Joel Fuhrman - Eat To Live

238 Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

gel their hands on. The two questions we have to look at are: How

long did they live on that diet? What diet for humans gives them the

best protection against disease and the greatest chance for longevity

in modern times?

Personally, 1 want to do a lot better than our prehistoric ancestors

did. A comprehensive overview and a sensible interpretation of the

scientific evidence support the conclusion that we can increase hu-

man longevity and prevent disease if we make specific food choices.

We still retain our primate physiology, a physiology that has a de-

pendence on high vegetation consumption, that is relevant to ex-

plain our ability to thrive on a plant-predominant diet.

Dr. Katerine Milton, from the University of California at Berke-

ley, is among the few nutritional anthropologists in the world who

has worked with and studied cultures and primitive peoples not

influenced by modern technology. She has concluded that the diet of

both primitive people and wild primates is largely plant-based.^13 The

main difference between primitive diets and our own is their con-

sumption of nutrient-dense wild plants and the lack of access to low-

nutrient, high-fat foods such as cheese and oil, as well as refined

grains.

We have a unique opportunity in human history: We have fresh

produce being flown into our food stores from all over the planet.

We can take advantage of this abundant variety of fresh vegetation

to eat a diet with more phytochemical density and diversity than

ever before. We have the opportunity to make decisions about what

we eat that were not available to our prehistoric ancestors. Fortu-

nately, we have knowledge that they lacked, and we can use this

knowledge to live longer than ever before.

I know you do not recommend butter or margarine,

so what do we put on bread, vegetables, or corn?

Butter is loaded with a dangerous amount of saturated fat, but stick

margarines have hydrogenated oils that contain trans fats that raise

LDL, the bad cholesterol. Adjusting the type of fat consumed, re-

searchers found that butter caused the highest cholesterol level and

that varying amounts of margarines and oils had various harmful ef-

fects.^14 The best answer is to use nothing, or buy whole-grain bread

that tastes good without adding a greasy topping. If you love the fla-

vor of butter, try Butter Buds or sparingly use a spread that contains

no hydrogenated oil, such as Spectrum Essential Omega Spread, in-