ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine: A Food Lover's Road Map to Losing Weight, Preventing Disease, and Getting Really Healthy [Hardcover]

John La Puma (Author), Rebecca Powell Marx (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 29, 2008

What Dr. Andrew Weil is to herbal medicine and Dr. Phil is to TV psychology, Dr. John La Puma is to culinary medicine. At thirty-five, after eating too much of the Standard American Diet (SAD, isn’t it?), Dr. La Puma had become SADly paunchy. So he decided to research the science of nutrition while also going to culinary school to learn to cook. He created the revolutionary new concept of “culinary medicine”–recipes, foods, and meals that prevent or control common health conditions without sacrificing restaurant-quality taste.

Now you can use culinary medicine too. In ChefMD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine, you’ll learn to stock the medicine chest in your kitchen, use the doctor inside of you, and create dishes that give you lifesaving benefits and truly dazzling flavor.

Dr. La Puma serves up a step-by-step eight-week plan to motivate you and help you change your life. Try Saffron Scallop, Shrimp, and Chickpea Paella. Or Sicilian Pasta with Swiss Chard, Goat Cheese, and Basil. Or Spicy and Rich Sausage and Kidney Bean Chili.

Anyone who loves food, wants to have more energy, wants to reverse his or her family health history, or wants to know what to eat to get and stay healthy should read this book. Its recipes, meals, and menus can work within minutes of eating them.

Experience food you can’t wait to make, and grab the energy and good health to reclaim your life.



Doctor, What Do I Eat for That?

Your kitchen needs a ChefMD. Renowned physician and professionally trained chef Dr. John La Puma has just the person for the job–you! By following the ChefMD Eight-Week Plan, you’ll find your inner doctor and learn to eat for optimal health and maximum satisfaction. Use ChefMD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine to:

• Discover what and how to eat for forty health conditions–starting with Acne, ADD, Alzheimer’s, Arthritis, and Asthma
• Build a “culinary medicine chest” with fifty amazing foods that prevent or control common health conditions without sacrificing restaurant-quality taste
• Conquer fatigue, supercharge your immune system, and look and feel younger
• Get the most nutrition from the foods you eat
• Find the ChefMD Essentials–thirty-six healthful and flavorful brand-name foods in boxes, bags, and cans
• Fall in love with food again with fifty easy ChefMD recipes–and no guilt!

Eat and cook the ChefMD way and discover just how delicious life can be!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"John taught me how to cook and how to make healthy food taste terrific. Get this book and he'll share that brilliant wisdom and practical advice with you. Your body and your taste buds will thank you for it."
— Michael Roizen, M.D., Chief Wellness Officer of the Cleveland Clinic and coauthor of four #1 New York Times Bestsellers, including YOU: Staying Young

“Dr. La Puma brings to your table a rare combination of medical experience and culinary skills. Anyone’s health and meals will both benefit by reading this book.”
—Walter C. Willet, M.D., Chair, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health

"Through the culinary wizardry of Dr. John La Puma, not even your taste buds will know that you're eating 'good for you' food. You can live well--and long--with his guidance."
—Mehmet Oz, M.D., Author of YOU: Staying Young and YOU: The Owner's Manual

“Every one of us has an internal doctor, a natural inner leader, that can keep us healthy. Dr. La Puma teaches you how to eat the right food so your inner doctor can do its work. Learn how to eat well and feel well at the same time. “
—Jack Canfield Co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Body and Soul®

"John La Puma has a way of bringing the science and pleasures that should come from healthy eating together on the same plate. As a fascinating blend of both chef and physician, his passion and talent come through with practical and enticing tips on how to shop, cook, and eat. In this engaging book, he shows us that healthy food can be both good for you and bring delicious pleasure to our lives."
—Jesse Ziff Cool, Author, Restauranteur, and Advocate of Sustainable Agriculture

About the Author

JOHN LA PUMA, M.D., appears regularly on “What’s Cookin’ with ChefMD?” which can be seen on Health Corner, airing on Lifetime. He is the coauthor of the bestselling Cooking the RealAge Way and The RealAge Diet, and contributed recipes to the New York Times bestseller YOU: The Owner’s Manual. The first physician to teach cooking and nutrition in a U.S. medical school and graduate from the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, he has cooked under star chef Rick Bayless in the four-star kitchens of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo. Dr. La Puma is medical director for the Santa Barbara Institute for Medical Nutrition and Healthy Weight. Visit his award-winning website, www.ChefMD.com.

REBECCA POWELL MARX is a ChefMD partner, a medical television producer, and a journalist. Ms. Powell Marx is a 2007 International Health and Media FREDDIE Award winner for the ChefMD website.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Crown Archetype; 1 edition (April 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030739462X
• ISBN-13: 978-0307394620
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 1.2 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. La Puma is a board-certified specialist in internal medicine and professionally trained chef. The leading practicing physician voice for the importance of food in health care, and a New York Times best selling author twice, he has pioneered food-as-medicine that's tasty and life-changing. Also an award-winning TV host, he has starred in over 100 episodes of "What's Cooking With ChefMD?" and co-hosted Lifetime TV's "Health Corner" with Joan Lunden and hosts PBS' "Eat and Cook Healthy with Dr John La Puma."

Connect at http://drlapuma.com, or be his fan at http://facebook.com/drjohnlapuma

He has appeared on Today, Good Morning America, Oprah.com and NPR and has been published in Guideposts, Shape, the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA and the New York Times. He developed recipes for Dr. Oz and Roizen's New York Times best-seller You the Owner's Manual.

Repeatedly named "One of America's Top Physicians" by the Consumers' Research Council and called a "Secret Weapon" by The Wall Street Journal, Dr. La Puma was honored with the American Medical Association's NAMC "Award of Excellence". He creates private programs for patients, using Chef Clinic strategies to work with his patients with weight problems, personally coaching them to transform their lives with what they eat, and to look, feel and live better. He is based in Santa Barbara, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

143 of 143 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant new approach--definitely worth it, May 5, 2008

By 

C. Clark (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine: A Food Lover's Road Map to Losing Weight, Preventing Disease, and Getting Really Healthy (Hardcover)

I bought this book after I heard Dr. La Puma give a women's workshop in San Francisco. Though he had the audience at "Dark Chocolate", the book is even better!

I have a lot of health books, including You on a Diet and the Zone ... and a ton of cookbooks too: Mark Bittman, Deborah Madison, Fannie Farmer, Joy of, James Peterson, and of course, Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking.

But ChefMD's Big Book condenses the best of each, and makes it easy. Plus it is pretty funny too: "What can perfume, some massage lotions, and a sex toy lead to? I know what you're thinking, but that's not it." (hint: plastics).

His approach totally makes sense: Eat broccoli with meats to detoxify carcinogens. Marinate for flavor and protection. Store your watermelon on the kitchen counter for extra beta carotene. Go organic when it counts: milk, potatoes, peanut butter, ketchup, apples. No microwaving fatty food in soft plastics (the phthalates sneak in). And 25 pages of scientific papers and books to back it up.

The fact that it has 50 recipes and a diet plan is just a bonus. I've already made the 4 ingredient Chocolate Blackberry Breakfast Smoothie (for depression) from The Today Show (how cute is that?), and Pasta e Fagioli (a perfect easy soup, very rich and thick and quick--for hair/skin/nails).

Plus there are more recipes for cholesterol, blood pressure, and losing weight that my family will eat, and are quick: most are less than 30 minutes, start to finish.

I think he is a next generation Dr. Oz, and his recipes are actually way better, but he doesn't overstate the case. Blend the art of cooking with the science of medicine, but keep the medicine too--and all the flavor-- too. Works for me!

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars exotic, interesting, August 7, 2008

By 

Melanie Burns "love my kids!" (Becida, MN United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine: A Food Lover's Road Map to Losing Weight, Preventing Disease, and Getting Really Healthy (Hardcover)

The article I read about this book lead me to expect a more of a reference-type book..."if you have a cold, eat this soup because it contains....", but it's not. The first part is more of the health info I'm reading everywhere, although the author is quite funny, and it's easy to read. (Warning: if you'll be offended by crass humor and extramarital sex references, you'll be offended!) The recipe part is fun. The things we've tried were amazing, but not worth buying the book for. Though my family typically eats well, many of these recipes are a little too exotic to be useful for us on a regular basis. If you have crystallized ginger and agave in your kitchen already, you'll be in good shape. It's not really bad, but it's not what I wanted. I'd recommend checking this out from the library first to see if it's what you really want.

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Must Have" for Every Family Interested in Staying Healthy, May 6, 2008

By 

Barbara A. Henry - See all my reviews
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This review is from: ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine: A Food Lover's Road Map to Losing Weight, Preventing Disease, and Getting Really Healthy (Hardcover)

I found Dr. La Puma's book to be unique packed with valuable information and full of cooking tips I will incorporate in my daily menus.
I tried the 14 menu plan following it exactly. The food was delicious and easy to prepare. I was never hungry and I have noticed after just 14 days the remarkable health benefits. I caught myself not reaching for my glasses in order to see more clearly, I had much more energy and slept more soundly. My hair & nails have improved and complexion is clear and smooth. I salute Dr. La Puma for devising this wonderful health booster made possible from my own kitchen! Bravo! Dr. La Puma.