By Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

T
here are many reasons why
you should eliminate or great-
ly reduce the amount of cof-
fee you drink. These include heart
disease, endometriosis, menstrual
disorders, breast pain, and possibly
even breast cancer. But if you are
overweight, there is another com-
pelling reason to abstain from cof-
feeeliminating your caffeine intake
can help you lose weight.
I have noticed that overweight
patients who drink coffee (tea and
cola are also culprits) are drawn to
eat more frequently than necessary.
They eat extra meals and snacks be-
cause they are mistaking caffeine
withdrawal symptomsincluding
weakness, shakes, mental fatigue,
headaches, lightheadedness, stom-
ach cramping, and esophageal
spasmfor hunger.Why? They cant
tell the difference between true
hunger and the discomfort that ac-
companies caffeine withdrawal.
True hunger is a mouth and throat
sensation. It is a pleasant signal that
tells you when food is needed. I call
the unpleasant withdrawal sensa-
tions that coffee drinkers experience
detox hunger, but these symptoms
are not signs of hunger. They are
By Jeff Novick, M.S., R.D.
I
n last months newsletter, I des-
cribed many of the reasons why
the number of overweight and
obese Americans has skyrocketed.
The sad truth is that Americans are
eating as much, if not more, fat than
ever beforebecause we now eat
more calories than ever before.
Although most people think that
a healthful diet should contain
about 30 percent fat, well-informed
people (like readers of this newslet-
ter) know that a healthy goal is to
have no more than 15-20 percent
of your total calories from fat.
Even if you have already trans-
formed your diet, the following tips
will be a big help to family members
and friends who are just starting.
Fruits and veggies are best.
Keeping the percentage of fat in your
diet in the healthful range is relative-
ly easy if your diet is based primarily
on fresh fruits and vegetables, whole
grains, and legumes. Ninety percent
of the fat in the American diet comes
from meat, fish, poultry, dairy prod-
ucts, eggs, oils, and shortening. If you
eliminate these items from your
dietor dramatically reduce their
intakeyou are well on your way
toward a healthful low-fat diet.
If you still eat meat, fish, or poul-
Coffee Drinking and Weight Gain
The difference between real hunger and detox hunger
Ways to Cut the Excess Fat from Your Diet
These simple tips are great reminders for you, family, and friends
Dr. Fuhrmans Newsletter No. 2 October 2002
Whats Inside
West Nile Virus Anxiety
Are the alarming media reports
about this disease warranted?....
Dr. Fuhrmans Diet Challenge
Take the five-day weight loss
challenge and truly cleanse.....
Diet Challenge Recipes
Delicious, easy-to-prepare recipes
make losingweight a pleasure...
Couch Potato Dangers
Obesity and inactivity may be
more deadly than smoking........
High Protein Myths
Dr. Fuhrman exposes mistakes
in New York Times article.........
Making Sense of Science for Superior Health and Effective Weight Management
2
4
5
6
8
(continued on page 3)
(continued on page 7)
Late-Breaking News
D
r. Fuhrman's exciting new
book Eat to Live: The Rev-
olutionary Formula for Fast
and Sustained Weight Loss will
be out in just twelve weeks, and
the media frenzy is starting up.
Ladies HomeJournal, Glamour,
Shape, Natural Health, Oxygen,
and other magazines will be run-
ning stories about the most ef-
fective diet ever that promotes
longevity and reverses disease as
it melts away the pounds.
Dr. Fuhrman lectured recently
at Cornell Universitys Graduate
School of Human Nutrition,pre-
senting evidence that nutrition-
al intervention is more power-
ful than drugs and surgery for
reversing chronic diseases.
DR. FUHRMANS HEALTHY TIMES OCTOBER 2002 2
By Joel Fuhrman, M.D.
T
he media has given a tre-
mendous amount of atten-
tion to the West Nile virus.As
a result, physicians are being inun-
dated with calls about mosquito
bites, in spite of the fact that no one
can tell if a particular bite carries the
virus. Some parents are afraid to let
their children leave the house for
fear that they will be bitten.
In reality, the actual number of
cases of infection is very low, and
West Nile virus infection is a rela-
tively mild disease in healthy peo-
ple. Only diabetics, the elderly, or
people with suppressed immuni-
ty need be concerned about an
exposure to West Nile turning
into a more serious illness.
People who live a healthy life-
style and eat a nutritionally ex-
cellent diet have little to fear,
even if they were to get bitten
by a mosquito carrying West
Nile virus. The mortality rate in
those affected with West Nile
virus is about one in one thou-
sand. Severe illness occurs in only
one percent, and those one percent
are typically those who have a weak-
ened immune response.
In my view, the spread of the
virus across the entire country is
inevitable. It is likely that many of
us will get exposed to it. Those of
us who are exposed will most like-
ly develop a minor illness and, as a
result, receive lifetime immunity to
it, just as we do with other diseases.
As this mosquito-borne virus estab-
lishes itself throughout the United
States, this immunity in humans will
result in fewer cases over time.
In Africa, West Nile is primarily a
disease of children. All adults and
the elderly already have developed
immunity from exposure at a young
age. Data already suggest that, just as
in Africa, the prevalence of the dis-
ease is diminishing in areas where it
has been present for a few years.
West Nile is here to stay. Spraying
heavily populated areas with aerial
treatments of organophosphate in-
secticides is unlikely to be effective
at eliminating the risk of West Nile
virus. It may postpone, but will not
stop, the spread of West Nile. If your
area is sprayed, stay indoors behind
closed windows and sealed doors
overnight.
Typical Symptoms
It is important to understand that a
diagnosis for West Nile virus is not
News You Can Use
West Nile Virus Anxiety Is Epidemic.
Protect yourself and your family with the facts about this mosquito-borne disease.
Dr. Fuhrmans Healthy Times

Joel Fuhrman, M.D., Editor Jeff Novick, M.S., R.D., Contributing Writer
Lisa Walfield Fuhrman, Copy Editor Editorial, design, and production services provided by Lennon Media, Inc.
Dr. Fuhrmans Healthy Times is published ten times per year. 2002 by Joel Fuhrman, M.D., P.C. All Rights Reserved.
Address: Joel Fuhrman, M.D., P.C., Hunterdon Medical Center, Doctors Office Building,1100 Wescott Drive, Suite 106, Flemington, NJ 08822
Website: www.DrFuhrman.com Telephone: (908) 237-0200 Subscription rates: $35 via email, $45 via mail
Special written permission is required to reproduce, by an means, in whole or in part, the material contained herein.
IMPORTANT: Before adopting any kind of diet or medical program, please consult your doctor. The information in this newsletter is for informational
purposes only, and is no substitute for a physician's consultation and/or examination.
To subscribe or to see our online catalog of health products, visit our website at: www.DrFuhrman.com
Human case(s)
Verified avian, animal, and
mosquito infections
As of September 20, 2002
West Nile Virus in the United States, 2002
DR. FUHRMANS HEALTHY TIMES OCTOBER 2002 3
crucial. It is important only for sur-
veillance, but not for patient care.
There is no treatment for the disease,
so it makes no difference whether
you know if you have the disease or
not. Its symptoms are similar to
influenza (flu), and, like the flu, heal-
thy people can recover easily from it.
Like influenza (flu) and chicken pox,
West Nile virus can be serious for
those in poor health.
Only about 20 percent of those
bitten by a mosquito carrying West
Nile virus develop a mild illness. For
most of us, when we eventually get
bitten by a West Nile virus- carrying
mosquito, the infection will be clini-
cally silent and we will never realize
we had it.Three to fifteen days after
exposure (mosquito bite), those 20
percent who develop illness experi-
ence a sudden onset of fever, head-
ache, body aches, weakness, twitch-
ing muscles, and (occasionally) eye
pain. Symptoms generally last three
to six days. Severe symptoms (en-
cephalitis) are rare but may include
stiff neck,confusion,and severe head-
ache.These are symptoms of the seri-
ous variant of the infection.
Your Best Protection
The best protection against all dis-
eases, including West Nile, is to eat a
nutrient-dense diet that helps main-
tain a strong immune system as you
age. In addition, some people on an
ideal diet also may require supple-
mentation of certain nutrients to
maximize their immune system pro-
tection. For example, increased need
for folate, vitamin B12, or vitamin D
can develop because of aging or
genetics, and can occur in spite of an
excellent diet. Evaluation of homo-
cysteine, B12, and vitamin D levels
through appropriate blood testing is
advisable in the aging population.
Nutritional excellence is your pri-
mary protection against infectious
disease, as well as heart disease and
cancer. I
signs of ill health.
People who consume unhealthful
diets and ingest tissue-irritating sub-
stances, such as caffeine, develop
symptoms that routinely are mistaken
for hunger. After your body finishes
digesting a meal, it begins to shift its
efforts toward mobilizing and elimi-
nating irritants. This process often is
accompanied by the unpleaseant
symptoms described above. Since
these symptoms can be relieved by
eating, most people mistakenly think
of them as hunger pains.
Caffeine is a stimulant; it gives you
a false sense of increased energy. As
you become addicted to it, you set in
motion a vicious cycle.You drink cof-
fee (or other caffeinated beverages)
and you experience a false, tempo-
rary sensation of increased energy.
When the drug effects of the caffeine
begin to wear off, you may experi-
ence headache and other withdrawal
symptoms. Since eating is an effective
way to suppress these sensations, you
are prodded to eat again, consuming
more food than you would if you
werent a caffeine addict.
Fortunately, by eliminating all or
most of your intake of caffeine and
switching to my healthful, high-nut-
rient eating plan, you can say good-
bye to this unhappy and unhealthful
scenario. My experience with the
thousands of patients who have fol-
lowed my dietary plan is that most of
them happily report that they no
longer get the discomfort that they
formerly mistook for hunger. Even
when they have a long wait between
meals and get very hungry, these
patients no longer experience stom-
ach cramping, headaches or fatigue
that used to accompany their falling
blood sugar. They report that they
merely experience true hunger.
Whats more, these patients say that
their new, healthful meals taste better
than ever before. They enjoy the
pleasure of satisfying that hunger
with delicious, healthful foods.
Very few Americans have ever
experienced true hunger. But you
will, when you start eating my health-
ful, high-nutrient-per-calorie diet and
your body reaches a high enough
level of health. There is no compari-
son between eating in response to
true hunger and eating due to habit,
cravings, boredom, or the withdrawal
symptoms that most people mistake
for hunger.To experience the day-to-
day enjoyment of satisfying your
bodys true hunger signals with deli-
cious foods, you need to put my
dietary recommendations into prac-
tice. You will never experience it
while still addicted to caffeine or
other stimulants.
Some people find it easier to fol-
low my strictest dietary recommen-
dations than to give up coffee. What
are they to do? If drinking a little cof-
fee would make it possible for you to
remain true to my dietary recommen-
dations, I would not have a strong
objection. After all, losing weight is
much more important for your over-
all health than giving up coffee. It is
just that caffeine does not make it eas-
ier to control your appetite and food
cravings, it makes it harder.
Since caffeine consumption makes
it harder to lose weight, I suggest that
if you are attempting to follow my
dietary recommendations for health
or weight loss, seriously consider
quitting or weaning yourself off cof-
fee. Keep in mind it takes four to five
days for the caffeine withdrawal
headaches to resolve once you stop
drinking coffee. If the symptoms are
too severe, try reducing your coffee
consumption slowly, cutting back by
about one cup every three days.
Make a firm commitment right
now to eliminate caffeinein all of
its forms. It will make a huge differ-
ence in the way you feeland how
quickly you can lose weight! I
Coffee and Weight Gain
Continued from page 1
DR. FUHRMANS HEALTHY TIMES OCTOBER 2002 4
Healthful Detox Diet
By Joel Fuhrman, M.D.
D
r. Fuhrmans Five-Day Super-
Diet Challenge is an excit-
ing program that can help
you to lose as many as five pounds in
five days. Youve heard about so-
called miracle cleansing and detox
diets, now you can give your body a
real cleanse with high-quality foods.
Youll be amazed at what Mother
Nature can do with real food and
no magic formulas. The Five-Day
Super-Diet Challenge is completely
different from the all-too-common
fake bowel cleansing and liver
detox programs youve heard
aboutprograms that are little
more than typical alternative-medi-
cine scams.
Mother Natures Cleanse
The most important thing to under-
stand about detoxification is that it
is an ongoing bodily process. It isnt
something that you can buy in a
package.The healthier you are, the
easier it is for your body to keep its
tissues clean.
In order to maintain excellent
health and true internal cleanliness,
you must avoid all harmful, irritat-
ing substances (such as salt, pep-
per, and hot spices) and eat a diet
rich in phytochemicals and antioxi-
dants. Fresh fruits and vegetables
contain the most powerful healing
agents.They nourish your body and
help maximize its normal func-
tions. The only way to effectively
detoxify is to live and eat healthful-
ly, and allow your body to do its
thing at full throttle.
On the next page are delicious
recipes that you can use to jump
start your diet and detox program
and lose weight at the same time.
Lets see how you feel after five
days of eating Natures most pow-
erful healing foods. Follow my
cleansing diet for five days (or
more) and send your results to me.
I want to know how good you feel
and how much weight you lose!
Toxic, Irritating Laxatives
Why am I so opposed to the detox
in a box programs that have be-
come so popular? The most impor-
tant reason is they dont work.
Besides that, they also are harmful.
No special pills, powders, or
herbs can detoxify you. The health
food and supplement manufactur-
ers combine a mix of herbal laxa-
tivessuch as senna and cascara
with some walnut hull, and they
claim that these bowel irritants will
detoxify you. Laxatives can no more
detoxify you than washing your
mouth out with soap can.
A false claim commonly made in
natural laxative advertising is that
you have years of hardened mucus
and food stuck like glue on the wall
of your colon. Well, guess what? You
dont, and thousands of sigmoido-
scopies and colonoscopies done by
me and other physicians prove it.
When you eat a nutritious, high-
fiber diet, the walls of your intestines
and colon will be pristine. Long-term
exposure to the right amount and
balance of natural fibers and natural
food containing nutrients is the only
way to protect your bowel and your
body against disease.
Another problem with laxatives is
that they are habit-forming.The more
you stimulate your bowels by irritat-
ing the nerves lining your gut, the
less reactive your bowel will become
to the normal nerve stimulation from
food. Before too long, you will be
dependent on laxatives for normal
bowel movements.
You cant transform a toxic sub-
stance into a healthful one by ask-
ing your marketing department to
give it a catchy name like Ultimate
Cleanse or Super Detox Cleanser.
Below are two examples of popu-
lar, but toxic, bowel-irritating for-
mulas (and the claims made for
them), sold on the internet and in
health food stores.
Bowel ClearEach tablet con-
tains: cascara cagrada 500mg, gold-
en seal 150mg, black walnut
350mg, rhubarb 200mg, elecam-
pane 100mg, wormwood 100mg,
sage 500mg, rice bran 800mg, soya
bran 667mg.
The label claims that these ingre-
dients work like an Intestinal
Broom, scrubbing & sweeping the
inner walls of your colon, allow-
ing larger amounts of unwanted
waste matter to pass easily & reg-
ularly through your bowel.
Ultimate CleanseEach tablet con-
tains: psyllium seed, aloe vera pow-
der, senna leaf, cascara sagrada,
barberry root, rhubarb, slippery
elm bark, cayenne 40,000 H.U.
The label claims that this product
features 29 powerful cleansing
herbs that stimulate the cleans-
ing and release of toxins and poi-
sons trapped in the body from
poor dietary habits and environ-
mental pollutants.
Dr. Fuhrmans Five-Day Super-Diet Challenge
Lose up to five pounds in five days and give your body a chance to detoxify naturally!
You will
lose weight,
feel better, and
you just might
decide to change
your diet forever.
DR. FUHRMANS HEALTHY TIMES OCTOBER 2002 5
Detoxification is an ongoing pro-
cess in a healthy body. No substance
can pull toxins out of the body. The
body can utilize nutrients to fuel its
normal processes, and it acts to keep
itself clean when given the chance.
Your body does all the work.
Toxic substances stimulate; health-
ful substances nourish. Stimulation is a
form of irritation; it ages you.Avoiding
stimulation is an important compo-
nent of a health-building program.
Detoxify Naturally
Follow my Five-Day Super-Diet Chal-
lenge and you will be amazed at what
happens! Use the recipes below peri-
odically and enjoy a genuine internal
cleanse. You will lose weight and feel
betterand you might decide to
change your diet forever. I
Breakfast
Fruit Plate
One whole grapefruit or
two oranges
One box of blueberries
One box of strawberries
Lettuce (optional)
Arrange on a plate and serve.
Lunch
Blended Salad
8 oz. baby greens
One orange
Juice of 1/4 lemon
Blend in a blender and serve.
Healthy Slaw
1/2 cup shredded raw cabbage
1/2 cup shredded raw beets
1/2 cup shredded raw carrots
1 cup shredded apple
1/4 cup raisins
Toss together and serve.
Dinner
Spinach Salad
4-6 oz. baby raw spinach
1/4 finely shredded red onion
2 Tbsp. unhulled sesame seeds
1 Tbsp. ground flax seeds
1 Tbsp. sunflower seeds
1 box (pint) blackberries
2 Tbsp. pear or fig vinegar,
if desired.
The Green Machine
4-8 oz. raw chopped kale
4-8 oz. raw chopped bok choy
4-8 oz. chopped broccoli rab
2 large tomatoes, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups chopped mushrooms
One medium onion, chopped
Add tomato,garlic,onion,and mushrooms
to pan. Cover and simmer on low heat for
5 minutes. Add greens on top and contin-
ue to cook in covered pan on low heat for
5 more minutes.
Apple-Stuffed Peppers
One red pepper
One medium apple
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
Chop apple. Mix with cinnamon and
nutmeg. Cut top off of pepper and
remove core and seeds. Stuff pepper
with apple mixture and bake in oven at
400 for 15 minutes.
Dr. Fuhrmans Five-Day Diet-Cleanse Recipes
Five days of eating Natures most powerful healing foods just might change your life forever!
No Need to Overeat
R
emember, you do not
need to eat all the food
in these menus every day.
Menus are sufficient for wo-
men and men, even those
with bigger appetites. So, eat
as much or as little as you
desire. Dont add salt or oil,
and drink only pure water
no coffee, tea, or other drinks.
I see a long vacation ahead for you.
DR. FUHRMANS HEALTHY TIMES OCTOBER 2002 6
By Jeff Novick, M.S., R.D.
T
he health risks of smoking
and heavy drinking have
been well known for many
years. Each year in the United States
alone, over 400,000 deaths are at-
tributed to tobacco and over
100,000 to alcohol. Only recent-
ly, however, have the health risks
of obesity become more widely rec-
ognized. How serious are these
risks? A study that appeared in the
British journal Public Health esti-
mates that there are more Amer-
icans who are either overweight or
obese than there are smokers or
problem drinkers.
For the study, researchers sur-
veyed a nationwide sample of 9,585
adults and questioned them about
their height, weight, income, smok-
ing and drinking habits and health
status. They used the body mass
index (BMI) to define overweight
and obesity. [See box,How to cal-
culate your BMI]
Researchers found that obesity
was even more closely associated
with seventeen major chronic con-
ditions and twelve common quali-
ty-of-life issues than either smoking
or problem drinking. For example,
researchers found that half of the
obese people had an additional
chronic condition, such as heart
disease, cancer, or diabetes. By com-
parison, studies of smokers have
shown that only about one in four
people who smoke have an addi-
tional chronic condition.
Charles Billington, M.D., presi-
dent of the North American Asso-
ciation for the Study of Obesity, says
this study reinforces the fact that,
obesity is at least as much if not
possibly more of a public health
problem than some of the better re-
cognized problems like smoking,
drinking, poverty, and the like.
Dr. Frank W. Booth, a professor
at the University of Missouri-
Columbia, says that each year
about 250,000 people in the U.S.
die as a result of diseases related
to inactivity. He arrived at that fig-
ure based on estimates that
750,000 Americans per year die of
heart disease, diabetes, and colon
cancer, and on research that con-
cluded that one-third of those
deaths could be prevented by
physical activity.
In order to have more attention
paid to the problem, Dr. Booth has
invented a new name for being fat
and out of shapesedentary death
syndrome (SeDS). The acronym
SeDS replaces inactivity-related
diseases, a phrase that Booth says
lacked pizzazz. His hope is that
with the new catchy name, the
condition will get more attention
from the public and federal gov-
ernment and that more money
will be spent on getting the public
to become active again.
Booth also called for the National
Institutes of Health to create pro-
grams to focus on SeDS research.
But you dont have to wait until the
National Institutes of Health gets
involved.You can start a walking or
other moderate exercise program
today, and check with your doctor
about more vigorous exercise as
your fitness improves.You also can
begin a healthful weight-loss pro-
gram by following the dietary rec-
ommendations in this newsletter.
Keep in mind, many people fall
into more than one of the risk cat-
egories, such as being overweight
and a smoker, which can make the
ill effects even more severe. Eval-
uate your diet and lifestyle, and
take steps today to improve your
health. I
The Dangerous Lives of Couch Potatoes
Sedentary Death Syndrome (SeDS) may turn out to be the nations number-one killer.
Special Report
How to calculate your BMI
B
ody mass index (BMI) is the measurement used
by most physicians and researchers studying
obesity.Your BMI is the ratio between your weight
and height. A BMI of between 18-25 is consid-
ered normal, over 25 is overweight, and over
30 is clinically obese. Heres how to calculate
your BMI. Lets say that you are five feet tall and
weigh 110 pounds. Multiply your current weight in
pounds by 703 (110 x 703 = 77,330). Divide that
number by your height in inches ( 77,330=60 =
1288.83). Divide again by your height in inches
(1288.83=60 = 21.48) and you have your BMIa
healthy 21.48. Dont like math?Theres an easy-to-use
BMI calculator on the National Institutes of Health website:
http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmicalc.htm.
n
BMI
DR. FUHRMANS HEALTHY TIMES OCTOBER 2002 7
try, limit it to 3-4 ounces of the lean-
est cuts, once or twice per week.
Likewise, limit your intake of dairy
products to non-fat dairy products
and to no more than one serving per
day. Better yet, try substituting fat-
free or low-fat soy for skim milk.
Read labels carefully.
In the next issue, I will present an in-
depth expos on misleading food
labeling. But for now, remember this
simple ruleregardless of what the
packaging says, a food is only low-
fatif the percentage of calories from
fat is less than 20 percent.
Heres the easiest way to figure
out if a food qualifies as low-fat.
Look on the Nutrition Facts label and
find the number of calories per serv-
ing (180, for example), drop the last
digit (the zero in our example), and
multiply the remaining number by
two (18 x 2 = 36). If the calories
from fatnumber is lower, youve got
yourself a low-fat food.
Is the food analyzed on Label A
(below) a low-fat food? Lets do the
math. The calories per serving are
120. Use our formula (drop the zero,
multiply 12 x 2 = 24) and compare
the result to the calories from faton
the label (15).This is a low-fat food.
Dirty rotten liars?
Believe it or not, the health foods
described by Labels B, C, and D are
considered low-fat foods by most
people. But when you do the math,
you find out that they are high-fat
foods. Label B is 29 percent fat. Label
C is 42 percent fat. Astonishingly, the
packaging for the food described by
Label D claims that it is 99% fat free.
But when you do the math, you will
find that it is 66 percent fat.
Next month youll learn more
about misleading labels. But you can
start lowering your fat intake today,
simply by reading labels and doing
the math. (if you hate math, just avoid
foods that need to be labeled!) I
Ways to Cut Excess Fat
Continued from page 1
seeds, and legumes, offer the great-
est protection against cancer, and
at the same time enable individuals
to lose weight healthfully and per-
manently. My patients who follow a
high-nutrient, high-fiber, low-gly-
cemic, plant-based diet invariably
achieve more substantial weight
reduction, compared to patients
who follow the meat-based diets
irresponsibly supported by the
recent article. Remember, losing
weight healthfully and perma-
nently is the key to success. I
1. Tavani A, La Vecchia C, Gallus S, et al. Red
meat and cancer risk: a study in Italy. Int J
Cancer 2000;86(3):425-428.
2. De Stefani E, Fierro L, Mendilaharsu M, et al.
Meat intake, mate drinking and renal cell cancer
in Uruguay: a case-control study. Br J Cancer
1998;78(9):1239-1243.
3. Risch HA, Jain M, Marrett LD, Howe GR.
Dietary fat intake and risk of epithelial ovarian can-
cer. J Natl Cancer Inst 1994;86(18):1409-1415.
4. Pillow PC, Hursting SD, Duphorne CM, et al.
Case-control assessment of diet and lung cancer
risk in African Americans and Mexican Americans.
Nutr Cancer 1997;29(2):169-173.
5. Alavanja MC, Brown CC, Swanson C,
Brownson RC. Saturated fat intake and lung can-
cer risk among nonsmoking women in Missouri. J
Natl Cancer Inst 1993;85(23):1906-1916.
6. Kuller LH. Dietary fat and chronic disease: epi-
demiologic overview. J Am Diet Assoc 1997;97(7
Suppl):S9-S15.
7. Willet WC. Nutrition and cancer. Salud Publica
Mex 1997;39(4):298-309.
8. La Vecchia C. Cancer associated with high-fat
diets. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr 1992;12:79-
85.
9. Steinmetz KA, Potter JD. Vegetables, fruit, and
cancer prevention: a review. J Am Diet Assoc.
1996;96(10):1027-1039
.
High Protein Diets
Continued from page 8
Label A (Garbonzo beans) Label B (Crackers) Label C (Soy Beans) Label D (Soup)
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 cup (245g)
Servings Per Container About 2
Amount Per Serving
Calories 30 Calories from Fat 20
%Daily Value*
Total Fat 2g 3%
Saturated Fat .5g 3%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 0mg 0%
Potassium 0 mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 0g 0%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Sugars 0g
Protein 2g
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 0% Iron 2%
*% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1/2 cup (130g)
Servings Per Container About 3.5
Amount Per Serving
Calories 120 Calories from Fat 50
%Daily Value*
Total Fat 6g 9%
Saturated Fat 1g 5%
Sodium 30mg 1%
Potassium 310mg 9%
Total Carbohydrate 8g 3%
Dietary Fiber 7g 28%
Sugar 1g
Protein 11g 22%
Vitamin A 10% Calcium 8%
Iron 15% Thiamin (B1) 4%
Riboflavin (B2) 8% Niacin (B3) 2%
Floate 6% Phosphorus 15%
Magnesium 15% Zinc 15%
Not a significant source vtamin C, cholesterol
*% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 13 crackers (30g)
Servings Per Container About 8
Amount Per Serving
Calories 120 Calories from Fat 35
%Daily Value*
Total Fat 4g 6%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0g
Monosaturated Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 380mg 16%
Total Carbohydrate 18g 6%
Dietary Fiber 3g 12%
Sugar 1g
Protein 3g
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 0% Iron 8%
*% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Your daily values may be higher or lower
depending on your calorie needs.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1/2 cup (130g)
Servings Per Container About 3.5
Amount Per Serving
Calories 120 Calories from Fat 15
%Daily Value*
Total Fat 1.5g 2%
Sodium 10mg 0%
Potassium 250mg 7%
Total Carbohydrate 19g 6%
Dietary Fiber 5g 20%
Protein 7g 14%
Calcium 6% Iron 8%
Thiamin(B1)6% Riboflavin (B2) 4%
Niacin (B3) 2% Phosphorus 10%
Magnesium 15% Zinc 10%
Not a significant source vitamins A & C,
saturated fat, cholesterol, sugars
*% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
DR. FUHRMANS HEALTHY TIMES OCTOBER 2002 8
By Joel Fuhrman, M.D.
In July, The New York Times print-
ed an article titled "What If It's All
Been a Big Fat Lie?" by Gary Taubes.
Taubes states that the cause of the
obesity problem in the U.S. is that
Americans eat too many carbohy-
drates and that low-fat, high carb
diets make you fat and lead to other
diseases. His solution is the high-fat,
high-protein diets advocated by Dr.
Robert Atkins and others.
After reading the article, I sent a
letter to the editor, which the Times
did not print. The information that
follows was included in that letter.
T
he recent New York Times
article by Gary Taubes per-
petuates many of the nutri-
tional myths spread by Dr. Robert
Atkins and others. The fact that
high-glycemic dietsrich in refined
carbohydrates such as sugar, pasta,
and other junk foodsare large
contributors to the obesity epidem-
ic and also to serious disease in no
way justifies a recommendation to
eat a diet that is rich in saturated fat.
Without question, high-glycemic
diets are dangerous. But diets rich in
the highly saturated fat of animal
products are also dangerous.Why de-
bate which dangerous diet is worse?
Taube reiterated the false claim of
authors like Atkins and Barry Sears
that Americans are eating less fat
than ever before but our obesity rate
is skyrocketing. The truth is that
because we are eating more calories
than ever before, the percentage of
fat in the diet has gone down. The
total amount of fat in the American
diet has changed very little.
Atkins recommends that you eat
primarily high-fat, high-protein,
fiberless, animal foods and attempt
to eliminate carbohydrates from
your diet. Analyses of the proposed
menus show that animal products
comprise more than 90 percent of
calories in the diet. Hundreds of sci-
entific studies have documented
the link between animal products
and various cancers. Increased con-
sumption of animal products com-
bined with the decreased consump-
tion of fresh produce has the most
powerful effect on increasing ones
risk for various kinds of cancer.
1
There are more than 3,500 scientific
studies, involving more than 15,000
research scientists, reporting a rela-
tionship between the consumption
of meats, poultry, eggs, and dairy
products with heart disease, cancer,
kidney failure, constipation, gall-
stones, diverticulosis, and hemor-
rhoids, just to name a few.
A meat-based diet like the one
Atkins advocates (which includes
little or no fruit, no starchy vegeta-
bles and no whole grains) could
more than double your risk of cer-
tain cancers, especially of meat-sen-
sitive cancers,
2,3
such as epithelial
cancers of the respiratory tract.
4
A
study conducted by the National
Cancer Institute found that the rel-
ative risk of lung cancer was six-
fold greater in women in the highest
fifth of saturated fat consumption,
compared to the lowest fifth.
5
Atkins
devotees adopt a dietary pattern that
is completely contrary to the one
recommended by the worlds lead-
ing research scientists studying the
link between diet and cancer.
6,7,8,9
There are numerous ways to lose
weight. However effective they
may be, some simply are not safe.
No responsible person would advo-
cate smoking cigarettes or snorting
cocaine simply because these can
be effective in promoting weight
loss. Advocating a weight-loss pro-
gram based on severe carbohydrate
restriction also is irresponsible.
Following this advice can cost peo-
ple their lives!
Diets that are designed to be low
in refined carbohydrates, while
rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts,
New York Times article unwisely touts high-protein diets.
This ill-advised news may have been fit to print, but the diets surely are unfit to eat.
Commentary
Hundreds of
scientific studies
have documented
the link between
animal products
and various
cancers.
Upcoming Articles
The Seven Best and the
Seven Worst Foods
Learn how these foods can
affect your longevity.
Planning for the Holidays
Enjoy family gatherings
without compromising
your healthful diet.
Can You Trust the Label?
Nutritional misinformation
on food packaging.
Great Holiday Recipes
Fabulous, delicious, and
healthful recipes.
More Bad News for Coffee
Studies reveal that caffeine
leads to serious problems.
. . . and much more!
(continued on page 7)