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

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:

– Physical examinations and health assessments.

– Aggressive yet healthy weight loss protocols and strategies.

– Solutions to treat the underlying cause of medical problems to promote long-term success.

– Counseling on how to get and stay well with less dependence on medications using a progressive and effective nutritional medicine approach.

Even though the partnership as of now is only for the Whole Foods Wellness Club Tribeca, I heard that a similar type of partnership might be available soon at the other Wellness Clubs throughout the nation.

LECTURE

While I had never attended a Dr. Joel Fuhrman lecture in person before, I found his talk to be very informative and nearly everything he said really resonated with me.

First and foremost, Dr. Joel Fuhrman is not an extremist and I found that to be very welcoming.

There are many health experts, especially those in the raw food world, where there is absolutely no room for flexibility.

Despite the fact that Dr. Joel Fuhrman promotes a very plant-heavy, nutrient-dense diet, he also said to eat animal products 0-3 times per week. He probably doesn’t eat any animal products himself but didn’t completely rule it out for other people.

Other key parts of his talk that I found interesting or compelling:

– The superfoods for longevity that he recommends goes by the acronym GOMBBS.

Greens
Onions
Mushrooms
Beans
Berries
Seeds

– Micronutrients, such as vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, are what we should be focusing on. Health = Nutrients over Calories.

– Eating one mushroom and some onion every single day will decrease cancer rates by 60-80%.

(David Wolfe is a big fan of medicinal mushrooms, such as chaga and reishi.)

– He talked about the concept of resistant starches, of which beans are high in.

Resistant starches go all the way through the small intestine without getting digested, promote “good bacteria”, are associated with butyrate (which protects colon cells), improve insulin sensitivity, and help with mineral absorption.

– Nuts and seeds should be eaten with salads because they enhance absorption of micronutrients.

– The four high volume foods that Dr. Joel Fuhrman believes that we should eat are:

Raw Vegetables – beets, cucumbers, fennel, carrots, cabbage

Fresh Fruit – melons, grapefruit, apples, berries

Cooked Greens – brussels sprouts, beans, artichokes, asparagus, broccoli

Non-Green Vegetables – mushrooms, eggplant, onions, cauliflower, tomatoes

MY TAKE

Several key takeaways from last night’s event.

1) I love what Whole Foods is doing with these Wellness Clubs. It is taking an extremely proactive approach to helping people get healthier by emphasizing more plant-based foods in their diet, and offering cooking and wellness classes to the public.

And now, members will have access to private consultations with an MD on-site who understands nutrition and isn’t trying to push pills.

This is very unique.

2) I really appreciate Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s nutritional approach — heavy on the plants and a big emphasis on micronutrients.

He said something during the lecture which is 100% true, and I wish everyone truly understood.

We need to take control of our health and make the right decisions about what we eat because our government is not going to do it for us.

Avoiding cancer and heart disease is not that difficult. While genetics do play a small part, it mostly comes down to eating the right foods.

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