Ask DJ Lyons Book Review: Fit For Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond

I have been hearing about the health benefits of Food Combining for years but
didn't know much about it. With the motivation of wishing to lose over 50 pounds
prior to getting reconstruction surgery, I felt the time had come to do some serious research. This book will be my start.

FYI - Double mastectomy on August 11, 2010

Reconstruction surgery will be scheduled approximately November of 2011. This is one year after I completed all breast cancer treatments other than the 5-year
chemo tablet for preventative purposes only. Gratefully, I have joined the ranks of being one of the thousands of breast cancer survivors.

Disclaimer: The book was published in 1985; therefore, I'm certain new research
has come out since that time that might nullify some of what I'm reading. Given that the original book that introduced me to the whole concept of Food Combining was written in 1925, I decided this book could still be really helpful.

The introduction to the book certainly sounds promising. Kay S. Lawrence, M.D. states:

Page vi - "There are side effects to this diet: anyone who is overweight will lose weight. One will feel an increase in energy and well-being, and symptoms of disease often abate."

Kay S. Lawrence also proposes "you perform your own scientific study with your body as the laboratory."I like that idea. Depending on what I learn, I may do that very thing and share the results on HubPages.

In the Foreword, Edward A. Taub, M.D. hints that this book "identifies our long-taught dogmas as merely unhealthy programming instilled by commercial interests representing milk, candy, meat, and restaurants."

This really makes me think: How much of our weight-loss theories and
philosophies is a matter of media and advertising programming rather than valid facts?

Part 1 of the book was written by Harvey Diamond. It is called "The Principles."

Part 2 was written by his wife, Marilyn Diamond. It is called "The Program."

One of the biggest points I got from the Introduction is that we should always eat fruit on an empty stomach. It is best to eat only fruit before noon. This will help with weight-loss and good health. Canned fruit is not included as that has been pasteurized. Pasteurized juice is also not included in this list. They don't recommend dried fruit at first either as there are excessive calories in that. Fresh juice and any raw or fresh frozen fruit should be consumed prior to noon for optimum health.

After eating fruit, we should wait 20 to 30 minutes before eating any other type food. If it is a banana, we should wait 45 minutes to an hour.

The authors do not feel it is necessary to calorie-count when it comes to fruit. Don't overeat; however, eat enough to be satisfied.

So far, I have eaten apples, fresh frozen mixed berries and peaches, and bananas before noon. I space this through the morning. I like how this feels.

They also give lunch, snack, and dinner suggestions.

Among other points, on page 6, the author states, "What is completely new and different about this program is that it is not only what you eat that makes the difference, but also of extreme importance is WHEN you eat it, and in WHAT COMBINATIONS."

To insure success, the missing links are WHEN & HOW.

On page 7, the author states, "This diet boils down to safe and permanent weight reduction is directly related to the amount of vital energy you have at your disposal and to the efficient use of this energy to eliminate waste (excess weight) from your body."

As we all know, many people feel that diets feel like deprivation and punishment (my word). We diet for a certain length of time and lose some weight. Once that diet has ended, we likely start binging as we have felt so deprived. Then many people end up gaining back all the pounds they lost plus more.

Page 16 - "Eat to live, not live to eat."

Pages 18-19 - "The basic foundation of natural hygiene is that the body is always striving for health and that it achieves this by continuously cleansing itself of deleterious waste material."

Page 22 - "Health is your birthright, and being overweight is not health."

This is their explanation of how our natural body cycles work the best:

• Noon to 8 p.m. - Appropriation (eating and digestion)
• 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. - Assimilation (Absorption and use)
• 4 a.m. to noon - Elimination (of body wastes and food debris)

p. 28 - "To lose weight, the secret of success is getting ride of the toxic wastes and excesses we carry around."

Make certain you do "what is necessary to remove the toxic waste that already exists in one's body and see that it is not accumulated at a more rapid pace than it is eliminated."

The author talks about foods that have a high water content. He suggests that we take a common-sense approach. Since the Earth is 70% water and our bodies are 70% water, he asks the question, "Shouldn't our diet be 70% water as well?"

He explains that the two foods that have high water content are fruits and vegetables. He calls all other foods concentrated food.

He stresses that 70% of the food we eat should be high-water-content food like fruits and vegetables. "The other 30 percent will consist of the concentrated foods: breads, grains, meat, dairy products, legumes and so on."

Prior to eating, he said you should ask yourself, "Am I eating food right now that's going to cleanse me (detoxify me), or is it going to clog me?"

I was reading this chapter while getting my car fixed at a car dealership. While I was there, the television in the waiting room was airing a Dr. Oz show. Dr. Oz suggested that the meat should be our side item and the veggies and fruits should be the entree. That is right in line with this book. The only exception is that this book would not have you combine fruit with any other food whatsoever. Only eat fruit on an empty stomach.

The author also explains why many of us fail in our diet attempts. On page 38, he states, "We're prisoners of our taste buds." I must admit, I fall right in line with that.

Page 48 - "Food Combining teaches this: The human body is not designed to digest more than one concentrated food in the stomach at the same time."

Concentrated Foods                                       High-Water-Content Food
* Meat                                                                 * Vegetables & Salad
* Baked Potato with butter                                  * Vegetables & Salad
* Bread                                                               * Vegetables & Salad
* Pasta with garlic butter                                     * Vegetables & Salad

As I understand it, we can have meat combined with a large quantity of vegetables and salad; however, do not have potato, bread, or pasta with that meat.

The same goes with the other 3 concentrated foods listed above. We can have a baked potato with butter combined with a large quantity of vegetables and salad; however, do not have meat, bread, or pasta with that baked potato.

We can have bread with a large quantity of vegetables and salad; however, do not have meat, a baked potato, or pasta with that bread.

Lastly, we can have pasta with garlic butter with a large quantity of vegetables and salad; however, do not have meat, a baked potato, or bread with that pasta.

Page 64- "Fruit requires less energy to be digested than ny other food."

Page 65 - "Fruit should never be eaten with or immediately following anything. It is essentail that when you eat fruit, it is eaten on an empty stomach."

The author stresses that it is best to eat raw fruit that has no heat applied to it.

After most fruit, wait 20 to 30 minutes before eating any other type food. After eating bananas, dates, or dried fruit, wait 45 to 60 minutes before eating any other type food.

He also stresses the importance of waiting at least 3 hours before again eating fruit. For example, let's say you wanted a late-night snack. If three hours have passed since your last concumption of any other type food, then you could be pretty safe to have fruit again. He does explain that some foods take even longer than 3 hours to digest. Some foods might take 8 hours or more to digest.

Page 73 - "When eaten on an empty stomach, fresh fruit can have only a positive effect; it accelerates weight loss."

Page 81 - "View any temporary discomfort as the cleansing process taking place and health returning."

p. 100 - "Protein does not produce energy, it uses it!"

p. 111 - "The best sources of calcium are raw sesame seeds, all raw nuts, kelp, dulse, all leafy greens, and concentrated fruits such as figs, dates, and prunes."

FYI - This author is not a big fan of us drinking milk after about the age of 3. My mother would beg to disagree.

pp. 114-115 - "This program will not work as well without exercise!"

Sigh! That sigh is coming from me. I guess we just cannot get away from the fact that there are no magic bullets. Exercise is probably going to be part of any diet program. Oh, well! Smile!

Page 120 - "Your cells will automatically obey your last instructions."

Therefore, he stresses we should think, "I am losing weight! Your body will reflect those positive suggestions, which will supersede the negative ones. You will in effect be giving your body permission to lose weight!"

The author fully answers the following questions:

* Where does drinking coffee or tea fit into this approach to eating?

* What about sodas?

* Is a little chocolate now and again all that bad?

* I've heard that a little wine with a meal helps to digest the food. Is that true?

* It seems that on this type of diet I wouldn't need to take any vitamins and mineral supplements. Is that true?

* Just how harmful is table salt?

* Why does it seem as if so many people today either have hypoglycemia or think they do? And doesn't eating fruit aggravate a hypoglycemic condition?

* Is it all right for a woman to go on the program during her pregnancy?

 Page 145 - " ... for the 'detoxification and permanent slenderizing of America,' a very wide variety of meals would have to be developed so that the experience could be enjoyable rather than clinical."

Part II has the following chapter titles:

Chapter 1 - Breakfast

Chapter 2 - Fruit Juices

Chapter 3 - The Energy Ladder

Chapter 4 - The FIT FOR LIFE Shopping List

Chapter 5 - The Main-Course Salad

Chapter 6 - Life-Style Guidelines

A Four-Week Example of the Fitness Life-style

Bibliography

Index

FYI - Dozens of recipes are included with this book.

I highly recommend reading this book. Their explanations make a lot of sense.

I think, for me, following all their suggestions will be a work-in-progress. So far, I have fully adopted the idea of having only fruit until noon. I'm still processing and working my way up to many of their other suggestions.

I know I want to learn more; therefore, I have ordered several of the books listed below. I look forward to getting an even stronger grasp on the whole food-combining theories.

I will post my weight-loss results in the comment section as time goes on.

Post Script written a few days after this was posted. Following just a few of the precepts so far like only eating fruit in the morning and trying to let a significant time go by between meals plus a little bit, as I understand it so far, of the food combining, I lost 1/2 pound one day and another 1 1/2 pounds 2 days later. That's 2 pounds total I've lost so far in a 3-day period. That is a rather promising start! Smile!