Joel Fuhrman, M.D. tells the truth about today's best-selling diets, no matter how strong or unpopular his message. As the weight loss and nutritional expert on The Discovery Channel's Second Opinion with Dr. Oz, Dr. Fuhrman joins Mehmet Oz M.D. and Oprah to discuss the obesity epidemic, which has been caused in large part by dangerous dieting.

Popular diets such as the Atkins diet, the Zone, and the South Beach Diet result in short-term weight loss, emphasizes Dr. Fuhrman, and "the critical question is whether these diets are safe." He cites the medical journal Angiology, where a study of people on the Atkins diet for one year experienced a decreased blood flow to their heart by 40 percent and increased inflammatory markers. Ketogenic diets"like the Atkins plan"can also cause cardiomyopathy or dilation of the heart. Scientific research shows a six-fold increase in certain cancers at the level of saturated fat seen in some of these popular diets.

Dr. Fuhrman's nutritional approach to reversing conditions such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, allergies, and other diseases runs counter to the practice of conventional physicians highly reliant on drugs.

Joel Fuhrman, M.D., an expert in nutritional medicine who specializes in preventing and reversing diseases, has always spoken against the concept of "dieting." According to Dr. Fuhrman, "Eating less to lose weight for a limited time period is of no benefit. In fact, yo-yo dieting is not health promoting and increases coronary deposits leading to heart attacks."

About the Author

Dr. Fuhrman, in his latest book, Eat to Live, speaks of a "diet style" or way to eat for the rest of one's life. This diet style is based on his 90% rule that a diet should be made up of at least 90% unrefined fruits and vegetables, with animal products or processed foods constituting no more than 10% of total caloric intake. Dr. Fuhrman's patients have experienced dramatic weight loss, averaging 18 pounds in the first month and 10 pounds each month after.

For additional information about Dr. Fuhrman's interview on The Truth About Diets, see Second Opinion, premiering on The Discovery Channel at October 20, 2003 at 5:00 p.m. EST.