In the early 1980’s, Harvey Diamond and his wife Marilyn Diamond wrote a book extolling the virtues of “food combining” as a method for weight loss. Staunch believers in natural medicine and “Natural Hygiene”, the Diamond’s book Fit for Life sold over 12 million copies and quickly became a diet book bestseller. Fit for Life is still in print, and it still contains weight loss techniques centered on “living food”, “dead food”, “food combining”, and other scientifically unsupported theories.
Fit for Life Food
The theory of food combining as a tool for weight loss has been a popular fad for many years. Supposedly, eating a combination of protein and starch during a meal confuses the digestion system, which allegedly, can only incorporate a single “concentrated” food at a time. As a result of this, the nutrient absorption of one or the other food is invalidated and “rots”, causing toxic residue to be stored in the body and lead to bloating. Additionally, these “toxins” deposited in fat tissues after previous meals become difficult to diminish because vital energy was wasted on their absorption.
This theory of food combining and nutrient nullifying has never been validated by science. In fact, nutritionists, dietitians, and health professionals have scientifically verified the theory of food combing as preposterous. The human body does not function as theorized in the food combining method.
In addition to the method of food combining, the Diamond’s Fit for Life diet heartily advocates “living foods” and “dead foods”. A “living food” is represented by raw fruits and vegetables which aid digestion. Fresh fruit must be eaten alone on the Fit for Life diet, or its nutritional value is voided.A “dead food” is represented by proteins and starches, which strain the digestive system and waste energy. In order for persons on the Fit for Life diet to lose weight, the must maintain a 50/50 balance of living and dead foods. Dairy products are eliminated in the Fit for Life diet.
Diamond and the Fit for Life Diet believe:
– Consuming foods in the “wrong combinations” causes them to “rot” so they cannot be incorporated into the body. Eggs particularly “rot” in the body;
– Food combinations such as meat and potatoes, eggs and toast, bread and cheese, or chicken and noodles are the reason people are dying so young;
– Living foods cleanse the body while dead foods “clog” it;
– Refined sugars ferment and produce acids because the refining process removes “every vestige of life” from the sugar;
– Fruits and vegetables, with their high water content, can cleanse the body of toxins. However, when fruit is eaten at the end of a meal, its absorption is blocked and it ferments.
The Fit for Life Diet
Once on the Fit for Life diet, participants do not have to consider much more than living foods, dead foods, and food combinations. Portion sizes are not controlled, and the Fit for Life diet does not incorporate or suggest the addition of daily exercise.
A typical day on the Fit for Life diet looks something like this:
Breakfast
– Sip fruit juice
or
– Have a piece of fruit
The Fit for Life diet breakfast consists of slowly sipping and “chewing”fruit juice and eating fresh fruit-one piece at a time-until noon.
Lunch
– A live food, such as a salad;
– One dead starch or one dead protein.
Dinner
– A live food, such as a salad;
– One dead starch or one dead protein.
Counting calories or fat grams or noting portion sizes is not considered necessary on the Fit for Life diet. Fruits and vegetables, with their high water content for “flushing toxins” are the most heavily advocated foods. The types of proteins and the types of starches that can be eaten for lunch and dinner are entirely up to the dieter.
Drinking any beverage, including water, with meals is discouraged on the Fit for Life diet, because the Diamonds believe this slows digestion. Small sips may be acceptable, or a beverage consumed before dinner.
Essentially, the Fit for Life diet is a calorie reduction diet, done in the guise of confusing food combinations and eliminations. Always consult with a doctor before beginning a new diet, especially this one.