Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, MD The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss This special book is listed first because it simply describes what I believe is the optimal diet for the human race.  My friend and former business colleague, Joel  Fuhrman, presents well-researched facts and then backs them up with living proof from thousands of cases involving his patients who made dramatic recoveries following his simple program.  Although it mentions "weight loss" on the front cover, this is not a diet book.  It is a book about a making a lifestyle choice that will add many quality years to your life and may very well keep you out of the old nursing home...Jim Hicks In case you're wondering, Joel does not profess to be a vegan or a vegetarian; he simply recommends a diet consisting primarily of whole, fresh plant-based foods. It's not about what you DON'T eat, it's all about what you DO eat. He writes...   A vegetarian whose diet is mainly refined grains, cold breakfast cereals, processed health food store products, vegetarian fast foods, white rice, and pasta will be worse off than a person who eats a little turkey, chicken, fish, or eggs but consumes large volumes of fruits, vegetables, and beans. That combination of little or no animal products with a higher consumption of fresh produce is the crucial factor that makes a vegetarian diet healthful. Clearly, the chief health reason to choose a vegetarian diet is to consume high levels of fruit, green vegetables, and beans. A diet primarily comprised of nutritious foods, not processed food or animal products is the key both to better health, and healthy weight loss. People often ask me whether it is absolutely necessary to follow a vegetarian diet. Let me stress this: Following a strict vegetarian diet is not as important as eating a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables. So let’s not debate whether it is all right to eat a little bit of animal food or not. The main focus here that cannot be contradicted or disagreed with is: Whether you eat a vegan or vegetarian diet or you include a small amount of animal foods... You must get the majority of calories from unrefined plant food for optimal health. A large quantity of unrefined plant food grants the greatest protection against developing serious disease. ***************************************** You may want to log what you are eating for a few days and find out what percent of your calories are comprised of whole, un-refined plant-based foods.  The average American gets about five percent of their calories from these nutritious foods.  Consider that most "salads" in restaurants get the vast majority of their calories from the oil, the cheese dressing, the eggs, the bacon, and in the case of a Cobb Salad, a whole host of meats and cheeses.  Yet, most people think that if they are eating "salads", that they are eating a healthy diet.  One more thing, I also strongly recommend Dr. Fuhrman's latest book, Disease Proof Your Child.  Regards, Jim Hicks. Scroll Down to Read My Foreword to this Book in 2005 At Christmas time in 2005 after studying nutrition and health for three years, I chose to give a copy of Eat To Live to all of my loved ones.  This is the foreword that I pasted in front of each of those books: Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. A Foreword by Jim Hicks – December 2005 In November of 2002, I began an intensive study of health, fitness, and nutrition. Since then I have read over 100 books and have learned a great deal about the topic. While arriving at the truth about nutrition is very complex, the simplicity of the solution is almost too good to be true. And it all fits together very logically as it turns out that what is best for our own health as humans is also what is best for the future of our planet. It also turns out that very few people in the world understand the complete truth about nutrition. You will learn why when you read The China Study, referenced in the next paragraph. Over the past three years, I have made a number of positive changes in my diet and lifestyle and have had wonderful results. About a year ago, I began writing a book in an effort to convey my newfound knowledge to those I care most about…my children and grandchildren. Then in January of this year after reading a powerful new book by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, The China Study, I decided to put my book on hold for awhile. The China Study presents solid scientific evidence regarding nutrition and its powerful impact on our current health and the prevention of diseases like cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis, to name just a few. The book presented all of my newfound knowledge much better than I could have done, so I decided to put down my writing pen for now and focus my efforts on another nutrition related mission. After reading and re-reading The China Study, I have renewed my efforts to develop a corporate health improvement program that I can offer to businesses as a means of doing something wonderful for their employees while making drastic reductions in the corporation’s cost of health care. After a few corporate successes under my belt, I figured that the resulting message in my eventual book will be much more compelling. Right about now you may be asking why you are receiving this copy of Eat to Live instead of The China Study that I have been describing. The reason is because of a wonderful opportunity that recently presented itself relative to my corporate health idea. After reading three of Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s books over the past few years, I had the pleasure of meeting him in NYC just before Thanksgiving. He was giving a lecture on the topic of preventing and reversing disease through nutritional and natural methods. He mentioned during his lecture that he would love to take his proven program to the corporate world. A few days later, I contacted him at his office in New Jersey and suggested that we join forces in launching a corporate health improvement business. We got together for a kick-off meeting with his staff a few weeks later and will be meeting again in January. I am very excited about this unfolding opportunity as we lay the groundwork for my final, and most important, business career. I read my first Joel Fuhrman book in 2003 and quickly concluded that his logical, no-nonsense approach to treating virtually all diseases was the best that I had ever seen. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Dr. Fuhrman never bought into to the “pill & scalpel” approach to modern medicine. Instead, he adopted the original principles of Hippocrates who said, “First, do no harm; and your food will be your medicine and your medicine will be your food.” How simple is that? Since then, Dr. Fuhrman has built a thriving practice in New Jersey where he is a board certified family physician. He treats thousands of people every year and has amassed a most impressive book of success stories. But as you might expect, doctors like Joel Fuhrman who promote health instead of just treat symptoms sometimes have a difficult time making a living. You see, their patients tend to get well, learn how to maintain their health and no longer need to keep coming to the doctor. An M.D. who sincerely believes in what he is doing, Joel hardly ever writes a prescription and he practices what he preaches in his own family. He and wife Lisa have four children ages 5 to 18 and report that none of them have ever had so much as an ear ache and have never taken a single drug. The entire family enjoys vibrant health and none of them ever gets sick. In addition to his regular practice, Dr. Fuhrman has started writing books and has developed a successful online business at www.drfuhrman.com. But, like me, he knows that the opportunity to have the greatest impact lies in corporate America. For unlike the big pharmaceuticals and the medical community, big business has a huge financial incentive to lower the cost of health care. Hopefully, by this time next year, we will have an exciting corporate success story to share with you. In the meantime, if I have piqued your interest and you are interested in learning more beyond Eat to Live and The China Study, I urge you to read Diet for A New America by John Robbins. This final book connects all the dots relative to how our choice of food affects the future of our planet in a big way. All three books can be found easily on Amazon and, if you read all of them carefully, I am convinced that they will change your life. Beginning with the book that you find in your hands, I wholeheartedly agree with the endorsement by Mark Epstein (President, National Health Association) on the back cover, “Eat to Live marks the beginning of a genuine, scientifically based health revolution.” I am confident that working with a dedicated professional like Dr. Fuhrman will guarantee the long-term success of our critical mission.  Warm regards, Jim Hicks