The Whole Foods Diet: The Lifesaving Plan for Health and Longevity

Evangelical and passionate, Mackey, cofounder of Whole Foods Market, along with Pulde and Lederman (co-authors of The Fork Over Knives Diet), reaches beyond the typical diet plan tenets of eating right to feel better and lose weight; this plan is expressly intended to help save and extend lives. The impetus for writing the book, the authors state, comes from the nation’s high chronic illness rates, particularly in obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. They introduce the work and ideas of numerous like-minded health experts, highlight the world’s healthiest societies, and include stories of Whole Foods employees successfully using the plan. The Whole Foods Diet, a play on the maternal admonishment to “eat your fruits and vegetables,” is deceptively simple: consume a diet that’s at least 90% plant-based, eat whole foods, and avoid highly processed foods. In reading further, readers may feel daunted: don’t just limit dairy and meats to less than 10% of your diet, but also avoid oils (including olive oil!) and refined flour and sugar. And perhaps you’d like to make your own nut milk? Even if this health treatise’s recommendations are unlikely to become universal, its tone is inspiring. [em]Agent: Richard Pine, InkWell Management. (Apr.) [/em]