Diets in Review Question
Where are online free recipe databases for this diet?
Andy asked this question Nov 23rd, 2014 10:29 am
I went to see a Dr. About 3 months ago. I have had chronic kidney disease for about 14 years, and have struggled with my weight for most of it. I am a big guy--even a decade of racing bicycles long distance saw me near two hundred lbs. I LOVE to cook, and always practiced sound nutrition. I wasn't an overeater, nor was my wife. We ate whole grains, reasonable portions, and healthy fats. My weight ballooned to--at the last visit--296 lbs! My normally petite wife has hypothyroidism, and she had blossomed to 145.
I saw a Dr. Oz show, then the next day a PBS special on Dr. Fuhrmans diet. My wife and I jumped in.
Our whole family has lost weight. My wife lost 25 lbs. I weighed 243 this morning. My teen daughter and teen son have lost weight. My blood pressure was 188 over 103 three months ago. I am taking MEDS again, but before, t was happy to get the bpressures down to the 140's. Now, 90's over low seventies are common, and I want my doc to reduce my meds.
The diet has problems. We live in a rural area, and a VARIETY of veggies are hard to find and expensive to purchase. There is a bit of a scam feel to his website--he kinda reminds my of a televangelist offering tapes of his sermons (recipes and foods.). One has to buy two or three of his books to get a variety of recipes, and there seems to be a dearth of recipes available on the net for free, unlike Paleo or other fad diets where a quick Google finds a few zillion recipes.
The biggst impact of this diet comes from--not avoiding MEAT as some seem to belive--but from avoiding all refined sugars, flours, butters, and oils. I don't cheat often, and greasy food has never called to me. But I AM BORED. There are only so many ways to dress up lettuce, beans, and mushrooms.. His salad dressings are interesting, and his use of Avocados, nuts, seeds, and fruit in his dressings are just another way of adding sugar and fat back into the diet to gain some palatability. Water sautéed onions and garlic just don't sing like those roasted in an oven with a drizzle of olive oil.
I still crave good, home made, natural sourdough bread that I used to make. And food without salt is like sex with out love. It's just ok. He uses umami added items that are hard to find and are expensive to add glutimates back to this diet. If I was rich, this diet could be pleasing. I am sure the good Dr. Furhman can afford the very best ingredients gained from fleecing all of the suckers who sign up for Internet access and personal touches. For people on a budget, buy in bulk at grocer supply outlets and buy a pressure cooker to cook beans and make veggie stocks for soup. Buy head lettuces and grow sprouts, and buy your steel cut oats in really big bags. Bulk bins are your friend!
So to summarize.
IT WORKS, even without much exercise.
It is more expensive than my version of the SAD.
It is time consuming, unless you can afford to buy his gimmicks.
It gets boring.
It's lack of fat, salt, sugar, and Dairy leaves it very bland. You can make food spicy, but without salt and fat, you throw savory out the window.
And lastly, b.s. I still crave a pancake now and then!
This question is about Joel Fuhrman's Diet
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