Customer Reviews

1,001 Low-Carb Recipes for Life

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is useless for the true low carber. The recipes are way to high for anyone with true carb intolerance. The introduction suggests an intake of 120 carbs PER DAY!!!! If I wanted that, I could eat at McDOnalds. For the healthy adult who just needs to cut back a little, this may be OK. For those of us who have real restrictions (mine is 40 carb/day) this book is next to useless. I read the whole book, and I think I found maybe 12-15 recipes that I can use. If I had paid full price for this item I would have been very disappointed. After reading the introduction, I think the author is completely clueless as to the reality of carb intolerance and related issues. This book is an attempt to make a buck.

Ably compiled and deftly edited by Sue Spitler, 1,001 Low-Carb Recipes For Life is a healthy anthology of delicious, kitchen- tested low-carbohydrate recipes for the weight- and health-conscious. Dishes all types, from breakfasts and breads to soups, poultry, meats, seafood, vegetables and side dishes, salads, snacks, pizza, and desserts are presented with simple, straightforward instructions. A brief introduction offers some quick pointers on low-carb diets and calculating net carbs and the glycemic index, but the majority of 1,001 Low-Carb Recipes For Life is devoted to the recipes themselves. Each recipe also features a sidebar informing the cook of its net carbohydrates, calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, protein, and carbohydrates per serving. Very highly recommended for carb-counters everywhere -- as well as anyone else with an interested in keeping an eye on their overall caloric intake as part of a general health regimen.

This is NOT a low carb cookbook and decidedly NOT for diabetics! According to the current nutritional government guidelines a lot of dieticians say 130 carbs a day is low carb. Dr. Atkins, Dr. Bernstein and the other major low carb gurus are recommending in the 30 to 60 carbs a day range to see good blood sugar control and weight loss, if needed.

Many of the recipes in this book have lots of sugars, breads and starches that are very high carb. The nutritional counts are in obvious error on more than a few of the recipes (total carbs are listed lower than net carbs, 2-3 carbs for items that are dredged in white flour and include vegetables and sometimes fruit). If you know how to break down a recipe and make changes, there are quite a few recipes that you can change to remove the sugars and flour. But don't trust the numbers if you must severely restrict your sugars and carbohydrates.

It appears that the author and the dietician who wrote this book just threw it together from a computer without having a true understanding of carbohydrate restriction which means no sugar, no white potatoes, and cutting out white flour in your diet. I could go on, but why bother.

I was a little disapointed that the recipes were not as low carb as I expected them to be. Some just seemed like "normal recipes" with the carb count included. I think one for diabetics is a better option for low carb recipes.

Tasty recipies, reasonable to prepare, incredibly useful nutritional information. Each recipie includes a count in grams of:
Net Carbohydrates
Calories
Fat
Saturated Fat
Cholesteral (mgs)
Sodium (mgs)
Protien and
Total Carbohydrates
If you're diabetic, Idon't think you'll be disappointed.