The Bread for Life Diet: The High-on-Carbs Weight-Loss Plan [Hardcover]

Olga Raz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2005

Sick of South Beach? Anti Atkins? Desperate for toast with your eggs? Then the Bread for Life Diet is your dream diet. The first new diet to buck the high-protein, low-carb craze, this revolutionary program not only allows you to indulge in the bread you've been denying yourself but actually requires you to: up to 16 slices a day!

Israeli nutritionist Olga Raz developed the diet as a result of her research on serotonin, a chemical that controls the hunger and satiety centers of the brain. While high-protein meals cause serotonin to drop, a bread-based meal raises the serotonin level. Raz also discovered that her diet can correct the chemical imbalances in the body that make it difficult for many people to lose weight. Divided into two meal plans-the first lasts up to two weeks and is designed to promote fast weight loss-the diet is so healthy that it helps reduce cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and alleviate diabetic symptoms.

Thousands of people have already experienced amazing results with the Bread for Life Diet in Israel, where Raz has become a household name and her book a huge best-seller. Now Americans, too, can benefit from this extraordinary new approach to weight loss.

The diet is healthy, nutritionally sound, and proven to work

Includes a wide range of foods: pasta, grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, and meat

Simple to follow: no counting calories, carbohydrates, or fat grams

Features easy-to-prepare foods, plus 25 tasty recipes.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bread is back—up to 12 or 16 slices daily in order to lose weight, says Raz, director of the nutrition department at Tel Aviv's Sourasky Medical Center. And she doesn't stop there. Pasta? No problem. Brown rice? Bring it on. The premise behind the Bread for Life diet is that consuming carbohydrates raises serotonin levels in the brain, whereas eating protein reduces them. Higher serotonin levels result in feeling full and satisfied, says Raz. When serotonin levels are too low, people tend to remain hungry and crave sweets. Raz argues this is a key reason why high protein diets fail so often. A diet high in nutritious complex carbohydrates, however, reduces cravings for fattening sweets (simple carbohydrates) as well as hunger levels in general, resulting in fewer overall calories consumed. This is especially true if one consumes smaller carbohydrate-based meals every three to four hours throughout the day. While this prescription for shedding pounds isn't necessarily new, it certainly flies in the face of the anti-carb diets dominating today. Raz claims the average weight loss among healthy people on her bread-based program is 10 to 20 pounds in two months. If this is true, Tel Aviv may just become the next South Beach. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Olga Raz is director of nutrition at the Souransky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Israel's second largest hospital, and the founder and head of the School of Nutrition at the Judea and Samaria College. She is also the author of the overseas best-seller Eating Bread, Getting Slim. She speaks internationally on nutrition, obesity, and weight loss.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang; 1ST edition (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584794631
• ISBN-13: 978-1584794639
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #828,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the best diet ever, September 30, 2005

By 

Foodie NYC (New York, New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bread for Life Diet: The High-on-Carbs Weight-Loss Plan (Hardcover)

When a friend of mine sent me an advance copy of this book, I was a bit hesitant. We have had it pounded in our head over and over again that carbs are bad and make us fat. However, I was two months away from a tropical vacation and wanted to lose weight before hitting the beach. So I took the book and gave it try. What did I have to lose? I will tell you. I lost 17 pounds in six weeks following Olga Raz's amazing diet. And, I didn't feel hungry, frustrated, or dissatisfied with the food choices available on the diet. For six weeks, I ate delicious breads with a wide variety of fillings, tasty salads, soups and stews, vegetables with lean meats (chicken and fish mainly, but I did have filet mignon a couple of times), whole grain pastas, and brown rice with stir fried veggies. I even had wine a couple of times a week with my meals. I didn't even feel like I was on a diet and did not have cravings for sweets and other junk foods like I did when I tried Atkins and South Beach (both diets that were harder to follow and I did not feel good on these diets). One unexpected perk of this diet was that had a ton of energy to exercise, go walking, and do the things I enjoy to do in my spare time.

Another interesting fact with this diet is that it is much cheaper than the Atkins diet -- bread, vegetables, and pastas are much cheaper than meat (and much better for your cholesterol). Olga even has some recipes in the book to give the diet more variety.

I now fit in my clothes again and the Bread for Life Diet has really taught me how to eat in a whole new way (smaller meals, several times throughout the day). I feel better, look better, eat better, and I have Olga Raz to thank for it.

If you want to lose weight in an easy, healthy, and affordable way and keep it off, try this diet.

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! First 5 days and lost 2 1/2 lbs!, October 14, 2005

By 

A. Kohl "glitterar" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bread for Life Diet: The High-on-Carbs Weight-Loss Plan (Hardcover)

I love this book and diet! I have tried and tried to lose weight the last few years. Menopause has stalled everything! I am a bread lover from way back and I could never be successful on a low carb, high protein diet...though I tried. I just happened to pass this book in a bookstore and thought my prayers must have been answered! I (nor my family) can believe that I can lose weight eating 5 sandwiches a day! And, yet I am! I am not hungry, have tons of energy and DO NOT CRAVE SWEETS! It's wonderful and I will stick with this plan. A loaf of bread every two days....who would have thought it possible. I encourage anyone who's tried and failed at high protein, low carbs to give this plan a try!

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars READ before you diss this diet., February 1, 2006

By 

lessthansign3 (Wishing I was back in Japan; Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bread for Life Diet: The High-on-Carbs Weight-Loss Plan (Hardcover)

Of the bad reviews I've read, I can tell that the writers of these reviewers have not read the actual book. You need to read the entire book to see how it works and understand it. This diet works by increasing the consumption of whole grains, such as whole grain breads or pastas, to increase serotonin levels and keep them up. Protein and sugars raise serotonin quickly but soon after it drops fast. Serotonin controls things such as moods, but also can contribute to hunger. The increased serotonin levels cause you to not feel as hungry along with the fact that you eat every three to four hours.

If you doubt the science or healthfulness behind this diet, read the book first. Saying that people who say low carb diets make them feel sick are just whining is a bunch of crap. I could hardly last a week on a low carb diet without feeling tired, cranky, unhappy, and sick. Some people handle these things better that others.

I also highly recommend this diet for those suffering from depression. I've been battling depression and anxiety for a few months now and since I've started this diet, I've never felt better. The increase in serotonin levels along with increasing physical activity in conjunction with any professional treatment you've been perscribed by a doctor can be a wonderful therapy for these diseases. Not to mention it's helping me to lose the weight I've gained after months of eating ice cream and cookies when I was sad, which ended up being a daily occurance for awhile!

So, in conclusion, I highly recommend this for carb lovers and if you doubt this diet, read the book. The concept seems much healthier, in my opinion, than Atkins.