Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman MD (2003/2011): Food list – what to eat and foods to avoid

Eat to Live (2003, revised 2011) is a “nutritarian” diet -

• Vegan/near-vegan, mostly raw
• High nutrient density
• No oil
• Low starchy vegetables and whole grains
• No / low processed food
• Low calorie, low protein, very low fat

The reasoning behind Eat to Live

This book argues that your key to permanent weight loss is to mostly eat foods that have a high proportion of nutrients (noncaloric food factors such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients) to calories (from carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. This is known as high nutrient density or nutrient-per-calorie density, and the formula is Health = Nutrients/Calories, or H=N/C.

What makes many people overweight is not that they eat so much more but that they get a higher percentage of their calories from fat and refined carbohydrates, or mostly low-nutrient foods. This low-nutrient diet establishes a favorable cellular environment for disease to flourish. To avoid overeating on high-calorie foods, fill up on nutrient-rich ones.

Dairy products and meat don’t contain any fiber, and foods made form refined grains have had their fiber removed. Fruit juice and processed carbohydrates enter the bloodstream quickly and raise triglycerides, increasing your risk of heart attacks; ingesting processed foods can subtract nutrients and actually create nutritional deficiencies. Oils, even olive oil, don’t contain nutrients and phytochemicals from the original source – limited amounts of raw nuts and seeds and avocado are the best source of good fats.

Eat to Live diet plan – food list

• Six week plan for starting Eat to Live
• The Life Plan – Lifetime diet
• Advice for people with diabetes
• Advice for people with autoimmune diseases

The information here is taken from both Eat to Live and the Eat to Live Cookbook. The cookbook was written a couple of years after the latest version of the book, and as usually happens there are some small changes in the recommendations – these are generally pointed out below.

Eat 3 meals a day, without snacks – this pattern is the norm for people who exercise regularly. It is permissible to eat two meals a day instead of three if you are hungry for only two meals. Get into the habit of eating breakfast. The body needs time between meals to finish digesting, because when digestion has ended, the body can more effectively detoxify and promote cellular repair. Wait until you feel hungry to eat. Try to eat less at dinner so you are hungry for three meals per day. Get your body into a regular schedule, eating three meals per day, without overeating at any one meal. If you do not feel hungry for the next meal, delay eating or skip the meal entirely. Next time, eat much less until you get better skilled at eating the appropriate amount so that you feel hungry in time to eat again at the next mealtime.

For a nutritarian lifestyle:

• Eat mainly nutrient-dense, natural plant foods: vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, and seeds. Have a variety. Aim for foods with high nutrient-per-calorie density – this is measured in Dr. Fuhrman’s Aggregate Nutrient Density Index or ANDI
• Eat few, if any, animal products (one or two servings per week at most)
• Eat no or almost no foods that are completely empty of nutrients or toxic to the body, such as sugar, sweeteners, white flour, processed foods, and fast foods
• Super foods that you should include in your diet every day: G-BOMBS – greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries, and seeds

The six week plan for starting Eat to Live and for weight loss

Note that if you have a condition such as active inflammatory bowel disease, the diet may need to be adjusted if you cannot tolerate a large amount of raw vegetables and fruit

This is the diet for the initial 6 weeks.
Salad is the main dish – eat it first at lunch and dinner
Only 10% of calories need to come from protein – may be as little as 2.5% – and it can be supplied by plant foods
Eat a variety, particularly when it comes to greens

Eat to Live six week plan – what to eat in unlimited amounts

Eat as much as you want:

• Vegetables
  • Eating a large amount of greens and other colorful vegetables is the secret weapon to achieve great health
  • Greens e.g. arugula, asparagus, beet greens, bok choy, broccoli, broccoli rabe, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, red cabbage, chicory, collards, dandelion greens, endive, curly endive, escarole, frisée, kale, mâche/lamb’s lettuce/corn salad, mustard greens, raw green peas, romaine lettuce and other salad greens (baby greens, Bibb lettuce, Boston lettuce, iceberg lettuce (low nutrient density), mesclun, oak leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce), radicchio, rutabaga leaf, snow peas, spinach, string beans, sugar snap peas, Swiss chard, turnip greens, watercress
  • Non-green nutrient-rich vegetables: artichokes, bean sprouts, beets, red and yellow bell peppers, raw carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, daikon radish, eggplant, fennel, garlic, jicama, kohlrabi, leeks, okra, onions, peppers (all types including bell peppers and hot peppers), radicchio, radishes, scallions/green onions/spring onions, shallots, tomatoes, zucchini
  • Mushrooms – all types, eat plentifully
  • For cruciferous vegetables – chop, chew, blend, or juice them for maximum production of ITCs; they can be cooked after chopping. Try not to overcook them. Cruciferous vegetables include arugula, bok choy, broccoli, broccoli rabe, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, parsnips, radishes, red cabbage, rutabaga leaf, Swiss chard, turnip greens, watercress
  • Raw vegetables – all types – goal: at least 1 lb. daily. These have a negative caloric effect, so the more you eat, the more you lose
  • Cooked green and non-green nutrient-rich vegetables – goal: at least 1 lb. daily. Preferably conservatively cooked – e.g. steamed
  • Frozen vegetables are a convenient option – feel free to substitute them
  • Vegetable juices are included in a number of the recipes in the cookbook
  • Avoid the skins of foods that are reported to have the most pesticide residues – Dirty Dozen. It is better to eat fruits or vegetables grown and harvested using pesticides than not to eat them at all, but it is also wise to minimize your pesticide exposure
  • Avoid canned tomatoes and tomato products unless they’re BPA-free, as tomatoes are acidic and a significant amount of BPA could leach into the food. Other canned vegetables are less of an issue.
• Mushroom
  • Eat lots of mushrooms all of the time
• Legumes
  • Beans – adzuki beans, black beans, cannellini beans, edamame, great northern beans, kidney beans, lima beans, pinto beans, soybeans, white beans
  • Chickpeas/garbanzo
  • Lentils
  • Peas – black-eyed peas, cowpeas, pigeon peas, split peas
  • Soy and fermented soy products – soybeans, miso, tempeh, tofu
  • Bean sprouts (note also listed as a non-green vegetable)
  • If you choose to use canned beans/legumes instead of cooking your own dried beans/legumes, make sure you select products that are labeled as “low-sodium” or “no-salt-added.’ Since beans are not an acidic food, there is less concern with BPA (Bisphenol A) from the can lining leaching into the food
  • Goal: at least 1 cup daily. Eat some beans every lunch
• Fresh fruits
  • Must be fresh, whole fruit, not juice (although pomegranate juice and cherry juice are used as ingredients in some of the smoothies and other recipes in the cookbook). Frozen vegetables are a convenient option – substitute them when fresh fruit isn’t available
  • At least 4 a day
  • E.g. apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, other berries, blood oranges, blueberries, cantaloupe, cherimoyas, cherries, clementines, fresh figs, goji berries, grapes, jackfruit, kiwifruit/kiwis, kumquats, mangoes, melons, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, persimmons, pineapples, plums, pomegranates, raspberries, starfruit/carambola, strawberries, tangerines, watermelons
  • Lemons and limes – juice (not listed but assumed unlimited)
  • Avoid the skins of foods that are reported to have the most pesticide residues
• Spices and herbs
  • Not specifically listed as unlimited, but assumed so
  • Herbs – basil, bay leaf, chives, chervil, cilantro, dill, garlic cloves, ginger, horseradish, lemongrass, marjoram, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, tarragon, thyme, herbes de Provence
  • Spices – allspice, anise, Cajun seasoning, caraway seeds, cardamom, cayenne pepper, celery seeds, chili powder, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, curry powder, Dr. Fuhrman’s VegiZest or MatoZest, fennel, garam masala, garlic powder, ginger, Mrs. Dash, mustard, nutmeg, onion powder, paprika, pepper, black pepper, pepper flakes, saffron, turmeric
  • All types except salt

Advice in the Cookbook:

• Include daily:
  • A large salad
  • At least one 1/2-cup serving of beans/legumes in soup, salad, or some other dish – another part of the book says to try to eat a cup of cooked beans each day (compared to at least 1 cup suggested in the Eat to Live book)
  • At least 3 fresh fruits (compared to at least 4 fruits suggested in the Eat to Live book)
  • At least 1 ounce of raw nuts and seeds (if you are trying to lose weight, limit to 1 ounce) (compared to limit of 1 ounce suggested in the Eat to Live book)
  • At least one large (double-size) serving of cooked green vegetables

Eat to Live six week plan – foods to limit

• Cooked starchy vegetables or whole grains
  • Starchy vegetables: acorn squash, butternut squash, chestnuts, corn, parsnips, pumpkins, rutabagas, sweet potatoes, turnips, water chestnuts, white potatoes, winter squash, yams. Squash has a better nutritional profile and lower glycemic index compared to a potato, so it is a better choice if you are overweight or diabetic
  • Grains: barley, buckwheat/kasha, bulgur, kamut, millet, old-fashioned oats, quinoa, black rice, brown rice, wild rice, spelt. 100% whole grain only. They do not contain enough nutrients per calorie to form the major part of your diet. The intact (unground) whole grains and the more coursely ground grains that are absorbed into the bloodstream more slowly are healthier and curtail appetite more effectively. Soak them for a whole day before cooking them to increase their nutritional value
  • Bread products made with sprouted grains – make sure they’re 100% whole grain, with “whole” grain as the first ingredient; if there’s more than one ingredient, they should all be whole grains
  • Whole grain hot cereals
  • Total: Not more than one serving, or 1 cup, per day – usually for breakfast or dinner
  • Refined starchy grains – such as bread, tortillas, pasta, and white rice) and white potatoes should be even more restricted than the vegetable-based starches, which are more nutrient dense. Many can achieve an ideal body weight by cutting out refined starches only, without having to limit starchy vegetables to only one serving – your diet should be adjusted to your metabolic needs and activity level
• Raw, unsalted nuts and seeds
  • 1 oz. maximum per day (the cookbook says to have at least 1 ounce a day, unless you’re trying to lose weight)
  • Always eat them raw if you can – if you tire of this, toast them lightly at home
  • Consume them with your meals, not as snacks, because they facilitate absorption of essential phytochemicals from other foods
  • Almonds, black walnuts, cashews, hazelnuts/filberts, hickory nuts, macadamias, pine nuts/pignoli, pecans, pistachios, walnuts
  • Chia seeds, hemp seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds (unhulled), sunflower seeds
  • Flax seeds should be ground before using, as they are just too difficult to chew. Ground flax seeds oxidize and become rancid faster, so buy flax seeds whole and grind them at home then store them in the freezer to prevent them from spoiling
  • Ground nuts and seeds (e.g. almond butter, almond flour, cashew butter, unsalted natural peanut butter, and tahini) are listed in the recipes as well as whole ones
  • High omega-3 seeds and nuts: flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts
  • If you are allergic to nuts, you can substitute raw seeds: sunflower seeds, unhulled sesame seeds, ground flax seeds, and chia seeds. In soup and salad dressing recipes that involve blending cashews or almonds, you can generally substitute raw sunflower seeds or sunflower seed butter. Unhulled sesame seeds or raw tahini are other options, but because they are stronger in flavor, you should start off with a smaller amount and adjust according to taste
• Avocado
  • 2 oz. maximum per day
• Dried fruit
  • 2 tablespoons maximum per day. If you need to lose weight, use dried fruits only in small amounts as a sweetener in recipes
  • Preferably unsulfured
  • Dried apricots, currants, dates, figs
• Ground flaxseeds
  • 1 tablespoon per day
• If you must have animal products
  • Lean low-mercury fish (such as bass, flounder, halibut, sole, or tilapia) once or twice a week (portion size not given). The cookbook also includes fattier fish such as salmon
  • An egg omelet once a week (portion size not give)
  • From the cookbook (which is a little more accepting towards other animal products) – choose fat-free dairy, eggs, clean wild fish, and organic meat and poultry (e.g. ground turkey). Limit animal products, including cheese, yogurt, and milk, to 10% or less of your daily caloric intake. Limit the serving size to 2 ounces and not more than 3 times a week. Do not make animal products the focus of the meal – think of them as a garnish, condiment, or flavoring agent
• Beverages
  • Soy milk, hemp milk, or almond milk – unsweetened
  • Unsweetened pomegranate juice or other unsweetened juices are included in several of the recipes, although fruit juice is listed in the book as off-limits
• Condiments, pantry, and other
  • Savory: Bragg Liquid Aminos or low-sodium soy sauce (these contain salt and should be used only in minimal quantities); no-salt-added or low-sodium vegetable broth; cornstarch; dulse, hot pepper sauce; kelp granules; lower-calorie, unsweetened ketchup, mustard; nutritional yeast; no-salt-added or low-sodium salsa; tomato sauce made with no oil; tomato paste; verjus, flavored vinegars and balsamic vinegar
  • Nondairy cheese (not listed as unlimited; assumed limited)
  • Sweet and baking: unsweetened applesauce (not listed as unlimited; assumed limited); arrowroot powder; unsweetened dark chocolate, cocoa powder; light coconut milk; unsweetened shredded coconut; coarsely ground cornmeal (not instant); vanilla extract/vanilla beans; vital wheat gluten (not listed as unlimited; assumed limited); wheat germ

Eat to Live six week plan – foods to avoid

• Processed fruits
  • Canned fruit
  • Fruit juice
• Dairy products
  • The Eat to Live book says you should avoid dairy completely; the cookbook says you should avoid full-fat dairy
  • Cheese – should be eaten rarely, if at all
  • Ice cream
  • Butter
  • Milk (the cookbook says to avoid whole milk and 2% milk)
• Animal products (see note above for exceptions)
  • The Eat to Live book says that you should avoid all animal products except lean fish once or twice a week and an omelet once a week
  • The cookbook is a little more accepting of animal products. It says you should avoid: factory-farmed animal products, especially red meat; processed meats; barbecued meats; luncheon meats; bacon; hot dogs; pickled animal products; darkened animal products; blackened animal products
• Salt
  • No salt should be added to any food. Keep your overall daily sodium intake under 1,200 mg and preferably under 1,000 mg
  • Avoid packaged foods that contain more milligrams (mg) of sodium than the number of calories
  • Avoid foods containing a lot of salt including pickles
• Between-meal snacks
• Processed foods
  • E.g. condiments, snacks, cold cereals (including whole grain), bagels, pasta, bread, baked goods, foods made with finely ground whole wheat flour
  • Commercially packaged nuts and seeds
  • Instant oats (steel-cut oats, old-fashioned oats, and quick oats can be eaten in limited amounts)
  • Foods with ingredient lists that contain long chemical words that you don’t understand
  • Foods that list any type of sweetener, such as sugar, sucrose, dextrose, or corn syrup
• Sugars and sweeteners
  • Candy
  • Sugar (including honey and agave nectar – although date sugar is included in one recipe)
  • Sweeteners
• Oils and fats
  • All oils including olive oil and vegetable oils (not listed in either book, but presumably including avocado oil, canola oil, coconut oil, corn oil, grapeseed oil, palm oil, peanut oil, safflower oil, sesame seed oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil). According to the cookbook, you can add a little bit of olive oil to your diet if you are thin and exercise a lot – however, the more oil you add, the more you are lowering the nutrient-per-calorie density of your diet, which will not promote health and longevity
  • Especially saturated fats and trans fatty acids/partially hydrogenated fats including margarines, and the fats consumed in processed foods
  • Use raw seeds and nuts instead
• Beverages
  • Soda / soft drinks
• Implied in the book but not listed in the 6-week plan
  • Caffeinated beverages (more than one cup of coffee a day)
  • Alcohol (more than one glass of wine a day)
  • Artificial sweeteners
  • Chocolate

Advice in the Cookbook:

• Avoid:
  • Red meat and all barbecued, processed, and cured meats
  • Fried foods
  • Full-fat dairy 2% and above (compared to no dairy at all suggested in the Eat to Live book)
  • Trans fats
  • Soft drinks, sugar, and artificial sweeteners
  • White rice and white-flour products

The Life Plan food list

This is the diet recommended for the rest of your life after the 6-week plan. It is a nutritarian diet for longevity and claims that slimness is an automatic by-product. For optimal health, receive most of your calories from unrefined plant foods.

Eat to Live Life Plan – what to eat

• Aim for at least 90% unrefined high-nutrient plant foods
  • Vegetables – ½ raw and ½ cooked, mostly green – 30-60% of calories
  • Fruits – 10-40% of calories
  • Beans/legumes – 10-40% of calories
  • Seeds, nuts, and avocadoes – 10-40% of calories
  • Whole grains and potatoes – 20% or less of calories
• If you choose to reintroduce dairy, use fat-free dairy only – skim milk, nonfat yogurt, etc., or a dairy alternative such as soy yogurt. No fruit-flavored yogurt
• For calcium: beans, green vegetables, oranges, sesame seeds, tofu
• Some of us need to plan cheats – once a week or twice a month. Keep these to planned times. A cheat every once in a while is okay if it is moderate and as long as you go right back to the program immediately and then don’t do it again for at least one week

Eat to Live Life Plan – foods to limit

• Poultry, oil, eggs, fish, and fat-free dairy should give you less than 10% of your calories; your total animal-product consumption should be limited to 12 ounces or less per week, according to the Eat to Live book
• The cookbook says that you should limit to less than 10% of your diet: naturally raised or wild animal products, poultry, eggs, fish, dairy, oil, and white potato.
• Use them in very small amounts to flavor a vegetable dish. Check that these are not causing you to put weight back on

Eat to Live Life Plan – foods to avoid

• Beef, sweets, cheese, and processed foods should be eaten only rarely, according to the Eat to Live book
• The cookbook says you should also eat rarely or avoid white rice, white flour, and factory-farmed animal products, especially red meat

Adjustments for people with diabetes

Advice for people with diabetes – what to eat

• The general advice given in the book is sufficient for most diabetics
• The important goal is how much weight you lose
• Green vegetables and beans should make up most of your diet

Advice for people with diabetes – foods to limit or avoid

• Refined starches such as white bread and pasta are particularly harmful; avoid them completely
• Do not consume any fruit juice or dried fruits. Avoid all sweets, except for fresh fruit in reasonable quantities (2-3 fruits for breakfast and one after lunch and dinner; use fruits with less sugar such as grapefruit, oranges, kiwifruit, strawberries and other berries, melons, and green apples)
• Avoid all oil. Raw nuts are permitted, but only one ounce or less (presumably per day)
• Limit animal-food intake to no more than two servings of fish weekly (serving size not advised). No meat, poultry, eggs, milk products

Advice for people with autoimmune diseases

Advice for people with autoimmune diseases – what to eat

• Follow a strict plant-based diet
• High nutrient-per-calorie density
• Have caloric restriction sufficient to obtain a normal weight

Advice for people with autoimmune diseases – foods to limit or avoid

• No dairy, eggs, fish, poultry, meat
• No wheat and no gluten
• A lower-protein diet is helpful (no guidelines for protein quantities)
• Therapeutic fasting can be extremely effective if you are not on immunosuppressive drugs; guided by a physician (no guidelines for fast types or lengths)
• Undertake food elimination and challenge to uncover hidden food sensitivities

Health benefits claimed in Eat to Live

This book claims to reduce the risks of: abdominal and esophageal spasm, acne, allergies, angina, appendicitis, arthritis, asthma, atherosclerosis, bad breath, cancer, colonic polyps, constipation, coronary artery disease, dental cavities, type 2 diabetes, diverticulosis, esophagitis, fatigue, fatty liver, fibromyalgia, food addiction, gallstones, gastritis, gastrointestinal disorders, gout, headaches, hemorrhoids, high blood pressure/hypertension, high cholesterol, hypoglycemic symptoms, indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome, kidney stones, lipid disorders, lumbar spine syndromes, lung diseases including sarciodosis, macular degeneration, mental confusion and irritability, musculoskeletal pain, nausea, obesity, osteoporosis, premature mortality, sexual dysfunction, sleep apnea, stomach fluttering and cramping, stroke, uterine fibroids, weakness

As always, this is not intended to be a replacement for professional medical diagnosis or treatment for a medical condition. Consult your doctor before starting a new diet. This page describes what the authors of the diet recommend – Chewfo is describing the diet only, not endorsing it.