thin
Case Study:
Can you imagine losing 333 pounds? Scott realized that bariatric surgery was not a solution for him and, after much research, embraced Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat to Live diet.Starting in puberty, I put on weight. Even though I was a competitive swimmer, rode my bike everywhere, and played pickup games of football and baseball, I still packed on the pounds.
Eventually I got married and became a stay-at-home dad, which was a privilege but also very isolating and lonely. My weight increased dramatically, yet I denied the seriousness of the problem. One day I woke up and admitted that I had fallen directly into a huge, black pit. In November 2005, I weighed 501 pounds.
I was unable to walk more than a few feet. My knees, lower back, and feet suffered greatly, causing my independence of movement to be completely gone. My wife, who is a nurse, had to help me shower, dress, walk, etc., and consequently I had no self-esteem. She also noticed that I had developed serious sleep apnea. Life was intolerable. Weighing as much as I did, I couldn’t move without a lot of pain and exhaustion. I stepped outside my house at the most four to six times a year.
I went to three different surgeons for bariatric surgery consultations but couldn’t and wouldn’t commit to it. It seemed as though I would be handing my problem over to someone else to fix. This was my problem, and I had to solve it or live with the negative consequences. I chose to solve it.
I discovered Eat to Live and decided to commit to it. After years of trying fad diets to lose weight, I was no longer interested in the D word. Eat to Live was not about a goal weight. It was about doing what was healthy for my body. I thought the results would follow—and they did! By February of 2009, I had lost 333 pounds and had my health and my life back.
BEFORE AFTER Weight 501 lbs. 168 lbs. Cholesterol 170 65 Blood pressure 126/72 109/65 Resting heart rate 88 50 Body fat 62% 10% I started exercising again. For me, biking made complete sense, as it was a way to move around without further destroying what was left of my body. It also reconnected me with all the best parts of my childhood—that sense of adventure and freedom. It was, is, and always will be great for me. That first year I rode approximately 1,400 miles. Last year I rode 19,700 miles, and this year I’m shooting for 25,000. Now, as a family, we do almost all our errands on our bikes. Anywhere we used to go by car, we now take a bike.
When I was morbidly obese, I felt worthless, unclean, stupid, unacceptable, and rejected. Eat to Live gave me a new life. Physically I feel great. My wife even admits that she can’t keep up with me now.
Make a sacred pact to commit to this new lifestyle. Do it at any and all costs. This is the only way out.
N
ow that we’ve cleared up some popular misconceptions about nutrition, we can go on to analyze food components. After reading this chapter, you will understand how eating lots of nutrient-dense foods will make you lose weight.
Unrefined Carbohydrates Encourage Weight Loss
Our bodies need carbohydrates more than any other substance. Our muscle cells and brains are designed to run on carbohydrates. Carbohydrate-rich foods, when consumed in their natural state, are low in calories and high in fiber compared with fatty foods, processed foods, or animal products.
Fat contains about nine calories per gram, but protein and carbohydrates contain approximately four calories per gram. So when you eat high-carbohydrate foods, such as fresh fruits and beans, you can eat more food and still keep your caloric intake relatively low. The high fiber content of (unrefined) carbohydrate-rich
foods is another crucial reason you will feel more satisfied and not crave more food when you make unrefined carbohydrates the main source of calories in your diet.
It is usually the small amount of added refined fat or oils that makes natural carbohydrates so fattening. For example, one cup of mashed potatoes is only 130 calories. Put just one tablespoon of butter on top and you have added another 100 calories.
Protein, fat, and carbohydrates are called
macronutrients
. Vitamins and minerals are referred to as
micronutrients
. All plant foods are a mixture of protein, fat, and carbohydrate (the macronutrients). Even a banana contains about 3.5 percent protein, almost the same as mother’s milk. Fruit and starchy vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, corn, and butternut squash, are predominantly carbohydrate but also contain some fat and protein. Green vegetables are about half protein, a quarter carbohydrate, and a quarter fat. Legumes and beans are about half carbohydrate, a quarter protein, and a quarter fat.
One of the principles behind the health and weight-loss formula in this book is not to be overly concerned about the macronutrient balance; if you eat healthful foods, you will automatically get enough of all three macronutrients as long as you do not consume too many calories from white flour, sugar, and oil. So don’t fear eating foods rich in carbohydrate and don’t be afraid of eating fruit because it contains sugar. Even the plant foods that are high in carbohydrate contain sufficient fiber and nutrients and are low enough in calories to be considered nutritious. As long as they are unrefined, they should not be excluded from your diet. In fact, it is impossible to glean all the nutrients needed for optimal health if your diet does not contain lots of carbohydrate-rich food.
Fresh fruits, beans and legumes, whole grains, and root vegetables are all examples of foods whose calories come mainly from carbohydrate. It is the nutrient-per-calorie ratio of these foods that determines their food value. There is nothing wrong with carbohydrates; it is the empty-calorie, or refined, carbohydrates that are responsible for the bad reputation of carbs.
Understanding the Concept of Caloric Density
Because meats, dairy, and oils are so dense in calories, it is practically impossible for us to eat them without consuming an excess of calories. These calorie-rich foods can pile up a huge number of calories way before our stomachs are full and our hunger satisfied. However, eating foods higher in nutrients and fiber and lower in calories allows us to become satiated without consuming excess calories.
When subjects eating foods low in caloric density, such as fruits and vegetables, were compared with those consuming foods richer in calories, those on meal plans with higher calorie concentrations were found to consume twice as many calories per day in order to satisfy their hunger.
1
Your body must burn about 23 percent of the calories consumed from carbohydrates to make the conversion from glucose into fat, but it converts food fat into body fat quickly and easily. One hundred calories of ingested fat can be converted to ninety-seven calories of body fat, burning a measly three calories. When you consume oil or animal fat, the fat you eat is easily and rapidly stored by the body.
MORE BULK MEANS FEWER CALORIES
