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210 of 211 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superfoods II, January 8, 2006
This review is from: SuperFoods HealthStyle: Proven Strategies for Lifelong Health (Hardcover)
As a Superfoods fan, I was thrilled that Stephen Pratt wrote another book. After reading his first book, I incorporated a lot of the Superfoods into my diet, and was fascinated to read about the new additions such as pomegranate, honey, dark chocolate, kiwi, avocado, olive oil, garlic and onions- spices like cumin and tumeric, cinnamon.
In a creative approach, he dicusses food combinations according to how they can best be enjoyed in each season of the year. January is a great time of year to read the book, since he starts of with winter recommendations. I was happy to run fix myself a cup of hot cup of cocoa with cinnamon as I settled down to enjoy the book.
The recipes seem simpler than in the first Superfoods book. I tried the Mango Yogurt Cream Sauce, and it was the bomb. As some would say, it will make your tongue jump up and slap your brains out. It was supposed to be a dressing for fruit but it was so good I ate it as a soup. The Orange Poppyseed Dressing is great for a spinach, kiwi, avocado salad. and Cilantro Yogurt Topping for turkey. I tried the recipe for Acorn Squash w/ pineapple, which was a nice change from brown sugar. Oh, one suggestion for kale was "Crispy Kale," - just put some on a cookie sheet, sprinkle it with cumin and crisp it in the oven. Not bad!
"HealthStyle" hits heavy on the importance of exercise, which just makes me squirm. You just have to do it, plain and simple. I was also cringing as he explained about the importance of sleep, since I like to stay up until 1:00 watching MASH on the Hallmark Channel and then get up at six the next morning. I guess I should get DVR. He's right about all this of course, so you're better of to follow his other advice which is to make peace in your life.
It's nice to know Stephen Pratt has a website. However, they got it wrong on p. 41. It's not www.superfoods.com; it's www.superfoodsrx.com. There you can find helpful links to related websites and you can order yes, you guessed it, food supplements (though he doesn't mention this in the book, which is all about whole foods). I quess he couldn't resist this venture, and lets face it, nobody gets all the nutrients we need.
If you are at all interested in nutrition and how to improve your health, by all means, read this book. No, read both books. They will probably give you many extra years of life if you adopt some of the author's lifestyle principles.
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64 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nice overview, lacks some detail, February 1, 2006
This review is from: SuperFoods HealthStyle: Proven Strategies for Lifelong Health (Hardcover)
The Good: A very enjoyable read, easy and quick to get through and full of good, practical advice that's easy to apply in the real world. Pratt's enthusiasm for whole, healthy food is contagious, and most of the nutritional rundowns made me hungry (anyone who can make me hungry for avocado has really got skills). The recipes, for the most part, sound delicious and easy to prepare. The studies cited and the bibliography makes for some impressive statistics, if some are a bit "spun" for shock value (yes, people may expend as little 300 calories/day through activities, but for most that's on top of the basic 800 calories/day required to support normal body functions such as breathing).
The Not So Good: The non-nutritional advice (exercise, avoid stress, get plenty of sleep) is solid, yet simplistic. It is not much more in-depth than you'd find in any health magazine and, to me, just felt like filler. It's not BAD advice by any means, it's just old news to anyone who has ever gotten healthy advice before.
For me, I would have liked to see more nutritional detail, such as how different storage and preparation methods can affect the nutritional content and absorption for the various Superfoods. It was touched on several times, but not fleshed out in most others. For instance, he mentions that canned beans have a lot of sodium, but that a lot of it can be removed by rinsing in cold water. How much? How close does that bring canned beans to the level of dried beans? If I am watching my sodium (as Dr. Pratt recommends strongly), how much of this Superfood can I safely consume?
Another instance: garlic. He compares the nutritional content of fresh garlic vs. garlic powder, but never mentions the pre-chopped garlic in jars that many people prefer. How does this storage method compare?
Black and green tea are discussed at length, but other varieties of tea never mentioned (red, white, herbal, etc.). Perhaps they don't measure up nutrtionally and that's why, but I'd at least like to know one way or the other.
The effects of pesticides are touched on when discussing blueberries and other fruit that can be purchased in either fresh or dried form, then it is never mentioned again. Eating apple skins is recommended, so can we assume that they are SO healthy that the vitamins within will protect you from the pesticide residue? How much will washing help, and how much washing is required to make it safe? How about spinach, one of the most irradiated crops on the grocery store shelves? Washing is not even mentioned in the spinach section, nor are the benefits of buying organic. I would have liked to see a comparison of which Superfoods are safe/healthy enough to buy as is, which require a thorough scrubbing, and which are really worth it to seek out organically.
OVERALL, the food and lifestyle recommendations are excellent, but this is not for anyone with a serious interest in nutrition. It is interesting but very basic.
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
health and fitness reader review, March 16, 2006
This review is from: SuperFoods HealthStyle: Proven Strategies for Lifelong Health (Hardcover)
I loved the original SuperFoods RX, have shared it with friends, and use it as my nutritional Bible. This follow-up book was disappointing to me as I thought there was a lot of repetition from the first book. I am pretty knowledgable when it comes to exercise, so I didn't glean anything profound from the book, but I do think it provides good information for the person who needs to be motivated to exercise. I thought the concept of ERA - the three-pronged exercise attack was helpful.
Although, I think that Dr. Pratt is very knowledgable and passionate about nutrition, I don't feel that he adequately explains how to eat all the food that he recommends without gaining weight. (Healthy foods have calories, too).
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