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Fit for Life

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 861 ratings · 73 reviews

Nutrition specialists Harvey and Marilyn Diamond prove that it's not only what we eat, but also when and how that keep us trim and healthy. America's #1 health and diet book.

Paperback, 352 pages

Published February 1st 1987 by Grand Central Publishing (first published 1985)

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Aug 01, 2011 Megan Larson rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People who eat. :)

Shelves: how-to, science

4.5 out of 5 stars

I had had it with the way my family and I were eating. After having our third child, it seemed that the things we used to care about got thrown out the window, and nutrition was one of those things. While I was waiting for a prescription one day I decided to browse the local used bookstore for a book that could remind me of what I'd forgotten, and maybe also teach me something new. Amidst a pile of fad diet books and programs customized to just one special subset of humanity, I...more 4.5 out of 5 stars

I had had it with the way my family and I were eating. After having our third child, it seemed that the things we used to care about got thrown out the window, and nutrition was one of those things. While I was waiting for a prescription one day I decided to browse the local used bookstore for a book that could remind me of what I'd forgotten, and maybe also teach me something new. Amidst a pile of fad diet books and programs customized to just one special subset of humanity, I found this book, glistening with the toothy grins and big 80's hair of Harvey and Marilyn Diamond. The accolades plastered across the cover for being the number one ever best-selling diet and nutrition book, as well as the long-term implications of the title, instilled more confidence in me than any of the other books I saw. Also, it was $3.80. I brought it home.
What I found as I began to read was incredible. Harvey manages to explain the design of our bodies, and particularly the digestive system, in a way that imparts wonder and even awe. As I read, I began to understand the amazing machine inside me. With a fat scientific bibliography, he explains what the various foods we eat do to that amazing machine, and it is absolutely startling. While all he said rang true, the implications were a bit intimidating. It meant changing a LOT about the way I'd always eaten, and the way our society teaches us to eat. What about the four food groups? What about how our bodies get protein? Calcium?
I needed more, especially since the book is as old as I am. Further research led me to another amazing book called The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, the foremost book in diet and nutrition today. What can I say? The Diamonds knew their stuff. I heartily recommend both books. The 30-day detoxification menu plan in the second half of Fit for Life is full of really delicious recipes that help you to transition smoothly, despite the HUGE paradigm shift you're experiencing. My husband and I have not felt deprived in the least, and are viewing food in a much healthier way now. Better yet, we've lost a combined 20 pounds in two weeks and are feeling truly healthful, a big change.

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Jun 04, 2011 Karli rated it 3 of 5 stars

Glad I read it - reads like a lot of the other health books I have read lately so it is nice that even in the 80s there was someone saying, "Eat Mostly Plants" just like Micheal Pollan today. The writing was pretty terrible actually, not that I would expect a lot of a health book but I felt as if I was listening to a used car salesman with all his "funny " one-liners. Furthermore I didn't feel like the book was very scientific as it didn't state a lot of research to back of the theories. That is...more

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Feb 16, 2011 Jackie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: general

There are a lot of interesting concepts in this book. While it seemed odd to me that combining or NOT combining certain foods would help with digestion, I started to understand their point. Once they explained the fact that some foods are acidic and other alkaline and require certain "environments" in the gut to properly digest, I then GOT IT. For instance they describe eating a meat and potatoes dinner. Meat/flesh foods require an acidic environment to digest, so the body produces the appropria...more There are a lot of interesting concepts in this book. While it seemed odd to me that combining or NOT combining certain foods would help with digestion, I started to understand their point. Once they explained the fact that some foods are acidic and other alkaline and require certain "environments" in the gut to properly digest, I then GOT IT. For instance they describe eating a meat and potatoes dinner. Meat/flesh foods require an acidic environment to digest, so the body produces the appropriate acid to break the food down. But potatoes require an alkaline environment to digest. Going back to chemistry class in school, you probably know when you combine an acid and alkaline compound together they neutralize each other. It is then explained that this food ends up sitting in our stomachs and you get that yucky heavy feeling for so long and get tired and the list goes on and on.

I've been trying some of their techniques, and I have to say, while it may be a bit difficult to live this plan to a "T", I certainly am not opposed to adapting it as much as possible to my life eating habits. I have noticed how much better I feel and started to even lose some inches!

Since am very involved and interested in fitness, I have always encouraged my clients to 'eat more protein'! This book introduced a concept that I didn't even think about. Protein is just a make up of amino acids. Eating too much of the flesh foods (meats) can create an over abundance of uric acid and toxins in the body that can also lead to inflammation in the tissues. So if proteins are comprised of amino acids.....and the body keeps these amino acids in a 'reserve pool' (for the lack of a better term) to pull from......then perhaps flesh foods aren't needed as much as I have been led to believe! Many fruits and vegetables and grains contain the amino acids that can contribute to this pool and the body can still reap the benefits of the appropriate amino acids to build and maintain muscle mass. I am needing to study this concept more before I completely buy it, but it is quite intriguing to think about it this way.

Well worth the read and has a number of recipes in the back that provides great ideas on how to prepare tasty dishes and not feel deprived. (less)

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Aug 04, 2010 Leslie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: self-help

If you are interested in learning about a healthier way of eating, then this book is for you. I bought this book when it was first published in the mid 1980′s. It is not a diet, but rather a modification of the way you eat. Yes, you will lose weight, but you will also feel better and have more energy. You can do as much or as little modification of your diet as you choose. While the authors stress a meat-free diet, and the underlying message is that a vegetarian or vegan diet is healthier, they...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Deviant Geek rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fitness-health, food, favorites, diet, my-ebooks

one of the best books i've read, containing a whole new approach to food, first chapter explains it all DIETS DONT WORK. we need a balanced lifestyle, and this is true, like the author i tried a lot of 'diets' to feel good mainly, i truly believe that what we eat is energy going in and what we chose, the type of that energy whether good or bad will affect us as human beings with moods and health not to mention on a cellular level, most of us are starving on the inside, we eat empty calories and...more

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Aug 24, 2010 Beth Knight rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: diet-fitness-health, first-reads, own-it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I won a copy of Fit for Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond through Goodreads First Reads program. I was happy to read the book because I'm somewhat obsessed with healthy eating and fitness.

This was a 3.5 star book for me. What I liked about the concept of the book is that it's not a straight-up diet book. You follow guidelines for healthy eating but you're not required to eat specific foods. Since I'm a vegetarian (as are the authors) I agree with their theory that 70% of what you eat should be...more I won a copy of Fit for Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond through Goodreads First Reads program. I was happy to read the book because I'm somewhat obsessed with healthy eating and fitness.

This was a 3.5 star book for me. What I liked about the concept of the book is that it's not a straight-up diet book. You follow guidelines for healthy eating but you're not required to eat specific foods. Since I'm a vegetarian (as are the authors) I agree with their theory that 70% of what you eat should be fruits and vegetables.

Some of their theories, such as food combining,the timing of eating certain foods, and detoxification I'm not so sure about. I'm kind of old-fashioned in my thinking about dieting. I still believe that a calorie is a calorie and the more you eat the more weight you're going to gain. One theory the authors coninually stress throughout the book is that only fruit and fruit juice should be consumed until 12 noon because fruit digests quickly and since up until noon your body is busy in "elimination" mode, more of your body's energy can be devoted to the work of elimination if it doen't have to work so hard on the digestion of food. In my mind, you're going to lose weight if you only eat fruit for several hours of the day because fruit contains fewer calories than other "tradional" breakfast foods. I personally don't eat heavy breakfasts but I see nothing wrong with having a piece of whole wheat toast with a couple of teaspoons of peanut butter for breakfast.

I really like the recipes at the back of the book and there are several I'd like to try. Some of them that sound especialy good to me are Perfect Creamy Califlower Soup, Garlic String Beans, and Mediterranean Rice Salad.

I think if you follow the guidlines in this book you will ultimately lose weight simply because you'll end up eating fewer calories by consuming more fruit and vegetables. Also, the authors do stress the importance of doing at least 30 minutes of cardiac exercise daily, which naturally will contribute to weight loss and a healthier lifestyle.

In short, the book wasn't bad it's just that the theories and reasonings were kind of strange and I'm not fully convinced of their validity. To me, eating healthily is mostly just common sense. I was kind of disapponited to see that there wasn't more information on specific exercises in the short chapter on exercise but the one thing I have to say I really like about the book is the recipes.

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May 20, 2009 Monalisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a brilliant book regarding living healthy. I rank it quite highly. It explains clearly on what happens when you eat, describes the best food combinations one should have to stay healthy.
For example, you should never mix complex nutrients like a carbohydrate and protein at one go as you will overwork your stomach. Instead have a carbohydrate and vegetables OR protein and vegetables. This will make your digestion more comfortable to you and benefits your body greatly.
Every morning upto 12p...more

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Jan 28, 2011 Lisa Kekaula rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 52-books, health, cooking, food, non-fiction

I bought this book because I heard about it through other books I had read about colon health and lifestyle changes. It sat on my shelf for over 5 years. I finally decided to read it based on the reviews I read here on goodreads after I re-found the book a few weeks ago.

Boy am I glad I read this. Having had a number of digestive issues over the years and unsightly weight gain I knew I had to make some drastic changes. I had made many over the years but many, I found after reading this book, whe...more

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Aug 08, 2007 Denise Lopez rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: vegetarians

Shelves: healthandfitness

Not realistic... need to be in cult to follow....

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Jan 16, 2009 Roxanne rated it 5 of 5 stars

I found this book soon after my breast cancer, and it has been a fitness and cleansing bible for me ever since. It is very readable, and chapter after chapter just moves you along. Like they say, if you come away with nothing else, you at least learn that your body has cycles, and eating fresh fruits and fruit juices from morning till noon, is the best way to keep your energy up, eating heavier foods later in the day when your energy can be expended on digestion. I learn something new each year...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Victoria Song rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, health

This book was recommended to me by a coworker, and he said to power through the first third. How right he was. Diamond lays it on pretty thick, and more often than not, sounds like some New Age-y infomercial hack than a nutritionist. He spends a majority of the book hinting that he's figured out the secret to healthy living, but meanders around before he actually gets to the tenets of his eating philosophy—which at its very core is raw veganism.

That's fine. Put simply, Diamond advocates eating...more This book was recommended to me by a coworker, and he said to power through the first third. How right he was. Diamond lays it on pretty thick, and more often than not, sounds like some New Age-y infomercial hack than a nutritionist. He spends a majority of the book hinting that he's figured out the secret to healthy living, but meanders around before he actually gets to the tenets of his eating philosophy—which at its very core is raw veganism.

That's fine. Put simply, Diamond advocates eating "more living food than dead food," positing that cooking your food kills precious enzymes that support better health. In practice, "Fit for Life" would have you subsist off of raw veggies and fruit. And if that's all you eat, of course you're going to lose weight. Eating more fresh fruits and veg, that's sound advice. My problem is that a majority of the "evidence" he puts forth is either 1) scientifically unsound or disproved; 2) anecdotal; and 3) sounds way too much like intelligent design.

To be fair, Diamond puts in a disclaimer about his profuse reference to "God"—but it has no place in a book where I'm trying learn more about eating healthy. It's one thing to tell me fruits are naturally full of all the vital nutrients needed by the human body. It's another to tell me that since fruit is so chock full of nutrients, it's evident that God intended humans to eat them. At one point he also says that since carnivorous animals only eat plant-eaters, it's obvious plants are the superior source of nutrition. This is spurious logic. Maybe carnivores target herbivores because they're easier to kill. Broad generalizations are not scientific fact.

Diamond is also extremely dodgy about the studies he presents. For one, he references Pottenger's cats—an experiment in which scientists studied two groups of cats that subsisted on diets of only raw or cooked meat (guess which group contracted more illnesses)—as proof that cooked food is bad for you. Last I checked, humans are not cats. As proven by animal testing, what works for animals does not always work for humans. Broad generalizations do not scientific facts make.

He also barely mentions the role of exercise in his diet, saying walking is sufficient to lose weight so long as you eat a diet of at least 50% raw food. What? I call bullshit.

All in all, I appreciate the wisdom behind eating more fresh fruit and veg. But the majority of this book is fluffed up rhetoric.(less)

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Apr 22, 2010 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nutrition

Up to the point in my life when I read this book nothing had changed my thinking and fitness level and sense of well being more than this book. If you are a meat eater it may not work for you unless you cut back drastically. I'm not an anti meat person but at the same time I think meat, unless organic, is filled with more than we would like to know. I followed this book to the letter and lost 30 pounds in 1 month, and put myself in a position to run lengths I had never run before and do triathlo...more

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Dec 14, 2009 Bobbie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this at the beginning of my quest to never be fat. It's an interesting concept and I did it for a long time. It's vegan based but they teach you if you are going to eat meat, the best way for your body to digest it. Lots of controversy about how accurate it is but I enjoyed it and tried it for about a year, and it worked. It's too much work to keep up with though if you have a crazy busy life.

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Aug 22, 2010 Janae Roberts rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm rather torn on this one. If I had to sum it up, I'd call it the You Can Eat Anything! As Long As It Is An Uncooked Fruit or Vegetable Plan. I think it definitely works. It's just extremely difficult for people who aren't vegan or vegetarian inclined. However, I'd say it's worth the buy for the recipes it includes alone, and is worth the interesting read.

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Jun 08, 2011 Joan Dash rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this around 20 years ago. It was the first book I ever picked up to read on health and nutrition. I found it absolutely facinating, and I still remember the principles outlined in this book, because it had made such a strong impact on me. I recommend this book for anyone who is open minded and can think out of the food pyramid box.

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Jun 03, 2011 Sheila Craan added it

Learn how to combine your foods to gain exuberant energy and lose weight naturally without pills. All it takes is a little knowledge to beat gaining those extra pounds. For example Harvey Diamond highly recommends combining protein foods with vegetables only, and not eat protein with any type of carbohydrate side dish.

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Aug 22, 2010 Stephanie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have mixed feelings on this book. There are some good tips in the book but some just too hard to follow with a family of growing kids. I do try to keep us eating healthy but we don't go overboard on things. We still eat all things in moderation. I did like the recipe section in the back of book. There are a few I will try. It was an interesting read. I won this from Goodreads. Thank you! I enjoy learning about many different things and was glad to be able to read it since I did pick up a few g...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Barbara Puffin rated it 3 of 5 stars

I still use a lot of these recipes, but don't 100% agree with the philosophy presented. I tried it for a while. It worked somewhat, but there was something missing. Got a little tired of the emotionally charged word of "flesh" for meat.

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Feb 20, 2010 Bre Cregor rated it 3 of 5 stars

Read it and lived it for about 18 months. I was a mere wispy 110 pounds by the time the experiment in vegan eating ended. True, my hormonal highs and lows were tempered, and my complexion was phenomenal, but I NEED MY CHEESE!

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Jan 04, 2013 Peg rated it 4 of 5 stars

This way of thinking of food and eating really worked for me to eat healthy, gain energy and lose weight. Some of the recipes were easy and tasted really good. I still make some of these recipes 20+ years later.

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Aug 30, 2010 Kristina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Harvey and Marilyn Diamond really have done their research for this book. All of their claims are backed up with tons of research and life experiences! There are tons of recipes and practical tips for making this lifestyle work for the average Joe. I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to life a healthier, longer life!

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Jul 29, 2009 Indy is currently reading it

I would like to recommend this book to my friends and family members.
But it is sad that the concept is Natual Hygene is new and not known in Japan and it will be difficult to convince people to follow this life style.

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Oct 15, 2012 Veronique Perrot rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lots of great tips. The book is old but the health recommendations are still up to date in my opinion.
Was a good read. It is old but the ideas stand up in many ways. I don't agree with everything but I found a lot of good points.

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Aug 24, 2010 Karin rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is not a diet but a way of living so they say. Read this years ago, did it for awhile and like many other things totally forget about it. I'm wondering who is still working with this book.

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Jan 19, 2010 Dee rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-teen-obsessions

Great weight loss method but very hard to do and the theories have been disproved scientifically. Actually got anemic while doing this, so although I lost a lot of weight it was not that healthy.

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Feb 16, 2013 Laine Bergeson rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book taught me a few things and totally cracked me up.

One thing I learned? Food combining/timing basics

One thing that cracked me up? All the exclamation points!!!!!!

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Mar 23, 2013 Eliot rated it 4 of 5 stars

A little outdated, but a great book with tons of insight and research on how to eat clean. I read the first version which was a little dated, but still very relevant.

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Nov 24, 2008 Anne added it

I just started reading it today 11/11 but am finding it very interesting. More later. This is not the book I read. Mine
has a black cover and was published in 2003. He has some very good ideas. I knew I needed more fruits and vegetables in my diet, but this many???

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Mar 20, 2013 Deb Ramage rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11776752

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Jul 24, 2012 Paige rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone interested in self-healing through diet.

Recommended to Paige by: A friend

Love the conversational writing style. Love their honest desire to educate the masses on what true health is and their fearless approach to doing so.

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About Harvey Diamond

Harvey Diamond is the co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Fit for Life, which has sold over 12 million copies worldwide and been translated into 33 languages. Internationally known as an author, teacher, and health consultant, he has appeared on hundreds of radio and TV programs including Larry King Live, Oprah!, Nightline, and Good Morning America. He lives in Sarasota, Florida.

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Fit For Life: A New Beginning: A New Beginning : The Ultimate Diet and Health Plan

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