Day 10: What exactly is a nutritarian?

Is it a vegetarian? vegan? raw food diet? It's actually neither of these things. The first six weeks of the plan call for the person engaging in this transition period to eat a diet that would fall under the "vegan" category in order to cleanse the body, and jumpstart the person's health. But after that there are options if you'd like to remain vegetarian/vegan or a plan that includes slowly introducing animal products back into your diet. But there's a catch! Ok, not really a catch but a change in perspective needs to occur. Dr. Fuhrman says that it is helpful to think of your main dish as being the nutrient dense food ie the salad, vegetables, fruit and the animal products as being your new sides instead of what you would typically see at meals with meat based dishes being the main component and salad and vegetables as your side. He says to think of it as 90% of your daily diet being nutrient dense foods and 10% being animal products (ie a tablespoon of salad dressing, a small cookie, etc), occasionally eating meat products once a week or fewer and in small quantities.  The best part about being a nutritarian is that you get to eat constantly and in copious amounts if you desire, as long as it's nutrient dense food. The longer you eat a nutrient dense diet the more your tastebuds will grow to really love the natural flavors of the food as well as become adjusted and accommodated to this new way of eating. Throw in the additional bonus of optimal health and consider yourself sold!

          I personally like this perspective because it is decreasing consumption and reliance on meat, but still allowing some flexibility to enjoy it from time to time as well as opportunities to occasionally indulge in your favorite foods without going overboard or feeling deprived. I have tried being a vegetarian in the past (for an 8 month run) and this was fueled for health reasons, yes, but also because of the inhumane killing and treatment of animals. This new way of eating fortifies my beliefs in being green and kind to all things but allows me to indulge occasionally without feeling like my beliefs are being compromised. To me, having meat in my main dish is definitely not a priority and I actually prefer the vegetarian friendly option!

Here is a final thought I'd like to leave you with. I found this sentiment on a google search and it is written by Darryl from the Fuhrman forums (SAD stands for Standard American Diet):

I like to think of being a nutritarian as simply choosing to live in a better food universe than most people. SAD foods taste good, but they do not taste better than nutritarian food. SAD foods are preferred by our society at large because people are habituated to them. They are habituated to them because those are the foods that are marketed.  Those are the foods that are marketed because they are very cheap (in price per calorie, not price per nutrient) and easy to ship, store, and prepare. To ensure that people remain habituated, food companies load them up with taste triggers like salt, sugar, and fat. When you change your food universe to nutrient-dense, health-promoting foods, it will probably take a long time to truly recalibrate your tastes until you truly enjoy them just as much, or more. But it will happen. I love my nutritarian food. My SAD-eating friends love their SAD food. The difference is that I get to eat three times more food than they do. And I don't get sick. So why in the world would I eat SAD foods now?