Fuhrman verse Paleo, Ali verse Frazier

Today's New York Times Book Review's Advice Section had 13 out of its 20 books featuring diets, nutrition, and/ or recipes. Among the group's titles were 2 books by Joel Fuhrman, MD, "The End Of Diabetes" and "Eat To Live", as well as the "Practical Paleo" by Diane Sanfilippo.

I find it so unnerving that there is so much disagreement among the plant based, micronutrient, photochemical folks verses the lean meat, animal protein, group. It's like watching the Democrats and Republicans fighting over whatever, with each side hiring their expert witnesses.

Dr. Fuhrman's "Nutritarian" diet is based on  Health = Nutrients/Calorie Density of the foods that we eat. He recommends a plant base diet with the following ratio ranges: 30-60% Vegetable Calories (dark green leafy veggies are his favorites), 10-40% Beans/Legumes, 10-40% Fruit, 10-40% Seeds/Nuts and 20% or fewer Whole Grains. Dr. Fuhrman gives a little slack to those who can't resist meat and will allow a small serving, once or twice a week, of fish or poultry. He is really big on cruciferous vegetables, beans for fiber and protein and fresh fruit. Likewise he is very adverse to eggs and oils and my favorite quote of his is "The Whiter the Bread, the Sooner You're Dead".

Dr. Fuhrman calls out the Paleo diet as just another version of the Atkins high protein diet. He goes on to call it dangerous for both cardiovascular and for kidney disease risks. Fuhrman states that the Paleo camp recommends a low carbohydrate diet meaning, a low starch diet without differentiating between simple sugars or refined carbohydrates and resistant starches, such as beans.

The Paleo diet is based on the idea that our ancestors were healthy hunter gathers and that modern day ills were unknown until the invention of domestic farming, starting at the end of the Paleolithic era. The basic principles of the diet include obtaining 35-45% of calories from Non Starchy Vegetables, 20-35%  Grass Fed Animal Protein (wild games is even better) or Fish. The balance is from Fruits, Nuts and Seeds. The Paleo diet forbids grains, legumes, and pasteurized dairy. Eggs, lard, tallow, and olive oil are okay but highly processed vegetable oils are not.

So, Ali verse Frazier, Fuhrman verse Paleo. About 11/2 years ago I started on a road to a healthier life style with diet and exercise. I believed that if I could cut out the snacks, fried foods, less meat, especially red meat, and exercise more that I would be on my way. I have made so much progress, lost a lot of weight, have consistently good blood labs and feel really healthy. What I didn't expect was that I would become obsessed with reading everything that I could on nutrition and becoming more and more confused. I'm not only confused about the nutritional aspects of my diet but the moral dilemma of eating animals has become an issue as well.

As far as Paleo goes, I'm not a believer because there is so much evidence in favor of plants over animals and the benefits of beans/legumes. I do however find it fascinating that there are so many people who are equally committed to the opposite opinion, just like the democrats and republicans. At least everyone can agree on salad for lunch.

Don T