Customer Reviews

The Gold Coast Cure: The 5-Week Health and Body Makeover, A Lifestyle Plan to Shed Pounds, Gain Health and Reverse 10 Diseases

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What I really like about this book is that the claims are backed by research. There are pages and pages of endnotes in the back of the book that reference the studies -- from reputable sources such as the Journal of the American Medical Assoc., and Harvard.

I am a 40 year old, type II diabetic with high blood pressure. I have now been on the diet for 2 weeks and my sugar levels are under very good control. I have also lost 8 pounds. (I haven't yet checked the blood pressure)

Another positive is that this diet isn't so restrictive that you can't stay on it. It is a common sense, practical approach to eating and exercise. I don't have to give up coffee, wine, and even the occasional beer or two. Also, it's ok to cheat on occasion.

The back of the book is loaded with recipes. The publisher info listed above says 280 pages, but my book is 378 pages. The cover looks exactly the same, so maybe the 280 is a typo.

Anyway, if you are looking for a good approach to eating, getting healthy and losing weight, buy this book.

I read about this book in the newspaper and bought two for friends who have MS. Before sending one of the copies away, I decided to take a quick peek, but of course, I thought I didn't need to read it, because I am very healthy. Once started, though, I couldn't stop until I had finished. By then, a light bulb of awareness had flashed on my mental screen--if this can do so much for someone with a compromised system, imagine what following this lifestyle will do to preserve the good health I presently enjoy but admittedly take for granted. I headed out to the local bookseller for another copy and plan to dog-ear much of my own copy. An exceptionally easy to follow diet and exercise plan; a well organized book.

This book is certainly one of the "diet" books people should be reading. Inflammation is the cause of most of the diseases that plague America. The Larson's have provided the anti-inflammatory diet to ward off diseases and help to put our bodies in a stronger state to fight diseases or conditions we may already have. Nutrition doesn't always fit everyone. Stress reduction is also part of keeping the immune system strong to fight diseases/conditions. Combining the delicious, yet wholesome, foods in the Gold Coast Cure with a healthy attitude and a belief that if we take control over our lives we have a better chance.......common sense right????...........there is absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain. I have spoken to several people with MS who have seen terrific improvements in their health after a few short weeks of eating wholesome foods. Omitting processed/refined foods and replacing them with wholesome foods is the only way I recommend eating to my patients. I am a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator. This is one book I do recommend everyone read whether or not you have a debillitating disease right now or not!

This book is surprisingly easy to read and understand for a somewhat scientific and technical subject. The nutritional advise makes so much sense, and shows how wrong (and unhealthy) the Atkins and other fad diets are. This is more of a lifestyle than a diet because, for the most part, you aren't depriving yourself, and therefore you can remain living the Gold Coast lifestyle indefinitely. I have made a few adjustments in my eating habits in the couple of weeks since reading the book (primarily significantly reducing sugar and processed flour intake) and am already feeling the positive effects. I feel better in general and can concentrate for longer periods of time. And I am not craving anything. When I tried Atkins and cut out all carbs, my body craved carbs, and I couldn't stay with the diet. A healthy craving is simply your body telling you that it needs something to run, and denying it what it wants is simply foolish. If you are tired of dieting and being lied to by one fad diet after another, it's time to read this book and finally learn the truth about nutrition, excercise, and healthy living.

THE GOLD COAST CURE is a wise, common sense approach to improving one's overall health. Hottest current research points to the harm that trans fats cause to the body, and the Larson's recommendation of specific unrefined oils and unprocessed foods is perhaps the simplest part of their plan to implement, with a huge payoff in terms of good health and longer life.

Unlike the many radical diets out there that severely restrict one food group or another, the Larsons' plan is a well-balanced, simple, delicious, wonderful-to-live-with eating and exercise program that is do-able for the long haul. Hello, carbs!

The Larsons have the credentials to create such a program. He is a medical doctor and board-certified surgeon with special interest in surgical nutrition, lapraroscopic and bariatric surgery. She is an American College of Sports Medicine Health Fitness Instructor. The book grew out of Ivy's disabling Multiple Sclerosis, and their joint study of treatment of the disorder before today's (often ineffective) drugs were developed. Building on a solid body of medical research, they refined the earlier food and exercise guidelines. Following this program, Ivy has been in remission for seven years, and bore a healthy baby boy. Other patients (including those with Type II diabetes, heart disease, asthma, osteoarthritis, and other degenerative and auto-immune diseases) who have followed the program have had similar success. I'm especially interested to see what the long-term effect will by on my mild hypertension. This very sensible lifestyle program, unlike the blood pressure meds, can have only positive side effects!

In response to a previous review, today's "everybody knows that...." nearly always yields to "further research has led to the discovery that...." Today's heresy becomes tomorrow's orthodoxy. Any reader with any of the ten degenerative diseases or auto-immune syndromes that this program has proven to help need only give it a try. If it doesn't work for you, you're no worse off than you are now; in fact, your general health and fitness will improve. But if it does work for you, as it did for Ivy and countless others, you'll get your life back.

This book is great, and I recommend this plan for ANYONE! Since being diagnosed with MS 2 years ago, I have read lots and lots of books about diet and nutritition. The concepts explained in the Gold Coast Cure reinforce things I've already learned from many other whole foods reference sources, but they are explained so clearly, anyone could realistically follow it. I've had my whole family eating this diet with me, and no one is complaining! A great bonus is the "weeks worth of healthy lunchbox ideas."
I have tried to follow other MS diets out there and I just found them so restrictive that following them was a form of suffering. I've only been on the Gold Coast Diet for a couple weeks but I am enjoying myself immensely and have a lot of energy.

A HUGE improvement to the book could be a better index. None of the recipes are in there, so it's not as helpful as it could be.

***UPDATE 2007: I was initially excited about this book because it gave me "permission" to eat wheat again. At first everything was fine, but during the 6 months of following the diet, I begain to experience abdominal pain and worsening MS symptoms, so I eliminated gluten and dairy. I quickly saw improvement and two years later I'm still feeling great. Though this book is great, it's good to remember that no diet is perfect for everyone.

I felt the book was very informative. I also agreed with most of their views. The only thing I DID NOT agree with and that I feel they DID NOT research was the substitution for sugar-using SPLENDA-..SPLENDA IS NOT healthy, it is in the same category as Nutrasweet, Equal, Sweet & Low Etc..It is a Chemical and therefore our bodies CANNOT utilize these, alot of people have had life threatening illness from these..They say Splenda is different, made from sugar, which is true BUT after the processing (bleaching etc.) it ends up a chemical just like the other sugar substitutes which is NOT healthy so changing your eating habits without eliminating this from your diet is NOT helping your health...Thanks for listening...Lee Wicks

Finally a program that is easy to follow. I really like the balanced diet plan and the fact that I don't need to eliminate entire food groups like "no carbs." The shopping guides are very helpful and I've been using the exercise DVD at home which is making life easy because I can do it whenever. I'm starting to see results, have more energy and fewer cravings. Love the french toast recipe!!!

As a Florida newspaper reporter covering Ivy and Andy's hometown, I have had the pleasure of meeting them and discussing their approach to diet and exercise in-depth.

Shortly after their book came out, my mother had emergency heart catheterization for blocked arteries. She is now on the Gold Coast Cure diet, as am I, for weightloss and improved health in my case.

The recipes are not just good, but highly 'do-able'. Easy and good enough to keep from being bored with the diet with a wide variety of foods and flavors. I'm waiting impatiently for a Gold Coast Cure full cookbook.

The nutritional information, coupled with the great recipes in "The Gold Coast Cure" along with the accompanying exercise DVD, make this a great value for the money.

I was familiar with much of the information in the book, from works by Dr. Roy Swank and Dr. John McDougall. The Larson's approach seems much more comprehensive and easy to follow. I actually feel I can make the changes they suggest without becoming overwhelmed!