Harvey Diamond

Harvey Diamond

Harvey Diamond (he has dropped the Dr.) was a pioneer in alternative health with his book Fit For Life way back in 1985 before computers and we all had to go to the local library to look up things.I read his book and for me, it was a real eye-opener. I think mainly because it just made commonsense. I was so in love witht his book that I gave many copies out as gifts. I’m sure 90% of the gift receivers thought I was crazy.

Now here it is 2014 and I have discovered that my hero, Harvey Diamond, lives is Sarasota so I decided to give it a chance and called him to request a phone interview for this health blog. I left a cheerful message on his voice mail and hoped for the best. Imagine my surprise when I saw “Harvey Diamond” on the caller ID a few hours later. We decided on a time in a couple of days and as promised, he called me back for what I told him would be 15 or 20 minutes interview.

Before the interview I carefully scripted out my questions on paper with plenty of room to write down his replies between my questions. We started off with me saying how honored I was that he agreed to the interview and then we went right into a conversation like we were old friends. I would normally write the interviewees’ answers down  but we both got off on tangents…scripted questions out the window.

I explained to him that I was always interested in staying healthy and now was diagnosed with Hashimoto Thyroiditis. (Hashimoto Thyroiditis is a autoimmune disease that attacks the thyroid.) He said he just spoke to a very famous person yesterday and was giving her advice on how to deal with Hashimoto. (These are not his words exactly for I am paraphrasing but if I use italics it is a direct quote..) He told me, “You know if you have Hashimoto what things you have to stay away from. Soy and Fluoride.” I told him I did and also cut out gluten. But I didn’t want to talk about me so I moved on with the questions and Harvey (he told me to call him Harvey) is so enthusiastic and energetic in talking about health that he can go on for about 5 minutes in rapid fire speaking with statistics and sometimes funny sayings that made me burst out laughing like “I’d rather step in front of a truck than eat….”

I was interested on how his book Fit For Life became such a sensation. Harvey said the timing was right for a health book and he was a guest on all the talk shows as in Oprah, etc.  “Yes, but you just don’t get on Oprah by calling her up and say can I be on your show?” I said.

As a beginner writer and someone who also likes to help indie authors promote their books, this info was important to me. Was it just word of mouth that kept Fit For Life on the New York Times’ Best Seller List for 40 consecutive weeks? So, I circled back with my questions on how he marketed his book.

“Oh, I had a friend that was on the Eight is Enough TV show, Joannie Prather, and her agent was with William Morris Agency and she said she would put my manuscript on his desk. He liked it and passed it on to Warner Books and the rest is history.”

I asked him what he was doing for employment at that time in 1985. “Nothing, I was borrowing money from friends and working on my book with heart and soul. I had a feeling it was going to be well received.” That was in 1985 and since Fit For Life he has written 8 more books his latest Fit For Life-A New Beginning. He said, “It’s my best book so far.”

He told me that his website had a lot of information and I brought it up on my laptop as we talked. I noticed that there were a lot of supplements on the site. “No!” said Harvey emphatically. They are enzymes which are very important for your digestive system. I wouldn’t eat cooked food without taking one first. I don’t believe in supplements. Did you know Americans have the most expensive urine?”

Some of the other things he pointed out:

• USA spends 3 trillion a year on health care
• We are a pill-taking society
• People are overfed and undernourished
• Still believes in water fasting for health
• A mostly raw food diet is important
• You should have a good partnership with your body for health
• He never eats sugar or believes in dieting

He claims to not be perfect (who is) and will occasionally have a slice of pizza. Aha! I thought I had him with that one. “But that has a high-glycemic index which the body converts to sugar!”

“Oh, I don’t go along with that guy (guy?) who talks about the low glycemic way of eating. I mean according to that chart a watermelon has a higher glycemic index than a bowl of ice cream. I love watermelon! A bowl of ice cream is not better for you than a piece of watermelon.” Point taken.

We talked about the naysayers he said that attacked him when his book first came out and some are now agreeing, writing or lecture on the same topic they were so against in the 80s. I told him that I was juicing and that was even a controversial topic between the juicers and the smoothies. “There will always be someone to contradict you,” he said.

“Do you really think there is a cure for cancer?” I hopefully said.

“I thing the medical community dangles the word “cure” like a carrot in front of a horse. I think the word “care” is more important.”

I said, “Why don’t more people work on the care of their health before they get cancer? I want to do something to prevent getting cancer now so I don’t have a cancer diagnosis in the future.”

“People believe that the medical profession is going to cure them when they get called into the doctor’s office with the bad news.” Harvey continued with, ” “Chemotherapy is actually mustard gas which causes cancer. It’s like trying to stop a freight train with a fly swatter.”

I had heard that Harvey had been suffering from the effects of Agent Orange that he was exposed to while serving in the Vietnam War. He is 69 years old now and can hardly move his arms and walks with a distinct limp. He told me he was one of the few survivors from Agent Orange that is still alive and can walk. Something he claims is because of his mostly raw food diet.

Well, we finished the interview in just shy of an hour. He was fascinating to talk to and I promised to send him my book, The Insomnia Cure-How I Kicked Insomnia Out of My Bed! He said, “that’s a good title.”

Thank you, Harvey!

From http://www.harveydiamond.com

Harvey Diamond is a Health & Wellness Advocate and New York Times #1 Bestselling Author who has been studying and teaching the principles of healthful living for over 40 years. He is credited as a pioneer in helping shift people toward healthier eating. He has helped millions of people worldwide to not only dramatically improve their health, but also to overcome serious, catastrophic disease, including cancer.

His FIT FOR LIFE books have sold nearly 14 million copies in 33 languages and are read in over 80 countries. FIT FOR LIFE held the #1 position on the prestigious New York Times Bestseller list for an unprecedented 40 consecutive weeks. It was the fastest selling book of its kind in history.

Books by Harvey Diamond

Terry Ryan

Terry Ryan is a health blogger and lives in Sarasota, FL with her husband Kenan.

The Agent Orange Victims Fund (AGORAVIF) works to support families and children affected by Dow’s chemicals. You can find out more and donate to their fund by visiting www.vnrc.org.vn.