Customer Reviews

Releasing Fat: Developing Healthy Lifestyles That Have a Side Effect of Permanent Fat Loss

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

 

 

This is a great book about insulin resistance. The most shocking is the chapter "Save The Children". This presents the latest statistical information (when the book was published) about children who are developing insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. About one in three will go on to develop type 2 diabetes and in some ethnicities, as high as one in every two children. It looks like every other type 2 diabetes case diagnosed may involve a child, in the near future!

I tried the USANA 5 day fiber cleanse and during these days my glucose readings were of a normal person without type 2 diabetes. I lost 6 pounds in 5 days and 3 pounds the following week for a total of 9 pounds. In 4 weeks the weight has not come back. I'm now learning the Glycemic Index and how to eat a lot better. When I was diagnosed, and probably still, the American Diabetes Association did not even recognize the Glicemic Index. They treat all carbs the same.

Only weakness I noticed in the book is he doesn't really seem to have a grasp on the difference between major and minor antioxidants - especially Lipoic Acid which Lester Packer calls the master antioxidant of your body's antioxidant network. Packer goes into this in wonderful detail in his book - The Antioxidant Miracle. Also, Dr Strand does not seem current in his knowledge about fats, specifically about saturated fats, coconut oil, etc. A good sounce on this is the book Eat Fat Lose Fat by Dr Mary Enig. These are both PHd researchers who are experts in these fields of nutrition. They really know their stuff about these topics.

I think the book is very well written, easy to understand, and one of the best I've read on insulin resistance. Far as his association with USANA, I think their products are more expensive, but of much higher quality than the rest. I am so impressed with their nutritional products I just signed up to be a distributor!

I show this book to everyone I meet who is interested in insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and Syndrom X. Why is no one else trying to educate the public about this terrible epidemic? It might just break the already unstable healthcare and insurance systems... Update on this review - it's 2010 and I've lost 51 lbs. using the low glycemic diet method, it's no longer a diet, it's a lifestyle!

Even though I have a healthy body weight and was not seeking to loose weight, I found this book facinating reading. It gave good technical descriptions, in laymans terms, why most diets can never work and the simple steps that are required to enable fat to disapear as mysteriously as it arrived. The book presents information that is at the forefront of the science regarding weight management. The book also contains plenty of reference material regarding glycemic index and related material.

Loads of information to get you on the road to better health through the foods you eat. Dr Strand lays it out all in terms anyone can understand; read it, follow his guidelines and head off diabetes, lower your cholesterol and risk for heart attack and stroke and the bonus? Lose fat in the process!

*Update* I've implemented some of Dr Strands recommendations and I've already lost 12 lbs effortlessly. Can't wait to see my Dr and check my current sugar and cholesterol levels ~ I know she'll be pleased. Best part is, I've had absoluely NO withdrawals and I'm not hungry!

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I do reccomend this book. Dr. Strand has brought a new perspective to the cause of diabetes and how that leads to heart disease. Its all about the glycemic index, and if you are causing your blood sugar to spike with previously 'innocent' foods. (that leads to insulin resistance of which central obesity is a major sypmtom). Most importantly, Oxidative Stress is explained and cited as the major problem, as well as how to prevent it.

This book is thick, you can tell it was written by an MD (tedious, jargon) and and you probably won't finish it if you don't do some skimming. The main points can be picked up pretty quickly, eat a low-glycemic diet to avoid diabetes and heart disease (and youll lose weight too). I enjoyed reading his conclusions about all the popular diets of the last few decades (Weightwatchers, Atkins, Zone, Southbeach, etc). Most helpfully included at the end is an index for which carbs, fats, proteins to steer toward or away from.

As usual with health books, the author reccommends a certain brand of supplements, etc for its high quality. In this case its USANA, but of course they are among the most expensive. I know he is recommending them in good conscience, but it is obvious by his books and website that he is also getting a cut.(...)

On his website, he sells his books, and also CD's which are like summaries of his books, which I recommend. They give you the main points of the books in about half hour each for only a couple of dollars each www.releasingfat.com/bookstore.

Dr. Ray Strand takes us to the next step in having a healthy lean body that we so deeply desire. The only way to obtain this is by taking to heart what Dr. Strand gives us in ALL of his books. Dr. Strand's information is on the cutting edge and you can trust every word you read. If you want this book email bbjjmay@yahoo.com.

There are many books on the market that talk about limiting carbs in order to lose weight. This book, written by a doctor, explains how and why this approach works. He specifically addresses America's diabetes epidemic and explains how to identify prediabetes and prevent it through diet. If I were to own only one book on the subject of losing weight and preventing diabetes, this would be the one I'd choose. He gives specific recommendations including dietary supplements that are helpful.

This is the first book that I purchased in regards to low glycemic eating. I ordered another book along with this one called Healthy for Life also written by Dr. Ray Strand. Beware if you are looking into Ray Strand books as the two books that I purchased had different titles and covers but the information inside was identical from beginning to end.

My sense is that at least most of the previous reviews are provided by patrons of USANA. This shouldn't come as a surprise; despite what is said, this book serves as an endorsement for the nutritional company, whose supplements and dietary products are openly advocated by Strand, near the end of the book.

This is not to suggest, of course, that the books' contents should be discredited altogether. Strand presents a cogent case for why "diets" are, by construction, doomed to fail from the get go, and why Americans have unknowingly become victims of an institution which has laid the ground for obesity and diabetes to burgeon. He also presents a thorough explanation behind the underlying mechanisms through which such epidemics manifest. My concerns heavily comprise those previously introduced, namely that not all of Strand's research is up to date. I also am reluctant to accept the notion that certain macronutrients are simply good or bad on the basis of evidence-based trials; there's too many underlying factors which influence the statistical outcomes in such research that the conclusion to me seems questionable, at best. Many times in the book, Strand mitigates this concern for me by trying to explain, in the simplest terms possible, how the micronutrients and macronutrients are processed through our system, at a cellular level, but not always. Having done separate research, I am inclined to believe that advocating low glycemic foods as the silver bullet for combating obesity is a tad over-simplification. This is not to say that I think it doesn't work - it clearly has for many people - so much as that it's only one factor contributing to quality nutrition. Given the relatively higher nutritional content of low glycemic foods, there may be other factors, statistically speaking, that are correlated with low glycemic foods which result in such benefits as weight loss and improved quality of life. I don't think Strand would argue this point; however, the way GI is hammered in the book, I suspect some readers would be inclined to take away the simple, dichotomous mantra, that high GI=bad, low GI=good.

One example, which I think best illustrates the above mentioned concerns, is the lack of attention given to fructose. Strand explains that fructose makes for a low glycemic substitute because unlike glucose, it does little to spike your blood sugar. What Strand doesn't explain is that this is because fructose is processed by your liver, in a manner very similar to alcohol. And when fructose is broken down by your liver, it actually increases the triglyceride concentration in your blood. One of the major reasons that sweet, processed foods like soda are bad for you is not simply because of their high GI concentration, but because both table sugar and high fructose corn syrup comprise not only glucose but fructose as well, about half and half, in actuality. Fructose is a huge piece of the puzzle - for both nutritional well being and weight loss - that is being left out. Incidentally, many of the low GI foods Strand advocates are also low in fructose. The exception, of course, is fruit, although there are reasons to be less concerned about this since fructose in fruit is in moderation and fruit is also loaded with antioxidants, which help mitigate the problems of fructose. That this is hardly mentioned in Strand's book leads me to infer one of two things: either 1) he himself was unaware of these problems when writing the book, in which case I am left to question the rest of the provided research and what was potentially also left unsaid, or 2) he simply chose to ignore it. Why he would do that, I don't know. But I do know that the endorsed nutritional weight loss products (which, to me, seem to some extent susceptible to the same problems Strand attributes to other foods, by being processed) for USANA rely heavily on fructose as a sweetener. This possibility also leads me to question the validity of the work, seeing as little, if any of it, goes against the company's vested interests.

Overall, a good read to be recommended, especially for persons new to the subject matter. I do think Strand is on the right track. For the presented reasons, though, I would advise supplementing the book with additional research and other related readings on the material.

This book addresses the glycemic index and one of the most important topics for our time. It shows how diabetes has become so rampant and why so many Americans are over weight. It also helps to increase energy and good health. I recommend it to everyone.

I should have paid more attention to other reviews. Older publication so same old info. and outdated. Mostly just an advertisement for his online weight loss business.