Super Immunity (25 page)

—Cheryl Platt

Typically, patients come to see me with lupus or rheumatoid arthritis and tell a similar story. Their doctor typically gets mad if patients even suggest a natural approach to their problem. Debra Black's story below is typical:

I had been feeling fatigued and a little achy for a few months. And then, after being referred to a dermatologist for a rash on my face, I was told I had lupus. With hardly a discussion about it, the dermatologist wrote out a prescription for Plaquenil and Prednisone. I questioned the doctor about the risks of the drugs and was told I would need them for the rest of my life, and if I did not take them the lupus could then attack my joints and kidneys, and even kill me. I left the office in tears.

I then went to see Dr. Fuhrman, looking for another way. He told me about his success in treating lupus with nutritional therapy and was confident he could help me. He pointed to a few medical studies that supported the effectiveness of this type of treatment, but he said most doctors are simply not interested in anything but drugs.

I had nothing to lose. I followed Dr. Fuhrman's vegetable-based diet with his blended salads, fresh vegetable juices, vegetable/bean soups with onions and mushrooms, and added cruciferous greens and lots of berries and seeds. He taught me how to make his delicious soups too. He had me take three separate nutritional supplements and wrote out a plan for me, telling me exactly what to eat and what not to eat. I followed it like a champ.

Within six days after beginning Dr. Fuhrman's program I felt “freaky,” like there was a sunburn inside my entire body. My skin was warm, itchy. I called Dr. Fuhrman in a panic. He was pleased; he said that this is a great sign to be occurring so soon and that my body was withdrawing from my prior toxic diet and detoxifying. He explained that this was the first step before my ugly skin rash could heal. Within a few more days my stiffness and pain had improved significantly. I couldn't believe I felt so good, so fast. Within one month, the discoid (lupus-caused) skin rash had disappeared. I looked and felt radiant. Everyone commented on how good I looked. My skin looked soft and smooth; I was well again. I went back to the dermatologist, excited to share my story, and he became irate and screamed at me—ridiculous nonsense he said, and told me to get out of his office.

Achieving superior health via nutritional excellence gives a person with an autoimmune disorder the only opportunity for a complete, drug-free remission. In many cases a vegetarian diet alone helps substantially. It is important to keep in mind that food is our major contact with the external environment, and food choices can negatively or positively modulate the immune system. In addition to inherently toxic substances that may be ingested, partially digested animal proteins can be absorbed into the bloodstream, playing a significant role in promoting an excessive antibody response and thus contributing to autoimmune diseases.

However, in most cases more specific dietary modifications along with nutritional supplements are required to maximize the therapeutic response. Over the last fifteen years, having treated and helped hundreds of patients with autoimmune disease, I have found that the greatest percentage of patients achieve excellent results if they utilize a high-nutrient dietary program rich in greens—especially the cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage, broccoli, and kale—in conjunction with some helpful nutritional supplements.

The autoimmune protocol has some important features:

1. High-nutrient vegan diet, rich in green vegetables

2. Blended salads and/or vegetable juices (utilizing leafy greens) to increase absorption of favorable phytochemical compounds

3. Supplementation with EPA and DHA
⁶⁵

4. Supplementation with beneficial bowel flora

5. Supplementation with natural anti-inflammatory substances such as turmeric, ginger, quercetin, and other bioflavonoids

6. Supplementation with a multivitamin/multimineral, plus additional vitamin D
⁶⁶

7. Dietary avoidance of salt, wheat, oil, and concentrated sweets

The ability to achieve substantial improvement and even complete remission of these supposedly incurable illnesses is exciting. Patients with these conditions are typically highly motivated to get well and amenable to any health-supporting changes that may facilitate their recovery. I know that there are many thousands of people who visit their doctors begging for a nontoxic natural approach to getting well and are told that diet and nutritional interventions do not work.

Jill's story is typical of those of so many other suffering individuals:

My lupus story began in 1992, when I was thirty-two years old. I had experienced severe joint pains, fatigue, and a red facial rash. The blood tests came back specific for lupus. At first I thought this was good news—a diagnosis, now we can do something about it. Well, I was then told there is no cure and I would have to live with it and take medication for the rest of my life. I was even told by the rheumatologist that I might die from it. Even with the medications, I had a constant low-grade fever, low energy, a bright red face, stiffness, and joint pain.

I could not accept this death sentence and a life dependent on toxic drugs. I researched everything I could find about this disease and tried changing to a vegetarian diet and alternative medicine with some degree of success. I lived in Virginia and took a train trip up to New Jersey to visit Dr. Fuhrman. I was convinced to take the next step to regain my health and decided to adopt a healthier, “whole foods diet” and do some fasting. Soon I felt like a teenager again; my face was cool and white for the first time in years, my joints felt great, and I had lots of energy. I lost a little weight and looked great.

I went back to visit my rheumatologist, who was on staff at a teaching hospital. I just knew he was going to be interested in my story and recovery from lupus. When I started to tell him of my experience and my newfound good health, he wrote “spontaneous recovery” in the chart. I was shocked. He was not the least bit interested in hearing the details of my recovery, and practically walked out of the room when I started to explain what happened.

Now, nine years later, I remain free from the symptoms of lupus. Lupus is no longer part of my life. I play tennis and compete on a local team. No one who knows me today would ever guess that I used to be in so much pain that I couldn't even shake someone's hand.

No matter where your health is today, you can improve it. When we make the right choices, we can live better and be healthier. Do not be complacent with doing what other people do. Do not be complacent with taking medications for the rest of your life. You can recover. Your body has an amazing healing potential waiting to be unleashed by the gift of superior nutrition.

Achieving superior health is well within your reach. And in the process, you will look better, feel better, and live longer. Better still, Super Immunity can be delicious, as you will see in the following pages.

When my child was 18 months old and suffering from his fourth ear infection and fourth course of antibiotics, my search for a better solution led me to Dr. Fuhrman. After one visit, we changed my son's diet according to Dr. Fuhrman's instructions and Evan never suffered another ear infection.

—Ondria Westfall

T
o really experience all the pleasures and benefits that a micro-nutrient-rich Super Immunity diet has to offer, you must learn to make nutrient-rich meals in your own kitchen. To show you the concepts in action, and give you a feel for the delicious flavors and textures of nutrient-rich food, I have provided two weeks of sample meal plans and an assortment of delicious recipes. These will help you understand and master the basic techniques and principles of high-nutrient food preparation.

A good place to start is with salads. Make sure you and your family eat a big green salad at least once a day. Since salad is so important, the unique healthy and tasty salad dressings below are the most important recipes. You must try them to see how good they taste.

If you feel that these recommendations are too daunting to implement all at once, at first simply make sure that both lunch and dinner include either a salad or a cooked green vegetable (and add mushrooms and onions to that vegetable most days).

The next step after that is to make a big pot of one of the vegetable-bean soups at least once a week. After your initial meal, you'll be able to use it the rest of the week as leftovers.

Within two weeks you could accomplish these basics: a salad every day, a bowl of veggie-bean soup with mushrooms and onions most days, and cooked greens every day. But that's just the beginning: you may find, after trying many of the fantastic recipes I have provided here, that your fears of change are overcome by pleasure and the enjoyment of great food.

You can switch around foods and adjust the recipes to reflect your own tastes and lifestyle. Except for people who employ their own cook, hardly anybody prepares different dishes like this on a daily basis. In the real world, you make enough of one dish to cover multiple meals and then don't cook for a few days, until all the leftovers are eaten. So in reality, these two weeks of recipes should actually give you a complete variety of dishes to use for many more weeks.

You can eat simply and enjoy fruit and nuts for breakfast, a big salad with beans and a healthy dressing for lunch, and then a nice bowl of soup with dinner that was (made a few days earlier). Life is busy. When you cook,
do
make enough to enjoy leftovers for several days. Soups can last up to five days in the refrigerator or even longer if you freeze them. Salad dressings will last three days refrigerated and still taste fresh. So if you are cooking for a family, double the size of the recipes supplied here so they'll last for more than one meal.

Plan your cooking and shopping schedule so you have some evenings where you know there will be no need for cooking; then you can plan other fun family activities or exercise on those nights. Many people find that shopping twice a week and cooking twice a week is adequate to prepare most of the healthy dishes they need for the full week.

Remember, you can eat as much as you want of raw and cooked vegetables and fresh fruits. Include a serving of beans in your diet each day, and at least 1 ounce of raw nuts and seeds (about ¼ cup). Since you are giving up lots of unhealthy foods, treat yourself to plenty of delicious and exotic fruits and vegetables and a delicious healthy dessert after dinner. Try different fresh herbs and spices to season your foods.

Always keep a good assortment of healthy food in the house; and when you leave the house for work, travel, or leisure, pack up food to take with you so that you are not stranded with unhealthy choices. The key to eating healthfully is to stock your house with a good variety of healthy foods, cook up delicious healthy recipes, and remove unhealthy food choices from your home.

As noted above, I have included a number of healthy salad dressing recipes to be used with your own combination of greens. There are also a variety of salad recipes that include both dressing and suggested vegetables for the salad, but mix and match the dressings and make your own creations. These recipes are designed to give you a delicious
start;
with experience, you can modify them for variety and your own preferences.

A small amount of animal products can be added to any vegetable or bean dish for a different flavor, if desired. However, I suggest that you keep the animal product additions well below 10 ounces for a female and 12 ounces for a male for the entire week. In other words, don't eat a large portion of animal products at any meal, but use such products in condiment or flavoring amounts to add taste to a soup, stew, or salad. You will note, through following and eating some of these recipes, that a very small amount of meat, fish, or seafood per serving can add a familiar flavor. Completely avoid processed, cured, or barbecued meats.

The use of animal products in a nutritarian diet is optional, as we have seen; one can be vegan, near-vegan, or flexitarian, using animal products semiregularly but in very small amounts, and in all of these cases be eating healthfully. If you want to use animal products in your diet to retain that flavor, restrict your consumption of oil and other processed foods even more so that you still have high-nutrient produce forming 90 percent of your caloric intake. To keep animal products appropriately limited in your diet, I suggest that if you use some on a particular day, make the next day completely vegan. That way you will easily not exceed the low levels I prescribe for Super Immunity and an anticancer lifestyle.

All the recipes in this book are delicious and complete as vegan recipes. For some of the recipes, however, I suggest a nonvegan option for those who want to use a small amount of animal product to enhance the taste. It's your choice. For example, you may serve the Thai Longevity Stew with some small chunks of cooked shrimp or scallop mixed in. The Creamy Cruciferous Curry may be flavored with shredded strips of chicken, turkey, or rattlesnake (kidding!). All recipes that have a nonvegan option are identified with an asterisk below and are listed on page 188.

Week 1

DAY 1