Dr. Joel Fuhrman - Eat to live quick & easy cookbook: 131 delicious, nutrient-rich recipes for fast and sustained weight loss, reversing disease, and lifelong health

Contents

Eating well does not have to be a time-consuming, labor-intensive process. I have compiled this collection of quick and easy recipes so that everyone, even those with very busy schedules or little inclination to cook, can follow a nutrient-rich diet for optimal health and disease prevention.

Diet plans come and go. Every year, new schemes appear that promise weight loss, renewed health, a glowing complexion, or enhanced longevity. But the truth is, there is only one answerand it is very simple.

You must eat foods that supply your body with the nutrients it needs. There is no way around it. If you exist on a diet of refined, processed, nutrient-depleted fast foods, eventually you will pay the consequences. Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, many cancers, and other diseases can all be traced to poor nutrition, that is, a deficiency of vital nutrients and/or the overconsumption of foods that are harmful.

A nutrient-dense, plant-rich diet is effective for long-term weight control, because you feel full and satisfied even when you are consuming fewer calories.

Eating healthfully is the single most effective preventive and therapeutic intervention available. It is the best way to maintain a favorable long-term weight, and it is the best prescription any doctor can give you.

For more than twenty-five years, I have helped tens of thousands of people gain control over their health and weight with a Nutritarian diet. A Nutritarian diet is not designed to be popular or trendy, but instead to be the healthiest and most lifespan-enhancing diet style possible. The word Nutritarian means a diet that is rich in plant-derived micronutrientsparticularly antioxidants and phytochemicalsand that utilizes foods that offer proven anticancer protection. Lasting health and permanent weight loss are not unattainable goals. They are within reach when you learn to choose the right foods. A high-nutrient diet that is rich in vegetables slows the aging process, enables repair of cell damage, reduces inflammation, and helps rid the body of toxins. Meeting your bodys nutrient needs also helps to suppress the hunger and cravings that fuel the overeating of low-nutrient, high-calorie, refined, processed foods.

Natural plant foods contain thousands of nutrients, many that have been discovered and others that are presently unidentified, so it is important to consume an adequate amount, and a wide variety, of these foods. These plant-derived nutrients are valuable in protecting against later-life cancer, as well as protecting the aging brain against dementia.

Whole plant foods, with their nature-given, fragile phytonutrients, should comprise the majority of your diet. The great-tasting recipes in this book feature the healthiest foods on the planet and make it easy for you to build your menus around them. Ive selected these recipes because they require a minimal amount of time and preparation. Some are easy, and some are very easy. Im sure you will enjoy many of them and will want to make them again and again.

To your good health!

JOEL FUHRMAN, M.D.

Most people are misinformed about food and healthful eating. They drift from one fad diet to another, without ever understanding the bigger picture. I believe in teaching my patients and readers to be experts in nutrition so that they have the keys to health and successful weight control in their hands.

If you have read any of my books, such as Eat to Live, The End of Dieting, or The End of Heart Disease, you know that the secret to eating well is to focus on micronutrients, not calories. Eating healthfully and consuming the right assortment and amount of nutrients results in consistent, long-term health benefits. Getting healthy and maintaining a stable, appropriate weight can be achieved only by paying attention to the nutritional quality of your food for the rest of your life.

What you eat determines your weight more than how much you eat.

People who follow a Nutritarian diet recognize that plant foods have disease-preventive, therapeutic, and life-extending properties. If you are overweight, this diet will enable you to lose weight and keep it off permanently, without experiencing hunger or feeling deprived, because it is based on eating large quantities of satisfying, nutritious foods.

Some of you may find that it takes some time for your taste buds to become more sensitive and your food preferences to change. You may be used to high-salt, high-sugar, and high-fat foods. However, with time, most people find that they actually prefer the taste of Nutritarian foods.

Knowledge trumps willpower every time.

I am hopeful that you will enjoy this way of eating. I know that youll like the way you feel, andbest of allthat youll love being free from chronic disease and the constant yo-yo dieting that make life miserable for so many Americans. The results of the Nutritarian eating style are sustainable, because once people become nutritional experts and experience success, they want to eat this way forever. The secret to success is knowledge: The more you learn, the easier it becomes to eat this way for the rest of your life.

Basic Guidelines of a Nutritarian Diet Style

Do the following every day:

Eat a large salad as the main dish for at least one meal.

Eat one large serving of cooked green vegetables.

Eat at least half a cup of beans.

Eat at least three servings of fresh or frozen fruit.

Eat at least 1 ounce of nuts and seeds if youre female and at least 1 ounces if youre male. Half of this quantity should be walnuts, hemp seeds, chia seeds, flaxseeds, or sesame seeds.

Eat some cooked mushrooms and a combination of raw and cooked onions and tomatoes.

Eat few, if any, animal products (meat, fish, dairy, and eggs) and limit them to two or three small servings per week. Avoid red meat and all barbecued, processed, and cured meats. Animal products are restricted on a Nutritarian diet for many reasons, but mostly because higher amounts of animal protein in the diet are linked to higher levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and higher rates of cancer.

A Nutritarian diet is relatively high in plant protein because it is rich in green vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds. Plant protein does not raise IGF-1 to unfavorable levels. Nutritarians generally prefer to use very small amounts of animal products, if any at all. When they do eat animal products, the animal products are used as condiments, to add flavor to stews or soups or wokked vegetable dishes, but they do not make the animal product a major caloric contributor to the meal.

In this book, I show you creative ways to use a very small amounttypically, just 1 ounce of animal product per servingto add a meaty flavor and texture to veggie-based dishes. And for people who prefer not to eat animal products, some of those recipes offer vegan substitutions.

Whether you eat a little bit of animal products or none at all, the most important focus of a Nutritarian diet is to avoid foods that are empty of nutrients or are toxic to the body, such as sugar, sweeteners (including honey, agave nectar, and maple syrup), white flour, white rice, and other processed, refined foods.

Build Your Diet on a Foundation of Vegetables

Eat a salad every day, and make it extra large. Include lettuce, tomatoes, chopped onion, and at least one shredded cruciferous vegetable. Use a variety of greens, including