Customer Reviews

Feast Without Yeast

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Recently, I decided to order 3 Candida Albicans books from Amazon to know what could still be "wrong" with my anti-candida diet. Feast Without Yeast appeared to me at first to be uninteresting. It takes its root in curing Autism, which is not what I was looking for. Moreover the book itself is less attractive, being less stylized and professionnally typesetted than the others. Many recipes call for potatoes or meat, all things that I had left behind me long ago. And isn't potatoe a carbohydrate of the sort that should be banished from an anti-candida diet?? Well these were my first thoughts. So I began with the other books... After a month or so practicing the others' diet, nothing had changed and the sky was still very stormy to me. So I finally came back to read this Feast Without Yeast book lurking on my shelf. Wow! In just a night I changed my mind completely. This guy (Dr. Bruce Semon) was presenting a UNIFIED, RIGOROUS and NON-CONTRADICTORY explanation of why Candida is making us so bad. And this understanding makes it possible to know which of our habits may trigger this beast. Moreover, it explains why this damned piece of food, being it coffee or chocolate, beloved and desired more than anything else on earth, even gold, is in fact killing us. Because you need pretty convincing arguments to throw them out of your life. It presents a 4 stages diet, which means that you start progressively to eliminate more and more food, until you feel ok. That is a very amenable and realistic diet plan, because no one on this planet can stop eating all those lovely food at once. And in general, being presented a very restrictive diet, you don't know where to start at first. Well this book tells it all. ALL. As a final remark, let me say that the book, even if not pretty, is in fact very usable. The recipes are well categorized and the index at the end of the book is VERY comprehensive. This makes it easy to find a recipe targeted to some particular ingredient. Also, the recipes are well explained and taste relatively good given the tremendous restrictions imposed. Most of them are in fact vegetarian. And most importantly, it works! But be warned: it is not an easy diet. It is a life-changing diet, and changing one's life is never an easy endeavor. But that also is explained by Dr. Semon. 5 stars.

As a parent of a child with a special need -- Global Developmental delays -- we've been searching for over 5 years for options that would help unlock the key to Emily's potential. This book has done more for us in the past 5 months since we've been following the diet than the last 5+ years of searching! The areas where we have seen the biggest improvement for our daughter has been in the area of verbalization, stabilization and cognitive skills -- since going on the diet.

3 years ago we were told by a physician in Utah that Emily should be on a yeast free diet and were given the title of a book to follow, but we found the book too complicated to follow. Feast Without Yeast is easy to ready and easy to follow. We've made copies of the allowed & disallowed list from the 4 stages identified in the book and distributed them to her teachers, therapists and child care providers. The guidelines are clear and simple.

The book gives us good ideas for meals to prepare and we've been able to build on that and create an environment in our kitchen where most food at our fingertips is within Emily's guidelines. The way we've begun to look at this way of eating is that if you just think about all that's available that is healthy and without preservatives, you learn to substitute for things that are no longer allowed. Most grocery stores carry many of the items in the book. The phasing in from stage 1 to stage 4 made it possible to ease into the change within her diet, without the huge shock we would have experienced to just go cold turkey.

I've found the recipes to prepare and very tasty (the cauliflower soup is EXCELLENT! -- 4 ingredients!!!) The food that's allowed on her diet is no more difficult to prepare than the food we were serving before -- fast food is pretty much out, but we're all healthier because of that. Even when going out to eat, we are able to identify things on the restaurant's menu that is included in the allowed list -- when we are not sure, the restaurants have been willing to supply us with ingredients lists and help us to select items within Emily's diet.

The pages on my Feast Without Yeast book are bent and curled due to constant use. I take it with me when I shop and have shared the title and contents with many, many people.

I highly recommend this book to any parent who has a child with a special need. It gives you something that you can take into your own hands to make a HUGE difference in your child's life. It's making a HUGE difference in Emily's life (she's 7 years old), and I believe we've only scratched the surface of what's possible!

Whether or not your initial interest in this book stems from a desire to help someone with many yeast associated maladies (including autism), you will find a wealth of unbelievably tasty recipes in this well organized and easy to follow cookbook. Calling this a cookbook is a bit of an understatement, as you also get Dr. Semon's in-depth knowledge of nutrition, and the deeply touching narrative from Dr. Semon and Ms. Kornblum detailing their frustrating history of trying to treat their autistic son with any number of "traditional" therapies, before discovering the benefits of a yeast-free diet. Highly recommended not only for the recipes, but for the wealth of nutritional information and the personal interest story.

I've seen some bad reviews of this book, but those people must not have needed it as badly as I did. I found this book after working through my chronic yeast infection for a year.
The authors make it relatively easy to start eliminating problem foods from your diet, working your way through the process as far as needed. I happen to be one of the 'bad' cases. I can't even eat everything on the strictest level-- #4.
The recipes are 'real', things that somebody with problems could eat. Almost all the recipes are uncomplicated (only a few being detailed), many very easy, and straightforward. Many could be considered 'fast food' if you have a crockpot or can handle leftovers remade. Many recipes help you understand how much of certain fresh herbs to use, too.
This book is valuable for those who are serious about this topic. I appreciate it very much.

We were really surprised to read the review from the customer from New York and regret any confusion the review caused. We are writing this review because it would be a shame to have people discouraged from purchasing Feast Without Yeast based on an inaccurate review.

Feast Without Yeast is an ourstanding book for learning how to cook delicious and healthy foods, and for implementing special diets. The customer from New York, regrettably, believed that the title Feast Without Yeast is "misleading." We can't see why. The title advertises that the book is 100% yeast free. Look at the recipes! The book is 100% free of yeast, moldy and fermented foods. The subtitle advertises that the book is "mostly" free of wheat and milk. We looked at the book again. Our count shows that this subtitle is correct. Feast Without Yeast has 228 recipes. Approximately 190, or 90%, of the 228 are free of milk and wheat as well.

For example, 11 of the 14 "Mainly potato" recipes are free of wheat and milk; 17 of the 21 "Mainly Vegetable" recipes are free of wheat and milk; and 100% of the meat, fish and poultry recipes are. The count is similar in all chapters except "Sweets & Treats." Although all of the cakes and cookes have wheat and milk, Feast Without Yeast has plenty of other types of desserts that are free of milk and wheat, including pies, sorbets (similar to ice cream), frostings, candy and even a pudding. The reviewer inaccurately states that most of the gluten and casein free foods are "beverages." We found that only 3 of the 228 recipes are for beverages, and 2 of those three are milk and wheat free.

Unfortunately, we are not sure where the NY reviewer is getting their information, and hope that other readers use the book fully.

Of all the cookbooks I've purchased, this is my absolute favorite. Recipes are EASY and DELICIOUS. The bonus is that you feel great knowing that what you're putting in your body is absolutely healthy. As you read the book you learn that the authors are both exceptionally well-informed and educated; advice is practical.

I recommend this book to everyone and not only people with yeast problems. Since I've turned my friends on to the recipes in this book, they also purchased their own copy.

I thought I was fixing reasonably healthy foods, but was amazed to realize that even my all-purpose flour had "malted barley flour" lurking in it. Cooking with the express intent of minimizing neurotoxins has transformed our 6-yr-old high-functioning autism boy. We had seen multiple doctors, and had been told that to function in school he would probably need medication. On this diet, his explosive meltdowns disappeared almost completely starting from the 4th day on Stage III. We also use a probiotic (Kirkman Acidophilus Plus), Yummi Bear vitamins, a calcium supplement, a vitamin C supplement, and the recommended Nystatin. See other books on biological treatment of PDD for the use of activated charcoal to minimize "die-off" reaction from Nystatin. We ramped up the Nystatin slowly, which probably helped. Now we are encouraged enough to explore some of the other PDD biological treatments (e.g. heavy metal detox). I also feel like I have learned how to really cook for the first time in my life! Big learning curve, but worth it!!!

The authors have clearly done a tremendous amount of work to bring us this incredible resource. For anyone who has gone on a yeast free diet this is a real find. Even a kitchen klutz like myself is able to follow the recipes. There is an interesting variety of recipes that will be ones you'll be able to make and will want to make again and again.

The food from this cookbook is really tasty and satifying. While I suspect that I and members of my family would benefit from following a yeast free diet all the time becuase of some of our health porblems, I have not been able to follow it all the time (yet). However, I still love this book for the recipes as they are and for the ideas they give me. I especially love the Lemon Roasted potatoes, the Zesty Eggplant relish and the Hearty Soups.

This book is well organized and easy to follow even for those who are new to the kitchen. When I started this diet this was the main book I used because it made things simple. I started out as a novice cook who was extremely anxious about all the work that I foresaw in giving up sugar, yeast, wheat...and now I don't find it all that difficult and I'm a better cook for it! My only criticism is that sometimes the recipes are too similar, but it does teach a novice like myself what foods work together and how to make alterations.