Dr. Joel Fuhrman Gives Lecture, Announces New Partnership with Whole Foods Wellness Clubs

Written by Max Goldberg on January 10, 2012. Follow Max on Twitter: @livingmaxwell.

Last night, I was at Whole Foods Tribeca in NYC where renowned nutritionist Joel Fuhrman, M.D., author of the bestselling Eat to Live and host of the PBS show 3 Steps to Incredible Health, gave a lecture and also announced a new partnership with the Whole Foods Wellness Clubs.

Here’s a synopsis on both.

PARTNERSHIP WITH WHOLE FOODS

As I wrote about recently, Whole Foods launched a pilot program of five Wellness Clubs around the country.

This new partnership with Dr. Joel Fuhrman means that one his associates, Adam Fiterstein, M.D., will be onsite at the Whole Foods Tribeca Wellness Club on Mondays to give private consultations to members and to host lectures for both members and non-members alike.

The consultations include: Read More »

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Study: Organic Tomatoes Have Higher Levels of Antioxidants than Conventional Tomatoes

Written by Max Goldberg on December 5, 2011. Follow Max on Twitter: @livingmaxwell.

Last year, I wrote about a groundbreaking study from Washington State University that said that organic strawberries have higher antioxidant activity and concentrations of ascorbic acid than conventional strawberries.

This research was the subject of much conversation in the organic industry because now we could point to objective, independent research that validated the superiority of organic.

Well, for those who still don’t believe that organic is a better option, maybe a recently released report from Spain will make them think differently.

In a study performed at the University of Barcelona Science and Technology Centres and reported in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, ketchup made from organic tomatoes proved to have higher levels of polyphenols than ketchup made from conventional tomatoes. (Polyphenols are biomolecules with antioxidant properties and protective effects in the human body.) Read More »

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Have We Been Misled? 5 Organic Foods That Should Make You Think Twice

Written by Max Goldberg on February 2, 2011. Follow Max on Twitter: @livingmaxwell.

I spend an inordinate amount of time learning about the healthiest and newest organic food products available. Through my research at the various trade shows (Natural Products Expo East and Natural Products Expo West are my two favorites), talking to industry contacts, roaming supermarket aisles, speaking with as many well-informed food people as I can and reading books, I have come to the following conclusion:

You can take almost any food in the world and some health expert will have something good to say about it while a different health expert will have something bad to say about it.

So, what I do is educate myself as much as I can and then make my own decision about whether I should be eating it or not.

The following five organic foods seem to be the most controversial. While books could be written on all of the foods below and by no means am I covering all of the pros/cons of each, I will try to highlight the most salient points. Read More »

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Whole Foods Now Employs Healthy Eating Specialists, Interview with Gerrie Adams

Written by Max Goldberg on March 12, 2010. Follow Max on Twitter: @livingmaxwell.

I am writing from Orange County, CA where I am attending the Natural Products Expo West trade show in Anaheim which started yesterday.

So, on Wednesday I made a visit to the local Whole Foods in Tustin to pick up a few things.  I love the experience that each Whole Foods delivers but this store is the most mind-blowing one I have ever stepped foot in.

I never thought I would say it but I must confess.  I now have Whole Foods envy.  How lucky are the people that get to shop here whenever they want.

Aside from the fact that it is a 68,000 square feet spectacle, I saw something that I had yet to see before — a special section where customers can sit down and consult one-on-one with a Healthy Eating Specialist.  All for free.

Several weeks ago, I profiled Whole Foods’ new Health Starts Here initiative and have been in constant conversation with many different store managers trying to get the inside scoop — do employees like it or not (in particular, those who work in the meat department), how are they going to roll it out, what are the internal training programs, etc.

One piece of feedback that I kept hearing was that there would be in-store training for customers on the program to answer their every question. Read More »

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Whole Foods Launches "Health Starts Here" Campaign: Pushes Plant-Based Diet, Says to Reduce or Eliminate Consumption of Animal Products

Written by Max Goldberg on February 6, 2010. Follow Max on Twitter: @livingmaxwell.

I almost fell over yesterday when I was at the Whole Foods Market (Fresh Pond Store) in Cambridge, MA. Let me explain…

Before entering the check-out line, I was looking at the marketing materials related to Whole Foods’ new Health Starts Here campaign — an initiative based on a plant-based, nutrient-dense diet.

The first thing I saw was the big poster that ranked foods based on an index called the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI).  ANDI was created by Joel Fuhrman, M.D., the chief medical officer of an organization called Eat Right America.

Foods are ranked from 1 to 1000, with the most nutrient-dense foods having the highest scores.  Collards and kale have scores of 1000 while soda has a score of 1.  What was displayed at the store today was an abbreviated list and did not contain all the scores that are available on the ANDI website link above.

The second thing I saw was the display of about seven books where magazines are normally stacked.  This is where I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

There was a copy of The China Study by Colin Campbell, PhD.

For those unfamiliar with this book, it is the culmination of 20 years of research into the lifestyle habits of people in rural China and Taiwan.

Dr. Campbell said that “People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease … People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease. These results could not be ignored.”

I had heard about The China Study a few years ago through some of my raw food friends.  Given that raw foodists eat an organic/vegan diet, Dr. Campbell is a household name within this community for obvious reasons.

The fact that a supermarket, which sells a ton of animal products, would sell The China Study is nothing less than completely and utterly shocking.

The third thing I saw was a marketing brochure (see below) about the Health Starts Here campaign.  It listed four healthy eating principles: Plant Based, Whole Foods, Low Fat and Nutrient Dense.

The first row in the third bullet point under the Low Fat criteria said “Reduce or eliminate consumption of animal products”.  I had to stare at the paper for about 10 seconds in order to believe what was actually written there.

Not only does Whole Foods have The China Study sitting by its cash registers, some of the most valuable real estate in the entire store, but the the market is now telling consumers not to buy the animal products that it is selling!

Inconsistent Marketing Messages

Another interesting point here is that there has been a lack of consistency in the messages that Whole Foods has been delivering to the public in regards to this program. Read More »

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