THE DOCTOR IS OUT THERE Joel Fuhrman, bestselling author and radical nutritionist (he once cured a heel injury by fasting for 46 days), says all you need to do to live an optimally healthy, disease-free life is eat pounds and pounds of vegetables every day. Can you live with that?
by MARK ADAMS photograph by NATHAN PERKEL
OCTOBER 2012 87 MEN’S JOURNAL COURTESY DR. JOEL FUHRMAN ought to be a typical a be to diet ought Fuhrman isn’t a crunchy he he says. nutrition “And has the he he says. nutrition “And has the power to overwhelm genetics. the and medicalprofession The masses them- absolved have They responsibility. all of selves think drugs are the answer to everything.” Eat to Live to Eat Fuhrman’s number-one predictor of Weeks” and bears a ringing endorsement from celebrity physician Dr. Mehmet Oz There is medicalno . (“A breakthrough.. . question in my mind that it will work for you”), expect- open it cracks who reader A book. ing WebMD-style advice about counting calories and taking the stairs more often author the that learn surprisedto be might fruitarianism to closer something preaches Christianor Science than to conventional the medicalFuhrman’sworld, wisdom.In number of calories one consumes is or important he thanlesstypes the food far of she ingests. Low-carb, high-protein diets are not only unhealthy, but they will also almost certainly hasten one’s death from an unpleasant disease. Olive oil be avoided, andshould the Mediterranean diet is practically a sham. A slow metabolism is preferable to a fast one. “Why would you wanttospeed yourmetabolic up rate?” he disbe- in up hands his throwing me, asked aging yourself!” “You’re lief. fam- isn’t cancer willget someone whether his in puts person that what history;it’s ily role,” smallvery a play genes “Your mouth. He speaks in a combative tone underscored underscored tone combative a speaksin He by a medium-thick New York accent and sketches little chartsillustrateimportant points. Fuhrman andsays diagrams to hasreviewed he 20,000journal articles on nutrition, culling the most important in- formationfrom each. thisOutof collected wisdom, tested on thousands of patients over the years, he devisedhas a simple holistic thinker.analysis He’s a data- guy. . The The . Fuhrman, 20, 20, 20, Fuhrman, Fuhrman, sister his and the at Gale Nationals. 1976 With Opposite: whom Oz, Dr. in knew he medicalschool. New York York New OCTOBER 2012 88 , hit number one on the on numberone hit , Fasting and Eating for Health for Eating and Fasting bestseller list.bestseller Judging by its cheery, colorful cover, MEN’S JOURNAL MEN’S which promises “Lose 20 Lbs. or More in 6 in More or Lbs. 20 “Lose promises which and back pain — saw an oppor- an saw — pain back and from away act second a for tunity medi- a earned He rink. ice the cal degree from the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in and, medicine, nutritional in alt-medicine the published 1995, manifesto book laid out the unorthodox, roughage- heavy rules for maximizing wellness that FuhrmanJune, In has since refined and expandedaudience. ever-widening an for upon work, best-known his of edition revised the Live to Eat Times himself of obesity, osteoarthritis, osteoarthritis, osteoarthritis, obesity, obesity, of of himself himself erent path. Fuhrman path. erent that launches him from from him launches that obscurity to self-help Charles superstardom. Atlas was skinny and discovered he until poor the expandingchest- he key scene inhekey ahealth- biog- guru’s tness and-fi always almost is raphy moment “Eureka!” the ! Turn Right Turn He wrote He about ping-pong is the author of of author the is
A less-farsighted man might have sued When the U.S. Olympic Committee’s “I couldn’t take any impact on it, couldn’t couldn’t it, on impact any take couldn’t “I Mark Adams Adams Mark Picchu. Machu at issue. 2012 April the hustler in ReismanMarty was already famous as a world-class pairs fi gure gure fi pairs world-class a as famous already was the waist-melting wonders of low-carb eat- of low-carb wonders the waist-melting on ideas radical whose Fuhrman, Joel Dr. ing. nutrition have made him one followed, of theu- today, most infl America in doctors diet ential a di does, usually he as secrets of Dynamic-Tension. Dr. Robert Atkins Atkins Robert Dr. Dynamic-Tension. of secrets across stumbled he until unhappy and fat was days. “They nearly killed me,”trouble he heel says. His “I pounds.” 88 to down fasted and muscle, his of most did so but vanished, for time in form top regain to unable was he Olympics. the1976 who’d Fuhrmanmalpractice. — for Shelton rid to methods natural use father his watched orthopedist urged Fuhrman to undergoexperimentalan surgical his procedurefor heel, Fuhrman refused. He sought treat- ment insteadir- from Herbertin Shelton, a San specialized who naturopath Antonio regular cures. Fuhrman, a fit 150 pounds, was put on a regimen of only water for 46 pausing midsentence to lift his shirt, flash and up frog-jump and well-defined abs, his down off his desk, an apple in each hand. thatsmirk a is facialexpression default His implies he possesses an important secret, which he may. With a little more hair, he 15years younger. pass couldfor
jump seated and We’re land year.” on a it,”almost Fuhrmanfor walk couldn’t says. “I in his offices in a bland corporate park in more looks that suite a Jersey, New exurban mortgage a for papers sign to someplace like of headquarters global the than refinancing in still is Fuhrman 58, At revolution. health a by illustrates he that point a shape, excellent skater, competing on the same amateurfutureHamillotherDorothycircuit asand Olympic medalists, when, in 1973, at age suffered he life-changing20, a injury. heel T formula: H=N/C, or health equals nutri- “In the future, it’s going tion divided by calories. It is the foundation to become more and more of Fuhrman’s proprietary eating system, impossible for the econ- which he calls nutritarianism. One of the omy to support how ex- core tenets of nutritarianism is that every- pensive medical care is and one should eat at least one pound of raw the number of sick people vegetables and another pound of cooked we have,” Fuhrman says. ones each day, the equivalent of a throw- “Why don’t we just get our pillow-size bag of spinach and a very large population healthier so we bowl of steamed broccoli. Follow his advice, don’t need medical care?” Fuhrman promises, and you should stay Along with Fuhrman, healthy until at least the age of 95. the leaders of plant-based libertarianism include UTRITARIANISM is nutritionist T. Colin part of a growing school Campbell, co-author of of research-based dietary The China Study, and his thinking that insists that, comrade-in-arms Dr. in terms of wellness, you Caldwell Esselstyn, a car- really are what you eat. diovascular surgeon. Last Call it plant-based libertarianism. The U.S. year, Campbell and Esselstyn starred in the tified. The foods highest in micronutrients has the world’s highest healthcare costs — hit documentary Forks Over Knives — the title per calorie are unprocessed plant foods, $2.7 trillion in 2011 — while consistently reflects a preference for dietary intervention mostly fruits and vegetables, which make scoring lowest among developed nations over the surgical variety — and published a up 90 percent of an ideal nutritarian diet. for quality of care. Practitioners of plant- bestselling book of the same name. Perhaps In Fuhrman’s system, calorie-dense olive oil based libertarianism believe that every per- the biggest brand name in the field is Dr. (nine points) scores lower than white bread son needs to take full responsibility for his Dean Ornish, whose near-vegan diet helped (18 points) because its phytochemical load or her own health. This means adopting a Bill Clinton drop 24 pounds following a sec- is so low relative to its fat content. wellness-focused diet, mostly vegan. ond coronary surgery. Fuhrman is something “If you want ideal health, you need to Comprehensive improvements in diet of an outlier among this group in that he overcompensate and eat an excellent diet,” have long been shown to reverse, slow, or pre- argues that small amounts of fish, eggs, and Fuhrman says. He estimates that if all Amer- vent what are called “diseases of affluence,” low-fat dairy are permissible so long as a per- icans were to adopt a nutritarian diet, “the largely self-inflicted maladies like obesity, son cranks up the rest of his diet to meet the immediate impact is that cancer rates might coronary heart disease, stroke, and type 2 ultrahigh nutritional benchmarks set by the decrease by half. But the long-term impact, diabetes. More recent research suggests H=N/C standard. “The right raw materials over generations. . . .” He picks up a pencil that such dietary improvements also com- can . . . double or triple the protective power and draws a downward- sloping line. “If we bat Alzheimer’s and cancer. This movement of the immune system,” he writes in his latest get kids eating right, we could decrease can- shares some of the life- extension dogma of book, Super Immunity: The Essential Nutri- cer rates by 90 percent.” the calorie-restriction crowd and a little tion Guide for Boosting Your Body’s Defenses Like most evangelists, he maintains few of the anti-agribusiness, eat-local moralism to Live Longer, Stronger, and Disease Free. barriers between his professional and per- of writers like Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s The nutrients that most interest Fuhrman sonal life. At least one patient recalls arriv- Dilemma) and films like Food, Inc. Its pri- aren’t found in supplements or multi vitamins. ing for an initial consultation and receiving mary concern, however, is wresting control He focuses instead on the immunity-boosting an invitation for her family to swim at the of America’s health back from the insurance power of micronutrients. These include anti- Fuhrman home in New Jersey later that day. and drug companies and returning it to the oxidants and phytochemicals, which he calls Fuhrman’s wife, Lisa (age 53; looks a very fit hands of citizens. As Fuhrman puts it in Eat “the most important discovery in human 40), manages his online business and co-stars to Live, “only you, not your physician, must nutrition in the last 50 years,” though most in his cooking DVD. The four Fuhrman chil- take responsibility.” of them have yet to be named or even iden- dren, ages 10 to 24, (continued on page 115)
THE FUHRMAN PLAN: HOW TO EAT TO LIVE
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OCTOBER 2012 89 MEN’S JOURNAL JOEL FUHRMAN continued from page 89 and dairy products are labeled with an ANDI is felt in the throat, neck, and mouth rather (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) score, a than the belly. It can be satiated by consum- number calculated with Fuhrman’s H=N/C ing almost any healthy food. Any urge that have been raised on a plant-based diet but formula. (Leafy greens, like kale, low in calo- might qualify as a craving is, by Fuhrman’s are allowed to make their own food choices ries and packed with phytochemicals, score definition, a sign of food addiction. outside the home. According to their father, a perfect 1,000.) “In my 31 years at Whole they almost always stick with the program: Foods, these scores are one of the biggest suc- THE IDEA THAT a restrictive diet might “One of my daughters once joked that for her, cesses we’ve had,” says Margaret Wittenberg, hold the antidote for all modern ills isn’t new. a cookie would be like shooting up heroin the company’s global VP of quality standards In a famous 1939 study conducted by the or smoking pot.” Fuhrman often cites his and public affairs. “There’s times we’ve had Rockefeller Institute, a thousand rats were children as examples of the benefits of nutri- stores run out of kale.” Fuhrman also recom- fed a diet equivalent to that of the average tarianism — he cannot recall a single ear in- mends large quantities of onions, garlic, ber- American. The rodents developed 39 differ- fection or case of the flu among them. Unlike ries, and mushrooms, all of which he credits ent diseases of affluence akin to those seen most family practitioners, Fuhrman gleefully with anticancer properties. “Women who ate in the human populace. Another thousand picks fights with other doctors, particularly mushrooms in China had a 64 percent lower rats were fed a calorie-restricted, raw-food those whose diets he disagrees with. “The incidence of breast cancer,” he says, citing a diet modeled on the ascetic customs of a long- Dukan Diet, the one Kate Middleton was recent study. “That should’ve been on the lived tribe in the Himalayas. Not one rat in on? That’s the stupidest diet in the world,” front page of the New York Times.” the second group became sick in two and a he says, scoffing at the high- protein plan. Micronutrients, Fuhrman contends, are half years. That story actually did make the The competitive fire that once drove also one of the unacknowledged keys to un- front page of the New York Times. Fuhrman as a skater is now largely chan- derstanding the American obesity epidemic. Yet our faith that science will develop a neled into marketing. Drfuhrman.com offers Americans get less than five percent of their pill or procedure to cure whatever ails us free nutritarian eating plans, with consulta- calories from unprocessed fruits and veg- is unshakable. Since the Human Genome tions, for overweight brides-to-be who wish etables that aren’t white potatoes; 62 percent Project began spilling the secrets of DNA to lose 50 or more pounds by their wedding of our calories comes from nutrient-poor a decade ago, many of our hopes have been day and are willing to provide a testimonial processed foods that are usually loaded with tied to the potential discovery of particular online “and possibly in magazines and on carbohydrates. Fuhrman believes that we genes linked to specific disorders that, once television.” Fuhrman’s “3 Steps to Incred- overeat these foods not only for the dopa- decoded, will offer road maps for doctors ible Health” special — essentially a stylish mine rush they supply but also in a futile at- and drug researchers to follow. But the po- infomercial for nutritarianism — has be- tempt to make up for a micronutrient deficit. tential of gene therapy as a cure for cancer come a staple during the self-improvement The more junk we consume, the more toxins, remains limited. One comprehensive review bloc of PBS pledge drives. As an author, like free radicals, amass in our tissues. “We of cancer-prevention research estimated that Fuhrman has one distinct advantage over become addicted to this toxicity buildup only five to 10 percent of cancers resulted virtually all his neighbors in the diet-book like it was cocaine or nicotine,” Fuhrman from inherited gene defects. The same study aisle at Barnes & Noble: He is an entertaining says. “When we try to stop eating, we get found that 30 to 35 percent of cancer deaths writer with a gift for plucking fascinating withdrawal symptoms.” These include the are “linked to diet,” with an additional 10 to facts and figures out of dry journal articles. gnawing sensation in the stomach, irritabil- 20 percent linked to obesity. Prostate can- (Two random examples: Three servings of ity, and light-headedness that 99.9 percent cers had a 75 percent dietary cause. cruciferous vegetables per week lower the of us would identify as hunger. “We know that cancer is a preventable risk of prostate cancer by 41 percent. Line- Fuhrman says these pangs are fake disease that requires changing lifestyle,” says backers are six times as likely as endurance signals, an overriding of natural appetite Bharat Aggarwal, a professor of experimen- athletes to die young.) that should kick in only once the body has tal therapeutics at the M.D. Anderson Cancer If you’ve set foot in a Whole Foods, you exhausted its glycogen stores. The not- Center in Houston. “No matter which can- may have noticed that the fruits, vegetables, unpleasant sensation he calls “true hunger” cer you pick, they’ve (continued on page 117)
MJA368142.pgs 08.10.2012 17:09 JOEL FUHRMAN continued from page 115 “fast food and sugar and junk,” we aren’t I noticed that Rob was picking at his nu- prepared for the kind of viral pandemic such tritarian dinner — steamed kale in creamy as the 1918 Spanish flu, which killed at least cashew sauce. found out at least 200 to 500 genes have gone 50 million people worldwide. “Some sort of “Any foods you miss?” I asked him. wrong. That means 200 to 500 pathways. swine flu/bird flu hybrid could kill 20 per- “Bread,” he said, stirring his vegetable The drug industry knows how to target only cent of our population,” Fuhrman says. As for soup. “I really miss bread.” one pathway at a time. Natural products hit the annual flu shot, “it isn’t effective at all — it Fuhrman took the stage, flanked by slen- multiple pathways, so they slow down the doesn’t work!” He’s also skeptical about the der acolytes dressed in black. He gave a short progression of the disease.” number of vaccines the average American speech, exhorted the audience to “Change Fuhrman is flabbergasted at the amount child receives. “There’s no chance of anyone your life!” — and was followed by testimo- of money going into cancer-cure research. getting polio in this country,” he says. nials from patients relating the miraculous “We’re not going to find a magic cure for changes they’d seen under his care. One had cancer,” he says. “We’ve got to prevent it.” ON A CHILLY FRIDAY night in Princeton, overcome rheumatoid arthritis; another had Micronutrients, in his opinion, are “the New Jersey, more than 300 people who have lost 144 pounds. A children’s book author fuel that turns on our body’s anticancer paid $800 and up for one of Fuhrman’s with stage-four ovarian cancer had eaten defenses.” Animal protein, on the other Weekend Immersions have arrived at the her way back to health. hand, raises levels of IGF-1, a hormone that Hyatt Regency. The event is sold out, and a All this sounded completely plausible stimulates growth in children but promotes spacious ballroom that has seen its share of to me. I had followed Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat to tumor development in adults. Dr. Luigi Fon- rented tuxes and bridesmaid dresses is filled Live plan for six weeks, and the results were tana, who conducted a multiyear study on with an odd cross-section of the Fuhrman undeniable. But it’s hard to be perfect all the long-term calorie restriction, observed a cor- faithful and curious newcomers. Ectomor- time, even if the payoff is near-eternal health. relation between protein consumption and phic women with yoga arms wander aim- I don’t know how many people who aren’t IGF-1 levels. “There’s a perception that you lessly between the tables as if searching for facing imminent death — or who wouldn’t be can eat as much protein as you want,” Fon- their mislaid kombucha. Wide men with capable of living on water for 46 days to cure tana says, “and it’s safe and healthy. Our data rolls of fat bulging from the back of their a heel injury — would have the willpower to suggests that probably this is not correct.” necks sit with their arms folded, their grim stick with nutritarianism forever. When it With each book, Fuhrman has pushed facial expressions hinting at recent bad news comes to the link between diet and health, the possibilities of nutritarianism a little from their cardiologists. Americans not only expect to have our cake further. A banner running across the bot- I found a seat next to a slim fellow named and eat it, too, but we also insist that our doc- tom of Super Immunity’s cover promises, in Rob Alexander-Carew, who’d flown down tors prescribe something to undo the conse- capital letters: no shots – no drugs – no from Toronto. He’d been following a nutri- quences of our gluttony. In the months after sick days. Fuhrman writes that “healthy tarian program for four months. “I’ve lost meeting Fuhrman, as I tried to weave some of people eating healthy food should never 30 pounds,” he told me. “I’m the same size his dietary precepts into my life, the second- need to take an antibiotic.” In his office, I was when I was 15.” He started eating nu- biggest story in health news was First Lady he dials that claim back a little, saying that tritarian in hopes of finding relief for his Michelle Obama’s inexplicably controversial antibiotics might be necessary on “very rare pulmonary fibrosis, a scarring of the lungs initiative to encourage kids to exercise and occasions.” I ask for examples. with no known cause or cure. Though he eat more vegetables. The biggest health-news “Certainly, you could step on a sea ur- looked like a cross-country runner, Rob was story was that the FDA had granted prelimi- chin,” he says. “You could get bitten by a cat.” down to 60 percent lung capacity. nary approval to a new anti-obesity drug. Viruses, Fuhrman says, are relatively “Do you feel like it’s working?” I asked. Fuhrman puts forth a convincing case harmless in a healthy person; a bug that kills “I’m lighter and fitter. My kids come that by making some fundamental dietary one person might not even cause symptoms home with a cold and I catch it, but 12 hours changes — sacrifices, really — Americans in a committed nutritarian. Because Ameri- later it’s gone, and I’m like, what just hap- can live longer, healthier lives. The question cans are hooked on immunity-depressing pened? But my lungs haven’t opened up yet.” is, can we live with that? MJ
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