Customer Reviews

Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill: The Complete Guide to Fats, Oils, Cholesterol and Human Health

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Dr. Erasmus does an excellent job of laying out the facts concerning the important role fats play in our overall quality of life. Those of us in America have been supplied with much mis-information by those seeking monetary gain at the expense of the health of the people. We have become 'Fat' conscience and prey for the greedy 'food' manufactures who have capitalized on ignorance. Dr. Erasmus does an excellent job in denouncing the myths about fats in the diet, pointing us to the well documented truth of the vital role 'good fats' plan in our body and the harmful effects of the highly processed fats. This book is an excellent resource manual that will not collect dust in the library of those truly interested in optimal health.

This book should be required reading in every high school health class. Why? For way too long, even those who are health conscious with the best intentions have made critical mistakes in choosing our fats and oils. For example, for years I purchased unrefined oils of "macrobiotic quality", packaged in a clear bottle and used them at high heat...a critical mistake! Read this book and find out why!!

Even worse are those who are consuming fats that are "illness by prescription"--and don't know it. Learn the truth, corroborated with good science, get informed, use the information.

This book is THE quintessential one on making one of the most vital decisions in your daily cuisine. Erasmus has a gift of taking the complex and making it an easy read. More importantly, one can, after reading this book, use the information to reach for your maximum health potential.

If you have a desire to be as healthy as your genetics will allow, then do not skip this book---it is as critical as anything you do, including check-ups and medical tests.

I feel most fortunate I got my hands on it before I did more damage. I wish it were published at the beginning of the century. Many of the degenerative diseases would have been greatly diminished.

Finally, to his credit, Erasmus does not use the book to promote his propietary oil, Udo's Choice, manufactured by the top of the line Flora Company. Rather, he gives you the information to decide how to purchase the best oils

I have been always puzzled by numerous kinds of fats mentioned in many health related books and conflicting information pieces provided in there. I bought a couple of medical books to understand fats, but they were too tough to read for the poeple like me who are in non-medical fields. And then I found this amazing book. This book explain almost everything about what fat is, how it is metabolized in our body, all the different kinds of fats, how fats are related with our health, and etc. And it does not simply explain to us. The book explains using chemical symbols. So there are a lot of chemical diagrams of all kinds of fats:

3HC-C....C-COOH stuffs.

If you didn't take General Chemistry course in College, this book is a tough reading. However, the author says that you can skip such chemistry part without losing any flow of the book, which I agree. However, I think that it is that chemistry part which makes this book shine and stood from any other books that simply say the confusing results or incorrect information.

I thought that I had quite a good amount of information regarding general nutrition and fat in particular, since I read good amount of books available. After I read this book, I realized that I was misunderstanding or had misinformation on fats, which is the most important nutrient. Understanding fat is not simple. And I think that understanding fat is very important, before we plan our healthy diet. I would recommend this book anyone who would like to understand fats and who are interested in health in general.

Being an amature competitive bodybuilder, my pre-competition diets usually consisted of no more than 20% fat. After reading what Udo had to say on the subject of dietary fats, I went to the supplement shop and purchased a bottle of Udo's Choice Perfected Oil Blend. I include 3 tablespoons(43.5 grams of fat) in my daily intake, and I'm still losing weight. Another plus is that I feel great and have more energy then ever before! I recommend this book to all that are interested in losing weight while continuimg to enjoy the daily intake of oil.

This is a landmark work in the study of fat. Yes it is a "relatively" easy read given that the author starts you off on a crash course in organic chemistry. Nevertheless it is rather heavy going in places and I believe it is more useful as a reference book than as a cover to cover health read. This is a book you will want to keep handy as you will refer to it again and again.

It is true that Erasmus does include a push for his own oil product. It is, however, well known that his involvement in EFA oil production came AFTER the bulk of his studies and research ie the product is in response to an exposed need. This book was certainly not written to sell his oil. The references to his own product are few.

This is a well written, well organised, objective text.

Udo does a great job of illustrating the benefits of the omega 3/6 oils, and the detrimental effects of excess saturated fats and oils damaged by light, oxygen, and heat as well as trans/hydrogenated fats. A must read guide for anyone serious about long term health. Most health "experts" are so one sided on the fat issue, they never mention which fats are good and which are bad; they think all fats are bad and this is not true....it is two sided story to this game. Omega-3 supplementation has cleared up acne, eliminated knee joint pain,increased my energy levels and assisted in my fat loss efforts. My Tryglycerides were a mere 49 and LDL/HDL cholesterol ratio was ~ 2:1 ...a must read! Thank you Udo!

Mr. Erasmus's book is possibly the most widely known book on the subject of fats.

Unfortunately, the book's wide currency and authoritative stance does not hold up in light of crucial facts.

It contains a lot of awesome scientific formulas, tables, analyses, and so forth, and would appear to be an authoritative, definitive "final answer" on fats, but there is much in it that is alarmingly inaccurate and misleading. His conclusions on polyunsaturates, saturated fats, coconut oil, butter, flax and canola oil are all haphazard and inconsistent with fact-based science (For example, read the findings of Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig in their document on canola oil: http[...]).

Much of Erasmus's conclusions, especially about vegetable based polyunsaturates, reflect current dietary trends than anything else. Hemp oil, which he espouses, contains cannabinoids, the compounds found in marijuana: people eating hemp oil have failed a clean test for drugs in corporation testing. Moreover, the book promotes manufactured oils which Mr. Erasmus utilizes in his very expensive oil blend, which are high in polyunsaturates.

For true science and data on fats, one would be better to turn to Mary G. Enig's "Know Your Fats," which is the real, pioneering guide on fats. Enig is one of the world's foremost lipid biochemists, and she provides specific science and how fats work in the body and what the body needs. Also of value is her book 'Eat Fat Lose Fat' and Bruce Fife's 'The Coconut Oil Miracle,' which despels a lot of the myths regarding saturated and tropical fats. Erasmus provides very little information about the properties of coconut oil. Enig and Fife present common sense and scientific logic in their research and delivering of facts, something which is lacking in Erasmus's book. Enig is clear, and consistent from beginning to end: Erasmus's stand is contradictory.

Fats That Heal Fats That Kill is a highly recommended book. The chapters are broken down into small sections and written in understandable terms. Let's face it, the mass of the population are not scientifically trained and Udo has taken on the task of bridging the gap between the laboratory findings and the average person who's health will benefit greatly from reading Fats That Heal Fats That Kill. On the otherhand, if you ARE interested in furthering your knowledge of what happens with fats in the body and the differences between them on a scientific level, the diagrams and explainations are excellent. I have come across much research in the last few years that supports Udo's findings. Very exciting!

I've been reading about Dr. Budwig's research on the role of fats in the body and found this book to be a wonderful complement to that information. Mr. Erasmus' book explains the difference between fats and the methods used to obtain them (I learned what "expeller pressed" means) and how the fats industry makes its money by manipulating natural fats to prolong their shelf lives--processes that are not very conducive to anyone's health, by the way. What I most liked about Mr. Erasmus' book, however, was the fact that, although he does speak about his own oil blend, he encourages people to read and think for themselves, which is what it's all about. This book is not the 'definitive' book on the subject, but it is written in such a way as to be extremely helpful in deciphering all the jargon. This book is a wonderful tool, and I highly recommend its use as such.

This book is an incredible eye-opener for those who have always wondered about where fats come from, and which ones are bad.This book isn't for the person who doesn't want to know the details. You don't have to have a chemistry degree to understand this book, but you do have to have a desire to learn. Erasmus has a way of distilling graduate level chemistry down for the average thinking person.I did feel, however, that the book could have been more logically organized. Topics seemed to come back again and again under different headings. This may not be so bad, however for such an esoteric topic. Some of us need the review.