Dr. Fuhrman will be contributing to our website!

Allow us to introduce Dr. Fuhrman and his insights…

In response to the numerous requests for information and an equal amount of requests for a Healthy Living Section on our site, the Foundation has enlisted the nutritional and lifestyle expertise of Dr. Joel Fuhrman. On a personal note, as Executive Vice President of the Foundation, I have read Dr. Fuhrman's books and subscribed to his website, which provides an online forum with Dr. Fuhrman to ask him questions directly in real-time. I also ordered some of his wonderful products. In fact, after just 8 weeks of following his program, I’ve lost 20 pounds, experienced extraordinary results in reducing my total cholesterol levels from 214 to 155, and I’ve achieved a overall nutritional balance.

After having the pleasure of meeting with Dr. Fuhrman personally, we are confident that he is the best individual to assist the Colon Cancer Foundation in providing to our followers the most current information on health, nutrition, and colon cancer prevention. Dr. Fuhrman has agreed to contribute on a regular basis with important updates on nutrition and health. You can view his website at www.drfuhrman.com

Joel Fuhrman M.D. is a board-certified family physician and one of the country’s leading nutritional medicine experts. He speaks to audiences at conferences and events throughout the United States and Canada. He is a frequent guest speaker at hospital grand rounds and has lectured at benefits for the American Heart Association and the U.S. Olympic Team. Dr. Fuhrman has appeared in hundreds of magazines, radio, and television shows including: Good Morning America, The Today Show, Good Day New York, America’s Talking, TV Food Network, CNN, Oprah & Friends, and the Discovery Channel.

His best-selling book, Eat To Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, published by Little Brown & Co. in 2003, has gone through 17 printings and several foreign language translations. The book describes Dr. Fuhrman’s high nutrient eating style that is the safest and most effective way to permanently lose weight and prevent and reverse disease.

Dr. Fuhrman’s most recent release, Eat For Health guides the reader through a gradual transition to increase the level of micronutrients in their diet, while losing the addictive and psychological dependencies of unhealthy foods. His other books include Disease Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right, Cholesterol Protection for Life, and Fasting and Eating For Health.

Dr. Fuhrman is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine. He is widely published in medical journals such as the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Orthopedics and Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, as well as consumer publications such as Readers Digest, NJ Savvy Living, Mothering Magazine and Health Science.

Dr. Fuhrman is the Medical Director of the Eat Right America Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating Americans about the connection between appropriate food choices and long term health. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Health Association and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. He sits on the advisory panel of The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and is a diplomat of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Fuhrman is also the Chair of Nutritional Excellence for the Nutrition for Wellness Foundation in East Hampton, NY. Dr. Fuhrman’s corporate wellness program offers corporations an interventional strategy for their employees to prevent and reverse disease while lowering company’s health care expenditures. His other corporate experiences include a position on the PwC Health and Performance Advisory Panel at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Joel Fuhrman is a former world class figure skater and was a member of the United States International and World Figure Skating Team. In 1973, he won Second Place in the United States National Pairs Championships. In the World Professional Pairs Skating Championships in Jaca, Spain in 1976, he placed third.

More and more research continues to prove that proper diet, exercise, and nutritional supplements can be of great value in the prevention of many diseases and specifically Colon Cancer. With that knowledge we are proud to provide you Dr. Fuhrman’s insight and will continue to provide the latest information on achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Your generosity will continue to enable our foundation to continue its mission to eradicate Colon Cancer as a life threatening disease. Please visit the donations section of our website and help us to reach our goals. For assistance please call our National headquarters at 410-244-1778. As always, you can reach me at bobby@coloncancerfoundation.org.

Susie’s Cause
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Dr Stein's Chronicles

The Daily Grind

I recently saw a patient diagnosed with colon cancer. She was relatively healthy, and she was referred to me for a laparoscopic colon resection. I did what I always do. I spoke to her about the risks and benefits of surgery. I discussed what she can expect after surgery, from pain to bowel function. I discussed how we determine her pathologic stage and if she would need chemotherapy. Afterwards, she told me she was also seeking a second opinion and had the appointment already scheduled at a different institution. I told her, as I tell every patient, that I firmly believe my role is to help everyone who comes through my door, and that she has to be comfortable with and trust her surgeon, whether it was me or someone else.

She asked me all the usual questions – laparoscopic vs. open surgery, complications, and how many surgeries have I done, what are my results – and I gave her all my answers. She called me this past Monday morning and told me she was going with the other surgeon and his institution.I wished her the best and that was that.

Yet it gnawed at me for the rest of the day. Did I do something wrong? Did I not spend enough time with her? Did I make her wait too long in the waiting room? Did I not engender enough trust? Should I have done something different? Could I have done something better? Did I fail to help her?

It is inevitable that at some point in time each and every one of us asks the question “Am I doing a good job? Am I doing something worthwhile?” In healthcare, many people enter the field to do something special and to help make people better. In truth, most people enter a chosen area of work because they enjoy it, it stimulates them, and they like the people or lifestyle.

We are extremely excited when start on a new path – whether it is work, exercise or a hobby.We try to excel at what we do – whether it is trying a case, selling a product, cleaning a floor, running on the treadmill or programming a computer. However, as time marches on, the novelty and excitement wear off and we are faced with a daily grind. We become cogs in a wheel, and are unable to generate excitement and enthusiasm for our daily vocations. This is true in medicine as well.

After years of training, we enter practice, and treat thousands of people over the course of a few years. Yet it becomes a routine, tedious, mundane – no more novelty and excitement. Where am I going with this? No, I do not believe I am having a midlife crisis (my wife may disagree), nor am I planning on a career change, but I have started asking myself some tough questions - Am I doing everything I can to provide the best care? Am I staying on top of new research and developments in my field?

I recently read the book Better by Atul Gawande. The basic message is that to make yourself better than average, you need to be able to look in the mirror, critique yourself and implement a change. Whether it is a vocational issue or simply a lifestyle issue (I do need to eat more fiber……) we all have room to improve. It is how we deal with these day to day issues in our lives that will truly define us.

As the New Year begins – I am hopeful that we will all strive to choose an aspect of our lives that we can critique, improve upon and ultimately become better for it.