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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2013
I appreciate books that make me think, that are well-written and referenced, even if I should not agree entirely with everything stated. In the field of nutrition there is still so much not known, and it is difficult to set up nutritional trials because there are necessarily going to be a lot of variables that cannot be controlled for.
At any rate, the authors do a rather good job reading the literature. Neither are nutritionists or dieticians, which means they don't have any established bones to promulgate, but they both are scientists, which means they can take a critical eye to the medical literature such as it is.
The book seems to end up somewhere between Paleo/Primal and Weston A. Price in approach, and indeed the authors draw upon those sensibilities while making this their own. They encourage more carbohydrate (but still far less than the Standard American Diet (SAD),or the My Plate recommendations. They encourage more carbs than I currently eat, but on one hand they're not simply dealing with a diet for weight reduction, but a lifetime plan of living. (When I get to the weight I want to reach, I'll eat more carbs, sensible ones, of course.)
They agree with the author of "Wheat Belly" about the hazards of gluten, and the toxicity of wheat and most grains. However, they make a good case for the inclusion of white rice in a diet. They make a good case for avoiding legumes (except the simple ones such as peas and string beans, which are good in moderation), and the point is made that for traditional Indian cuisine, which relies heavily on other legumes, people fermented or sprouted or did extensive preparations that we do not do much today. They also recommend against the use of vegetable-based oils (other than olive or coconut or a few nut oils), which definitely makes sense to me.
Whole dairy foods are seen as better than skim or low fat. In my case, I will consider the source (pastured/organic fatty foods carry less pesticide residues than other sources). I do think they could have gone more into pros and cons over dairy and types of dairy, but this is not a major issue.
I appreciate the emphasis on traditional foods; no modernly-processed items -- this is a real food diet. It is noted, rightfully so, that the obesity epidemic really took off with the instigation of all those things in the center aisles of the supermarket -- and today during my work drive time, a news item broke out that fructose/high fructose corn syrup doesn't register satiety in the brain, so we keep on eating... I have to look at that study, but do recollect that somewhere in the 1980's HFCS became a staple in our supermarket center aisles.
It would be a difficult diet for vegans to follow, if they could, but ovo-lacto vegetarians, if they supplement enough, should be fine with it.
The authors recommend a few sweeteners, such as stevia (which unfortunately I find tastes kind of like old socks, not sugar) -- in my perspective, I think these (if one can tolerate them taste-wise) might be good to wean people away from the flavor of "sweet", until we rely less and less upon them.
There's a section in this book on recommended, and not-recommended dietary supplements. Frankly, my only ones are Vitamin D3 (I work indoors all day) and NAC. The book makes the point that there is no real value in a multi-vitamin, because it is the balance between nutrients -- which hasn't been all that well thought out in most multi-vitamins -- that may be more important.
The Kindle version of this book: The links to the footnotes seem to be off a page or two. I hope this can be fixed, for convenience sake.
Some people wanted more menu plans. From someone who already cooks a lot, I don't need these. There is a basic menu plan with options at the end. The authors plan to put out a cookbook, and I am glad they didn't incorporate one in this book. (Cookbooks are rather useless to me on a Kindle where I have to squint while cooking, and I'd rather save physical space by having the philosophy and science in electronic form.)
I recommend this. I feel perfectly happy with my lack of sweets and potatoes in my diet, but I'm glad to see some positives about adding in rice when I go hit up all those Asian eateries I love -- or cook this stuff in my home.
Oh: PS -- eat all the greens and regular veggies you want. Just vary them around. They provide you with awesome micronutrients that no supplement bottle can manufacture..
At any rate, the authors do a rather good job reading the literature. Neither are nutritionists or dieticians, which means they don't have any established bones to promulgate, but they both are scientists, which means they can take a critical eye to the medical literature such as it is.
The book seems to end up somewhere between Paleo/Primal and Weston A. Price in approach, and indeed the authors draw upon those sensibilities while making this their own. They encourage more carbohydrate (but still far less than the Standard American Diet (SAD),or the My Plate recommendations. They encourage more carbs than I currently eat, but on one hand they're not simply dealing with a diet for weight reduction, but a lifetime plan of living. (When I get to the weight I want to reach, I'll eat more carbs, sensible ones, of course.)
They agree with the author of "Wheat Belly" about the hazards of gluten, and the toxicity of wheat and most grains. However, they make a good case for the inclusion of white rice in a diet. They make a good case for avoiding legumes (except the simple ones such as peas and string beans, which are good in moderation), and the point is made that for traditional Indian cuisine, which relies heavily on other legumes, people fermented or sprouted or did extensive preparations that we do not do much today. They also recommend against the use of vegetable-based oils (other than olive or coconut or a few nut oils), which definitely makes sense to me.
Whole dairy foods are seen as better than skim or low fat. In my case, I will consider the source (pastured/organic fatty foods carry less pesticide residues than other sources). I do think they could have gone more into pros and cons over dairy and types of dairy, but this is not a major issue.
I appreciate the emphasis on traditional foods; no modernly-processed items -- this is a real food diet. It is noted, rightfully so, that the obesity epidemic really took off with the instigation of all those things in the center aisles of the supermarket -- and today during my work drive time, a news item broke out that fructose/high fructose corn syrup doesn't register satiety in the brain, so we keep on eating... I have to look at that study, but do recollect that somewhere in the 1980's HFCS became a staple in our supermarket center aisles.
It would be a difficult diet for vegans to follow, if they could, but ovo-lacto vegetarians, if they supplement enough, should be fine with it.
The authors recommend a few sweeteners, such as stevia (which unfortunately I find tastes kind of like old socks, not sugar) -- in my perspective, I think these (if one can tolerate them taste-wise) might be good to wean people away from the flavor of "sweet", until we rely less and less upon them.
There's a section in this book on recommended, and not-recommended dietary supplements. Frankly, my only ones are Vitamin D3 (I work indoors all day) and NAC. The book makes the point that there is no real value in a multi-vitamin, because it is the balance between nutrients -- which hasn't been all that well thought out in most multi-vitamins -- that may be more important.
The Kindle version of this book: The links to the footnotes seem to be off a page or two. I hope this can be fixed, for convenience sake.
Some people wanted more menu plans. From someone who already cooks a lot, I don't need these. There is a basic menu plan with options at the end. The authors plan to put out a cookbook, and I am glad they didn't incorporate one in this book. (Cookbooks are rather useless to me on a Kindle where I have to squint while cooking, and I'd rather save physical space by having the philosophy and science in electronic form.)
I recommend this. I feel perfectly happy with my lack of sweets and potatoes in my diet, but I'm glad to see some positives about adding in rice when I go hit up all those Asian eateries I love -- or cook this stuff in my home.
Oh: PS -- eat all the greens and regular veggies you want. Just vary them around. They provide you with awesome micronutrients that no supplement bottle can manufacture..
