Hawaii Diet (Hardcover)

~ Terry Shintani (Author) "Congratulations. By picking up this book, you have taken the first step toward changing your life..." (more)
Key Phrases: Native Hawaiians, Whole Oatmeal, Hawaii Health Program (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Hawaii Diet appears to be another fad diet waiting to crash the bestseller list. It has a hip name, a celebrity endorsement, and alluring terminology, and it makes outrageous claims, including, "Eat all you want" and "Lose up to 30 pounds in three weeks." To its credit, it advocates a low-fat, high-fiber, almost-vegan eating plan (the type of diet that has been shown to help lower cholesterol), but few people will lose weight when allowed to live high on the hog, calorie-wise.

The Hawaii Diet is based on Dr. Terry Shintani's Mass Index of Food (SMI), based on the number of pounds of a given food it takes to provide a day's worth of calories. The idea of the diet is to eat foods with a high SMI, such as celery (SMI=32.8), lettuce (SMI=39), and papaya (SMI=31.2) and avoid foods (some of which can still be part of a healthy diet) with a low SMI, like peanuts (SMI=0.9), bacon (0.8), and butter (SMI=0.8). To help you follow the plan, Shintani includes meal plans, recipes, and tips on how to make the diet work best for your eating habits, plus six ancient Hawaiian spiritual principles that are meant to enhance your Hawaiian Diet experience. While you will probably lose weight on the Hawaii Diet, some people may find it hard to follow, especially because the SMI is given for less than 200 foods. There are definitely better weight-loss books on the market, such as The 20/30 Fat and Fiber Plan. --Ellen Albertson

Review

Herman Aizawa, Ph.D. I lost 35 pounds in four months without counting calories. In the first three weeks my cholesterol was reduced by 103 points. -- Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Atria (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671026666
• ISBN-13: 978-0671026660
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #494,874 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Super book (only drawback are some of the foods you may need, January 14, 2001

By	"roger-walker" (Morrisville, PA USA) - See all my reviews

I've experimented with Dr. Ornish's plan, Dr. Atkins' plan, and with vegetarianism; I am NOT running Ornish down, but I gotta admit I DO like tuna fish now and again (by the way, the tuna fish I buy is not only dirt-cheap but is actually totally devoid of fat; and even regular canned-in-water tuna is incredibly low in fat). So Ornish's plan is not something I could strictly adhere to. Dr. Atkins' Diet led me gain body fat and weight; I dropped that like a hot brick. Vegetarianism is cool but it got to be a hassle with my family. Then....I chanced upon THIS book (and in fact got this book from my brother for Christmas).

Dr. Shintani is sort of like Dr. Deepak Chopra: He combines the best of Western medicine with the best of the ancient medicine of his own culture (in Chopra's case, that's Ayurvedic medicine; in Shintani's, of course, it's the wisdom and medicines of ancient Hawaii, before we Westerners screwed things up for them). And he explains -- without bashing, or badmouthing, or distorting facts to make them fit what he wants -- how in fact his diet plan can work.

Simply put, we all know that if you don't eat too many calories you either will not gain weight or in fact you'll LOSE weight. Ah, but how do you do that without feeling deprived? Basically by eating whole, unprocessed, natural foods which not only are low in fat and high in nutrients, but are high in satiety value (you'd have to eat a whole heck of a lot of them to get anywhere NEAR 2000 calories, plus a serving of them would fill you up so you feel satisfied and won't feel like eating more anyway). He suggests things like poi, taro, whole grains, non-dairy and non-meat sources of protein and calcium, and very low-fat foods. BUT he allows for various exceptions: For instance, you can use egg whites or skim milk if you like, or eat tuna and other low-fat meats and fish. He includes a Hawaii/Pacific diet, a Hawaii/mainstream American diet, and a Hawaii/Meditteranean diet so that you DO have choices and variations.

I would have given this book 5 stars, but for one little thing: Some of the recipes call for things that quite frankly we don't see too much of here on the East Coast (my produce store, what with its wonderful choices of apples, pears, cabbage, tomatoes, etc., just refuses to stock breadfruit! phooey!). So, you might not find the recipe section extremely useful, although many of the recipes, such as his low-fat oatmeal, are easy to make and really good too. Other than for that one little qualm I've got, it's a great book. At the very least, check it out: You'll learn a lot from this guy.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It really works, September 26, 1999

By A Customer

I bought this book for my father because he needed a diet he could follow. In his own words, "I eat like a pig" and he is STILL losing weight. Since he started following the Shintani plan two months ago, he has lost a whopping 40 pounds and is healthier than he has ever been in his life. I myself have eaten the foods prescribed (and reciped) in the book and found them to be tasty and satisfying. The foods are based on food we eat all the time here in Hawaii, so being on this diet is not like giving up the kinds of food we love to eat. May not be suitable for everyone's palate (but what diet really is?), but I have found it a wonderful way to get healthy.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book with meaning-a diet that's workable-a life w/spirit, October 26, 1999

By	"loisr" (Maui, Hawaii) - See all my reviews

I have read the previous reviews and I feel that they have missed the point entirely. While it may appear on the surface to be a "fad" diet, it truly can and is a way of life here on the Islands. For those who have not visited Hawaii, you probably cannot appreciate the aloha spirit of life that this book endorses. This diet embraces what Hawaiians feel in the heart and offers a path to potential weight loss. I'd say try it before you knock it.