Customer Reviews

What Would Jesus Eat?: The Ultimate Program for Eating Well, Feeling Great, and Living Longer

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Most diet books are aimed at weight loss. This is not one of them, but weight loss will result from following what is outlined in it. This is THE best diet book I have ever seen, in that it changes the way you think about food for your entire life. The main focus of the book is showing you what a toxic lifestyle most Americans lead, and how specific things in our "normal" diets are literally killing us.

Dr. Colbert explains the toxicity of the foods we consume and also explains the benefits of "whole" foods. (Whole grains, unprocessed foods, etc.) The diet itself is basically a "Kosher" diet that shuns highly processed foods and fatty or toxic meats in favor of a diet heavy in whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, fatty fish, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and natural sugars and sweeteners.

He also does a wonderful job of making foods that we normally eat sound utterly repulsive. His description of what happens to processed white bread in your intestines makes you hate the stuff. Since I read his section about hot dogs, I have never had another one. Yuk.

Weight loss is not the primary goal of this book, but if you follow the diet you WILL loose some weight. I lost almost 40 pounds in a period of under 3 months just by using the knowledge in this book to reduce the ammount of sugar I take in.

The beauty of this "diet" is that it is not a diet. It is a fundamental shift in your attitude about the food you eat. You can still have sweet and rich foods, but only occasionally. If your diet is mainly whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and extra virgin olive oil, then an occasional plate of 3 cheese ravioli is no big deal.

I am much healthier since I read this book. My whole family has begun to adopt some of the parts of the diet and they are loosing weight as well.

Read this book with an open mind and I think you will find it valuable as well...

What would Jesus eat? Well, it definitely wasn't "Moma-Mia's pizza", "Greasy Joe's burgers", or nuked cardboard containers filled with overcooked, under-valued processed...food(?) Have you ever noticed, that all those microwaved containers seem to taste the same; the only difference is the colour of the sauce.

Readers will find not only thought-provoking references from the Scriptures throughout this book, but some interesting facts leading to a more nutritious way of eating and a healthier lifestyle. This book can be likened to "getting back to the basics" - good food based on fish, olive oil, grains, etc. Enjoy the red wine; in moderation, it is actually good for you. I enjoyed the book for the easy to follow weekly eating guide and some of the anecdotes proved to be "food for the soul."

This is an excellent book, particularly for those who want to nourish body soul at the same time. There is something to be said for eating in a time when dinner was more than a quick trip to the nearst fast food outlet and nourishing our soul was not a trend, but a way of life.

Let's be honest here--there's no magic bullet out there for weight loss-if there were, there wouldn't be as many weight loss and diet books in the Amazon 1000 top sellers.

What Would Jesus Eat? The Ultimate Program For Eating Well, Feeling Great And Living Longer doesn't really say anything new in terms of dietary regimens. Dr. Colbert recommends what you would expect-a lot of whole grains, fruits and vegetables along with limited consumption of meat-particularly red meat-and other fatty foods.

What's interesting here is that he explains the benefits not only in the general terms of "good eating habits" as medically established but through an examination of the foods we know-and can reasonably infer-Jesus consumed. "We follow Jesus' dictates and example in all other facets of our life", says Colbert, "why not in our eating habits as well"?

The book has two unique features beyond the above-cited encouragements.

The first is that he presents an excellent examination of the ins-and-outs of ancient Jewish dietary law along with very clear explanations of why those laws were so sound nutritionally.

The second-and this is truly unique for such a faith based text-Colbert explains the benefits of moderate alcohol intake-especially as regards red wine. This is not going to be popular in some more conservative Christian circles, but the fact he takes the time and effort-and displays the courage-to do so in a faith based text certainly adds credibility to the authority of his narrative and recommendations.

The second half of the book is primarily recopies and a practical guide to adopting and implementing this diet. Nothing extraordinary but very thoughtfully constructed and presented-one of the best I've seen

As Orson Wells once observed, "Gluttony is not a private sin." The real question is not whether this is a good book with good advice-it is both-it's weather the spin of the WWJ Eat concept is sufficiently motivating to actually get people to get on-and stay on-the program. Perhaps so-a lot of people find willpower in faith where they cannot find it in reason. Even if that's not the case, at least the reader will have learned quite a bit about their dietary traditions and heritage, so everybody who reads the books stands to be better off in one way or another.

Did you even know that is where the popular phrase "What Would Jesus Do?" came from? If that crucial and all-affecting question had not saturated our culture and become ubiquitous in the last 25 years, would you look more honestly at Dr. Colbert's lifestyle book? It really isn't a bad question to ask ourselves, even if the phrase has been over-marketed.

That said, my best friend bought this book at a sort of hippie-organic-granola store that she frequents. Its crazy title caught her eye, and she burst out laughing and everyone was staring at her. So she felt a little silly even carrying such a book to the cash register, but being the ever-seeking theologian and health nut that she is--and being insatiably curious--she bought it. I laughed too, when she told me about it, but asked her to bring it over so I could borrow it.

Being a 6th generation vegetarian and the daughter of a Seventh-day Adventist minister and a dietician, I know a few things about religion and health (although I confess my sweet tooth often causes my actions to contradict my knowledge). I was skeptical. I wanted to see if this guy knew what he was talking about. So did my tall, thin Swiss husband, a physician who thinks Americans could solve a lot of their health issues by losing weight permanently. (But then, he loves to splurge on imported stinky cheeses and fine beef sausages now and then). He thinks fad diets are one of the biggest parts of the problem. He always asserts that health is an attitude and a lifestyle. Being a skeptic who enjoys medical critique, he grabbed the book before I could get to it. I waited for him to soundly lambast and nitpick it.

He didn't. "This is an excellent book," he said, "The guy is right on--I bet he's an Adventist." We decided he wasn't because of his stance on wine. However, the information on wine was very well researched and documented, and he also suggested other ways of obtaining the benefits of wine without drinking alcohol.

I was inspired by this book because it made healthy choices seem so much more indulgent and appetizing than the other way. I am genuinely disgusted by some of my formerly favorite snack and processed foods after reading about the way they're made. And that's coming from a life-long vegetarian. On the other hand, I've always LOVED Mediterranean food (think Greek, Lebanese, Italian, Southern French, Moroccan...MMmmm). Also it's easy to read and understand for my non-medical brain at the same time as being "right on" medically, according to my husband.

I would also like to answer some of the critics.

1. Yes, the AVERAGE life expectancy in Bible times was only about 40 years. But do you know why? Infant deaths and deaths of mothers during childbirth were largely responsible. So were childhood illnesses that we now have immunizations for. If you lived to be 20 you had just as good of a chance of living to be 90 as you do today--if not better. Also, we do know that God reduced humanity's lifespan after the flood, from Genesis 6:3. But he reduced it to 120 years, not 40. Clearly, we still are not living up to our full potential of longevity!

2. Yes, while Christ was on earth, he fulfilled the law (but he didn't destroy it--see Matt. 5:17-19), and he made salvation available to all no matter what they eat. Duh. But still, that doesn't mean we should purposely break God's law, just because we won't go to hell for it. Why would he have written it if it wasn't good for us? And why, if we are trying to emulate Jesus would we not want to be as much like him as possible? I don't think Dr. Colbert is suggesting that our hope of eternity will be jeopardized by failing to eat healthfully. He is just showing us a lifestyle that will make our physical beings the best they can be. Incidentally, our minds and spirits are currently housed within our bodies, and information is channeled to and from them via physical processes and expressions. The Eucharist itself is an example of a physical process translating to an emotional and mystical experience. No researchers and few theologians would suggest that our physical actions have no bearing on our emotions and thoughts. Neither would God: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? ...You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. Surely this admonition applies to our daily bread as well.

So buy the book already. If nothing else, it's likely to stimulate some very interesting and enlightening conversations.

I strongly recommend this book. This book is based on a Mediterranean Diet which is similar to the French Diet. If you visit realage.com you will see that they too encourage foods that are recommended in the What Would Jesus Eat book as well. (Foods like olive oil, whole grains etc.) This diet is becoming more popular and recognized for it's health and anti-aging benifits, more and more every year. I suggest buying this book, or borrowing it from the library, because it explains the diet best out of all the sources I've seen. This diet was eaten by Jesus AND is the same diet that more and more people are recommending today, because of the health, weight, and anti-aging benifits that they noticed from it. There are also tapes sold that are similar to the book; talking about the diet. Visit JHM.org they may still be available on that web site.

I just finished reading this book - and I loved it! It was the kind of information I was looking for, and didn't find, in "The Makers Diet." It is not a Christian book by any means, but I found it refreshing that it quoted and sited the references that it used for its recommendations for further study. Only those who are prejudiced against Christians will find the benign Biblical references offensive. I merely found them informative.

It was well organized in categories: staples, meats, other proteins, veggies, fats, beverages, desserts, exercise, losing weight, and the Mediterranean diet (which he recommends as the best diet to follow). It was easy to follow with each transition from topic to topic logical and informative.

Each category has several examples of items to eat, as well as casual recipes and examples for use of each food. There are also lengthy discussions of nutrient content, and when suggestions for supplementation are given no brand names are pushed. "The maker's diet" was a big infomercial pushing his supplement line, so non-brand recommendations like "organic" or "extra virgin" were wonderful!

At the end there was a weeks worth of sample meals and several recipes, as well as a "what to put in your pantry" list. While I would have loved to see more menus and recipes, I didn't walk away from this book feeling ripped off because they were sparse. There is so much free information on the internet about the Mediterranean diet that I am sure I will be able to download as many free recipes as I need to follow his week's worth of examples.

Finally, if you are one of the intelligent few who can actually get passed the urge to be legalistic about Kosher vs. non-kosher eating, (as in "I don't have to eat that way any more - you can't make me!") you will see that the basic message of this book is "get back to basics." Eat whole foods as God intended. After all, there were no golden arches in the Garden of Eden!

All in all a common sense book that does not push an agenda, hawk a supplement line, push a religion, or insult the intelligence of already nutrition savvy readers.

Ok, I was kind of fat. Not fat, like that those people whose behinds they show on the news when doing stories on obesity in America, but I was in the process of going from thick, to fat. "What Would Jesus Eat?" reversed that trend. What I like best about Dr. Colbert's book is that it provides information on how to achieve a real lifestyle change, not some sort of fad diet. Also, kudos to Dr. C for helping change my life while heaping praise on the Good Lord.

What separates Dr. C's ideas from those of other people is that in the case of diets like the South Beach diet, and the Atkins diet, no group in history has sustained civilizations based on them, the Mediterranean and Kosher diets however have sustained the civilizations of major peoples life the Romans, Greeks, and Hebrews, over long periods of time. The fact is also that cutting out processed foods is a wonderful idea being this artificial bleaching and processing of food is a modern phenomenom, so eating a whole grain minimally processed diet will provide a centuries-proven benefit.

I have lost ten pounds since being on the diet. I think most of it came from following the parts of the Bible that mention the consumption of deserts, but only during special events. Me being a slob who ate at least one candy-bar a day took that to heart, and started from there, and it has worked wonders. In fact the very few times I do eat desert now, it tastes much better being that my body is starting to be conditioned to see sweets as more of a special thing, and less of a normal boring activity. What a wonderful book. Praise be to God.

For years I've thought I was pretty health conscious but turns out I was just fat consious. I didn't really think about if something was good for me or not only whether or not it would make me gain weight. Now I have a 7 month old daughter and since she has been born I have been desperate to make this a healthy household for her but I kept getting confused by the worlds conflicting views. Some say cows milk is bad for you, some say soy milk is bad for you. A few years ago eggs were a no no now they are super healthy. I don't know what to believe. Then in doing the bible study "Giving christ first place" it asked if Jesus were coming to stay with you what would you eat. I answered that I would wait and see what He ate and then I would do the same. That's why I got this book. Not because i think we are still under the law but because if it was good enough for Gods people and His own Son I'm thinkin' it's probably healthy. It had alot of good info and I would definetly recommend it to anyone.

I was very impressed with this book and it kept my interest from ocver to cover. It's not a diet, it's a life program and I've been following it for 3 months now and have gone from a size 24 to a size 18 with very little effort. I'm never hungry and I'm eating a lot of very tasty foods. After 32 years of being overweight, I truly feel I've finally found a program that will help me lose weight for good. i highly recommend this book.

This book is en excellent source if you are looking to change your life. Part of the book re-hashes what is said in the Bible concerning diet, particularly Leviticus. The author does a great job at explaining what is meant by Levitical law and making it make sense. Warning: It will really make you reconsider your diet and your lifestyle, so if you're not ready for that, then avoid this book! If you ARE looking for a change, this is the perfect book. BUY it.