Diet Debate

Thats probably a misprint unless he had been a POW during the Vietman War.

That's what I thought but everyone who read the article says that is what he said. Evidently he used water fasting which is used by some clinic in California (where else?) Fasting is a tradition in many religions and perhaps fasting while having nothing but water might be ok for a very short while and how long would you have to go without food for a 5'10" man to get down to 88 pounds,
But you would think someone as smart as fuhrman would have stopped long before he reached 88 pounds.

EG is on his group and should ask him if this is true.

Dolores

I understand Fuhrman was a skating champion and used to be very lean. It is not impossible for dancers and figure skaters. I agree that it must have been stretching it a bit. Back about 10 years ago I did notice that Fuhrman began looking like a walking dead. He was probably very ill. It was also around that time when he added nuts to his diet and removed grains. Before that time he was promoting something like Dr. Ornish, that is all vegan and very low fat.

I have a different perspective on the proctice of water fasting, extremely common among hard core vegan promoters and their practitioners. They need it to reset their digestion and re-establish ketone production that typically goes into decline on a consistently high carb diet and frequent in snacking.

While fasting their body lives off their stored fat, thus such a fasting is simply a mini high fat diet interlude in disguise. Ketone bodies are essential for proper nourishment of neural tissue, heart and some intestinal tissues.
Heretic

How to you account for the health of Drs Campbell,Esselstyn,and McDougall?They are all low fat vegans and appear to be doing great....and Rip Esselstyn who was raised a low fat vegan all his life appears to be very healthy.

We have discussed who is right issue by issue between McDougall and Fuhrman.....maybe McDougall is right about the need for starches to get enough calories....Just vegetables alone are not enough....but I know what you would say.....the calories need to come from fat.

And I should add that i'm not saying I'm sure about any of this...I keep an open mind but I'll have to say based on my own personal experience a vegan diet lowers blood pressure,a1c,fasting blood glucose,1 hr post prandial,and body weight.As for the other claims for a vegan diet....I have yet to experience them.

I did not want to project a "true believer" attitude because it would take more than lower blood pressure and blood sugar for me to move in that direction.But so far its the only solution i have found to my blood pressure and blood sugar problems.

Hi jc and folks,

Yes, Joel Fuhrman was an olympic hopeful ice scater a while back. He got a heel injury (bashed it on the ice rink wall). Ge got the best physician, since he was an olympic hopeful. His heel became inflamed. It was actually an autoimmune disease. A YEAR later, he was still on crutches, and could not walk, and certainly could not skate. His doctor was going to try an experimental surgery on him, to peel back the skin, and score the membranes under the heel.

Fuhrman instead went to a fasting facility in San Antonio. They put him on a water fast of over 40 days. It did cure his heel. He was able to recover his strength. A year (or 2? from memory) later, he placed third in the 1976 World Professional Pairs Skating.

In an invited review in Current Sports Medicine Reports in July 2010 entitled 'Fueling the Vegetarian (Vegan) Athlete,' Dr. Fuhrman discussed strategies for reaching caloric needs and performance benefits of a high-nutrient, plant-based diet for athletes.

Dr. Fuhrman's first bood was on water fasting. Yes, after day 3, fasting is a ketogenic metabolism. Clearly, appreciating the benefits of water fasting, with a ketogenic metabolism, I thought Dr. Fuhrman would be sympathetic to a high protein low carb ketogenic diet. ABSOLUTELY NOT !! Dr. Fuhrman is very empahtic about the harm of a high protein high fat diet, promoting cancer, rapid aging, heart disease, etc.

Hi jc, I recently heard a note from Dr. Fuhrman about high blood pressure. He said interval training is very helpful, for reducing bp, as an addition to the work that you have done.

Best regards, EngineerGuy