I am losing too much weight! Does anyone else want this problem?

Lose weight, correct your blood pressure, reverse high cholesterol, normalize your blood sugar, stop the inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, get off ADHD medication, protect yourself from cancer and sleep at night. Eat well; live well. These are the claims of the diet plan that I have been following called "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman.

I have been on Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live plan for about 5 months, and I have been telling everyone I know about it. This is the best, most scientifically sound program I have found. I have looked at the zone, adkins, eat right for you blood type, vegetarian, vegan and many many more diet programs. This man breaks it all down. His diet/lifestyle is based on a high nutrient diet. You will automatically get to your perfect body weight and constantly detox your body all while not counting calories. Your taste buds return and the flavor of even the simplest foods come alive.

Heal Yourself

There are a ton of testimonials from people who have been healed of autoimmune diseases (lupus/rheumatoid arthritis), hypertension and diabetes. If you have Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis or eczema, you owe it to yourself to try eating by his guidelines for a couple of weeks to see if any of your symptoms improve. You may be able to come off of some of your meds with your doctor's help. I am confident that by following this diet 90% of newly diagnosed type2 diabetics and people with high blood pressure can come off their meds, with their doctor's approval of course. Many long time diabetics and hypertensive patient's can come off or greatly reduce their meds within a year or two of following this eating plan. I have also heard of people who have gotten their kids off ADHD drugs by following the Eat to Live principles. It is definitely worth a try.

This is my story. I am a recovering fast-foodaholic and Dairy Queen. I noticed that I kept getting high blood pressure reading whenever a doc would check it. (To me, that is anything above 120/80--gotta protect those kidneys.) I had my blood pressure check about 5 times by 3 different doctors and every time it was over the limit. Because I am thin, each doctor just assumed it was an odd event. Being the wonderful clinical pharmacist that I am, I knew I was in trouble. I tried everything I knew. I was eating healthy, and nothing I tried was working. It took Dr. Fuhrman to tell me what my problem was---SALT. By following his plan for 2 weeks my blood pressure normalized (<120/80).

Just by chance I found out why I had had 3 sinus infections in 2 years. While trying new foods, I did not have time to OD on dairy. When I started it back up, I had a violent allergic reaction (not lactose intolerance) that progressed to the beginnings of sinus infection. D@#n! I love dairy, but now I know I need to avoid it in order to stop all of these allergy symptoms. Even when you hate the news, knowledge is power. I have a choice to live well or hurt myself. I just get up everyday and try to stay on the side of living well. If you want to start the program with me, just email me or let me know in a comment.

I have another great story of a friend that started following Dr. Fuhrman's advice about eating and supplements for certain diseases. He is recovering from an almost fatal episode of ulcerative colitis. A month after getting out of the hospital his meds did not seem to be making a big dent in his recovery. I was so happy when he told me that after three days of taking the recommended supplements and changing his diet he finally stopped suffering. WOW! It is so hard to believe what food can do.

Enough with the stories. What's it gonna cost you?

1st the bad news

• No processed foods-- no nitrites, MSG, white flour, white rice, white sugar or foods made from them


• No fake sugars - nutrasweet, splenda, equal


• Very very low dairy consumption


• Low meat consumption -no pork, sausage or processed lunch meat with a goal no more than a small serving of good animal protein per day.


• No foods with food coloring


• No foods with trans-fats

What is on the food list?

• Lots of vegetable--fresh, frozen or canned, eaten raw or cooked without oil, fat or meat



• Lots of fresh/frozen fruit



• Brown rice



• Beans/legumes and lentils--cooked without oil, fat or meat



• Whole grain bread products and pasta



• Nuts and seeds

MORE Good News!

• Coffee and tea are OK in reasonable amounts



• You don't have to give up meat.



• Chocolate in on the list.



• You do not have to buy organic.



• It is more about adding good foods versus taking away bad ones.



• 90% faithful is OK.



• You can still buy many canned foods. Just watch the sodium content.

Final Note

Please note that if you do not tolerate whole foods like cabbage and beans in the beginning do not give up. It may take a couple of months for your body to start producing the enzymes needed to break down real food. The longer you stick with it the better your body will be able to digest high fiber foods. Most people who start a nutrient rich diet call it quits after experiencing a little discomfort. Sometimes no pain no gain is true.

Just remember that most of the nutrients were taken out of the foods that we were raised on like white bread, pasta, sausage, lunchmeat, etc. I think it must be easier to digest food in this state; however, this type of food does not give your body the antioxidants it needs to heal itself. Our bodies are constantly assaulted by our environment and we must fuel it properly to breakdown those toxins and perform natural healing.

HAPPY EATING!!!