In our Weight Loss Awakening Friendship Group, I mentioned that we’re going to have a book club where we’ll read one book a month and discuss it. The first book is going to be “The End of Dieting" by Joel Fuhrman, MD.
Who is Dr. Joel Fuhrman?
Dr. Joel Fuhrman is a family physician who specializes in nutritional medicine. He has authored several bestselling books on health including Eat to Live, The End of Diabetes, and Fast Food Genocide.
Dr. Fuhrman is one of my favorite authors when it comes to nutrition. I first discovered him when I had a patient years ago named Karen. She was one of the reasons I started looking into nutrition and its effects on health.
Karen had severe lupus and I had to put her on all kinds of medications. I was terrified at the amount of medications she was taking at that time, but despite the extensive treatments, there were no improvements and her illness didn’t improve. We got her off the dangerous medications and she disappeared for a couple of months.
When Karen came back, she was almost cleared of her illness. It was then that she introduced me to one of Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s books called Eat to Live, a diet book that he wrote many, many years ago.
Why I Chose The End of Dieting
It was because of Karen that I read many of Dr. Fuhrman’s books at that time and got to meet him several times at vegan festivals where he was a speaker and I had a chance to meet him. I was impressed with the academic dialogue that I was able to have with him. I respect him greatly, so that’s one of the reasons I chose this book.
There are two other reasons why I chose The End of Dieting to be the first book for our book club:
- Good references.
One of the things that most doctors or any academic do is evaluate a book they turn to the back of the book first and look at the references, or at least that is what I do :). When you look at the references, you can see whether or not these references are genuine.
Sometimes when I pick up diet books and look at the references, I find that some of them reference unreliable websites rather than peer reviewed literature. This didn’t happen with any of Dr. Fuhrman’s books.
If you were to look at some of the books I have, there are many highlights in the index. This allows me to actually read the studies used in the references and verify them. Because, believe it or not, when you look at the references that are cited and then read the study, there are times when some authors just draw conclusions the studies didn’t make. Perhaps it was an animal study, perhaps it was just a case report - either way, one must be careful.
This is why it is important for me to have a clear understanding of how these people choose references they use in their books, and Dr. Fuhrman’s have always been incredible in that regard.
- The Nutritarian Plan is effective.
As I started helping people with autoimmune diseases, I discovered this eating plan, called the Nutritarian Plan. This diet and lifestyle plan suggests that if you eat nutrient-rich foods rather than calorie dense foods, you can eat more and you’d feel full for a long time.
If I had to give someone with autoimmune disease a book, I would give them Eat to Live, which talks about the Nutritarian Diet. If the patient follows what it says, he has a bigger chance of remission from autoimmune disease than from following any other diet recommendations. That in combination with the lectin avoidance in the Plant Paradox by Stephen Gundry, MD are the perfect combination for auto-immune disease in my experience with patients.
The End of Dieting is the summary of the Nutritarian Diet, that’s why I recommend it.
There are even different recipes you’ll find in this book that tells you how to make ice cream substitutes. And it is a diet that’s custom-built for you to recapture your sense of taste and smell, which have been damage by all the modern processed foods.
The End of Dieting also talks about toxic hunger, where Dr. Fuhrman says that the sensations that we interpret as hunger “are actually symptoms of detoxification and withdrawal from an unhealthy diet, lacking in crucial micronutrients.” He also talks about the formula that he calls the health equation, which is health equals nutrients over calories. This means that if you’re eating foods that are high in nutrients and low in calories, then you’re going to get the most benefit.
Kale would be high in nutrients and low in calories. The opposite would be processed oil which is high in calories and almost completely devoid of micronutrients. Remember, there is fat, protein, and carbohydrates and these all have calories. This equation focuses on micronutrients, vitamins, and plant specific chemicals called phytonutrients and all of these have zero calories but have immense benefits to your health including reducing your appetite.
Becoming Your Own Authority
Now of course, I have my own protocol, which differs from Dr. Fuhrman's. But at the time, when I was just getting used to learning further nutritional interventions, his books were an amazing resource for me.
I don’t necessarily agree with everything I read in the books I recommend. These books are meant to educate and give you ideas to talk about. For example, while we read The End of Dieting, it doesn’t mean that I recommend that you start a Nutritarian Diet. What I want is to help you become your own authority on health and make informed decisions for yourself.
I will provide you with various resources that may sometimes disagree with the information the books offer. I do this so you can compare the different information from these sources and you can make your own decisions about what you think is best for your health.
Interested in joining the book club? Go to our Weight Loss Awakening Friendship Facebook Group to participate in the discussion. We’ll talk about things that I agree and disagree with, tips that worked for you, and other relevant insights.
