The Coconut Diet: The Secret Ingredient That Helps You Lose Weight While You Eat Your Favorite Foods (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A slight variation on the standard low carb theme, The Coconut Diet's biggest strength is the recipes. Author Cherie Calbom (The Ultimate Smoothie Book) includes a wide range of easy, deeply flavorful sauces, soups and condiments that will keep the interest of the pickiest palate while still following the fairly strict limitations of the accompanying diet.

While the ostensible goal is weight loss, many of the chapters concern themselves with the varied symptoms of poor health--low energy, general aches and pains and digestive troubles particularly. Suggestions for feeling better center around cleansing juice fasts, supplements, and colonics, along with a recommendation of adding virgin coconut oil (a saturated fat created with medium-chain triglycerides) to each meal, for a total of two to three tablespoons every day. A healthy fat with a bad reputation, it does have the benefit of helping you feel full during a limited-calorie diet--and if you find that it lives up to the somewhat miraculous claims outlined in the book, so much the better.

Aimed more at folks trying to achieve a point of basic health rather than already active people working towards optimum fitness, many of the chapters shun allopathic health care, claiming that many standard tests aren't up to scratch and that proper diagnosis can be achieved by attending to your symptoms. For readers who are open to looking at a range of possible solutions to their health issues, the naturopathic ideas offered here may well provide assistance--but whether a single tropical oil can measure up to all the claims is something lab scientists and natural nutritionists will argue about for some time to come. Jill Lightner

Product Description

DESCRIPTION: Following the success of The Ultimate Smoothie Book, Cherie Calbom offers this diet based on groundbreaking research that proves coconut oil promotes weight loss.

Low-carb diets like Atkins and South Beach are the hottest weight loss programs on the market, but they could work faster and more effectively with the addition of one ingredient: coconut oil. Not only does it boost metabolism and speed weight loss, there is evidence that suggests that adding a small amount of coconut oil into ones daily diet can help lower cholesterol; improve conditions such as diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, IBS, Crohns, and other digestive disorders; enhance thyroid production; and increase overall energy. THE COCONUT DIET offers a 21-day weight loss program and includes a four-week cleansing regimen for readers who want more benefits. With meal plans and more than 70 recipes to help readers put the plan into action, as well as nutritional facts, tips for easy preparation, ingredient explanation, storage suggestions, and many other creative details, readers will learn how to start reaping the benefits of coconut oil today.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (January 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446577162
• ISBN-13: 978-0446577168
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #292,954 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

93 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dietary path to health and wholeness, June 20, 2005

By	Michele L. Libin "Health enthusiast and healt... (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Cherie Calbom has written the book I have been waiting for. Because of my concern about nutritionally sound weight loss and wholistic health, I wanted to have a book that encompassed each of these areas.
As a biologist who has pursued health and nutrition for most of my life, I've tried many of the popular diet programs throughout the years. Many of them work for a while, yet do not provide long-term health benefits or are damaging to the body over time.
I was introduced to the benefits of coconut oil before I read this book, and they are indeed wide-ranging---coconut oil added to the diet increases health and wellness. However, most of the people I have coached need a clear path to run on. This book provides that pathway by giving clear instructions that can work for anyone, regardless of where they started or what they know. The book has a programmed pathway to effective weight loss, as well as instructions on how to restore the body to the health we were all created to enjoy. Many people I know have reported excellent results after only a short time, not only with weight loss, but also with increased energy and a sense of well-being. For those with atherosclerosis, liver congestion, high cholesterol, or other serious problems, Cherie's Phase II Liver Cleanse can help the body restore health when properly followed.
The book is fun to read, has great recipes, plus guidance for overcoming obstacles to weight loss, including emotional issues. I was especially impressed with the sections on blood sugar imbalances, thyroid problems, and candida, which have been a challenge for me personally as well as many of the people I coach. I highly recommend it.

90 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coconuts Rehabilitated!, February 5, 2005

By	Kenneth L. Bakken (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Cherie Calbom, in collaboration with her behavioral medicine specialist husband, John Calbom, has once again produced a scholarly and eminently useful book on nutrition and diet. Obesity is now epidemic in America and new ways of thinking and acting are required. As a physician and public health scientist, I have several patients who not been able to lose weight on any kind of diet and who are now shedding pounds using the Coconut Diet. One woman has lost 50 pounds over the past six months! Good science, tasty food, and accessible writing make this a necessary cookbook for every kitchen in our obese society. I highly recommend it!
Kenneth L. Bakken, D.O., Dr.P.H.
President
HealthVision International, Inc.

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Truly Delicious Diet, August 17, 2005

By	HealthiaCynthia (Canada) - See all my reviews

I came to Cherie Colbom's book by way of a sort of synchronicity: my husband and I had been in the Philippines a year ago and had fallen in love with coconuts and had found the Tropical Traditions site, and I had read and was following the precepts of Jordan Rubin's "The Maker's Diet". I also have Sally Fallon/Mary G Enig's "Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and Diet Dictocrats". The "Coconut Diet" is a nice third piece in this triad. Like Jordan Rubin, Cherie brings a gentle Christian perspective to her lifestyle approach to better health. I also have a couple of her "Juice Lady" books, so this is an excellent, update and complement to them. I have given away all my vegetarian cookbooks and we have sworn off soy products as a result of this book and other literature (see Dr. Mercola's site online for more information on soy). Great recipes and an easy-to-follow three week regimen that includes directions on cleanses, etc. A comprehensive look at the new paradigm shift in the alternative health world.