Joel Fuhrman, M.D., one of the giants in nutrition research and practice, will be speaking in Carbondale on April 6 (see box). He is a six-time New York Times best-selling author and has written the following books: “Eat to Live,” “Eat to Live Quick and Easy Cookbook,” “The End of Heart Disease,” “The End of Dieting,” “The End of Diabetes,” “Super Immunity,” “Eat for Health,” “Disease-Proof Your Child,” “Fasting and Eating for Health” and “Fast Food Genocide.”

Dr. Fuhrman is a former world-class figure skater. He is board-certified in family medicine and specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutrition, for which he is internationally recognized. He has a successful private practice, appears on public television, lectures, and puts on conferences for lay people and for physicians. He won a Cardiology Global Health Award for teaching cardiologists nutritional science. He also conducts research and is founding president of the Nutritional Research Foundation. He has written several peer-reviewed journal articles.

For several years Dr. Fuhrman has given a ski conference in Aspen the first week in April, followed by a public lecture. This year, he has agreed to do the public lecture in Carbondale, in the Community Room of the Third Street Center.

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Dr. Fuhrman developed what he calls the nutritarian diet. The idea is that everything we put in our mouths should have the most nutrients possible per calorie. He came up with nutrient-density scores based on identified (some nutrients haven’t been identified yet) phytochemicals (phyto refers to plants); antioxidant activity; and vitamin and mineral content. Following are some scores for different foods on a scale of zero to 100:

• Dark green leafy vegetables such as kale, mustard and collard greens, Swiss chard, spinach: 100

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• Other green vegetables, such as romaine, cabbage, asparagus, broccoli, snow peas: 95

• Non-green nutrient-rich vegetables, such as beets, eggplant, mushrooms, onions, peppers: 50

• Fresh fruits, such as berries, oranges, apples, cherries, grapes: 45

• Legumes, such as beans, lentils, chickpeas: 40

• Colorful starchy vegetables, such as squash, sweet potatoes, corn, turnips: 25

• Whole grains, such as old-fashioned oats, barley, brown and wild rice, quinoa: 20

• Fish: 18

• Eggs: 15

• Wild meat and fowl: 15

• Full-fat dairy: 8

• Red meat: 6

• Refined grain products: 6

• Cheese: 3

• Refined sweets, such as cookies, cakes, candy, soda: 0

One can argue with the details, but it’s hard to argue with trying to eat food with the most nutrients per calorie to achieve optimal weight and health. And Dr. Fuhrman has had lots of success in reversing diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, autoimmune and inflammatory disease.

This is not a spoiler, because Dr. Fuhrman’s talk will include lots more information. The title is “Advances in Nutritional Science to Live Healthfully Until 100.”

Retired physician Greg Feinsinger, M.D., is author of new book “Enjoy Optimal Health, 98 Health Tips From a Family Doctor,” available on Amazon and in local bookstores. Profits go towards an endowment to the University of Colorado School of Medicine to add prevention and nutrition to the curriculum. He is available for free consultations about heart attack prevention, diabetes reversal, nutrition, and other health issues. Call 379-5718 for appt. For questions about his column, email gfeinsinger@comcast.net.