Verne Varona literally wrote the book on fighting cancer with nutrition — "Nature's Cancer-Fighting Foods," (Prentice Hall, 2001), now in its ninth printing.

Now he wants to make the movie, not just on fighting cancer but on overcoming all manner of common diseases by making better food choices. So the New York-based writer, nutritional counselor and motivational speaker is teaming up with Hawai'i's own Dr. Terry Shintani to create the planned documentary, "More Than a Mouthful."

On Wednesday, Shintani is giving a free lecture outlining a 21-day nutritional improvement plan designed to reverse disease and reduce weight. At the lecture, he and Varona will ask for volunteers to embark on the three-week diet — on camera. Those 15 or 20 people selected will learn a new, largely vegetarian way of eating and cooking, dining together for several days and getting box lunches to take home or to work. They'll get blood work done at the beginning and end of the 21-day period, with check-ins in between for those who need monitoring.

And Varona promises they'll see improvement, recalling how former Hawai'i governor Ben Cayetano dropped 12 pounds and his cholesterol count after 21 days on the Hawai'i Diet in 1997.

Shintani said he recently took someone off 120 daily units of insulin in less than two weeks, and he's seen blood pressure results literally in days. He cautioned that this doesn't happen for everyone, but he expects that those who follow through will see change.

Shintani is author of "Eat More, Weigh Less Diet" (1993), "Hawai'i Diet" (1993) and "The Good Carbohydrate Revolution" (2003). He favors a low-fat meal plan centered on fruits and vegetables, whole grains and starches, and limited animal protein. No sugar and no white anything.

He and Varona have known each other ever since Varona gave a lecture here in the mid-'80s. They've been mulling over the idea for some time. "I've always been interested in using media to promote health," said Shintani. "There's billions of dollars spent promoting junk food so I thought, well, you have to fight fire with fire."

lights, camera, diet!

Varona said documentaries and reality shows have exploded in popularity, and this project will combine elements of both.

"We will be with these people in their homes, watching them eat and cook and in restaurants watching them try to figure out what to order and no doubt watching them get frustrated but also watching them feel better, too," said Varona, who is on O'ahu readying for the filming.

"There might be a couple of people who fail miserably. The reality is not everybody wants to take care of themselves or can do so. But I've seen people change dramatically in short-term programs like this, and I think viewers are going to be amazed."

The film won't consist solely of following the dieters, however. There will also be short, comic segments high on irony, featuring celebrities (specifically who is not yet settled). One, for example, is a visit to Chez Truth restaurant, where the waiter actually tells you what's in the food you're ordering — right down to the fat, salt, sugar and preservatives. "The idea is to marry education with entertainment," Varona said.

The 21-day program will focus not just on what to eat, but also on giving people tools to allow them to manage the challenges life change presents. For example, dieters are often sabotaged by sugar cravings, Varona said. But if you understand how blood sugar works, and which foods trigger sugar cravings, you can head off the cravings before they start.

Varona, who holds an Oriental Medicine instruction credential from the Kushi Institute in Massachusetts, said psychological and social factors play a key role, too. "The bottom line is, if you can motivate people to have a bigger life, to look for more meaning in life, then they're more motivated to take care of themselves. If you don't have a life of significance, you're going to find a way to entertain yourself, and food is an easy answer."

"This isn't for everybody," Shintani cautions. "It's for people who are willing and committed to change. It's not for somebody who wants a magic bullet, who just wants to take medicine."

Varona, who became interested in nutrition after losing family members to cancer, is a bank of statistics on the effects of diet on health. "One out of three children born after 2000 will have adult-onset diabetes," he said. "There are 28 million diabetics in the U.S., 20 million people with arthritis. There are about 130 medical schools in this country and barely 20 teach nutrition as a standard part of the curriculum."

SHARED BELIEFS

Both Shintani and Varona believe many diseases are preventable or treatable with lifestyle change, particularly with dietary management. And both are committed to making information and treatment available.

"Health should be accessible to everyone, not just people who can afford ginseng and bee pollen," said Varona.

Shintani has spent his career working with people in the Leeward community, many of whom are not just overweight and ill but also poor.

"We are going to show people to change their lives economically," said Varona, who notes that even if fruits and vegetables seem more expensive than white rice and Spam, medical bills cut deeply into a budget, too.

"Our message is, you have more power than you think," said Varona. "Western medicine is crisis-oriented, not prevention-oriented. It's up to us as individuals to learn how to avoid a health crisis."

Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.