PEERtrainer

Great Story Of A Man Who Lost 48 Pounds Following Dr. Joel Furhman's Eat To Live

Just got this comment on one of our YouTube videos about Dr. Joel Fuhrman and Eat To Live:

 

"I wrote the first comment on this video a year ago. I ended up buying the "Eat to Live" book rather than the "Eat for Health." It is my Bible!! I read and reread this book for motivation and to learn everything I can. I've since lost 48 pounds. 198 pounds to 150 pounds. Blood pressure is below 120/80, without any medication, and the blood test for cholesterol, LDL, HDL, etc. were all good. Thank you for suggesting this great resource."  Gary - In a Little Town in Northern NY

 

If you click into the video comments you will see his first comment was a year ago where he says he's going to buy the book.  There's some other great feedback there too.

You can find out all about the book at http://www.drfuhrman.com. 

 

 

Is Coconut Bad For You Because It Contains Saturated Fat?

On the new PEERtrainer Facebook page recently somebody posted something to the effect of "Your vegetable soup recipe is great, but I took out the coconut milk because my friend the cardiologist says that the saturated fat in coconut is bad for you."

We had been thinking about this question for a few days. Then today a box arrived in the mail with 6 books from Dr. Jonny Bowden. He is someone that we have gotten to know recently, and have begun to dig into his work. What we have found so far is someone who has taken all the "health stuff" and made it very understandable.

Anyway, we were flipping through one of the books, titled "The 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth." And one page 107 there was a section on Coconut, that answered this exact question! Bowden writes:

"I really looked forward to writing this section, because I felt that it would give me a chance to right one of the greatest nutritional misconceptions of all time: the idea that coconut, because it contains saturated fat, is bad for you."

Summary of Dr. Jonny Bowden's insights on coconut:

• Coconut and coconut oil are superfoods. Coconut is one of the most healthy, amazing things you can ingest.
• People in Asia and the Pacific Islands whose diets are high in coconut oil have low levels of chronic disease- cancer, heart disease etc. 
• The fat in coconut is actually good for you. The book explains the science in detail, but the basic idea is that the fatty acids in coconut are easier to metabolize, and are different from the fatty acids in other forms of saturated fat. 

These fatty acids are called Medium Chain Triglycerides or MCT's. From Wikipedia:

"Some studies have shown that MCTs can help in the process of excess calorie burning, and thus weight loss. However, close to half of the calories in one's diet would have to be from the MCTs themselves. Therefore, consuming medium-chain triglycerides in a regular diet may or may not be beneficial to weight loss; studies are still being conducted" 

Anyway, the bottom line here is that we now have a greater level of understanding now of WHY our soup recipe has been such a hit. Most of the calories in the soup come from the coconut milk, which might explain why so many people have found that it helped them lose weight.

And we have also found a great book, one that that we will be referring to again and again.  Also- if you are interested in our recipes, please keep reading this post for information on how to be sent new recipes from PEERtrainer that meet our criteria of being easy, tasty, cheap, nutrient dense, fill you up, give you energy....

Here Is One:

Spicy Thai Curry Recipe

 

Calories in Coconut Milk

Interview With Ivy Larson, Who Has Used Diet To Control Her MS And Become A Best Selling Author In The Process

By Jackie Wicks

This is a great story on so many levels. I just met and interviewed a woman named Ivy Larson, and I want you all to hear her story because it is so inspiring. Long story short is that she solved her own health puzzle by taking total responsibility for her own outcome and getting some of the best help and guidance that she could.

Interview Summary and Introduction:

Ivy was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) at age 22. Up to this point she was a very healthy, athletic person. Summer of 1998 she started having all sorts of very out of the routine medical problems. Many parts of her body just stopped working properly.

Visits to many doctors in Palm Beach County didn't get to the bottom of what was happening. Finally she ended up in the emergency room, and she ended up seeing a urologist in Miami. It was there the doctor realized that the problem was likely neurological.

After a battery of tests she was diagnosed as being in the early stages of MS. She was given three options. 1) trial for medication that was in the human trial phase. 2) Begin one of the FDA approved disease modifying medications. But I was told that there were huge side effects and she wanted to have children. 3) Third option was a dietary overhaul.

She knew nothing about nutrition at this point. She contacted a friend from high school who was at the University Of Pennsylvania Medical school at the time. His immediate reaction to the suggestion of using diet was to look up the credentials of the neurologist suggesting this course of action.

He did and this began a process where he began to understand the limitations and risks of treating MS with drugs as well as the power of treating the symptoms through dietary changes. Down the road, Ivy and her friend at medical school ended up getting married (MS: A Love Story!). They ended up writing a best selling book based on their experience tackling this problem called, The Gold Coast Cure: A Lifestyle Plan to Shed Pounds, Gain Health and Reverse 10 Diseases.

Ivy has also become an amazing cook in the process. You can find many of her recipes on her website.

The interview runs 30 minutes. Talking to Ivy was interesting, uplifting and motivating. We hope you enjoy it!

Click Here To Download/Listen To The PEERtrainer Interview With Ivy Larson

About MS, (From Wikipedia)

"Multiple sclerosis (abbreviated MS, also known as disseminated sclerosis or encephalomyelitis disseminata) is a disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms. Disease onset usually occurs in young adults, and it is more common in females. It has a prevalence that ranges between 2 and 150 per 100,000. MS was first described in 1868 by Jean-Martin Charcot.

MS affects the ability of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to communicate with each other. Nerve cells communicate by sending electrical signals called action potentials down long fibers called axons, which are wrapped in an insulating substance called myelin. In MS, the body's own immune system attacks and damages the myelin. When myelin is lost, the axons can no longer effectively conduct signals. The name multiple sclerosis refers to scars (scleroses—better known as plaques or lesions) in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord, which is mainly composed of myelin. Although much is known about the mechanisms involved in the disease process, the cause remains unknown. Theories include genetics or infections. Different environmental risk factors have also been found.

Almost any neurological symptom can appear with the disease, and often progresses to physical and cognitive disability. MS takes several forms, with new symptoms occurring either in discrete attacks (relapsing forms) or slowly accumulating over time (progressive forms). Between attacks, symptoms may go away completely, but permanent neurological problems often occur, especially as the disease advances.

There is no known cure for MS. Treatments attempt to return function after an attack, prevent new attacks, and prevent disability. MS medications can have adverse effects or be poorly tolerated, and many patients pursue alternative treatments, despite the lack of supporting scientific study. The prognosis is difficult to predict; it depends on the subtype of the disease, the individual patient's disease characteristics, the initial symptoms and the degree of disability the person experiences as time advances. Life expectancy of patients is nearly the same as that of the unaffected population."

PEERtrainer Member Recommendation: "What Color Is Your Diet"?

Dear Jackie,

Awhile ago, you asked us to share about resources that we use to
ensure good nutrition. Our family nutrition bible is Dr. David Heber's
"What Color Is Your Diet?" . 

Dr. Heber works at the Centre for Human
Nutrition in Los Angeles, and he was instrumental in creating the first food
pyramid in the 1960s. The premise of this book is that the skin colours of
fruits and vegetables are actually chemical indicators of the phytonutrients
contained in them. Even my 4- and 5-year-old can tell me what they've eaten
each day that was red, orange, yellow, green (light and dark), purple and
white. "Eat a rainbow," we say.

It's been a good way for us not only to
balance out the different nutrient groups in our diet each day, but also to
ensure that we get several servings of fruits & veggies every day.

Sincerely,

Rebekah J.

Q&A with Jenna Bergen, author of the new book Your Big Fat Boyfriend: How to Stay Thin When Dating a Diet Disaster

We had a chance to ask Jenna Bergen, author of "Your Big Fat Boyfriend" some questions about her new book. You can read the interview here. We are also discussing this book on this thread in the PEERtrainer community. Here is the press blurb about the book as well which helps to outline the (we think important) premise of the book:

Is Your Man Making You Fat?!

Bad news, ladies. Your guy’s wing-grubbing habits could be rubbing off on you. Research shows women almost always gain weight when in a relationship and pick up the unhealthy eating habits of their partners, while men tend to pick up the healthy habits from the ladies in their life. “It’s not fair, but it’s true,” says Jenna Bergen, author of the new book Your Big Fat Boyfriend: How to Stay Thin When Dating a Diet Disaster. “But love doesn’t have to mean love handles!”

Recently featured on Entertainment Weekly’s “The Must List: 10 Things We Love This Week” and deemed a “Great Read: Not Your Average Diet Book” by People magazine, Bergen—a Spinning instructor and yoga addict, who’s work has been featured in SELF, Men’s Health, Women’s Health and Philadelphia magazine—packs the book with study-backed tips that will help you avoid love-induced lbs. while still having fun with your sweetie. “A guy doesn’t have to be overweight or living off McDonald’s to affect your waistline,” warns Bergen. “It all goes back to size. Men are generally bigger than women and tend to carry more muscle mass, which means he can burn through calories much faster—even if he’s just sitting on the couch.”

The problem? Studies show that simply seeing food can make you hungry, so the second Mr. Right (or Mr. Right Now!) starts snacking or reaching for seconds, it’s all too easy to join him. “Women can gain anywhere from five pounds to 20 pounds or more,” says Bergen, who interviewed over 50 women for the book. “A few pounds isn’t anything to cry over, but when it starts to affect how you feel, how your clothes fit or when it’s a big enough jump on the scale that you’re suddenly at risk for obesity-related health issues like type 2 diabetes, it’s a serious problem.”

Filled with everything from why you can’t eat like a man (and still fit in your pants) to fun ideas for active dates to healthy recipes even veggie-hating BFBs will love, Bergen shares laughs from her own experiences and backs up her advice for avoiding love-induced chub with sound studies. “It’s not about dieting,” says Bergen. “It’s about adopting healthy eating habits for life. There are so many fun, easy things you can do to stay slim, from making regular ‘guy’ food like burgers and fries healthier to using simple tricks to get through all those dinners out and nights on the couch without giving up your favorite pair of jeans. Because in the end, it’s up to you—even if buys three pints of ice cream because ‘they were on sale’ or subjects you to fast-food runs daily. The book really teaches women how to take care of themselves, no matter what their guy eats or how much he might hate the gym—whether he’s a boyfriend, a fiancé or a husband.”