Drop 19 Pounds, Fight Diabetes, and Beat Heart Disease With The ‘Nutritarian’ Detox

Feeling motivated to get lean and healthy? Here’s a fast way to make it happen: “Start building your meals using foods with the most micronutrients per calorie — including vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other essential phytochemicals. It’s about a thousand times more effective than anything else you can do,” insists Joel Fuhrman, M.D., a world-renowned nutrition expert and bestselling author of the new Eat for Life ($18.49, Amazon).

Inflammation, hormone function, and immunity improve so rapidly, “you can go from high risk to low risk for coronavirus complications literally in a matter of days.” You also slash risk of stroke, heart disease, autoimmune diseases and more. “We’re even able to take some people off diabetes meds immediately.” Weight loss is equally impressive — up to 19 pounds in less than a week. So it’s no wonder folks pay $5,000 to go on retreats and learn the doc’s secrets — secrets he’s spilling here for free!

Dr. Fuhrman calls his approach a “Nutritarian” diet and says it’s packed with familiar foods you’ll enjoy: sandwiches, soup, pasta, pie. No stingy portions either. “When you’re making smart choices, you can eat until you’re comfortably full while still transforming your body,” he promises. The secret is making everything with micronutrient-dense ingredients. That means opting for sprouted wheat bread over white, simmering a rainbow of veggies in broth rather than opening a can of Campbell’s, and going for chickpea spaghetti instead of empty-calorie traditional noodles.

(As a general rule, you’ll find swaps for processed foods, sweeteners, oil, and animal products — all of which have relatively few micronutrients per calorie.) “Your body wants to eat this way, so it will help you,” he adds. “Your palate will gradually reset, and you’ll begin to prefer nutrient-dense foods over junk.” All the while, magic will be happening inside you.

Nutritarian Detox Secrets

Thanks to breakthrough technology, “every day we learn more about hundreds of potent therapeutic compounds in plant foods,” says Dr. Fuhrman. “These micronutrients help every part of every cell function optimally. At the same time, there’s evidence they neutralize and expel dangerous toxins, repair damage to our DNA, fight aging, and much more.”

It’s the reason a Nutritarian-style approach has been proven better at lowering cholesterol and blood pressure and reversing diabetes than any other diet. “You also get powerful protection against virtually every disease you can name. And tests suggest immune function is dramatically enhanced in two weeks. The vast majority of Nutritarians get off medications and stop getting sick.”

There’s more: Harvard scientists recently found that consuming more micronutrient-rich food is often the only significant difference between a lean woman and her heavy sister. “Foods play a far larger role than genes in determining our destiny,” says Dr. Fuhrman. How? For starters, Rutgers University research shows that blitzing the body with varied nutrients changes our gut bacteria, making us resistant to diabetes while boosting belly-fat burn by 240 percent. And University of Georgia tests found certain mixes of antioxidants will slow fat storage and even trigger fat cells to disintegrate entirely.

Bonus: A flood of micronutrients causes internal inflammation to decrease rapidly, releasing water weight and boosting thyroid function. Says Dr. Fuhrman, “People finally shed excess pounds they’ve always dreamed of losing.”

The Nutritarian Detox Plan

To try Dr. Fuhrman’s approach, aim for at least 1 large salad, 2 servings of cooked greens, 3 servings of fruit, 1⁄2 cup of beans and 1 oz. of raw nuts/seeds daily. Round out meals with other healthy plant foods. Skip animal products, white flour, oil, and sweeteners. Eat so you’re comfortably full and won’t need snacks. Expect results in five days, but use this plan as long as you like. Always get a doctor’s okay to try a new diet.

Breakfast: Toast sprouted whole-grain bread (such as Ezekiel brand) and spread with any variety of nut butter; enjoy with a generous serving of fresh fruit.

Lunch: Sauté a diced onion in water; add 2 cans of any bean, 8 cups greens, 4 cups chopped veggies, 6 cups broth, seasoning; simmer until tender. 4 servings

Detox Dressing: In blender, blitz 3 Tbs. warm water, 2 Tbs. all-natural peanut butter, 1 tsp. coconut aminos, 1 tsp. lime juice and 2 tsp. rice vinegar; enjoy as dressing or dip.

Dinner: Start with veggies and dip, then have bean-based pasta with more veggies (steamed or roasted) and oil-free marinara; fruit for dessert.

This article originally appeared in our print magazine.