I've been researching and comparing the various "hot" docs diets. I'm not done researching and comparing but I can make some assertions from what I've read so far. If you read just one of these docs books you'd think you were reading the end all and be all of dieting. If you read them all, I guarantee you will be confused from the contradictions. They certainly give conflicting recommendations. I will try to make sense of all of it for you.
1. Each of the docs give journal articles and testimonials backing up their diet recommendations.
2. People do indeed feel healthier, have more energy, lose weight and enjoy life more on each of these diets.
3. Every one of the "hot" docs recommends eating more veggies; a lot more.
What I can tell you is this:
1. Go thru your pantry and throw out anything which lists hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated (i.e. cooking oils) or high fructose corn syrup in the ingredient list.
2. Eat whole foods. Not foods out of a box with an ingredients list of things your great-grandparents wouldn't recognize. Your body doesn't recognize those ingredients either. Frozen veggies are ok.
3. Eat 6-9 cups of veggies a day. Three cups should be dark green leafy veggies. Skip the store salad dressings and make your own. (yeah I'll give you a recipe eventually, but in the meantime you can google homemade salad dressing and come up with a lot of yummy recipes.)
4. Eat fruit 1-3 pieces a day.
5. Eat meat if it suits you. (In her book "The Wahls Protocol" Dr Terry Wahls tells you why you need to eat meat and in his book "The End of Dieting" Joel Fuhrman, M.D. tells you why he recommends very little meat.) I don't feel my best when I eat a lot of meat. Learn to listen to your body.
6. Move your body. Your body needs exercise. Exercise helps the body work the way it should. Lack of exercise is implicated in many lifestyle disorders. It will kill you. But first it will kill your joy, motivation and enjoyment of life. SO GET OUT THERE and MOVE!
7. I think it's prudent to cut out wheat. Our wheat today is not the wheat of years ago. (Read the Wheat Belly book by William Davis, M.D.)
Really it's just common sense.
The reason people feel better, have more energy, lose weight and enjoy life more on each of the "hot" docs diets is because they have drastically improved their nutrition intake. They cut out processed and fast foods. They cut out crap. They ate real food, whole food! The food they ate was nutrient dense. As Dr. Fuhrman says, when you replace the crap in your diet with good nutrient dense whole foods you feel so good you don't miss the crap. (note: crap is my word not Dr Fuhrmans).
So where do you start? First, start with what you can do today. Clean all the crap food out of your pantry. Make a deal with yourself you won't eat anymore fast food. Resolve to have a healthy salad every day. You have to start somewhere. You don't need and should not overwhelm yourself. One improvement at a time. As you develop a repertoire of healthy recipes you'll find yourself feeling better with more energy. I promise.
As you make improvements I recommend two things:
1. Keep a food journal. Don't just write what you ate. Write about how you feel.
2. Take time to make out a weeks menu. You can make preparing food easier by cooking for the week. Cut up your veggies for easy snacking. You can cook your meat for the week the same time you cook that big pot of soup. Crock pots and/or Instant Pots make cooking so much easier and time efficient! Just the other day I cooked some chicken, potatoes, carrots and onions in my crock pot. How easy is that? Took me maybe 10 minutes to cut up the veggies and throw them in. Less time than driving to a restaurant or fast food place. YOU can do this!
I have to say preparing whole foods is a wonderful experience. You KNOW positively you are giving your body what it needs to work properly and build your immune system. That's a good feeling.
Here's a terrific book to start building your repertoire of healthy recipes:
"Fresh From The Vegetarian Slow Cooker" By Robin Robertson. It's a wonderful book! Go get it!
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