Customer Reviews

The Cooking Cardiologist : Recipes to Help Lower Your Cholesterol, Reduce Risk of Heart Disease, Control Weight, Increase Vitality and Longevity

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I fooled my husband! Now HE loves it too. The Cooking Cardiologist showed me how to eat more healthy in a breeze! His recipes are so easy. And the kicker is, SOOOOOO yummy! My husband, an Italian, 'Meat-and-Potatoes' guy, even loves the recipes. I never thought I'd get him to EAT foods like tofu, VegeFuel and Textured Vegetable Protein, much less ENJOY them. Keys in the book let you know which recipes follow the Prevention Diet, the Ornish (low-fat vegetarian) Diet, and which are Totally Vegetarian. What I liked best were his tips at the beginning, letting me know how to 'avoid FATigue.' Tricks like how to saute and carmelize onions or mushrooms without butter and how to hydrate fat-free foods for better flavor. He also gives tips on the right tools to use in the kitchen and helped this health food neophite find my way around the grocery store. Just saw The Cooking Cardiologist on with Regis & Kathie Lee. Not only does he know his way around the kitchen, he's pretty funny, too.

My husband and I purchased this book for his father, as he had just had heart surgery, and we had seen Dr. Collins on Regis Live promoting his book. It sounded great and I thought this would be great for my father in law, as he loves to eat, and thought there would be great recipes for him. We were so motivated that We also purchased one for ourselves.

If you love Soy and Tofu you have hit a gold mine...Well in our case, neither my husband and I, or my father in law happen to like either of these.

Practically all the recipes need these ingredients. Except for a few "creative" ones. One of the being "the carrot dog". You just supplement a marinated carrot for a hot dog and place it on a hot dog bun!!!! YUK!!!

In all due respect, Dr. Collins seems very dedicated to his patient's and if you are a Soy and Tofu lover, you will probally love these recipes and if not, don't buy it.

I have seen the doc on numerous occasions and have finally bought his wonderful cookbook. Even though the recipes are low in fat they taste great--which I was afraid that they would not. I highly recommend buying Dr. Collins book and bringing it to the dinner table.

I met and watched Dr. Collins cook the recipes in this book, at a hospital-sponsored demonstration in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1999. My mother had just passed away at 71 years of age, from a heart problem directly related to her eating habits; My motivation was high to find a way to enjoy good food that would prevent me from following in her footsteps. Two years later, we lost my father from another eating related heart problem.

Not only was Dr. Collins personable and funny, but he shared so many tips from the book with us that I knew immediately that I wanted it for my kitchen. In the demonstration, he cooked numerous recipes from the book and shared samples with the audience, as well as tidbits of medical wisdom. His philsophy is that you can not only stop heart disease in it's tracks, but can actually reverse it by eating a diet without meat and meat-products. His receipes show you how.

He introduced me to TVP (texurized vegetable protein), and talked about how he buys a 50 pound bag and that's all of the 'meat' that he needs to buy for his large family for an entire year (healthful and economical). Don't laugh -- when I tried it in recipes like slopping joes, taco mixture, spaghetti sauce, etc, I couldn't tell it from ground beef. It's almost the only 'meat' my family has eaten since 1999 and my cholesterol dropped enough that I have avoided medication for the problem.

At the seminar, I sat in the first row and enjoyed many of the samples--all of which were delicious! I would encourage anyone to buy this book and try the recipes. If you're open minded and don't insist that a healthier version of any traditional recipe must taste exactly the same as the deadly version, you'll be glad you did.

I heard great reviews about the book and am sorry to say that I'm disappointed. If you're ready to hunt for a lot of hard to find soy products and fat free products then this is the book for you. The salt content of the dishes we tried were extremely high given all of the "instant" ingredients used. I'm suprised a cardiologist could recommend some of these recipes. The heart may be protected by the low fat and cholesterol content but it would certainly be damaged by the high blood pressure from all of the salt.

I was looking for a little variety in my lowfat cooking. This book filled the bill!!! Tasty recipes with nutritional information and clear instructions. Recommended!

Being a male who just turned 45, and being in what I thought was good health, I had complete blood work done for my yearly physical and was surprised to find out I had slightly elevated cholesterol. Not wanting the problem to get out of hand, I bought this book and a few other "lower your cholesterol" recipe books. While I'm sure the recipes are good at lowering cholesterol, I was most disappointed in this particular book, because of the ingredients used. I even took this book to my doctor on an ensuing visit, and will let his comment sum up my feelings, "You have to be able to be happy eating these things. I can't see you eating them for an extended period of time." I can't see myself being consistantly happy either eating tofu, soy beverages, textured vegetable protein and protein powder which are ingredients in quite a few of the recipes, plus there are some vegetable combinations I just don't like! Never mind trying to encourage my family on the go to eat them.

In these days of high prices for food and fuel, I also can't see running around for special ingredients, either. Basic rules apply for lowering cholesterol: get some exercise, don't eat to excess, avoid food products that have a "mother" (in other words eat more fruit and vegetables), and broil don't fry, getting rid of excess fat and grease. Yes, I miss cheeseburgers, fish fry's, potato chips and ice cream, but I see the results in losing pounds and having my bad cholesterol level drop. A worthy trade!

As I write this, I'm ready to toss this book as I plan on sticking with what works for me, but I hate throwing books in the trash. If you want to give these recipes a try, drop me a note, before September 1 and I will send it to you absolutely free. If it helps someone that's great, I just want you to know that it didn't help me!

You will love this book for its creative ideas and superb recipes. I had two blocked arteries 15 years ago; and, this is the type of food you need to eat if you are going to avoid that happening to you.

In the last few weeks, I have seen Dr. Collins on many shows including Regis and KathyLee and the Health Network yesterday. I love his outfit and the book is great. I only made two of the recipes and my husband loved both of them. The information in the book is wonderful, I am actually learning how to cut the fat and keep myself and my husband healthy!

I recently saw Dr. Collins give a cooking demonstration and was eager to try the recipes from his book. So far, I have found the recipes to be tasty and easy to prepare. My family loves the oatmeal and soy smoothie recipes. Keep up the good work, doc!