Richard Furman, M.D.

Dr Furman has spent 30 years fixing clogged arteries as a vascular surgeon. He knows what has clogged the thousands of arteries and watched patients leave his hospital only to consume the same foods that caused the patient to end up in his operating room. In his book, PRESCRIPTION FOR LIFE, he completely lays out his plan for your best life. He gives you the foods to eat and not eat. He gives you an exercise plan for even those who are currently couch potatoes. Then he offers the drastic news of what will happen if you don't follow these steps. He doesn't mince words and tells you this plan won't be easy, but is necessary for living a longer, healthy life.

When I am reading books like this, I want a straight-forward approach. I don't want the author to be wishy-washy and leave room for judgement. I don't want the book to be bogged down in medical terminology or studies. I want the author to convince me, whole-heartedly that this is what I should do and give me ways to make it happen. Richard Furman does exactly that. Reading this book will scare you, shock you, and make you realize what you are putting in your body, no matter what age you are, really does make a difference.

Richard Furman began this plan at the age of 42. I read this book at the age of 42. It is never too late to make a change in your life. The parts of the plan that were helpful for me included his basic explanation for reading nutrition labels and what exactly to look for in the food you are buying. I also appreciated that Dr. Furman gave examples of people who were either his patients or just his friends and how the plan changed their life. In contrast, he gave examples of people who were given the plan and didn't follow it.

Richard Furman lays out the six foods you must remove, not cut back on, but remove from your diet right now. These six foods are guaranteed to be foods you eat on a regular basis. I would bet that the one food he insists you give up is one you eat nearly every single day. In fact, this one food was his absolute favorite food. One he was given as gifts from his co-workers and patients. Once he realized what this one food was doing to his arteries, he stopped eating it and it was his absolute favorite food. He doesn't just tell you to remove the foods, but explains, in lay-man's terms, why you should remove them from your diet and what they do to your body. This part of the book was an eye-opener for me. He explains why you need to stop them cold-turkey and not just eat them once in awhile. Dr Furman offers his ten minute plan as a way to give up things like smoking, snacking, and giving up certain food items.

This book opens your eyes to the food you eat, the lifestyle you live, and the future you deserve. His patients that followed his plan, as well as those who didn't, give great examples of his program. This "prescription for life" isn't for just the overweight or obese, or for those with heart problems, diabetes or cancer. This plan is for everyone including the physically fit. He gave one example of a man who was very active as a coach, running and lifting weights every single day. But, because of the food this coach was eating, he was a walking heart attack waiting to happen. Thankfully, he took Furman's advice with amazing results.

It is never to late to begin this plan to be healthy and active. You deserve to live a long life and a quality life. The author doesn't stop here in his "prescription for life". He wants your soul to live on into eternity. As you read, the author shares Bible verses and guidance to make sure, once death comes, that your are living out your life in eternity.

If you are concerned about the health of a friend or loved one or if you want to enhance the years you have left on this Earth, then I highly recommend you read this book and start the plan. It certainly won't be easy, but the results will be worth it.

The proceeds from this book will be donated to Samaritan's Purse for World Medical Mission to help build housing for doctors serving at mission hospitals abroad.… (mais)

With highly esteemed recommendations (a foreword by David Jeremiah, a Christian pastor and author of dozens of books, and a preface by Bill Frist, a former senator and heart and lung transplantation surgeon) I knew this book would contain exceptional information. Their contributions are forthright and personal, and ready the reader for the inspiring, life-changing pages of Dr. Richard Furman’s, Prescription for Life.

This is one of the most motivating self-help books I’ve read in some time. It’s much more than I expected. Prescription for Life illustrates a sensible approach to being your healthiest you.

The book is divided into seven parts:
1. What You Need to Understand about the Aging Process
2. Eat the Right Foods
3. Reach Your Ideal Weight
4. Exercise
5. Preventing Dementia
6. Preventing Cancer
7. Preventing Erectile Dysfunction
These seven titles seem rather simple, but the content of each section is full, interesting (which can be a rarity in health-conscious type books) and motivational.

I’d like to emphasize the motivational aspect. It doesn’t do us a whole lot of good to arm our brains with information on what we should or should not do to our bodies, if we aren’t motivated to implement the changes needed. But Prescription for Life has induced a hunger, so-to-speak, to modify the way I look at my body, age, exercise, food, and overall quality of life. I can’t name one other health-conscious type of book that has ever done that for me.

We all know eating the right foods and regular exercise results in a healthier body, but this book goes much deeper than that. It delves into the “how” and the “why” our bodies react to what we put into them, and the activity (or inactivity) we subject them to. It also touches on stories about individuals who waited until it was too late to decrease their risks of diseases, ailments, or even death. These stories aren’t scare tactics, but serve as warnings and motivations to do what we can…now.

The strategies in this book aren’t difficult. They aren’t miracle cures, lose weight fast plans, or look twenty years younger remedies. They are common sense approaches that fuel you with valuable information and the right tools to live a long, healthy, wonderful life.

5 Stars – Highly recommended.

Cover: Like it
Title: Like it
Publisher: Revell
Pages: 353
First Lines: “If only I had known.” Those are the saddest words a doctor can hear from someone who has just been diagnosed with a severe health problem—one that could have been prevented. But you are about to learn how to prevent the most common health problems that damage your body. I know this is a bold promise, but once you have read this book, you will never need to say, “If only…”

Richard Furman, MD, FACS, spent over thirty years as a vascular surgeon. He is passionate about helping people prevent the problems that kill over half of all Americans. Furman is past president of the North Carolina Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, past president of the North Carolina Surgical Society, and a two-term governor of the American College of Surgeons. He is cofounder of World Medical Mission, the medical arm of Samaritan's Purse, and is a member of the board of Samaritan's Purse. He lives in North Carolina.

Author's proceeds from this book will be donated to Samaritan's Purse for World Medical Mission to help build housing for doctors serving at mission hospitals abroad.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Revell Books book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The options I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255… (mais)