Your Body Knows Best: The Revolutionary Eating Plan That Helps You Achieve Your Optimal Weight and Energy Level for Life [Hardcover]

Ann Louise Gittleman (Author), James William Templeton (Author), Candelora Versace (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1996

An eating plan for frustrated dieters is based on individual metabolism, blood type, and ancestry, revealing how each of these elements influences body health and explaining how to form a personalized diet and exercise plan.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There's no one-size-fits-all diet, says author Ann Louise Gittleman (Supernutrition for Women, Beyond Pritikin). That's why some people will drop 25 pounds on fad diets while others will actually gain weight, and why some folks thrive on an ultra-low-fat diet while they make others feel like collapsing. Gittleman says there are some foods that everyone should avoid, such as refined sugar, margarine, and white flour products, but figuring out which foods are good for you is a bit more complicated. She's drawn upon her extensive nutritional background and found that three factors combine to determine which customized diet you should follow. One of these factors is heritage; those with a Scandinavian, Irish, or Welsh ancestry need more essential fatty acids than others, such as those found in cold-water fish. The other two are metabolic rate (some people just burn food more quickly than others) and blood type (type O is the oldest blood type, and therefore folks who are type O should avoid dairy foods and other items introduced late in the evolutionary scheme of things).

She includes a questionnaire to determine how fast you metabolize food, and a week's worth of sample menus to guide you along the appropriate eating plan for your particular profile. Gittleman also debunks the "fat is the root of all evil" diet myth by explaining how fat actually boosts immune function and aids weight loss. There's also extensive supplement information and helpful explanations of the often-misunderstood roles of protein, fat, and carbohydrate, along with resources for everything from amino acid testing for vegetarians to home-study courses in nutrition. This is a fine book for anyone looking to lose weight--not fall victim to the latest dieting fad. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

In her latest book, nutritionist Gittleman (Beyond Pritikin) asserts that, when it comes to diets, one size does not fit all. With sound logic, data from a number of scientific studies and a wealth of personal experience, the author examines popular eating regimens, including vegetarian, restricted-calorie and low-fat/high carbohydrate, explaining why no single plan can possibly work for everybody. While the different-diets-for-different-bodies idea doesn't break new ground, Gittleman's proposition that an individual's heritage, blood type and metabolism combine to create unique nutritional requirements will sound right to many readers. Mapping out dietary guidelines for each blood type and for metabolic "slow burners" and "fast burners," Gittleman gives a particularly stringent list of general "no-nos" for everyone (refined sugars, processed carbohydrates, trans fats like margarine). In-depth chapters on carbohydrates, fats, proteins, exercise and medical conditions brought on by nutritional deficiencies add substance to this volume.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books; First Printing edition (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671875922
• ISBN-13: 978-0671875923
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,333,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

VISIONARY, HEALTH GURU, weight loss/detox expert, and natural foods icon, Ann Louise Gittleman has always been a trendsetter. Highly respected as a health pioneer and award-winning author of 30 books, she revolutionized weight loss in her New York Times bestseller The Fat Flush Plan - and now tackles the hazards of being bombarded 24/7 by electromagnetic pollution in her latest book Zapped. Ann Louise has been recognized as one of the top ten nutritionists in the country by Self and received the American Medical Writers Association award for excellence.

Always ahead of her time, Ann Louise set the pace for new health protocols in the 1990s with four more breakthrough books. She was the first to warn of the environmental hazards of parasites in her classic Guess What Came to Dinner? Parasites and Your Health. In Your Body Knows Best, Ann Louise was the first to discuss the blood type/weight theory and proclaim that one diet may not be right for every body − an idea that is only now becoming mainstream. She was the first to offer natural remedies for menopausal symptoms in Super Nutrition for Menopause and is widely credited as the first to popularize the term "perimenopause" in her New York Times bestseller, Before the Change.

Ann Louise forged new ways of thinking about obesity early on in her career. She was the first to proclaim that obesity was caused by the lack of dietary fats and the wrong kind of carbohydrates in her book Beyond Pritikin, published in 1988. In Beyond Pritikin, she predicted that the fat-free, carb-rich diet was creating weight gain, sugar cravings, fatigue and diabetes.

AWARDS AND PRESS
A savvy and dynamic speaker, Ann Louise has been featured on 20/20, Dr. Phil, The View, Good Morning America, Extra! and The Early Show. In addition, her work has been featured on CNN, PBS, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CBN, Fox News, and the BBC. Her work has been featured in a myriad of national publications ranging from Time and Newsweek to Glamour and The Oprah Magazine. Millions of readers follow her advice through her column in First for Women magazine, and thousands visit her website www.annlouise.com on a daily basis.

ENGAGING HEALTH
Today, Ann Louise continues to dedicate herself to carving out new landmarks in holistic health and healing based on science and ancient healing arts. Through her many books, website, and blog (www.annlouise.com/blog), she offers a "virtual" health support system for men and women that provides educational and self-health assessment services to empower people everywhere to achieve total health. The bestselling author of The Fat Flush Plan has turned her attention to the hazards of the wireless age with her newest release--Zapped: Why Your Cell Phone Shouldn't Be Your Alarm Clock and 1,268 Ways to Outsmart the Hazards of Electronic Pollution (HarperOne, 2010).

Praise for Zapped:

"Dr. Gittleman provides a cogent, sobering look at the effects of ever present electromagnetic pollution on our biology and clear, practical advice on how to minimize our exposures and our risk. Please follow her advice, it may save your life and give you renewed energy."

--Mark Hyman, MD, New York Times best-selling author of The UltraMind Solution and How to Fix Your Broken Brain by Healing Your Body First

"Zapped is an empowering guide that will help you transform your body and your home into a sanctuary of health and healing."

--John Gray, PhD, author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

"The book caught my attention immediately because I've been reading about, studying, and writing about the effects of electropollution for several years. This book just adds further confirmation that we live in an 'electropolluted' world, and we need to protect ourselves the best we can... You can learn many, many more simple and more in-depth tips on how to protect yourself by reading Zapped."

--Susan Lark, MD, author of Hormone Revolution and editor of Women's Wellness Today

"You are being 'Zapped' whether you know it or not! When artificial and manmade frequencies from cellphones, wireless computers, and cordless phones constantly bombard your system, they alter the body's natural electromagnetic balance and affect DNA, organs, and glands. Packed with scientific backup, find out what you can do about electropollution--a public health concern more insidious than cigarettes, asbestos, and HRT combined. The life you save may be your own--and your loved ones."

--Hyla Cass, MD, author of 8 Weeks to Vibrant Health and former Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA School of Medicine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes MUCH MORE SENSE THAN EAT RIGHT FOR YOUR TYPE, February 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Your Body Knows Best (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved this book which I thought was well organized, timely, and tailor-made in its approach. I have lost 15 pounds in one month following the Fast Burner plan - I am a type B and am very full on the menus provided. Besides, this author covers all the possible ways to personalize a diet - not just blood type which has been proven to be THE LEAST SCIENTIFIC one of them all.... I like her style and I like her common sense approach.. When will there be More of Your Body Knows Best. Thanks.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but could be better organized, February 3, 2000

By 

Amy Vonk (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Body Knows Best (Mass Market Paperback)

I took the metabolic type test in this book which determined that I am a fast burner. Since I am also blood type B and of northern European descent, my eating plan should include red meat and full-fat dairy products to keep me satiated for a longer period of time (than eating pure carbs would). However, I found that eating this way didn't really make me feel any fuller. I think the author's ideas are refreshing (that one type of diet isn't right for everyone, and that you need to experiment to find out what's right for you), but I thought the book could be better organized, especially in the section where the three eating profiles are listed.

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Basic Nutrition Info!, April 7, 2000

By 

"kcm-smith" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Body Knows Best (Mass Market Paperback)

Not the easiest book to begin reading but well worth getting through the first two chapters. By far one of the BEST books I have ever read on nutrition and common food myths (and I am an AVID reader). This book really helps you learn to explore the problems inherent in the modern American diet. Has a back to basics approach that really makes you think about what you are putting into your mouth and what it does for your body. Even without the personalized eating plans the information on Carbs, fats and proteins is something everyone (but especially perpetual dieters) needs to read and understand. Buy this book for your health and just to learn about food in general. You will change the way you think about food.