Your thoughts on Eat to Live?

claritarejoice

I received the book Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman for Christmas. It advocates a 90% vegetarian and unprocessed diet for nutrient density and lifelong health. It says animal proteins contribute to colon cancer, citing the China study. The daily ETL guideline is 30-60% cals from vegetables (except potatoes), 10-40% from fruit, 10-40% from beans/legumes, 10-40% from seeds/nuts/avocadoes, 20% or less from whole grain/potatoes, less than 10% from poultry/oil/eggs/fish/fat-free dairy, and beef/sweets/cheese/processed foods are to be eaten rarely. Has anyone read ETL and where would you agree or disagree with it?

A sub-question: I currently eat fish, birds, beans and dairy and still have a pretty hard time getting .8g protein per lbm. My goal is 100g protein a day and since I do all the cooking, the goal for my husband is 180g protein/day (he is trying to gain weight and muscle). Is this protein level necessary, and is it even possible doing ETL?

Thanks!

Sarauk2sf

The China Study has been pretty much pulled apart. It was based on cherry picked misinterpreted studies.

I am a vegetarian and have never seen any compelling reason to do it for health reasons.

With respect to the protein question, it really depends on your calorie target as to whether you will get enough based on the restrictions you have noted.

SideSteel

I think the China study is basically flawed up the wazoo and using it as a basis for dietary recommendations is a bad plan.

I do think vegetables are nutrient dense and I do think that people should eat a lot of them generally speaking.

As to your husbands protein needs, that's impossible to assess without knowing his stats/etc, but you can have him check out our stickied post on macronutrient needs as a reference.

psuLemon

If you are struggling to get protein, this is where a good protein powder would come in handy. Or you can just incorporate more lean meats. My thought process and what I practice is getting stuff in as natural of a form as possible. I look for lean meats such as bison, sirloin/tenderloin (any lean cut of steak), fish, chicken, turkey, ground meats less than 7% fat or duck. If you do that with tons of veggies and fruits, it will be a recipe for success. I limit grains and dairy based on my wife's nutritional requirements due to a heart condition. But I would find it very difficult to believe that any natural unprocessed lean meat can lead to cardiovascular disease or any other disease. If you think about it, it's how caveman and our ancestors ate. So if it's not from nature, eat it in ration. Exercise and eating whole foods alone will prevent disease, especially if you have good body composition.