Customer Reviews

Beyond Rice and Beans / Mas alla del arroz y las habichuelas: The Caribbean Latino Guide to Eating Healthy with Diabetes (English and Spanish Edition)

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BEYOND RICE AND BEANS; THE CARIBBEAN LATINO GUIDE TO EATING HEALTHY WITH DIABETES comes in a unique English/Spanish format and assures its value will reach into the Spanish community as well. Here are food lists, exchange lists and sample meal plans geared to Latino culture and foods, offering shopping lists, health insights, and the basics. From how to read a nutrition label to balancing a meal, this isn't your usual recipe book - plenty of those elsewhere - but a fine diabetes management guide especially valuable to non-English speakers with different ethnic foods on board.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Beyond Rice and Beans focuses on the Caribbean Latino population, composed of individuals from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and countries in Central and South America.
The book is written in both English and Spanish and begins with a simple overview of meal planning, discussing the differences between the types of carbohydrates and suggested serving sizes. Most helpful is a deeper explanation of the different cuisines of the Caribbean. Each section includes frequently asked questions, the most prominent foods included in each cuisine, and tips to reduce the fat and calories in many of the dishes highlighted.
The book also includes practice exercises to further understand the information discussed. The chapter titled "Putting Together Your Meal Plan" includes examples of how to individualize a meal plan by allowing the reader to participate in choosing what he or she already eats and incorporating it into a new meal plan.
The book is filled with helpful lists and tables of common foods eaten in the regions, utensils used in a Latin kitchen, and a practical list of what to do during holidays and special occasions. There are several chapters that described the fruits and vegetables of the Caribbean. The author describes the foods in great detail, giving pronunciation where applicable, providing some historical background about the food, and listing health tips as well as stories of when she lived in Cartagena, Columbia. The book includes a very personal touch, which makes it very easy to read, and the information is well researched and includes very practical information regarding the use of the foods and where to find them.
This is a wonderful book that provides excellent information regarding the many cuisines of the Caribbean Latino population for those who are already part of it or for those who want to learn more about it.

The book does offer a lot of helpful insight and can be very useful. My one gripe is that I would have liked to see more recipes. Sure there are plenty of books that have recipes but there is a dearth of books that have recipes of food from the Caribean. The author stated that to her chargrin when someone in Puerto Rico asked for help in how to eat healthy, there was not a food-health book that was not Mexican based. Latinos are extremely varied especially in diet and we do not all eat tacos, burritos etc... From that excerpt I would have thought the book would have had more recipes from the Caribbean. I oredered this book for my mother who was born in Puerto Rico, and who is trying to eat healthier due to her pancreatitis. I was looking for a book that would motivate her to stay on her diet by giving her healthy recipes of food that she grew up with, that not only taste good but are good for her (Believe me there are not many books out there, none that I could find). I found many Puerto Rican cook books but from the excerpts I read none of them were centered on a health platform. I think this book would have been, not only excellent, but unique if it would have provided the recipes.

Buen libro no solo para el diabetico, tambien es una muy buena guia para el que quiere hacer una dieta baja en carbohidratos sin exponer su cuerpo a desnutriciòn.Eliminar carbohidratos de nuestras dieta es un paso serio y este libro nos ofrece una guia segura y saludable que me a ayudado a bajar libras de màs de mi cuerpo.Los que desean bajar carbohidratos se deberian guiarse por los libros de los diabeticos.