Customer Reviews

Turn Off the Fat Genes: The Revolutionary Guide to Taking Charge of the Genes That Control Your Weight

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Many people are concerned about their weight. They struggle each day with fad diets, which sometimes become as severe as eating disorders. This book teaches you how even if you think you're genetically pre-disposed to being overweight, by eating the proper foods you can stay slim and also reduce your risk of certain diseases. The recipes at the end of the book allow the reader to put the ideas into practice. I highly recommend this book if you're tired of dieting and want some real answers! It's another great book by an author whose books I have really enjoyed in the past.

I just completed the three-week gene makeover program recommended by Dr. Barnard in his new book, "Turn Off the Fat Genes," and I'm ecstatic. Not only did I lose six pounds (while enjoying some delicious new recipes), but I feel less tired than I have in years.

I heard about Dr. Barnard from my mother who went vegan after reading Dr. Barnard's last book, "Foods that Fight Pain." My mom, who has suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for most of the last decade, has found incredible relief by getting off dairy.

I also had the good fortune of hearing Dr. Barnard speak in Cincinnati earlier this month. He is a fantastic public speaker. If you have the chance to see him in your home town, don't miss it.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about nutrition and weight control.

Cincinnati, OH, USA

When I read this book, I was a lacto-ova vegetarian and had just hit a wall and had not been able to lose some excess weight, no matter what I tried. I have been following the book's suggestions and have never felt better. I already started shedding some pounds. And I don't even miss the dairy that I have cut out of my diet. It's fantastic! I am buying it for my mom.

I avoided this book for some time because the title seemed misleading to me. However, when I found it featured in the library displays this week, I felt it was time to dig in. The good news is that I found the title less misleading after reading the book. The bad news is that I still found it misleading.

Dr. Barnard describes the workings of typical body functions that can influence the amount of fat you store and burn. There is some genetic influence involved in these functions, and you can influence the way the functions work. However, I don't think many people would argue that genes that affect the way we taste, experience hunger, build and burn fat, and oxygenate our muscles are all "fat genes."

I was disappointed that in a book about dealing with fat that there was nothing said about drinking water. Studies have shown that not drinking enough water contributes to higher cholesterol levels. However, if you eat as many fruits and vegetables as are suggested here, your body's fluid sources should improve.

I did find it interesting that there were identified different ways that people taste based on genetics, which can be verified through testing. I suspect that it is really more complicated than that. Having been a consultant to food companies for many years, it seems clear that there are an incredible number of taste preference variations in any population.

The arguments about setting your metabolism by how many calories you take in seemed generally right. You can create a sense of starvation and your body will burn fewer calories. However, I suspect that this level is different for different people. All of my life, I have been able to lose four pounds a week by going to 1000 calories a day. Dr. Barnard would say that I could not lose that much on under 1500 calories a day. He would also say that my metabolism would stay low for weeks thereafter. I don't think my metabolism goes down at all. Well, Dr. Barnard, maybe for you . . . but not for me. He also argues that only dietary fat builds body fat. The argument is based on being able to identify the sources of fats consumed from the fat stored in the body. I don't think that clinches the case. I could go on with places where my own experience is different from what he describes in the book, but that might only establish that I am not average.

But I do think that that is an important point. None of us are average. Our own bodies are unique combinations of genes, preferences, and habits. I don't think this book takes that point seriously enough.

Now, what he describes is exactly the kind of diet that makes my Mother feel terrific. Coincidentally, she has a B blood type. When I read Live Right 4 Your Type, this sort of a diet was suggested for B blood type people. I wonder what blood type Dr. Barnard has.

I do agree that most diets push people to eat too much fat. I also think that the type of fat ingested matters from the books I have read (which this book doesn't take seriously enough). I also agree that almost everyone eats too little fiber and complex carbohydrates. So many of the book's directions are helpful to reinforce those points. I also appreciated the tables on glycemic index values, fiber, and fat for various foods (including popular fast foods).

The book's recipes will make you think differently about whether vegetarian food has to be boring. These are extremely imaginative recipes. For many people, the process of eating this type of food will take a little getting used to. I suggest that you try the ones that have higher sugar levels first.

After you finish reading this book, I suggest that you think about your own experiences with various kinds of foods, calorie levels, weight gain, and weight loss. Where have you succeeded? Where have you had problems? What haven't you yet tried? What blood type are you? How does the recommended diet for your blood type match with your experiences?

Let your own experience help guide you to better eating and exercise habits!

I've read several of Dr. Neal Barnard's previous books, and I've been impressed by his research and his solid, sensible insights. "Food for Life" was especially helpful, and I've given several copies to friends and family. I was delighted to find "Turn Off the Fat Genes" because it presents new information and practical steps to put it to work--something I value in light of middle-age's efforts to expand my waistline. Although I've only started following the three-week program, the wealth of information in the book has inspired me. In light of my positive experience with Dr. Barnard's earlier books, I have high expectations for this one.

Dr. Barnard's book is very understandable and provides excellent information on how to take control of your diet and lifestyle. And the recipes are really easy and delicious!

Common sense, words of wisdom on losing weight and staying healthy. Great recipes. A must-read for anyone who has yo-yo dieted and is ready to finally get fit and trim.

I have been reading Dr. Barnard's books for years. I found out about him after I read Diet for a New America by John Robbins. The vegan diet has helped me to lose weight, and keep it off! I get to eat everything I want and maintain my weight of 112 lbs. Without the diet, I weigh 125, which on my small frame (5'3") makes me look pretty chubby. I love the easy recipes in Dr. Barnard's books, and I always learn something new about my health!

The book contains some classic theories on how to lose weight. I have
experienced some of them. For instance, eating bulk/fiber will help to
reduce the appetite. Decreases in leptin increases appetite . Examples
of bulk fiber are apples, all bran and baked beans. Some foods have very
minimal amounts of fat; namely, bagels, veggies, sherbet and pretzels.
The book contains some delicious recipes for lentils. Insulin decreases
the fat-burning mechanism in the body. Spaghetti has a lower blood sugar
impact than white bread. Brown bread also has a lower blood sugar impact
than white bread. The same applies to brown rice v. white rice.

A strength of the book is that the body metabolism is explained in
a detailed pie chart. The rest metabolism burns from 60-75% of calories.
Exercise burns 15-30% of calories and food digestion causes
approximately 10% body metabolism. Much of the information contained
in this book is valuable; however, I don't know how scientific the inferences were derived. i.e. via controlled group studies or experientially.

The book is a good value for the price charged. A strength of the work
is that the author covers areas of the metabolism which aren't well
known by the public. The actual operation of the metabolism varies in
the individual based upon diet, the time of day you eat, internal
inflammation and exercise. The author does a good job of integrating
some but not all of these factors.

The title is misleading. There is nothing in this book that truly connects diet and differing genomes or which helps you manage yours if you have problem ones like the one in our family that makes for skinny type II diabetics. There is almost no real science in this book, just the usual diet doctor selection of a couple studies that support his argument.

The book champions the extreme Ornish diet. The author bashes low carb diets citing a single study that supposedly discredits them claiming that protein, not carbs, raised insulin. I looked the study up and found that, in fact, it supported the argument of low carbers that fat and carbohydrate together boost insulin the most.

Years ago I lived with a group of several hundred people who followed an extreme vegetarian, whole food diet of brown rice and fibrous vegetables and fruit that matched that in this book. What we found was that most men lost weight and most women ballooned up on that regimen. Most of the women stopped menstruating because of the extreme loss of fat. We all were starving all the time no matter how much rice we ate. I gained 30 lbs over two years which dropped off and stayed off for decades when I went back to a lower carb, meat-based diet.

The author also suggests that it is foolish for people to eat a low carbohydrate diet because it involves eliminating one whole food type and then tells his readers to adopt a diet that is less that 5% fat. Please explain how this is different?

The book also insists that eating fat makes you fat. Having eaten a low carb diet for 3 years that is 80% fat and having maintained a 20 lb weight loss throughout that period, I know this is simply not true. There can be problems with low carb diets too for long term users, but unfortunately nothing in this book gives you the tools to solve them and there is no science cited in the book that helps the educated reader understand anything new about metabolism. The author claims that eating 10x goal weight in calories will prevent metabolic slowdown, which I have personally done for many months--ending up with a very slow metabolism.

The diet described in this book requires that you live on beans, greens, and whole grains with a tiny amount of fat. All meat and dairy must be eliminated. A lot of studies have shown recently that healthy fats are very important to everything from cancer prevention to mental health. The only people I personally know who have died of cancer recently were vegans and there's some evidence that cutting fats and cholesterol too low may correlate with cancer risk.

Beyond that, I don't think very many people can realistically expect to sustain this diet for any long period of time because of the monotony and the constant hunger that attends living without fat in the diet.

There was nothing new in this book. It's just another diet doctor huckster trying to make a buck using "genes" as a hook.