Low-Carb Book Reviews

'Paleo Pals: Jimmy and the Carrot Rocket Ship' by Sarah Fragoso

2012-02-12T16:42:00.000-08:00

I have a great deal of respect for the work Sarah Fragoso, author of Everyday Paleo (listen to my June 2011 podcast interview with Sarah about this book), is doing to promote the healthy Paleo diet to a generation of people who are severely carbohydrate-addicted, sugar-stoned, fat-phobic and getting more obese and chronically ill than ever before. Now that she has changed her life as an adult and sharing in every way imaginable what she has learned with her adult peers, Sarah has turned her focus of attention to a group of people she feels so incredibly passionate towards as a mom who cares about health and nutrition--KIDS! She wholeheartedly agrees that reaching the next generation with the Paleo message is essential to producing a radical shift in our society to be healthier through proper diet and fitness methods. That's why she started this brand new series of books designed just for kids to teach them about what Paleo living is all about beginning with Paleo Pals: Jimmy and the Carrot Rocket Ship (don't miss my February 14, 2012 interview with Sarah in Episode 546 about this new children's book on "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show").

One thing that especially struck me was the beautiful illustrations that basically tell the story without the use of any words. Interestingly, the illustrator remains anonymous and did not want any credit for his work to be attributed to him on the front cover. He did such an excellent job with vibrant character depictions, appropriate expressions and the look and feel of a Saturday morning cartoon (wouldn't it be cool to see a "Paleo Pals" cartoon coming in the not-too-distant future--it could happen!). This book for the illustrations alone would be worth getting--but Sarah did a truly amazing job with the script weaving together a tale that I wish more kids would be exposed to.

Superheroes are glorified in most of today's animated films and Paleo Pals falls right within the vein of that concept. In fact, the three masked and caped heroes--Phoenix, Piper and Parker--kinda look like characters from The Incredibles. This story centers around a little boy named Jimmy (LOVE that name, Sarah--HA!) who isn't at all interested in the healthy Paleo meals that his parents want him to eat. So the triple-P Paleo Pals hop into their carrot ship to give little Jimmy a lesson in what Paleo is really all about. They explain that every kid kinda rebels against eating this way at first, learn why quality food is so important for them to eat, discover that most of the "food" he has been eating comes from factories that do not care about your health because they put all kind of dastardly ingredients in the products, gain an appreciation of where his foods come from by visiting farmer's markets and local farms, and kindle a love for real food that is so sorely missing from the dinner plates of most children these days. I couldn't help but grin from ear to ear as I flipped through these oversized pages with the awe and wonder of a little one learning about this stuff for the first time.

Sarah also does an outstanding job at dispelling the myth that kids need to fuel up on carbohydrates to have energy to play. Nope! She has the Paleo Pals share with Jimmy how eating the wrong foods can make you feel sick and tired, angry and prone to fighting, and worse. But if you feed your body properly (with a Paleo diet), then it is possible to be bursting with energy galore and to excel in athletics. While many look at diets as a means for losing weight, Sarah gently reminds parents and children that Paleo is about living optimally healthy and fit. And that also means being intellectually fit as the story continues of how one child overcame her nutritional deficiencies to begin excelling at playing an instrument because she could think clearer without the brain fog that came from consuming excessive sugar and other unhealthy "food" ingredients. There are biological changes that take place when you switch to a healthy eating and lifestyle plan like Paleo and this book makes it all seem normal for the children and parents who will be reading this.

When the Paleo Pals have completed their mission with Jimmy, he excitedly rushes in to tell his parents that he's ready to eat Paleo willingly so he can experience all of the benefits this way of eating has to offer him. In the end, Jimmy got his own superpowers to share what he has learned with other kids who were once like him. I can't tell you how sorely needed a resource like this is for parents struggling for a way to connect with their kids about eating healthy. While I don't personally have any children of my own, I can think of at least 10 parents who desperately need to get a copy of Paleo Pals to help their defiant kid understand why they can't and, more importantly, shouldn't have Fruit Loops for breakfast or McDonald's for supper. Giving kids an appreciation and a love for healthy eating is perhaps the greatest gift you can give them as they enter adulthood. I can see this book becoming a classic resource for families for many years to come. Can you imagine a kid who is exposed to Paleo Pals now having kids of their own and reading this book to their kids someday? It could (and probably will) happen.

Not content with just telling a fun story, Sarah adds in some tips and tricks towards the back of the book for making Paleo a normal part of your child's life. The food list is priceless for newbies who may not know what you can and cannot eat on a Paleo diet. And what would a Sarah Fragoso book be without some yummy, kid-friendly recipes like Zippy Zucchini Pizza Bites, Paleo Pals Pancakes, Rockin' Rocket Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, and Energizing Egg Mini Muffins? So it's dinner and show all wrapped up in one remarkable book that your child will surely love and enjoy over and over again. And it's never too early to start exposing your son or daughter to these concepts and they're never too old to be reminded of the incredible benefits that await them from eating this way. THANK YOU Sarah Fragoso for the foresight of looking for ways to engage the next generation of adults who will quite possibly be leading the way to making Paleo mainstream in the years to come!

'Nourished' by Judy Barnes Baker

2012-02-01T18:09:00.000-08:00

It's almost hard to believe that it has been five years since Judy Barnes Baker released her first low-carb cookbook called CARB WARS: Sugar Is The New Fat when she burst on the scene introducing some truly remarkable recipes that embrace the concept of transforming traditionally high-carb dishes into ones that can be both nourishing and blood sugar-stabilizing for her and her husband to enjoy. I've gotten to know Judy personally since 2007 through her blog, her lectures and attendance on the annual Low-Carb Cruise as well as through frequent e-mail and telephone exchanges over the years. Today I consider Judy a dear friend and a fellow crusader in this battle for the hearts and minds of people regarding what healthy low-carb living is real all about. And in the years that have transpired since she released CARB WARS there has been some really curious circumstances that have led to the creation of a second book of recipes. But this is no ordinary tale--it's one of the most intriguing back stories behind a book that I've ever heard in my life with her sophomore release entitled Nourished: A Cookbook for Health, Weight Loss, and Metabolic Balance. I'll share more specifics about this unbelievable story of how this book came about in just a moment. But first I want to brag on this incredible new cookbook that deserves to be in the kitchen of everyone who eats low-carb, Paleo or healthy in general!

One thing you can always be assured of with a Judy Barnes Baker book is professional brilliance in everything about it. From the cover photos featuring mouthwatering, succulent low-carb recipes as well as plenty of gorgeous photographed meal ideas sprinkled throughout the pages, it would be nearly impossible for you to say eating a healthy low-carb is "boring" as it is sometimes described by naysayers. In Nourished, you get lots of recipes but also specific menu-planning options to know which dishes are paired well together. For novice cooks who need that guidance, this is an invaluable resource and one that I've never seen before in any cookbook I've ever used.

At the beginning of Nourished, Judy presents an overview of why high-fat, low-carb diets are preferred for weight loss, controlling diabetes, and getting a handle on a whole host of common chronic health conditions like Alzheimer's, heart disease and stroke. The one common denominator in obesity and metabolic syndrome seems to be the negative impact that comes from consuming carbohydrates which promotes fat storage and declining health. It doesn't happen overnight so most people don't understand the urgency in embracing the concepts of what I like to call livin' la vida low-carb. But as an old Baptist preacher always used to say, "Payday someday." And yet it doesn't have to be that way which is why Judy provides a basic course in how low-carb diets work, what benefits you can expect to see, the safety of following such a plan, and why the continued "fat phobia" in our culture is not based on the science. For the uninitiated it's an excellent introduction to the key concepts behind the low-carb lifestyle. And it's a friendly reminder for those of us who have been eating this way for a while.

I appreciate that Judy doesn't just have you jump into making these dishes without offering up her wise experience in working with ingredients you may not necessarily be used to using in a healthy cookbook. Saturated fat is rarely seen in recipes dedicated to being healthy and yet this is an ingredient that gives many of these recipes the flavor profile that will have you coming back to this cookbook time and time again. And for those who are concerned about the health ramifications from consuming real, whole foods like butter, coconut oil and tallow, for example, Judy makes a compelling argument for why you should be including them in your healthy diet. She also educates the reader about the various sweeteners, flours, thickeners and such that will make your low-carb cooking adventures as worry-free as possible.

So, what about all those incredible low-carb recipes? Of course, there are plenty of recipes for your regular daily meals included in the "Everyday Food" section in Part 1 with options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Part 2 offers up suggestions for "Special Occasions and Entertaining" for those times when you have guests in your home and you want to wow them with your low-carb culinary excellence. From appetizer to the main course and even dessert, Judy's got you covered. And if you're worried about what to do during the various holidays that take place during the year, Part 3 is just for you featuring "Seasonal and Holiday Menus." Everything from the perfect Valentine's Day dinner, Easter dinner, Thanksgiving, Christmas, you name it is included in this book. Take the worries out of these stressful cooking events knowing you are making delicious, homemade food that is tasty and healthy for everyone who will be consuming it. Part 4 teaches you some of the "Basic Recipes" that you will use time and time again in your kitchen for various purposes like dressings, sauces and condiments. And finally, Part 5 includes lots of ideas for "Snacks, Food for Travel, and 'Freebies'" that answer the age-old question, "What is something quick I can eat when I'm on-the-go all the time?" Judy answers that quite thoroughly with ideas galore for you to enjoy, embrace and implement into your hectic lifestyle that nevertheless deserves to be Nourished.

In the back of the book, Judy helps you identify and source the ingredients you will need to make these recipes she has created by connecting you with web sites and brick and mortar stores that carry these specialty products. It's all conveniently wrapped up in a 350+ page book that you will reference time and time again in the years to come! And this book is so special that it includes not just one, but three incredible forewords from some of the biggest names in low-carb research and practice: Dr. Mary Vernon is the famous low-carb physician treating mostly obese and diabetic patients with carbohydrate-restriction in Lawrence, Kansas and is educating her fellow medical professionals about the benefits of low-carb diets through Innovative Metabolic Solutions; Jackie Eberstein is a registered nurse who worked with the late, great Dr. Robert C. Atkins in his complementary medicine practice in New York City for nearly three decades and still works with The Veronica Atkins Foundation to educate people about the benefits of the Atkins Lifestyle; and Dr. Richard Feinman is a biochemistry professor at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, New York and the Founder of The Nutrition & Metabolism Society dedicated to elevating the science in the discussion of diet and health. It says a lot about the value of Nourished to have three such distinguished and credentialed experts endorse the amazing work that Judy Barnes Baker has invested into this project.

With that said, here's the unbelievable story behind this book that you may not know about unless you've heard my May 2011 podcast interview with Judy about it. After writing her first low-carb cookbook CARB WARS in 2007, she was attending the International Association of Culinary Professionals conference and had a "chance" encounter with a representative from the American Diabetes Association (that ended up turning into a full-fledged opportunity to write an official ADA-recommended menu-styled cookbook for them). Judy was shocked, of course, because the ADA has never been a fan of the high-fat, low-carb nutritional approach for people with diabetes (except for the purposes of weight loss up to one year beginning in 2008). Skeptical, she agreed to write the book and submitted a thorough 32-page book proposal with 15 sample recipes that she never expected them to accept. A few months later she received news that the ADA board had approved her proposal and she began working on her book in the Fall 2008. For more than a year, Judy was faithfully submitting her recipes and nutritional information to them with very little feedback about how she was doing. In fact, the book actually became available for pre-order on the McGraw-Hill web site and she thought the book was actually going to happen.

Realizing what a golden opportunity this was to promote the low-carb message to diabetics who desperately needed to eat this way, Judy was especially careful not to be too "in your face" with her high-fat, low-carb recipes and took painstaking mindfulness and tact in creating recipes that she thought they would approve of. After months of “dead silence” after turning in the draft of her book, she realized something was wrong when they started promoting the book with a front cover that included an "austere looking plate" of bland, low-fat food that didn't resemble any of the actual recipes she created for the book. Shortly thereafter, she received a conference call from the editors encouraging her to make "changes" that they deemed important, namely for her to lower the fat content of the recipes by choosing lean meats, whole grains, low-fat and fat-free dairy, reducing the salt content of the recipes and switching from using butter to margarine. She politely explained to them that a healthy low-carb diet for diabetics is one that is high in fat, not low-fat. They gave her an ultimatum--make the changes or it would not be published. To her credit, Judy refused to back down from her principled stance that a healthy low-carb diet is one that includes fat...so she walked away from the lucrative deal despite being told by the ADA representative she was working with that she had written "a good book."

Though disappointed, Judy was not about to let all of her hard work go to waste and began pursuing alternative means for getting her book published under the original title The Healthy Edge: A Cookbook Based on the Latest Science of Nutrition and Metabolism. She started re-writing parts of the book where she had been careful about appeasing the ADA and made them like she wanted them to be. I'm sure that "Fat Phobia" section in the beginning of Nourished was a direct response to this rejection by the ADA of her book. But she knew she had to speak the truth about what low-carb living is all about. That's why she teamed up with the Nutrition & Metabolism Society and Innovative Metabolic Solutions to get this book published at long last in 2012. Thanks to lots of guest contributions from her friends in the low-carb community who provided their own recipes for this book, the book is a perfect collection for anyone seeking to live optimally healthy.

Judy has a personal dream to sell 50,000 copies of this book to show the ADA how foolish they were to screw around with someone who was simply trying to do her part to truly help people with diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome by providing recipes and information that could quite possibly change their lives forever. I think this is a noble cause worth rallying behind by doing our part to help Judy reach this goal she has set. It's time to send the ADA a message--high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb living is saving lives, normalizing blood sugars, lowering A1c levels, reducing and eliminating the dependence on insulin and diabetes medications, and giving hope to people who feel hopeless about a disease that has reached epidemic levels. You can go the route of famous people like Paula Deen who choose to keep eating carbohydrates while taking questionable prescription diabetes drugs or you can eat deliciously healthy recipes made with real butter and other fats while eschewing the blood sugar and insulin-raising effects of carbohydrates. The choice is yours!

'Well Fed' by Melissa Joulwan

2012-01-16T05:21:00.000-08:00

When we look back on the year 2011, it will remembered by those of us who closely follow nutrition and health as the year of the Paleo cookbooks. Here is just a small sampling of the most amazing and best recipe books that have released this year highlighting the virtues of healthy low-carb, Paleo-friendly dishes for you to nourish the bodies of your health-conscious family:

- The Paleo Diet Cookbook by Dr. Loren Cordain
- Paleo Comfort Foods by Charles and Julie Mayfield
- Make It Paleo by Bill Staley and Hayley Mason
- Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals by Mark Sisson

It's an impressive assortment of books that absolutely must be on the bookshelf of anyone and everyone who makes this way of eating their preferred plan of choice. And the good news is there are MANY more to come in 2012 and beyond as people start becoming more and more familiar with the benefits of going grain-free, sugar-free, legume-free, and dairy-free to attain optimal health. Whether you are new to the Paleo, primal, ancestral or low-carb lifestyle or if you're a long-time seasoned veteran at it, we all need help sometimes sprucing up our diet and keeping it from becoming the drab, boring and undesirable lifestyle that it is stereotyped as being.

That's why I'm happy to share with you one more truly amazing cookbook gem that released in 2011 that I'm sure will become a go-to resource in health-focused kitchens across the United States and around the world. It's called Well Fed: Paleo Recipes for People Who Love to Eat by Melissa Joulwan from "The Clothes Make The Girl" blog (NOTE: There's also an e-book version of the book and special sneak peek of the book available at Melissa's web site).

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Melissa's blog and story about how she came to the Paleo diet, I highly encourage you to check out her blog and learn more about the woman behind this book. Of course, she divulges much of her life's story at the beginning of Well Fed which will give you an appreciation for who she is now and why a cookbook was a logical choice for her to write. The "Dina-Chow" that's sprinkled throughout this book is simply awesome and there's no other way to describe it. The photos of the food accompanying each recipe is the actual finished recipe right before it was devoured by the Joulwan clan. Your mouth can't help but become a waterfall in anticipation of what is sure to be some of the most interesting food you've ever eaten. Where else can you get Paleo low-carb versions of a wide variety of ethnic-based foods like "Chocolate Chili," "BBQ Fork Fried Rice" (made without rice), "Shepherd's Pie," and so much more in these 174 pages of absolute decadence? Flipping through the pages of this book, I honestly wanted to try EVERY SINGLE RECIPE--it's THAT good!

I could appreciate that Melissa made a convenient one-page called "The 'No' List" on page 3 followed immediately by another quickie one-page called "The 'Yes' List." I HIGHLY encourage you newbies to this way of eating to photocopy these pages and post them on your refrigerator door, kitchen cabinets, bathroom mirrors...wherever you'll look at them on a daily basis! Absorb what is shared on these pages and you will quickly become smarter on nutrition than about 99% of the population, including most doctors, dietitians and those who pretend to know what the heck they're talking about regarding nutritional health on television (*cough* Dr. Oz *cough*). These really are the bare knuckles basics to Paleo eating spelled out more succinctly than anything else I've ever seen. And that's saying a lot because I've seen it all. The bottom line: just eat real food! This is a MAJOR theme of what it actually means to be "well fed."

While this book will likely be placed in the "diet" or "health" section of bookstores or on places like Amazon, Melissa is quick to point out that she considers this book as neither. It could more accurately be called an "inspirational" book that will tickle your taste buds with recipes that will as she puts it "make you want to smash in your face with joy." Now that's an image I won't soon forget! It's part and parcel of the magic that Melissa Joulwan brings to the table as an ever-enthusiastic and unapologetic defender of her simple philosophy of "Just Eat" and everything else will fall into place and take care of itself.

Since much of the book includes recipes that you won't likely see anywhere else, I recommend that you pay close attention to the "About The Recipes" where you can get a lesson on the most common ingredients and cooking tools/methods you'll be using and how they work to produce these recipes. You'll save yourself a lot of headaches later if you heed this advice from someone who's been there, done that already. And Melissa also reminds you that the presentation of the food is an important element in being Well Fed as well. You'll rarely eat out in a restaurant again if you apply what she teaches on page 13.

The nitty gritty of how to make this book work well for you is on page 16 when she describes "The Weekly Cookup" that includes shopping lists, meal planning, and how to construct a meal that will knock the socks off of the people you are serving (yes, even your kids will think you're a culinary rock star after eating these meals!). Making sure you have the right amount and kind of foods on hand at all times that you can grab and start cooking with is the key. Then it's just a matter of opening up "Your Paleo Pantry" and pulling out your choice of some of the most remarkable spices and seasonings that will awaken the foods you are about to consume. Melissa also tells you what "Essential Kitchen Tools" to use to be the best darn cook in your neighborhood. Sound impossible? I guess you gotta get Well Fed to find out!

I'm always curious about how the recipes in cookbooks like this one are displayed. But Melissa made it a lot more fun than I've ever seen before. She gives you the title of the recipe, adds a cutesy yet descriptive subtitle (i.e. for the "Olive Oil Mayo" recipe, she included the subtitle "You'll Never Consider Store-Bought Again"), tells you the serving size, how long it takes to prepare and cook the recipe, a brief commentary on the recipe itself, the ingredients to use, the directions, an empty "Notes" section for you to add your own variations to the cookbook for your personal use, a "How You Could Do That" section for suggested variations, as well as "Tasty Ideas" about what you could make to complement this particular recipe. It's this kind of practical, real-world advice that sets this cookbook apart from the ones I've seen a million times before.

If you wanna know what being Well Fed is really all about, then all you gotta do is gaze your eyes at the photo used on the back cover:

'Nuff said! Isn't it time you became Well Fed?

'Free The Animal' by Richard Nikoley

2012-01-16T05:19:00.000-08:00

I have been a BIG FAN of the writings and work of Paleo health blogger Richard Nikoley from the insanely-popular "Free The Animal" blog for several years and consider him a great friend and champion of what healthy living is really all about. His no-holds-barred style is in-your-face and unapologetic as he seeks to help others find the health and weight changes that have eluded them for years. Sure, he can be a bit rough around the edges for some people with his colorful, expressive language. But it's indicative of a sincere passion that runs deep and wide at the root of everything Nikoley shares with the Paleo community through his thought-provoking posts. With the highly-interactive e-book Free The Animal: Lose Weight & Fat With The Paleo Diet, he is taking the best of everything he has personally learned through this journey and wrapping it up in a convenient package designed to arm virtually anyone who desires weight loss and vastly improved health to make it happen for themselves. There are so many clickable links to a treasure trove of information included in this e-book that you'll spend months trying to go through them all!

In case you haven't noticed, the Paleo/primal/ancestral lifestyle has taken off like gangbusters in recent years and for good reason. People like Robb Wolf, Mark Sisson, Art DeVany and many others who are cited throughout the pages of this e-book have brought some much-needed exposure to a common-sense approach to eating the way we were biologically intended to. And guess what? It ain't all the highly-processed industrialized carbage that passes for "food" these days in American households. For those who are still mired in the dietary delusion that nourishing meals come in a box, Nikoley arms these people with some easy-to-implement ways to step up their food quality without sacrificing taste and satisfaction. As someone who has been through this transition personally, Nikoley bestows great wisdom on a subject that warrants your uninterrupted attention. I've been there myself and have up-and-down whiplash from nodding in agreement with much of what is contained in this e-book.

You'll learn why the diet that most people eat in modern-day society is wrong on so many levels. Most disturbing is that even the nutritional concepts that are promoted as "healthy" and considered the holy grail of what to eat for optimal health (low-fat, low-calorie, heavy on whole grains and mysteriously meatless) are bassackwards from what people really need to be consuming. The historical perspective about agriculture and how the special interests protecting it don't give a rip about your health is most definitely worth the price of this book alone! And, of course, what would a book by Richard Nikoley be without a rant or two about the insanity of choosing to become a vegan or vegetarian? That one's a CAN'T MISS chapter for sure! Classic Nikoley.

As expected, there's plenty of nutritional myth-busting strewn throughout this e-book, including anti-conventional wisdom bombs like saturated fat is healthy, high cholesterol may not be such a big deal, and so much more that will rock your world and turn everything you thought you knew about health clear on its head. I love Nikoley's concept of listening attentively to your own body and responding accordingly. If you eat something and you have a negative response, then that's your body trying to tell you not to eat that anymore or to make appropriate adjustments to your consumption of it. Whether it's the scale or your cholesterol test results, it's always better to hear precisely what your body is saying rather than relying on what a machine or traditionally-trained physician is telling you about your health. It may be difficult for some people to swallow the truth that their doctor knows very little about nutrition and are more apt to prescribe risky prescription medications that most likely won't get to the root of the problem. Times have changed and the Internet has armed patients with more knowledge about alternative health than ever before in the history of man. Nikoley is on the front lines of this paradigm shift.

Practicality is a central theme you find early and often throughout this e-book. From disease prevention to proper supplementation as well as knowing precisely what a real foods-based Paleo diet actually looks like, Nikoley doesn't leave you hanging wondering what you need to do to be in the best possible solution to find the success you desire on your newfound Paleo lifestyle. Full details on making that all-important transition from the Standard American Diet or even a so-called "healthy" diet are included for your convenience so you never feel left all alone to do this on your own. It's not really about low-carb, low-fat, or anything that typically dominates conversations about diet. Zeroing in on food quality and cleaning up your menus with the most nourishing, delicious foods that are right for you (and that will differ from person to person) is the crystal clear message Nikoley is promoting in this e-book. And even long-time Paleo dieters may learn a thing or two about how they can freshen up and tweak their own plan to make it even better. Perhaps the implementation of some intermittent fasting (IF) which warrants an entire chapter could be the missing element in maximizing your results. Experimenting and seeing how a variety of strategies could work for you is something Nikoley would encourage as a way to use the information contained in this e-book.

And with all the talk about diet, let's not forget about exercise which also plays a role within the "evolutionary" concept at the heart of Paleo living. Nikoley says you only need to devote an hour weekly to find the results you are looking for. And guess what "Biggest Loser" fans--it ain't hours and hours of cardio exercise! He's brutally honest about the lack of changes that people who walk on a treadmill generally see in their body composition and this e-book reveals the unique kind of exercise that will deliver the fat loss and body composition changes most people are desperate for. And if weight loss is your goal, Nikoley shows you some simple concepts about what you can do to make that happen (and get healthier and fit in the process!). While the title of the book insinuates that this is a "diet" book, what you'll quickly realize is that this is more about optimizing your opportunities to be as biologically healthy as you can possibly be. Isn't that what we're all striving for (or should be)?

What would a Richard Nikoley book be without some of his trademark Paleo-friendly recipes? Yeah baby, these mouthwatering dishes that have become some of my favorite posts on the "Free The Animal" blog show up in this e-book to tantalize your taste buds with satisfyingly succulent dishes that will rock your universe--and they're anything but boring for those of you who are wondering! Whether it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you'll undoubtedly find something to tickle your fancy on those days you choose to nourish your body (and that won't necessarily be everyday with Nikoley's recommendation to purposely fast and eat at sporadic times to keep the body from getting too used to any one routine). Finally, if you need some inspiration from others who have been there, done that about why you should begin this journey, then there are ample numbers of uplifting weight and health success stories to encourage you to make this happen for yourself. There's no time like the present to apply these principles from the past to give you the future you've always dreamed of!

Need one more more really good reason to get this e-book? Gee, how about the fact that the price point is just a measly $3.99? Are you freakin' kidding me?! This e-book is EASILY worth $30 for the high-quality information it contains--so it is so well worth the price of that Egg McMuffin and coffee you were gonna buy from Mickey D's but really don't need anyway. Yep, I said it and now it's up to you to make this happen! GET THIS BOOK and glean the invaluable lessons about making Paleo your own personal "life way" as Nikoley so aptly puts it. Your future self is waiting for you to get with the program and is cheering you on to just do it. The first step in your journey to stunning health change can begin with this book and the only thing that can stop you from succeeding is yourself. NOW GO FOR IT!

DISCLAIMER: The author provided a complimentary review copy of this e-book to me and I have not been paid to write this review.

'Make It Paleo' by Bill Staley And Haley Mason

2011-10-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

When I think about the subject of cooking, I have many fond memories of learning this artful craft beginning at the age of six when my mother first started letting me "help" her make things like meatloaf, au gratin potatoes, and chocolate cake. Say what you want about having kids in the kitchen, but there's a certain sense of nostalgia that is attached to the idea of cooking up recipes from a great big cookbook under the loving guidance of a parent. I have so many fond memories of cooking with my mom that I will never forget for the rest of my life.

I recall we had a thick three-ring binder cookbook with a red checkerboard and spoon on the cover (I think it was from Betty Crocker or something) that we'd constantly throw in little index cards and handwritten notes of new recipes that we enjoyed making and eating. That cookbook was our go-to resource for making the food that our family would enjoy. Of course, that was back in the days of my childhood when I didn't really care about the quality of the food and nutrition contained in my diet. It was all about whipping up dishes that were palatable and made us feel good with no regard to the impact it was going to have on our health.

But that was then and this is now.

Today I am actively pursuing a more low-carbohydrate Paleo-styled dietary plan to help assist me in managing my weight and vastly improve my health. Because I used to make poor dietary choices early in my life that led me to weighing in at over 400 pounds in my early thirties, I am now saddled with the responsibility of making better choices in my diet for the sake of my future health. As I approach turning 40 later this year, it is critical that I continue to implement everything I have learned about healthy living, including doing things like eschewing grains, skipping the omega-6 heavy vegetable oils, significantly reducing sugar intake, stamping out the insulin-raising starches, and, of course, removing the highly-processed refined carbohydrates that passes for most of the "food" (in actuality, it's not even close to being real FOOD!) Americans purchase and consume.

It's high time people start to get serious about a very serious issue. Obesity, diabetes, Celiac disease, food allergies, heart disease, cancer...the health crisis we are currently experiencing is completely preventable if people would just learn how to eat and enjoy real food cooking again. Unfortunately, though, we've forgotten how to do that and now our health is suffering the consequences. People are in desperate need of help to know how to cook again--which is why I'm so happy that Bill Staley and Hayley Mason have released their amazing cookbook that is now my grown-up go-to resource entitled Make it Paleo: Over 200 Grain Free Recipes For Any Occasion.

This Paleo power couple is the perfect love story of two immensely passionate individuals dedicated to the subject of health and fitness. They have taught one another about what a healthy Paleo diet is all about and built a bond of friendship that turned into a romantic relationship centered around cooking meals together in the kitchen. And it is here where these two amazing people make the magic happen. Bill and Hayley are hardcore devotees to the basic tenets of Paleo/primal/low-carb living--meats, veggies, low-sugar fruits, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats. When you get to enjoy such succulent and satisfying food choices contained in those categories, you really don't miss everything else!

They are quick to note that Paleo living isn't about perfection or following a set of strict rules and guidelines. Instead, it's about knowing what foods are right for you and consciously (and willingly!) making those choices about what you allow to go inside your body. Make It Paleo arms you with incredibly practical ways to know what the good food choices are and how to go about purchasing them. Clear instructions on what to look for when buying your food helps take the guesswork out of it. They even offer up a seasonal guide for produce so you know when crops are available according to when they are grown and harvested. Sadly, many Americans have grown far too accustomed to seeing strawberries available in grocery stores year-round and most people don't even know they are primarily a crop available in the Spring.

One of the most exciting sections at the beginning of the book before the recipes is on the subject of "Oils and Fats." There's a lot of confusion about what "healthy fats" are because of the fat-phobia that still exists in our culture brought on by years of public indoctrination efforts by the USDA and their Dietary Guidelines, the American Heart Association, and other nutrition-related organizations pushing the high-carb (especially grains), low-fat message. And yet we now know more about the importance of consuming fat for the sake of living optimally healthy than ever before! Real food fat sources like coconut oil, ghee, palm oil, grass-fed butter, avocado oil, macadamia nut oil and even lard are all incredibly healthy fats to consume and you'll get plenty of them in the recipes shared in Make It Paleo.

Helpful tips about how to enhance your Paleo cooking experience are sprinkled throughout this book. Bill and Hayley let you in on all of their inside secrets about making incredible-looking dishes like the gorgeous foods you see throughout this thick, nutrient-dense 450-page book. Especially helpful to me was on page 37 where they identify the best herbs and spices for seasoning various pieces of meat which includes a few surprises, too (coffee and cinnamon go well with beef? I didn't know that.). Equally useful was the list of "Other Key Ingredients" that are off the beaten path of the general category of Paleo-friendly real food ingredients that help enhance your cooking experience, including coconut milk, bone broth, coconut flour, vinegar, and more! And despite the fact this diet is about primal living, we still live in modern times and can take advantage of the technological advances in cooking devices that make, as they say, "cooking a bit more civilized."

Before they dive into sharing their boatload of recipes for Breakfast, Appetizers, Entrées, Salads, Soups, Sauces & Dressings, Side Dishes, and Treats & Cheats, they provide some much-needed "Basic Cooking Tips" advice that is worth the price of admission for this book alone. Many people tend to be intimidated by the thought of cooking, but Bill and Hayley try to lighten the load on you by reminding you what it's really all about. That quickly becomes evident once you dive into the mouthwatering recipes themselves.

The formatting for the recipes in Make It Paleo is so user-friendly that I can't imagine how they could have improved upon it. On the left-hand page is the name of the recipe, a quick commentary from the authors about it, the ingredients list, prep and cooking times, serving size, the "Process" on how to make the dish, and "Notes" at the bottom of the page revealing insider information about things to look for when making this recipe. On the right-hand page is a full-page color photo of the finished dish that will have your mouth watering before you even begin! I definitely appreciated the use of whisks on a scale of 1-3 difficulty for each of the recipes. If it only has one whisk, then that signifies it's an easy recipe. But 2 1/2 or 3 whisks means it might require a little more work and finesse to pull it off. Giving you that insight before you dive into making the recipes in this book shows you that Bill and Hayley are conscious that not all at-home cooks are gourmet chefs capable of pulling off culinary miracles. And that's completely okay.

Remember that chocolate cake I told you about earlier that I used to make with my mom growing up? Well, the one on page 370 looks absolutely divine and I'll definitely be making it to celebrate my 40th birthday in December. My wife Christine wants the recipe on the very next page for carrot cake which she would eat everyday if I made it for her! Although some of the dessert recipes call for maple syrup (which could easily be substituted with the sweetener of your choice if you're eating low-carb), the authors do describe the dishes in this section as "Treats and Cheats" for a reason. Even still, the beauty of Make It Paleo is that is allows you to take virtually any meal or occasion you can think of and, well, "make it Paleo." The very back of the book even gives you a sample list of "Menus for Special Occasions" sorted out for events like birthdays, Easter, Sunday Brunch, Thanksgiving, Valentine's, watching sports, and more!

All in all, Make It Paleo is one of the most well-rounded health-related cookbooks I have seen in nearly eight years of becoming conscious about my diet. The experience in the kitchen that Bill Staley and Hayley Mason share is invaluable as you seek to spruce up your own eating plan. For those people who think a Paleo/primal/low-carb eating program is drab and boring, I challenge you to read this book and maintain that same opinion. It ain't gonna happen because you'll be drooling too much over the foods you make. This is a resource I enthusiastically endorse and recommend to my friends, family, readers, and podcast listeners looking to find recipes that will nourish their bodies on their chosen nutritional plan.

Paleo Comfort Foods: Homestyle Cooking in a Gluten-Free Kitchen by Julie & Charles Mayfield

2011-09-24T04:49:00.000-07:00

I'm not ashamed to admit it...I LOVE to cook! Ever since I was a kid growing up in the Southern United States, experimenting with food to see what kind of concoctions I could come up with has been a national pastime for me. Sure, my tastes have not always been the most refined (or healthy!) and not everything I have ever attempted to whip up in my kitchen has turned out exactly perfect. But that's the sign of a good cook--someone who is willing to take risks in an effort to make great-tasting food. That's the thrill of cooking for me.

But how can you do that when you're following a low-carb or Paleo nutritional approach to eating? It's really not as difficult as people might think. Do you mean it is possible to eat a low-carb, dairy-free, grain-free and gluten-free diet that is both nutritious and delicious? You bet it is and leave it to a couple of Southerners to make those coveted "comfort" foods into something that will nourish your body while making you feel like you are indulging. That's exactly what Julie and Charles Mayfield have done with their sorely-needed book Paleo Comfort Foods: Homestyle Cooking in a Gluten-Free Kitchen.

The Paleo/primal/low-carb diet has grown in popularity immensely over the past few years thanks to people like Dr. Loren Cordain, Art De Vany, Mark Sisson, Gary Taubes, and many more trailblazers who have outlined why hearkening back to the diet of our ancestors can clue us into how modern man can be optimally healthy in the 21st century. One notable leader in this realm has been Robb Wolf who authored the 2010 New York Times bestselling book The Paleo Solution. Robb was so impressed by the meals prepared by Atlanta, Georgia-based newlyweds Julia and Charles that he encouraged them to write a book filled with their mouthwatering dishes that fit within the Paleo mold. And now they have! This has been a peculiar void that I'm happy to see being filled at last.

Paleo Comfort Foods starts off right away letting you get to know who these two amazing people are by letting them tell you their story about how they came to Paleo after suffering through low-fat, high-carb meal plans for most of their lives. You also get a better understanding of exactly what they mean by the term "Paleo" which can sometimes be a bit vague with so many people so flippantly slinging it around these days. Simply put, it is grass-fed meats, wild game, fresh seafood, veggies of all colors, bits of fruit in season, healthy fats, and the occasional "cheat" that is made consciously and willingly. There's nothing really that restrictive or extreme about eating this way--it's just good old-fashioned real food designed by God to give you all the nutrients you could possibly need.

Julie and Charles outline how to get your Paleo kitchen in order first by telling you some of the basics about what foods to buy and what cooking tools you'll need to help make you most successful. You can't really think about cooking up anything without first being prepared about what to do. If you're one of those people who needs guidance when starting something new like a Paleo lifestyle change, then you'll find plenty of hand-holding through Paleo Comfort Foods. That's the cool thing about what the authors have done with this book--you never feel like you are alone left to your own devices to follow your instincts. You get to benefit from their knowledge and wisdom from eating this way so you don't make the same mistakes they did.

The recipes in this book are divided up into six categories: Starters and Snacks, Sauces and Staples, Soups and Salads, On The Side, Main Dishes and Desserts. The format is very readable and the colorful photos of these stunning foods will quickly whet your appetite to get in that kitchen to start cooking! There's a brief message about the recipe at the top telling a story about it, a listing of the ingredients you'll need to make it, cooking directions for each step in the process, and some "Tips & Tricks" as well as "Variations" to change up the recipe for the next time you make it. And believe me, you'll be making these recipes over and over again!

I think my favorite section of the entire book has got to be the "Sauces & Staples" because too many people are still buying these things in grocery stores where there are questionable ingredients in them. Take mayonnaise, for example. Most manufactured mayo is made with soybean oil (EWWW!) which is very high in omega-6 fats and is not at all good for your body. That's why it's a relief on page 92 to see "Paleo Mayonnaise" with simple real food stuff like eggs, lemon, mustard powder, olive oil, and avocado oil. They show you how super-easy it can be to make if you follow their instructions precisely. From homemade nut butters, cave ketchup, tartar sauce, turkey gravy and more, these are the things that will add that bit of zing to your meats and veggies so you don't feel like you're having to suffer one bit on your Paleo/low-carb diet.

One thing that will stick out like a sore thumb while reading through this book--every recipe you see is made with real, whole foods. Sure, Julie and Charles did a superb job of coming up with some decadent dishes that even your non-Paleo/low-carb friends would enjoy and have no clue they are eating "diet" food. But they haven't sacrificed quality by including any processed, chemical-based ingredients in any of their dishes. You can feel confident knowing the food you are eating tastes great AND is good for you at the same time. Unfortunately, the same cannot always be said about recipes for a high-carb, low-fat diet. Just sayin'.

As I'm writing this review, I'm eyeing a recipe on page 320 to take to a Sunday School gathering tonight. They said to bring some finger foods and this "Luscious Lemon Squares" recipe will do the trick. The ingredients are stuff I already keep in my Paleo/low-carb pantry and refrigerator: raw almonds, honey, lemon, eggs, coconut oil, and butter (or ghee). What's funny is most of the people will be none-the-wiser that this dish is gluten-free and oh-so-deliciously-healthy! You gotta love it.

The only thing I wish I had seen in this cookbook that would have made it absolutely perfect would have been the nutritional info. Seeing the amount of calories, carbohydrates, fat, protein, etc. would have been nice for those who are trying to be conscious of those things. But I have come to realize in the course of my own personal Paleo/low-carb journey since 2004 that when you're choosing quality food like what is featured in Paleo Comfort Foods, you don't really have to obsess or worry about the nutritional stuff anymore. You're already feeding your body the best possible nutrition that it needs and I believe the rest will take care of itself. That's a fantastic lesson more people need to learn if we're ever going to reverse the tide of chronic disease that is plaguing modern-day society. Thank you to Julie and Charles Mayfield for following through on the challenge from Robb Wolf to write a cookbook. Now there's absolutely zero excuses why anyone wouldn't want to give Paleo/low-carb a try!

Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis

2011-09-24T03:18:00.000-07:00

As a low-carb dieter since 2004 when I weighed in at 410 pounds, I've been conscious of the kind of carbohydrates I have allowed to pass my lips. And for many years I concentrated on avoiding what I thought were the biggest carbohydrate culprits in my diet--namely sugar, refined carbohydrates, fast food, junk food, and starchy foods. But when I noticed I was doing everything perfectly fine and still dealing with some added weight, it made me stop and wonder what else could be going on.

Enter Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health by Dr. William Davis.

Although I've never been diagnosed with Celiac disease or have a requirement to cut whole grains from my diet, this so-called "healthy" food is probably not as healthy as most of us believe. It's the opposite of what we have seen with saturated fat which has been vilified as a dastardly part of the human diet on obesity, diabetes and heart disease. At the same time the lipophobes have been running rampant in nutritional health, the whole grain goons have been pushing these on the public as a food to be consumed in large quantities. In fact, even the U.S. Dietary Guidelines put whole grains up on a pedestal as a food that Americans should be consuming lots of. But at what cost to our health?

Dr. Davis brilliantly outlines the case against consuming wheat specifically stating that the modern-day wheat is just a strange mutation of the wheat of our grandmother just 50 years ago. The genetically-altered version is especially dangerous to our health because of the impact on blood sugar (much greater than even table sugar), massive weight gain (thus, the title of this book), to the development of diabetes, heart disease, and dementia. This cardiologist has had his eyes opened by what he has seen in his own patients over the years and now he's sounding the alarm to prevent future generations from dealing with the ramifications of this seemingly harmless food.

There are delicious recipes and instructions on how to begin your wheat-free lifestyle in WHEAT BELLY and I highly recommend it to people with Celiac disease, obesity, diabetes, and virtually any other chronic disease. If you're still eating wheat thinking it's good for you, then it's time to open your eyes to the truth lest one of these conditions befalls you.

The Art And Science Of Low Carbohydrate Living by Dr. Jeff Volek And Dr. Stephen Phinney

2011-06-02T06:53:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you bring together two of most brilliant minds examining the science supporting carbohydrate restriction and its beneficial impact on weight and health? It's a dream team collaboration like nothing else that's ever been seen in the low-carb community and something that has been sorely needed to cut through the continued nonsense that still persists in our culture regarding low-carb diets despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. For Dr. Jeff Volek (Men's Health TNT Diet) from The University of Connecticut (one of the featured speakers on the 2012 Low-Carb Cruise) and the legendary Dr. Stephen Phinney, this has actually been a personal passion of theirs for many years to share what they've seen first-hand in the study participants they have observed as well as in their own personal experimentations using a high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb diet. They are both already co-authors of the New York Times bestselling book The New Atkins For A New You released in 2010 which was geared more specifically to the general public updating the Atkins Nutritional Approach (listen to these two men share more about their work in Part 1 and Part 2 of an Atkins teleconference call in 2008) to fit more within the 21st Century.

But both Dr. Volek and Dr. Phinney realize in order for a patient to be successful at implementing a healthy low-carbohydrate lifestyle change into their own daily routine, they first need a competent and educated healthcare professional who is willing to learn, understand and embrace the basic principles that make this incredible way of eating so amazingly effective as a therapeutic means for treating obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and a whole myriad of diseases. That's why they decided to write a brand new book about it in 2011 that does just that. It's called The Art And Science Of Low Carbohydrate Living: An Expert Guide To Making The Life-Saving Benefits Of Carbohydrate Restriction Sustainable And Enjoyable and is arguably the most important low-carb book releasing this year!

The purpose of this book is really about three main things: giving the reader the proper historical perspective about low-carb diets, explaining why low-carb diets work the way they do in the body, and then showing actual clinical application of how low-carb diets can be used to treat patients. For the healthcare professional, the information contained within the pages of this invaluable 300-page book could radically revolutionize and transform the way they interact with patients transitioning from a pharmaceutically-based to a nutritionally-based mindset for treating chronic health issues such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and more. For the educated layperson, learning more about high-fat, low-carb diets from these top research investigators will bring about changes in their own weight and health that will then have a positive impact on their friends, family, and even their physicians. Then this book can become an outstanding book to be given to the interested healthcare professional who wants to learn more about why people get better eating a diet that includes saturated fat and is devoid of starchy and sugary carbohydrates. It's a life cycle that I'm sure both Dr. Volek and Dr. Phinney would love to see happen as this book is read, re-read, passed along, and highly recommended for people who are frustrated by the failure of the low-fat diet, something they address right away in the Introduction in their "Five Discords" section.

While obesity and diabetes has gotten increasingly worse and worse with the strong recommendations of a high-carb, low-fat diet, the evidence coming out in the world of science in recent years reveals there is no longer any controversy about low-carb diets--they "have now been resolved" as the authors put it. Now the grunt work of taking the proven science to the masses is the tricky part. It is all predicated on convincing the public that a low-fat diet is not healthy because it is too high in carbohydrate, educating why controlling the hormone insulin by restricting carbohydrates will eliminate hunger and burn stored body fat, revealing the fact that there is no scientific evidence tying saturated fat in the diet to heart disease risk, sharing the truth about what really raises saturated fat in the body (carbohydrates!), and reminding people that there is no such thing as a "one-size-fits all message" when it comes to a healthy lifestyle as the government, media and all the so-called health "experts" would have us believe. Dr. Volek and Dr. Phinney are using this book to "speak up" by releasing The Art And Science Of Low Carbohydrate Living.

The authors have taken every measure possible to insure the low-carb principles they share in this book will stand the test of time. It's why a low carbohydrate approach is considered a lifestyle change that's permanent and lasting--not just a diet. They have done this by examining three primary keys to making that happen: Safety, Individual Specificity, and Sustainability.

Dr. Volek and Dr. Phinney have over a half-century of research/clinical experience with low-carb diets using them on a variety of study participants/patients and they are "confident that a well-formulated low carbohydrate diet offers improved low-term health and well-being" for people who struggle on high-carb diets. Therefore, the safety question hasn't really been an issue because it's just not a relevant factor. Plus, the whole idea of "carbohydrate intolerance" is something that's rarely if ever discussed by mainstream conventional wisdom but it is arguably the biggest reason why people turn to low-carb diets to help them when everything else they've ever tried has failed. If there was a genuine problem over the safety of low-carb diets, wouldn't we be hearing about people experiencing these complications? That ain't happening.

Another concept that rarely gets any attention is the fact we are not robotic machines that operate in the same way. Humans are indeed unique, especially when it comes to how they respond to the foods they consume. The authors point out that anyone with obesity, metabolic syndrome, and/or diabetes already have carbohydrate intolerance and would be best fitted for a low-carb diet change. Otherwise, doing a low-fat diet is like "forcing a square peg into a round hole." Even more interesting is the observation that even if a low-fat diet is working for you now, your tolerance level for carbohydrates will inevitably get worse and worse as you age--so eventually pretty much everyone will need to start livin' la vida low-carb! This is why Dr. Volek and Dr. Phinney state that the Dietary Guidelines from the USDA need to have "a separate path from the 'high-carb, low-fat' mantra."

As for the sustainability of a low-carb lifestyle change, the authors note that this is a "complex" issue that serves as the basis for why they wrote this book to begin with. The "casual approach" (as they describe it) to eating low-carb is what gets most people who try to do it in trouble and puts them on the inevitable if not predictable pathway to failure. You can't just cut your carbohydrates and expect to be eating what Dr. Volek and Dr. Phinney would define as a low-carb diet. They detail all that is involved with creating a "well-formulated low carbohydrate diet" that will last for a lifetime within the pages of this book. As they put it, "This topic is clearly more deserving of a book than a sound bite."

Some would say that a book about low-carb diets from a couple of low-carb researchers seems self-serving since they obviously have a vested interest in promoting a nutritional plan they've committed their careers to. But the authors address this by asking a simple yet poignant question:

"What is the proper response when three decades of debate about carbohydrate restriction have been largely one-sided and driven more by cultural bias than science?"

Indeed. And that's precisely what Dr. Volek and Dr. Phinney have done with The Art And Science Of Low Carbohydrate Living making a solid case for low-carb diets just as a defense attorney would argue a case before a judge and jury. The evidence is presented with appropriate citations of key scientific studies. Plus, the authors call on three key witnesses for special guest chapters to further embolden their arguments: Dr. Eric Kossoff to share how ketogenic diets are used in controlling seizures and other brain health issues, Jacqueline Eberstein who has experience working with patients using carbohydrate-restriction alongside the late, great Dr. Robert C. Atkins in his complementary medicine clinic in New York City for three decades, and me (Jimmy Moore) providing the unique perspective as a patient who discovered and thrived (losing 180 pounds and coming off of three prescription medications) on a low-carb diet despite the objections of those in the healthcare profession. By the time you make your way through this informative and practical book, you'll realize as the authors so succinctly state in their closing argument that "it just feels right" to be eating low-carb. The verdict? NOT GUILTY!

'Why We Get Fat And What To Do About It' by Gary Taubes

2011-02-15T04:36:00.000-08:00

When science journalist Gary Taubes released his long-awaited book Good Calories Bad Calories in September 2007 some five years after penning his infamous New York Times Magazine column entitled "What If It's All Been A Big Fat Lie?", that 600+ page book bucking conventional wisdom on diet, fitness and health quite literally rocked the nutritional science world to its core as deeply entrenched axioms regarding the way obesity and chronic diseases are treated was seriously questioned for the first time in a long time with the historical science to back it up. Taubes was lauded by many respected professionals in the medical community (like Dr. Andrew Weil) for his simple thesis that excessive carbohydrate consumption leads to higher blood sugar and insulin levels which is what is making people fat and sick. Even still, trident defenders of the low-fat, high-carb diet laughed at this assertion that carbs are to blame and they strenuously attacked Taubes for daring to speak out against what they think is an essential fuel for the body. Taubes remained undeterred and was invited to speak at medical conferences and universities all across North America.

However, there was one major problem with Good Calories Bad Calories that most laypeople like myself who read it universally agreed--that book was extremely dense and much too difficult for the general public to comprehend. And Taubes will be the first to admit that book was not necessarily intended for the consumer, but it was specifically written for doctors, nurses, nutritionists, registered dietitians, and other medical professionals to arm them with the scientific evidence supporting the use of carbohydrate-restriction as a therapeutic means for treating their patients with obesity and chronic disease. In hindsight, it was definitely the right book to put out first because those medical personnel who are working on the front lines of health are in desperate need of education about the detrimental impact that excessive carbohydrate consumption is having on the health of the tens of millions of patients dealing with excessive weight, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and so much more. But the time has definitely come for Taubes to offer up a more simplified book that would convey the concepts of Good Calories Bad Calories without all the confusing medical jargon and scientific overtones that may have muddled the message for those of us who are not science-minded. That's precisely why he wrote Why We Get Fat And What To Do About It.

Honestly, I've been begging Gary Taubes to write this book for the past four years! The readers at my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog were flooding me with e-mails stating how much they appreciated Good Calories Bad Calories but they couldn't share it with their Aunt Suzie or Grandpa Joe because the book would never get read. I passed along this feedback to Gary who I have had the privilege of befriending the past few years and after several hundred requests I think he finally got the message. Thankfully his publisher Knopf also agreed it was a good idea and decided to give Taubes a sequel to his 2007 bestseller! And Why We Get Fat was certainly worth the wait.

For those who read Good Calories Bad Calories and understood it, the information in this new book will be old hat to you--but shared in a more user-friendly style that will reach a much wider audience with the same message intact. Why We Get Fat is split into two distinct books--"Book 1" in the first 80 pages of the book is all about why obesity exists and explains how we got into this crisis to begin with while "Book 2" over the final 120 pages gives a little more practical instruction on what makes us fat (or not) and what people who carry around a few extra pounds can do to eliminate the excessive weight. My favorite chapter in the book is Chapter 18 "The Nature Of A Healthy Diet" where Taubes brilliantly counters the three main arguments we hear from physicians and so-called health "experts" about why low-carb diets are not an optimally nutritional way to eat:

1. They're a scam because they promote weight loss without eating less.
2. They're unbalanced because they cut out an entire nutrient category (carbohydrate).
3. They're high-fat diets, especially saturated fat, which causes heart disease.

If you believe that any of these statements are true, then simply turn to page 173 in Why We Get Fat to see how Taubes slices and dices these common myths about livin' la vida low-carb as only he can. As my friend Tom Naughton who created a fantastic documentary film on this subject called FAT HEAD would say, "We've all been fed a load of bologna!" Indeed we have and Taubes is doing his part to expose this farce so that those who struggle with why they got fat can figure out precisely what they need to do about it once and for all.

And therein lies the beauty of this amazing book that is the must-read health book of 2011! We asked for it and Gary Taubes has delivered. The really cool thing about Why We Get Fat that was noticeably absent in Good Calories Bad Calories was direction about how to eat the way he's prescribing. That's where the "Following Through" chapter in the back of the book along with sample menus comes in especially handy. Although Taubes says "this is not a diet book," you can't really leave people hanging without some measure of instruction. So he enlisted the assistance of several medical practitioners and researchers using carbohydrate-restriction with patients like Dr. Eric Westman, Dr. Jeff Volek, Dr. Mary Vernon, Dr. Stephen Phinney, Dr. Jay Wortman, Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades, and others to provide helpful tips to make this low-carb lifestyle change a permanent one. It's these kind of lessons that helped me personally shed 180 pounds in 2004 and to continue eating this way ever since to make me healthier than I ever thought would be possible on a high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb way of life!

'Fat And Cholesterol Are Good For You' by Uffe Ravnskov

2010-10-18T17:42:00.000-07:00

We've always heard seemingly since the beginning of time that dietary fat and cholesterol are some of the most unhealthy substances we could possibly put inside of our bodies. After all, eating fat and cholesterol is what makes us fat, clogs our arteries leading to heart attacks and stroke, and is simply asking for trouble that could result in a premature death. With the possibility of any of this being true, people have dutifully shunned foods like butter, fatty meats and cheeses, egg, heavy cream, and more in favor of so-called "healthy" substitutes like margarine, tofu, fat-free cheeses, egg whites, and skim milk. What has that gotten us? MORE obesity, MORE heart disease, and even the premature death of people like my brother Kevin at the age of 41 who did everything "right" by ditching the fat and cholesterol. But what if all of the "experts" who have been force-feeding these negative messages about fat and cholesterol were dead wrong? What if instead of being bad for you these things are actually in all honesty GOOD for you? This may sound preposterous in a heavily lipophobic society, but that's the exact premise of Dr. Uffe Ravnskov's outstanding book entitled Fat And Cholesterol Are Good For You.

I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Ravnskov about this book and the thing that struck me the most about him was his courage to tell the truth no matter what the personal consequences to his career would be--and the price has been costly. Banned from television appearances and blacklisted by the medical journals for his bold stand in support of fat and cholesterol, he just marches forward educating the public about this issue that is a vitally important part of health culture. And for Dr. Ravenskov, he has seen the evidence for himself that supports everything he says about the healthfulness of consuming saturated fat and cholesterol and has become an impassioned defender of these as the real health foods people should be consuming. Trying to convince people who have had it indoctrinated into them for decades that fat will harm them that now it's okay is a tough road to travel. But nobody does it better than this man.

Anyone who still thinks eating saturated fat will raise their cholesterol, clog their arteries and slowly but surely kill them needs to read Fat And Cholesterol Are Good For You. Dr. Ravnskov clearly explains what the purpose of cholesterol is in the body, why it is a necessary element in your body that should not be discouraged, how saturated fat has very little to do with cholesterol, why you really should be eating saturated fat in your diet, how to quickly silence the fat-phobics, why a high-carb diet is detrimental to people with diabetes, the mechanics of what cholesterol does for cardiovascular health, how the "bad" cholesterol may not be so bad after all, why triglycerides are the real lipid that needs attention, the dangers of having too LOW cholesterol, statin drug risks, the real causes of heart attacks, and so much more! This really is the complete package for anyone who wants to educate themselves about what the science shows about eating fat and cholesterol on the body. It's not as grim as people have been led to believe. GET THIS BOOK!

‘The Raw Milk Revolution’ by David Gumpert

2010-10-07T10:21:00.000-07:00

There's a battle going on in America right now and it's gotten really ugly very quickly. No, I'm not talking about the state of politics, the debate over religion, or any of the other usual suspects. This fight is about the rights of Americans to have access to real food. And we're not talking about that stuff sold in grocery stores under the guise of "food" either. It's real, whole, unadulterated foods that are grown and harvested on local farms that provide far superior nutrition and nourishment to the mass-produced versions sold in supermarkets from coast to coast. The problem is one of access and the culprit standing in the way most of the time are the government bureaucrats who seek to destroy the very fabric of what once made this nation so great. The crux of this issue centers around the sale of raw milk which is currently illegal to purchase in stores in 40 states. One of the leading voices in support of local farmers attempting to provide healthy raw milk products to the consumer is journalist David E. Gumpert and he chronicles the travesty happening with this issue in his book The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Battle Over Food Rights.

I'm fortunate enough to live in one of the states where raw milk is legal (South Carolina) and can drive down to a local store about a mile from my house or the family farm about 10 miles away to purchase it without fear of breaking the law. Although I don't drink a lot of milk because of the natural sugars that are in it, I do enjoy a glass of raw milk from time to time as well as consuming raw cheeses as part of my healthy low-carb lifestyle. It's a privilege that can be taken for granted by people who have access to these foods because not everyone is so fortunate to live in an area where raw dairy is allowed to be legally sold to them.

Gumpert himself became especially curious about health when he experienced firsthand the failure of the healthcare system after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2001. That was what helped light a fire in him to become more and more acutely aware of how health is managed in America and what he soon discovered was frightening in a country purporting to promote freedom and choice. And being a researcher and writer by trade, Gumpert began chronicling the raw milk crackdowns in 2006 on his blog which inspired the creation of this book. Interestingly, while the government has taken an interest in bringing an end to small dairy farmers producing and distributing unpasteurized milk to consumers who wish to purchase it for themselves and their families under the auspices of protecting them from potentially harmful pathogens, they have all but ignored the health benefits that come from consuming raw milk. It's this oxymoronic irony that fills the pages of The Raw Milk Revolution.

Gumpert beautifully paints a picture about how raw milk has become this radioactive issue that goes much deeper than the mere 1-3 percent of the milk market sales that raw milk currently comprises. He says it's really all about how food is made and distributed in America, the fear of food borne illnesses arising from poor farming practices, and greater government control over what people put in their mouths. You'll get plenty of personal stories from the author as well as those who have shared their experiences on his blog sprinkled throughout the book. As you turn the pages of this very informative and entertaining narrative weaved together by Gumpert, you'll literally sense and feel the outrage over something like this happening in the United States of America!

This raw milk debate truly is a war between various factions which Gumpert reveals very clearly in his book. It's the traditional, small farmers vs. the mass-produced factory farms. It's naturopathic medicine vs. the pop-a-pill-for-every-ailment modern medicine. It's the right to buy the foods you want vs. the busybody nanny-state government flexing their muscles masquerading behind the concept of protecting the consumer. This is what it all boils down to and the issue is not going away anytime soon because there is a lot of misinformation that has been put out there about the safety of consuming raw milk much in the same way that the low-carb diet has been so maligned by the media and special interest groups that stand to benefit from it being discredited. This is why educational efforts by people like Gumpert are so vital to arming the consumer with quality information so they can make prudent decisions based on the facts rather than the propagandist conjecture that can linger out there unchallenged.

One thing you'll see over and over again as you read The Raw Milk Revolution is the bureaucratic breakdown that happens whenever the government gets involved and the hardened criminal treatment that raw milk farmers are subjected to when they try to fulfill the demands of their customers. Horrific stories of being run off the road by state troopers, waking up unsuspecting farm owners in the middle of the night to rummage through their personal belongings, pouring out fresh raw milk on the side of the road, and leaving lots of angry raw milk customers empty-handed tell the real story of this revolution that has only just begun. Gumpert has done his part to follow-up with the key players in this battle, including farmers who have been raided as well as the government minions who claim to be following orders from those in positions of power over them.

There's a missing group of people in this story that can sometimes be forgotten in all the contentious shouting matches from both sides. It's the consumer who is able to access raw milk products and the stunning health they are able to attain because of it. Despite all the bellyaching from government bureaucrats over the "dangers" of consuming this real food, the reality is people are benefitting from it in amazing ways. Even "lactose intolerant" people are able to enjoy milk again when it is raw. Brain health is improved, skin and hair become softer, chronic pain and health issues improve, and so much more. Yes, it's anecdotal, but it is important to note in light of all the hysteria about how harmful raw milk is supposed to be. Clearly, it's not hurting everyone...if anyone.

Of course, the influence of Sally Fallon Morell from The Weston A. Price Foundation and her Real Milk campaign is a major part of The Raw Milk Revolution. Gumpert is a regular speaker at the WAPF meetings that take place annually and his fascinating stories bring this raw milk issue to life for people who are completely unaware of something like this happening in America. Awareness and education are powerful tools in convincing the public to rise up against the "Gestapo-styled" tactics being implored to deny them access to raw milk if they so desire to consume it with whatever alleged risks that might be attached. There are worse risks to smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and even consuming sugar than there will ever be to ingesting raw milk. It's just that simple.

So, what can be done to show support for the right to access raw milk short of an all-out mutiny against the government? Gumpert offers a few ideas that might just work: create an organized consumer coalition to promote raw milk and combat bullying tactics by the government, encourage more impartial reporting of raw milk raids which tend to skew the coverage on the side of regulators, increase consumer demand for raw dairy so that farmers will take the risk of fulfilling the orders, go underground with a "black market" raw milk business (we're not talking about marijuana here, but MILK!), and most importantly of all in my opinion, the continued rise in chronic diseases that could be prevented through the consumption of quality foods like raw milk. Gumpert is cautiously optimistic about the future of raw milk, but doesn't see this issue going away anytime soon.

If you want to know all the ins and outs of the raw milk debate, then you owe it to yourself to get a copy of The Raw Milk Revolution by David Gumpert!

'The Vitamin D Solution' by Dr. Michael Holick

2010-10-06T13:59:00.001-07:00

It's no secret that despite all the modern technological advances in pharmaceutical medications and other disease treatments that are available out there on the market today, our society is still dealing with some of the most debilitating and devastating chronic health conditions we've ever seen in the history of the human race. This oxymoronic position has to leave people scratching their heads wondering what in the world is going on. How can we be so far ahead of the human race that existed just a half century ago and yet now we're falling so far behind that generation in terms of living a healthy lifestyle? There are a lot of theories about this floating around out there (including the notion that today's society is consuming far too much sugar and carbohydrates to be healthy), but Dr. Michael Holick thinks he's identified the common culprit that has made us fatter and sicker than ever before--Vitamin D! Yes, everybody and their momma is talking about Vitamin D these days and it's finally getting the recognition is deserves. But as the world's leading expert on Vitamin D studying it for over three decades, Dr. Holick has been on the cutting-edge of promoting the health improvements that people can experience by raising their Vitamin D3 levels for many years and now he's sharing all of his vast knowledge about it with us in his book The Vitamin D Solution: A 3-Step Strategy to Cure Our Most Common Health Problem.

Although it's referred to as a "vitamin," the reality is Vitamin D isn't a vitamin at all. It's actually a hormone that directly impacts so many areas of the body that it just makes sense to get your D3 levels up. Upwards of 200 million Americans are walking around with a severe Vitamin D deficiency and don't even know it. They've been told by well-meaning doctors that they have fibromyalgia, depression, genetic tendencies, and more. But if you check the D3 blood work, I would venture to guess that nine times out of 10 their Vitamin D levels are probably on the low to extremely low end of the spectrum. My own wife Christine dealt with this a few years back when she was experiencing excruciating joint and muscle pain as well as fits of depression and panic attacks only to find out here D3 came in at a dismal 9 ng/mL! If you don't know what that means, let's just say it's not good at all. She began taking 10,000IU D3 gel caps for a year and was able to raise her levels to 52 ng/mL. Now she has no more joint and muscle pain and she came off of a 10-year reliance on Paxil to control panic attacks. That's the miracle of Vitamin D and the stuff is dirt cheap, too! Yes, knowing your Vitamin D levels is a big deal.

So how in the world did we suddenly become so Vitamin D deficient? Lack of sunlight exposure, poor nutrition, and inadequate or severely lacking sources of it in supplements and fortified foods (like milk) are most of the problem. But regardless of how we there, the good news is there is a solution just waiting for those people who are dealing with any number of health ailments that cannot be explained by modern medicine or the symptoms are simply being masked by risky drug therapies. What is it? GET MORE VITAMIN D! How do you do that? Well, it depends on where you live, but sun exposure may not be enough if you live north of Atlanta or San Diego and you can't get enough of it in the foods you consume either (it would take 50 egg yolks to get adequate amounts of Vitamin D--talk about an eggfest!).

Dr. Holick says he prefers you get your Vitamin D from the sun first and foremost and to only use supplementation as an added aide to get your levels increased to where it needs to be. What level do you want your 25-vitamin D level to be? Ideally between 30-100 ng/mL according to Dr. Holick with the sweet spot landing in the middle around 60-80 ng/mL. Below 20 ng/mL is considered deficient while below 30 ng/mL is insufficient. Again, upwards of two-thirds of the American population is Vitamin D deficient right now. This is directly impacting health to the extent that ailments like osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer, autoimmune diseases, insomnia, arthritis, diabetes, chronic pain, psoriasis, autism and so much are likely a direct result of these deficiencies in something you can buy a big bottle of for around $10 at Sam's Club along with adequate sunlight exposure.

In The Vitamin D Solution, Dr. Holick includes a "self-test" in Chapter 7 to see what level of deficiency you may be experiencing. Things like sun exposure, where you live, what vitamins you consume, what kind of foods you eat, what beverages you drink, your nationality and race, your age, whether you are overweight or obese, your pain tolerance, your energy and strength, medications you are taking, and specific diseases you are dealing with will help you know even before having a Vitamin D blood test conducted whether you have a susceptibility to being deficient. Of course, the best thing you can (and should) do is get tested. What you need to have run by your doctor is the 25-hydroxyvitamin D test, aka the 25(OH) D test. It will show you how much circulating Vitamin D you have in your body. Beware of doctors ordering the wrong test and thinking your Vitamin D levels are fine. And don't get fooled into filling that useless prescription for a once-a-week 50,000IU Vitamin D2 pill that costs an arm and a leg (although Dr. Holick believes it will help "fill an empty Vitamin D tank!"). What you want is D3 which is very affordable from virtually any drugstore, pharmacy, or Wal-mart in varying doses as low as 100IU capsules to 5000IU gel caps. Get tested and respond accordingly!

The good news Dr. Holick brings with this book is that there is a real "solution" to your Vitamin D deficiency that is as easy as setting aside time for deliberate sun exposure, making sure you are consuming adequate amounts of calcium in your diet so that the Vitamin D can be maximized for health, and making up the difference in your Vitamin D needs through supplementation. And lest anyone, medical professionals especially, warns you of Vitamin D toxicity, Dr. Holick is quick to note that your body cannot manufacture a toxic level of Vitamin D from simple sun exposure no matter how much sun you get. And supplementation isn't a problem unless you are taking super-high doses well above 10,000IU for longer than six months. The bottom line is to make sure you are taking every measure possible to increase your D3 levels to ward off any potential negative effects on your health.

The Vitamin D Solution is arguably the most comprehensive book on the subject of Vitamin D today and Dr. Holick certainly knows from whence he speaks. He's been trumpeting the case for Vitamin D awareness for a very long time and is just now receiving the critical acclaim he rightly deserves. My favorite part of this book is in Chapter 13 which is the "Q&A" session that answers anything and everything you can possibly think of regarding the subject of Vitamin D. He also provides a resource guide for finding good sources of Vitamin D supplementation as well as a bibliography of other Vitamin D experts and researchers he cites in support of the conclusions he draws throughout his book. Needless to say, I'm a big fan of Vitamin D and the positive effects it can have on your health. My own Vitamin D levels increased from 42 ng/dL to 68 ng/dL taking 10,000IU D3 gel caps in just six months, so it is indeed possible to overcome many chronic health problems with a concerted effort to make it happen naturally. Isn't it time to stop suffering needlessly from Vitamin D deficiency?

'Waist Disposal: The Ultimate Fat Loss Manual For Men' by Dr. John Briffa

2010-09-27T15:56:00.000-07:00

Weight loss is big business these days with everybody and their momma sharing all the so-called "secrets" to permanently shedding the pounds to get their bodies into the best shape of their life. Unfortunately, much of the information that is put out there by what I'm sure are well-meaning authors and experts merely confuses the very people it seeks to help because it all seems to be full of extremely contradictory messages. Carbs are bad...no wait, now they're good! Fat is bad for your heart...oops, now it's not such a big deal. Exercise more to lose weight...well, maybe exercise isn't so good for weight loss after all. Aaaaaaaaack! Will somebody please make it all stop?! The fact is we live in a day and age where knowledge is king and I believe that's made us too smart for our own good. Obesity, especially around the tummy area, and chronic disease are still running rampant despite all of this with no end in sight to the skyrocketing rates. And men especially are dealing with runaway rates of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and worse as their bellies continue to grow larger and larger each year. As hard-headed as us males can be, all we want is straight-shooting guidance and direction found in a proven, effective plan that will produce results and can be methodically implemented into our daily lives. That's where a leading UK physician named Dr. John Briffa comes in with his own unique philosophy for bringing about weight loss success that has already worked in literally thousands of his patients over the years. The basic guidelines that have worked for his male patients especially are now outlined in his latest book entitled Waist Disposal: The Ultimate Fat Loss Manual for Men.

Dr. Briffa is a rare breed of physician who chooses to look at the nutritional and natural-healing remedies to solving the health issues of his patients first and foremost while the conventional wisdom being taught in medical schools around the world is to prescribe a pill for this, that and everything in between. It's refreshing to see this approach being used and promoted by a highly-respected doctor and I do believe this is the future trend of the most effective medical professionals. The ones who desire to move more in this direction really should pick up a copy of Waist Disposal and devour it from cover to cover because Dr. Briffa does an outstanding job of correcting much of the blatant misinformation and outright lies they've been both taught and passed on to patients for many years. From the folly of calorie counting to the unnatural fear of dietary fat, it's all laid out in 11 key principles that comprise the various chapters in the book. But this book isn't written in a stuffy style just for physicians--it's aimed at reaching the patient as well. Dr. Briffa is a very talented and engaging writer as a regularly contributor to various newspapers and magazines, including serving as the Observer Food Monthly feature columnist.

So, what are these 11 principles? It pretty elementary to fans of recent bestselling health books like Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes and The New Atkins For A New You by Dr. Eric Westman, Dr. Jeff Volek, and Dr. Stephen Phinney. Here's what each of them are in a nutshell:

1. Body mass index (BMI) and how much you weigh are complete bunk!
2. The quantity of calories isn't as important as the quality of calories consumed.
3. Insulin drives fat storage and carbohydrates drive insulin.
4. Fat doesn't make you fat and can actually be healthy.
5. Protein satisfies appetite and grows muscle.
6. Vegetables are a nutritious part of a healthy diet.
7. If you're hungry, then eat insuring you are "mindfully" engaged in the meal.
8. Drink water as your primary fluid with coffee and tea as a backup.
9. Walk briskly in short bursts daily and get regular resistance exercise.
10. A positive attitude will go a long way towards making you successful.
11. Living out the example of our ancestors will make us healthy for life!

This is, of course, a very simplistic breakdown of Dr. Briffa's 11 principles for producing fat loss, but the book provides further details on each of these concepts. In the early chapters you'll be armed with a lot of background information that is quite science-oriented so that when you get to the later chapters with the practical advice you'll know why you're doing what you're doing. It's very important for readers to be educated about what makes this information so important so that the changes they make stick for life. However, if you are a seasoned veteran of healthy high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb living already knowing the "why" of what you do and just want to get straight to the "what" for tips on this lifestyle change, then you can begin in Chapter 7 and read to the end of the book.

But I think everyone could stand to have a refresher course in why we eat the way we do from time to time. At the end of each chapter is a convenient "Back To Basics" section with bullet points to remember from each chapter. It's the Cliff's Notes version of the chapters you can peruse first to whet your appetite for what's contained in the book. Dr. Briffa also has some gray box questions to ponder that will spur further thought on controversial yet vital issues like calorie-counting, low-carb vs. low-GI, is fat fattening, and so much more! Tidbits are delivered in easily-managed, chewable bites that your brain can absorb and be nourished by in more ways than one.

Waist Disposal is most certainly a book about weight loss and health, but without all the slick marketing and hoopla that comes from the typical cut-your-calories-and-fat, exercise-til-you-drop, being-fat-is-your-fault books that dominate bookstore shelves these days. Buck the trend and prove to the naysayers that there is an alternative way to shedding the fat and getting into the best shape of your life. Dr. John Briffa lays it out all there for those who are willing to give it a shot!

'Real Food Real Easy' By George Stella

2010-09-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

From the time he burst on the scene as the host of his very own cooking show on The Food Network called "Low Carb and Lovin' It," George Stella was a bona fide superstar as an amazing triple-digit weight loss success story and simply amazing cook with a heart for sharing healthy low-carb recipes to an audience hungry for delicious and nutritious options for their low-carb lifestyle. Unfortunately, The Food Network fell prey to the media-contrived notion that livin' la vida low-carb was just a fad that had become a thing of the past and let Stella go from his popular show which performed well in their ratings. I caught up with him in November 2009 by having him on my podcast show for an interview where he detailed what life has been like for him ever since, including his new cooking show on QVC as well as new book projects under the moniker "The Good Carb Chef." His first offering in this series is called Real Food Real Easy: 120 Recipes Made Fast With Only A Handful Of Simple, Fresh Ingredients.

I'm pleased to see Stella focusing on real food with this book because the low-carb lifestyle has gotten a bum rap from the massive influx of inferior "products" that do not contain real food in them whatsoever. Anyone who has ever seen George Stella cook or read any of his books knows that this is the heartbeat of everything he does. Put the focus on fresh, real whole food ingredients removing all the white flour and sugar and what you'll end up with on your plate is a healthy way to nourish your body. Stella knows this personally as he shares the incredible story of how his family literally transformed their lives through low-carb weight loss success. He's unashamed in naming Dr. Atkins as his greatest influence in helping them shed the pounds. But in his desire to find acceptable low-carb alternatives to the foods he loved, he created what he calls Stella Style which features many of the great recipes we have come to expect from the Stella-meister! You'll get a ton of brand new ones from the master himself in this new book.

The premise of this book is simple: healthy recipes, simple and easy-to-make, and with as few ingredients as possible. His goal was 5 or less but Stella explains that's next to impossible with some dishes. Even still, the basic principle of using fresh real foods that doesn't take much time or effort to prepare and cook to feed your family a healthy meal is what you get. Stella shares exactly what you need stocked in your pantry to make virtually every meal in this book for less than $15 each. There is an interesting section called "Good Carbs" where he explains why a low-carb diet isn't a "no-carb diet."

The "best" good carbs include the low-starch veggies like broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, and spaghetti squash while the "good" ones are sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and sweet onions. The vegetables with the highest amount of starchy carbs that ostensibly need to be avoided as much as possible are corn, peas, beets, carrots, lima beans, and parsnips. As for fruit, your berries, melons, coconut, tomatoes, and citrus are considered the "best" ones while peaches, apples, nectarines, kiwis and figs are considered "good." It's probably not a good idea to consume fruits like bananas, oranges, grapes, cherries, pineapple, and dried fruit because they are loaded with sugar.

On the nuts, seeds, and legumes end of things, once again Stella gives you guidance: almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews, macadamias, sunflower seeds, and pumpkins seeds, for example, are considered "good" while a more controversial list of "nutritious whole grains" include whole wheat, popcorn, whole oats, quinoa and more. Some people who consume low-carb diets have difficulty with eating grains, so make sure you are testing your blood sugar levels after eating these foods to see what impact they are having on you. The really "bad" foods to avoid, according to Stella, include white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, white flour, white or red potatoes, and trans-fats. Regardless of what nutritional plan you are following (low-fat, low-carb, vegetarian, or whatever!), these are the universally-accepted no-no's you never, ever, ever, ever want to put inside your body if you care about your health at all. EVER!

In addition to his embracing of whole grains, another sticky subject that Stella delves into with Real Food Real Easy includes the use of "reduced fat dairy." While he's long been a stalwart supporter of full-fat versions of most dairy products (other than milk which he avoids due to the natural sugars in the lactose), Stella reveals he's changed his mind about the use of low-fat dairy because the added sugars that used to accompany these products has been corrected and they're now low-carb friendly. Although his recipes call for low-fat sour cream or cream cheese, he does emphasize that "you are more than welcome to substitute for the full fat versions if that is what you prefer." He notes that he tends to avoid reduced fat cheeses since the taste and texture are not up to par for his desired quality in a recipe. And he notes to avoid all "fat-free" dairy because it "still contains too much added sugars to recommend." It's an interesting position he takes on the low-fat vs. full-fat dairy and it'll be curious to see how his fans respond to a shift in philosophy.

As for the specialty ingredients used in many of Stella's recipes, you'll need to stock up on almond flour (which you can make on your own at home in a food processor), bulk sugar substitute like Splenda (not the packets), and soy flour (which will likely be another bone of contention that some health-conscious low-carbers may object to since they are avoiding soy products). These are probably the three oddest ingredients in Stella's recipes and some people may express concern about the use of an artificial sweetener like Splenda in a book about "real food." Regardless of your position on Splenda, Stella makes it clear to choose a non-caloric sweetener that will stand up well in baking and he's cool with that. As for the soy, I'm sure you could always use more almond flour or even coconut flour in his recipes if you have an aversion to using soy flour. That's the beauty of the low-carb lifestyle--it's quite flexible when you're cooking to fit your specific nutritional desires.

Holding true to the Real Food Real Easy theme of this book, Stella offers up tips for people who erroneously think eating "real food" is too expensive. Compared with all the "great value" junk foods that are sold in your local grocery store, you can grow your own food for literally just a few dollars, stock up on key foods and freeze them, and allow the simplicity of the recipes in this book keep you from over-stretching your family food budget. And boy oh boy, the recipes are truly spectacular, too, with snacks, breakfast, lunch, chicken, meats, seafood, slow cooker, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, and desserts all given their own chapter for you to jump around to create your favorite dishes. And Stella makes it easy on you, too, by putting the prep time, cook time, and serving size at the very top of each recipe page. Just underneath the name of the recipe, you'll get all of the nutritional info like the calories, fat, protein, fiber, and net carbs. There's also a special "Shopping List" section off to the side of the recipe so you know exactly how much and what ingredients you'll need. And a unique addition I think you'll enjoy is the "George's Tips" section at the bottom of each recipe where Stella gives you an idea about how to make this particular dish even better. And if you like changing things up a bit, he also includes a "Variation" so you can double or triple the 120 delectable recipes sprinkled through this book!

One thing I couldn't help but notice in looking at Stella's recipes is the use of "trans-fat free margarine" instead of butter. There was no explanation included in this book about why he preferred the use of margarine over butter, but I presume Stella's position on this would be the same as what he said regarding the low-fat dairy. If you want to use butter instead, then use butter in his recipes. Again, the low-carb way of eating is adaptable to what is appropriate for you and your dietary needs. If reducing your fat is important enough to you and produces the weight loss and health improvements you are looking for, then go for it! The best thing about George Stella is that he is not so monolithic in his thinking that he thinks everyone should follow the low-carb lifestyle like he does. There are variations and he's the first to encourage you to embrace the plan that's right for you.

Real Food Real Easy is vintage George Stella and I'm pleased to see this energetic man still out there trumpeting the cause of low-carb living to a carb-addicted world desperately seeking answers to their weight and health problems. Stella is doing all of that and making it tasty in the process!

'The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet' by Robb Wolf

2010-09-15T11:41:00.001-07:00

When Professor Loren Cordain released The Paleo Diet in December 2002 introducing Paleolithic low-carb nutrition and fitness concepts in a way that seemed to make sense to a lot of people for the first time in their lives, it was the proverbial first step forward in bringing about the necessary changes to effectively deal with the very real health problems of obesity and chronic disease. Little did Dr. Cordain know back then when his "caveman diet" (as the media dubbed it) was getting so much attention as a revolutionary concept taking us back to the days of our hunter-gatherer ancestors that he would be grooming a whole new generation of primal living enthusiasts who would take the baton from him and run with it like sprinter Michael Johnson did in his golden shoes during the Summer Olympics in the 1990s! But that's exactly what we're seeing happen from up-and-coming voices of reason like Cordain disciple Robb Wolf who has been doing his part both writing and podcasting about Paleo nutrition over the past few years and now he's ready to take up the mantle that Dr. Cordain started and take it to a whole new audience of people who are ready to change their lives with the highly-awaited release of The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet.

Wolf is a very well-respected and knowledgeable research-biochemist-turned-strength-trainer who has a real knack for making complex nutritional and fitness principles palatable for us common folks. There are no frills with Robb Wolf because he allows the results he has seen in his clients speak for themselves. He speaks authoritatively because he knows the truths of what he is sharing and is unwavering in his application of those basic principles. You'd never know he used to be a vegetarian in his former life that nearly ruined his health all in the name of being healthy the "right" way. All of that changed when Robb became exposed to the work of Art DeVany and then eventually Dr. Cordain and Drs. Mike & Mary Dan Eades who all made ancestral eating sound...well, normal. And despite a less-than-enthusiastic response from his doctor about Paleolithic eating (describing it as "pseudo science"), Wolf gave it a go and saw some pretty spectacular results--lower blood pressure, improved lipids, and a whole new perspective on what living healthy is really all about. The fire inside of Robb Wolf was lit and nothing was going to extinguish it!

That enthusiasm for this way of living has been shared with client after client for most of the past decade with equally impressive results. You get to meet some of these "success stories" throughout The Paleo Solution to show you that literally anyone and everyone can benefit from a Paleo lifestyle change. All it takes is a willingness to give it a go for at least 30 days to see how you do. And while it may be an easy transition for some and the most brutally difficult thing for others to do, Wolf provides all the necessary tools for you to be successful and thrive on what he calls "the original human diet." I love it when he shares that his only motivation for writing this book is this: "I'm trying to save your life." With integrity and sincerity in page after page of this book, you can tell he takes this mission seriously and has the right motivation for sharing with others all the information he has gathered over the years.

If you think a book about Paleo dieting is gonna be drab, dry, and completely boring, then you haven't encountered Robb Wolf yet. This guy could be a stand-up comedian if he wanted to be and that acerbic wit shines brightly throughout this book. You'll appreciate that he doesn't blame you for failing on your high-carb, low-fat diet either. The re-education process may take some time, but it will be well worth the effort when you are finished. Unfortunately, lipophobia still reigns supreme amongst the so-called health "experts" of our day but it's 100% dead wrong as a culprit in the obesity and disease crisis we now face in the 21st Century. And citations of the research that has been conducted on the nutrient-dense diet of HGs (hunter-gatherers) has proved as much and more--these people not only survived, but their health thrived on way of eating that is routinely mocked and scorned as "unhealthy" nowadays. How much more bassackwards nutritionally can we get pushing grains as "healthy" and scaring people half to death of eating a steak? If you believe that mumbo-jumbo from your "trusted" doctor, dietitian, or other health nincompoop, then you absolutely need to read The Paleo Solution!

The brilliance of Robb Wolf is in how he strips everything down to easy-to-understand chunks while still maintaining the context of the greater concepts. You can tell he takes great pains to keep from going over your head and yet he delves into this all-important information because it's stuff you need to know about. From defining commonly-used diet terms like protein, carbohydrates, and fats to explaining the purpose of hormones like insulin, glucagon, leptin, cortisol, and ghrelin, you'll feel like you earned a graduate degree in nutritional health without sitting through a semester of boring lectures and spending umpteen thousands of dollars on your education. You'll get it all in this book that costs about the same as a cheap-o meal for two at Ruby Tuesday! But the lasting impact it will make on your life will endure much longer than those Baby Back Ribs will!

My favorite chapter is Chapter 4 on "Digestion" because it shows you exactly what happens when you consume food. From the "Big Picture" which gives you a quick synopsis to what specifically happens to the protein, carbs, and fat consumed, this was a really cool word illustration for people who haven't got a clue about what that food is doing inside of them once it is swallowed. You get to follow a meal of salmon, avocado, and fruit salad as it travels from the mouth down to the stomach through the small intestines and then to poop. Yummy! Additionally, Wolf illuminates the differences between "Normal Eating," a "Fasted State," and an "Overfed State" so you can see the biochemical uniqueness of each situation on the body. And everyone likes a good rant every once in a while--don't miss the one about "essential carbohydrates" on page 66!

Various health issues like high cholesterol, heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer, infertility, and more are talked about candidly and the underlying issue that is driving these (again, it ain't the dietary fat people as you'll clearly find out in Chapter 7!). The anatomy of a grain and the toxicity of consuming them is explained as only Robb Wolf can. Discover why sleep is so important for regulating cortisol and the essential exercise you need to be doing (with illustrations in this book!) to be successful at this. In case you didn't quite understand everything through the first nine chapters, he shows you how to implement The Paleo Solution principles in Chapter 10 with practical advice for shopping for the highest-quality foods that are grass-fed, pastured, and the like and he answers your most pressing issues about switching to Paleo. You are encouraged to track your progress with specific measurements and blood tests to see exactly what kind of changes will happen to you when you do this. And in case you're wondering, there are some delicious meal plans and simple recipes to get you going in Chapter 12. Although he's not a big fan of taking supplements, Robb does believe there are benefits to targeting specific ones which he discusses in Chapter 13. Lest you think all of this Paleo stuff is just sugar-free pie in the sky, you'll see this book is well-referenced in the back with studies and papers from some of the top medical journals and researchers in the business.

The Paleo Solution ain't no fluff diet book that will promise you more than it can deliver. It's an honest-to-goodness lifestyle change that can make a real difference in your weight and health if you are willing to give it a chance to work for you. It took a while for Robb Wolf to make his foray into the publishing world, but I for one am glad he did because, like Dr. Cordain before him, he is now influencing a new generation of Paleo believers who will take the baton from him someday to carry on the message. But something tells me we're gonna be hearing a lot more from Robb Wolf in the years to come!

'Fat Then Fit Now' By Dr. Joe Leonardi

2010-09-14T06:34:00.001-07:00

Anyone who has the tenacity and determination to personally will themselves to take off a significant amount of weight after being morbidly obese and decidedly unhealthy deserves a whole heap of respect and admiration in my book. I suppose it helps that I myself have personally experienced this kind of weight loss success and know all too well how much hard work goes into reaching that goal with a plan that worked for me. And if you happen to work as a health practitioner and accomplish this amazing weight loss feat, then what an opportunity you could have to make a major impact on both your patients and everyone who is exposed to your life-changing story! That's precisely what has happened to and enthusiastic chiropractor named Dr. Joe Leonardi which motivated him to write an 86-page book about his incredible 130-pound weight loss success called Fat Then Fit Now: A Life Beyond Weight Loss.

Dr. Leonardi is an energetic man now, but he hasn't always been that way. Once weighing in at a robust 340 "unhealthy, unfit pounds" as he describes it, today he's a changed man. He shares how despite his love for weight lifting he allowed himself to get out of control nutritionally. And you won't find any finger pointing in this book because Dr. Leonardi takes full responsibility for how he got to be so fat in his life. He describes this as the "secret" to making this happen for yourself. The power to bring about change is in YOUR hands and here's how Joe puts it: "It is not difficult at all to lose weight; however, it takes discipline, desire and determination. You must make it happen. You must change your lifestyle." If you think anybody else is gonna do it for you, then don't bother getting Fat Then, Fit Now. But if you're ready for some tough love that will earnestly help you transform your life without all the "long-winded, over complicated, medical jargon," then this is INDEED the book for you!

So you're probably thinking Joe must have eaten in "moderation" like a rabbit, cut his calories, hours of cardiovascular exercise daily, taken diet pills, and the like. But you would be wrong. He realizes now that he didn't want to be obese and that he needed to come up with a strategy that would be both effective and permanent to help him deal with this problem. After committing himself to no longer be fat and to CHOOSE to live a healthier lifestyle, Joe got rid of the sugar, high fructose corn syrup, fast foods, and "highly processed refined garbage" and replaced them with healthy proteins, fresh vegetables, healthy fats, low glycemic fruits and the proper dose of appropriate exercise (which he provides specific routines at the back of the book for you to make it easy peasy). And Joe knows this template for eating healthy can easily apply to school lunch programs for children as well as employee health incentive plans without wasting money on plans that just won't work despite what "they" say. Honesty is what you get a heavy dose of from this man who knows what he's talking about.

The chapters in this very readable book include some informative "Interlude" sections where Joe goes on some informative and entertaining rants about the state of diet and health in America. Those parts of this book alone are worth the price of admission where you get real life stories that hammer home the central points of Fat Then Fit Now. But you do get some great practical advice that tells you what you can do to lose weight like he did and you'll learn that the changes were a lot more than physical. Realizing that a positive attitude and healthy perspective on life are as important for tapping into the energy to take on the challenges that face us--like taking off the weight that has plagued our lives for far too long. Then once you do, Joe arms you with the proper strategies about how to "stay focused" on taking it off one day at a time and then keeping it off forever.

The diet itself that Joe used to drop the pounds he describes as "a low carbohydrate, moderate fat and protein eating regime." And he honestly believes anyone can do well on a plan like this. Unlike other popular low-carb programs like the Atkins diet, though, Joe believes you don't need to consume as much fat since his stored body fat gave him plenty of fuel for his body. Sample menus and food suggestions are provided for each of the three stages of the Fat Then Fit Now plan. Real whole foods are "strongly encouraged and advised" preferably from "local farms" opting for "free range poultry and grass-fed red meats" when possible. And he's no fan of the packaged low-carb products that contain sugar alcohols which have "always slowed my progress." However, I was intrigued to see what I have described as a "planned splurge" encouraged where "one day every other week" Joe says to "enjoy your favorite foods for the day." His reasoning is if you get right back on plan again then it won't be a big deal. Some people believe you have to be a 100% purist about your diet in order to be successful, but Joe realizes that the real world requires a strategy that will keep you on the straight and narrow MOST of the time.

This book may be less than 100 pages long, but it is power-packed with so much good stuff that will both encourage and motivate you to be the weight loss success you so desperately desire to be. If you're new to low-carb living, you've gotten stuck with no weight loss, or just want to be inspired anew in your chosen lifestyle change, then let Dr. Joe Leonardi show you what he has learned about being Fat Then Fit Now.

‘The Dorm Room Diet’ By Daphne Oz

2010-09-13T06:50:00.000-07:00

It's an annual ritual engaged in by hundreds of thousands of teenagers from coast to coast who have chosen to embark on the next step of their educational journey--COLLEGE! Just as the dog days of summer begin to wind down and the changing of the seasons begins to take place, enthusiastic young skulls full of mush pack up their belongings, leave mom and dad in the house they grew up in, and move into that bastion of independence known as a dorm room. Anyone who's ever spent time in a college dormitory knows all the unique challenges that await you from oddball roommates, strange smells and noises coming from nearby rooms, and the free entertainment that can happen late at night--it's quite the adventure. And when it comes to trying to be "healthy," you can just about forget about it! They don't call the weight gain that happens to first-year college students the "Freshman 15" for nothing. But Daphne Oz wanted to buck that trend by offering up some advice that helped her take off 10 pounds in her freshman year (she struggled with her weight in high school) which she wrote about in her bestselling book The Dorm Room Diet: The 10-Step Program for Creating a Healthy Lifestyle Plan That Really Works.

Of course, it doesn't hurt to have a famous cardiologist father known to millions of Americans for his wisdom when it comes to nutritional edicts--Dr. Mehmet Oz. Dr. Oz wrote the foreword to his daughter's book where he applauds the efforts Daphne has made to not just share information with readers but to empower them to make better choices that are right for them. You can tell he's so very proud of the work his daughter is doing because she's basically the spittin' image of her dad. Some would say that's both a blessing and a curse, but I'm willing to check out what Daphne has to share on her own merits without being prejudiced by her family background one way or another. Does she speak nutritional truths in The Dorm Room Diet or is she just trying to ride daddy's coattails? Let's find out.

The 10-step program she offers some specific something to "get." STEP 1 promotes getting INSPIRED by the fact that Daphne herself dealt with being overweight so that you can relate with her personally having to come to grips with the reality of this issue for herself despite having one of the most famous diet doctors in the world advising her. STEP 2 encourages the reader to become INFORMED by taking a self-assessment test to determine your "Family Eating Portrait" through a series of 15 probing questions. It's an in-depth test that will show you why you may be struggling now and Daphne offers up ways to get your eating plan back on track again. She even discusses the sensitive subject of eating disorders and emotional eating and how to recognize if you are dealing with this or not--along with simple solutions to help you manage the new stresses that college life is sure to bring.

STEP 3 delves into the nitty gritty of the book discussing HEALTHY EATING 101. Here's where the rubber meets the road when it comes to knowing whether or not Daphne understands what good nutrition looks like. Sadly, like father like daughter on this one as less than two pages into this chapter she describes the healthy Atkins low-carb lifestyle change as "Fatkins." She exhibits a lack of basic knowledge about metabolism when she states that "your body requires nutrition from three macronutrient groups--carbohydrates, proteins, and fats." Uh, no it doesn't. The body absolutely needs fat and protein, but there is no dietary NEED for carbohydrate at all. The body is able to make glucose to fuel the body from the protein consumed thanks to a process known as gluconeogenesis (didn't your dad tell you about this amazing biochemistry concept, Daphne?). She goes on to say that if you don't eat carbs (which Atkins is not a "no-carb" diet as she repeatedly describes it), then you can't replenish your glycogen stores and all you lose is "water weight." Hmmmm...so are you telling me that the 180 pounds I shed on the Atkins diet in 2004 was all water weight, Daphne? Surely you jest. Of course, all the usual criticisms of the Atkins low-carb diet are throw in for good measure by the junior Oz, including that it leads to depression, fatigue, mood swings, binge eating, and a constant craving for carbohydrates--yadda, yadda, yadda. We've heard it all before about eating a "balanced" diet, Daphne, and it just doesn't work for some of us. I'm glad it worked for you, but it's not very wise to lampoon the very way of eating that has helped so many of us get our health back in order again. Plus, why single out the Atkins diet for your criticism? Where is the backlash against other dietary approaches that greatly reduce or eliminate whole categories of foods like veganism and vegetarianism? Oh yeah, that's right, you don't want to get daddy in trouble with his buddies who are in high positions supporting these diets.

The nutritional advice she shares is primarily high in complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, fruits and veggies without regard to their sugar/starch content (she claims that "the sweetest fruits don't come close to the sugar in a candy bar." Uhhhh, have you looked at a banana's nutritional makeup lately Daphne? It's got 30 grams of sugar in it which comes pretty darn close to the 40 grams contained in a 3 Musketeers bar), fat-free and low-fat dairy foods, moderate protein from lean meats like chicken, leaner ground beef, beans, and tofu, and omega fats from fish and flax. Fiber is also emphasized with limited portion sizes heavily promoted for weight management. Daphne's Dorm Room Diet healthy "grab-and-go" food recommendations are quite shocking when you see the list: oatmeal, granola bars, cereals, bagels, crackers, and sugary fruits. Carbs, carbs, and more carbs! It's the "stop-drop-or-roll" list of foods she claims will make you "tired, hungry, and fat if you eat too much of them" that has the much healthier foods on them: full-fat cheeses and high-fat red meats, but she also includes fruit juice, alcoholic beverages, fried foods, brownies, cakes, cookies, doughnuts, pancakes, pies, pretzels, waffles, white bread, white rice, sugary soda, biscuits...yes, this girl has completely lost her mind lumping healthy full-fat cheeses and meats with this carbage!

The nutritional lunacy continues with her recommendations to drink coffee (no biggie, although there is concern some people experience an insulin spike from it), consume chocolate (as a "pick-me-up" to stoke your serotonin levels--hey, I thought only a low-carb diet made you depressed and moody?!), and eat bread before a meal. Say what?! Are you kidding me, Daphne? The theory is you'll eat less calories if you consume whole wheat or whole grain bread with olive oil (don't you dare use butter though!). Whatever. No wonder we're so bassackwards nutritionally these days with such nonsense as this being promoted as "healthy" from the kid of a well-known diet guru. She encourages readers to ALWAYS eat breakfast, drink "half your body weight in ounces of water" each day plus one glass prior to each meal, eat every three hours for a total of five "meal" times daily, slowly count to the number of your age if you feel the urge to "cheat" (hey, I thought you were all about not depriving yourself!), and to avoid eating within two hours of bedtime. Incredible! This is what passes for healthy nutrition in the 21st Century. We must be living in The Twilight Zone!

STEP 4 tells you to get a GRIP on how to implement these new healthy habits ("complex carbohydrates" are "your friends" while "fatty cheeses" are "your foes") with tips on choosing the right foods when eating at the cafeteria, sit down restaurants and fast food joints. Recommendations to ask for the "low-fat" entrees is also heavily promoted. STEP 5 is on being PREPARED for the "danger zones" that are sure to come, including the pressure to study or finish an important paper, tailgating events, campus parties, watching television, and late-night chatting. The key points Daphne makes is to not allow yourself to be trapped by any of these situations by preparing ahead of time with appropriate action steps so you're not stuck making a poor choice. It's pretty good common sense advice for people who are health-conscious, even if it does focus on lean proteins and veggies. I do applaud her for helping college students break their addiction to sugar and learning to be happy without it in their lives. At the same time, though, she does promote fruit roll-ups, dried fruit and peanut butter which is all still loaded with sugar although I'll grant her that it's still less than the junk food most dorms are filled with.

STEP 6 transitions to the subject of MOVING your body--aka exercise. This one goes without saying for the enormous benefits beyond fat loss for college students. Specific exercises are demonstrated with pictures and descriptions to work out every part of your body. STEP 7 is on the subject of VITAMINS and the supplements you should be taking. Kudos to Daphne for understanding the importance of taking vitamins, including a solid multivitamin, antioxidants, minerals, essential fatty acids, and Vitamin D. She includes lists of foods that contain the highest amounts of key vitamins and minerals for your body as well. This chapter also provides some curious home remedies to the most frequent health ailments suffered by college kids, including the common cold, sore throat, nausea and stomachache, PMS and cramps, headache, sore muscles and minor sprains, fatigue, insomnia, urinary tract infections, yeast infections, constipation, and diarrhea. Hmmmm, are you sure it isn't that dastardly Atkins diet causing all this stuff, Daphne?

STEP 8 says it's time to get HAPPY to effectively manage the stress that surely hits you when you are under the kind of pressure college puts you through. Regular massage, aromatherapy, and meditation are pushed as ways to deal with it best. STEP 9 shares why being CONSCIOUS about your eating (a new chapter in this revised and updated version of the book) so that you know the impact of your foods choices on the planet and ecosystem. Sure, she's obviously been affected by the local food movement promoted in films like Food, Inc. and books like Fast Food Nation. Her indignation for the factory farms in favor or more traditional farms is something I wholeheartedly agree with her about 100%. If more people cared about buying good quality grass-fed, organic, certified humane, local foods and became strong advocates for it as Daphne suggests, then the world would indeed be a healthier place. And in STEP 10, recipes are shared in the COOKING section of the book--of course, mostly high-carb, low-fat ones to fit within the overall nutritional theme she espouses.

The Dorm Room Diet is a total mixed bag for me. I like what she has to say in certain parts of the book that make me want to stand up and cheer while other parts of it are as disappointing as they can possibly be. Perhaps as Daphne Oz continues to educate herself about healthy nutrition and breaks free from what Papa Oz has shared with her over the years, she'll realize the folly in some of the ideals she is promoting as "healthy" for a large segment of the population. While this book has mostly become a bestseller thanks no doubt to the name recognition of her famous father, maybe someday Daphne can use this writing platform to teach the next generation about what the proper relationship between nutrition and health is really all about.

‘Secrets To A Healthy Metabolism’ By Maria Emmerich

2010-09-13T06:30:00.000-07:00

People who have struggled with their weight for most of the lives oftentimes claim to have a slow or damaged metabolism. They believe that if they could just heal this aspect of their health, then weight loss was be a cinch and robust health would surely follow. Oh, if it were only that simple to figure out. The fact is the functions of our body, including our metabolism, have much less to do with the genetics we were born with and more to do with what we do to it. Years of poor dieting advice in the form of high-carb, low-fat, calorie-restricted diets have only made the problem worse, not better. And nutrition and exercise science expert Maria Emmerich understands this dynamic better than most professionals in her field of work. She realizes there are consequences to consuming sugar and other culprit carbohydrates while neglecting the all-important fats our bodies need to be healthy and she shares the right way to eat and why in her book Secrets to a Healthy Metabolism.

This topic hits close to home for Maria starting off in Chapter 1 where she discusses what it was like being an overweight teenager who had to overcome the poor nutritional advice she was given to shed the pounds and get herself healthy. That drive to learn the truth has propelled her to use that experience to now help others who are dealing with weight and health issues. In Chapter 2, she explains the function of your metabolism and quickly moves into what you can do to feed it properly in Chapter 3. Ideas like eating more protein and fiber, consuming healthy fats while ditching the sugar and HFCS which she says is "destroying your metabolism" (Maria got an e-mail from the Corn Refiner's Association lady, too!), forgoing the alcohol and fast food, and questioning the health claims about milk. The difference between what most people think is "healthy" eating and what Maria means by that phrase are worlds apart and you get to see the side-by-side comparison of what she's advocating on pages 75-77.

Of course, we are all unique with our metabolic issues and these various conditions need to be treated in specific ways. Maria details some of the most common problems she sees in clients in Chapter 4, including menopausal weight gain, food allergies and sensitivities, toxic livers, and the mistakes people make when they are told they have "high" cholesterol. In fact, she addresses the myths about cholesterol, namely that it is somehow bad for your body, that it is caused by eating too much fat and cholesterol, that it is the cause of heart disease, and that we need statin drugs to fix it. WRONG on all four counts and Maria does an outstanding job of slaying this dragon once and for all. She even shares what it takes to beat your cholesterol woes, including cutting down on sugar and flour consumption, consuming more whole foods, eating quality fats while nixing the trans fats, adding fiber to your diet, exercising, and taking CoQ10 supplements. You'll even learn about the health BENEFITS of consuming saturated fats and why low-fat foods should be avoided like the plague. It's all right there in the book!

Since she is an exercise expert as well, Maria makes the case for adding in a good mix of strength training, cardiovascular exercise with tips for burning more fat, circuit training and even yoga with its multitude of mind-body healing advantages in Chapter 5. She dives into a peculiar concept known as Nutrient Timing where you feed your body specific nutrients at specific times of the day to coordinate with your exercise schedule. It's pretty cutting-edge stuff and the details are clearly explained about how it works in Chapter 5. For women, there's even a Menstrual Cycle Timing that caters to that special time of the month when exercise is probably the last thing on your mind. But Maria argues women on their period NEED exercise to limit the pain from cramping and take their fat-burning to the next level. It's a revolutionary concept that you probably haven't heard much about anywhere else.

And then she turns to the subject of hormones explaining on the intricacies of how these can wreak havoc on your weight loss plans, including malfunctions with your thyroid, glucagon and insulin, human growth hormone, leptin, ghrelin, estrogen and progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, and cortisol. Easy-to-understand charts make navigating through these complex hormonal pathways rather easily in Chapter 6. The importance of sleep is covered in Chapter 7 followed quickly by a detailed section on supplementation in Chapter 8. Anything and everything you ever wanted to know about 14 of the most popular diet and health supplements today is covered, including Maria's aversion to prescription medications for people trying to lose weight. Chapter 9 is probably the most practical one where shopping lists, meal plans, and yummy recipes are introduced along with permissible substitutions for the high-carb, low-nutrient ingredients you might be accustomed to. There's a fantastic list of "common ingredients to beware of" on pages 257-259 that will make you think twice about what you are putting in your mouth. But never fear--Maria gives you plenty of recipes to nourish your metabolism and help put your fat-burning desire on the path for success.

At the end of Secrets To A Healthy Metabolism, you get one last word of encouragement from Maria:

"Instead of feeling overwhelmed, feel empowered by having the tools you need for a successful journey. No more deprivation diets of fat-free, man-made foods...real food, real satisfaction and a health metabolism."

And that in a nutshell is what this book is all about.

‘Deadly Harvest’ By Geoff Bond

2010-09-13T06:15:00.000-07:00

It's undeniable if you look at the state of modern health around the world today that we have dug ourselves into a huge hole as a society. Obesity, diabetes, and preventable chronic diseases have spread like wildfire despite the hundreds of billions of dollars invested in finding pharmaceutical drugs to allegedly counter all of these health ailments. However, the one area most of the so-called health "experts" have conveniently neglected to invest any time and effort into examining more closely is also the most cost-effective when it comes to resolving this monstrosity that befalls us in modern times is our diet. What if we could reverse the negative impact of most chronic diseases simply by making some basic changes to our diet that could restore weight to normal levels and dramatically improve health without the use of any questionable drugs? What if all it took was going back to the diet of our ancestors which bears very little resemblance to what we refer to as "food" in the 21st century? Would it make a noticeable difference in the collective health woes we now find ourselves facing? That's the bold thesis presented by UK-based nutritional anthropologist Geoff Brown in his historical look at the evolution of our diet detailed in the book Deadly Harvest: The Intimate Relationship Between Our Health and Our Food.

Bond has a personal connection to this subject since he lived in some remote African villages early on in his career where he saw firsthand how primitive tribes lived and ate for survival. This once-in-a-lifetime experience gave him ample evidence that he later used to compile much of the material contained in this book. He notes that our bodies are highly adaptable to the rigors we put them through, but they still require some elementary elements to function properly. One of the reasons Bond says we've gotten away from this basic nutritional concept in favor of what we have today is the onset of industrialized farming. Deadly Harvest provides all the dirty details about how and why grains (grass seeds) were introduced into our diet which began "a massive upheaval in human nutrition" that took us one step "away from our ancestral diet." The consequences of this change are now rearing their ugly head in the weight and health of people today.

The sordid history of nutritional guidelines from government agencies is also discussed in this book and Bond explains how this came into being. It started in 1917 when food groups were first established by the USDA with recommendations to the public about what and how much to eat of each group. A couple of updates later in 1942, we find that starchy carbohydrate sources like potatoes are included amongst the "other vegetables and fruit" while eggs and beans have suddenly become part of the "meat, poultry, and fish" category. In 1956, the revisions continued in an attempt to simply things even more to create the infamous four basic food groups until 1979 when the category "fats, sweets, and alcohol" was added with the idea of "moderation" introduced regarding portion sizes and calories. Then in 1980, the USDA introduces their first-ever Dietary Guidelines for Americans which further convoluted the issue by presenting an updated version every five years since in an attempt to "educate" the public. Bond says this flip-flopping with the changes to the prescribed diet has to do with pressure from special interest. Industries directly impacted by the pronouncements from the federal government about diet will fight tooth and nail to protect their financial interests and do whatever they can to prevent any negative publicity. In the end, he says the USDA's Dietary Guidelines are "not a gold standard--on the contrary, they are a weak and deceitful compromise between all the competing interests" which is a "major cause for concern" as we seek to educate the public about the vital importance of traditional diets on health.

The ramifications of consuming foods like bread, rice and pasta are outlined in great detail in Chapter 3, including what's wrong with eating grain-based foods such as stunted growth, infant mortality, shorter lifespan, increased susceptibility to infectious diseases, anemia, bone and tooth decay, autism, schizophrenia, epilepsy, eczema, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, colon cancer, Celiac disease--the list goes on and on! Avoid grains as much as possible and returning to the foods that our early ancestors lived on for thousands of years will help prevent these diseases from taking hold. Vegetables are also discussed with a particular focus on the good kind (non-starchy) versus the most commonly consumed ones (like potatoes which aren't really a vegetable anyway). Fruits are also far different today than they used to be with the focus on breeding them to make them look good, last longer and taste sweeter and sweeter.

The much-maligned fatty, protein-rich animal foods are somewhat defended by Bond, although he accurately notes that our ancestors didn't just eat the parts of the muscle flesh that are commonly consumed today that comprise most of our meat-based meals. They also consumed other parts of the animal such as the brains, hearts, liver, and guts which provided healthy nutrition when consumed after a kill. Today's diet contains little to no consumption of such alternative animal parts despite the fact that hunting for wild game is still possible today. Eggs were also on the menu of an ancestral diet when they could be harvested from just about any bird they could find. Nuts, beans, milk, butter, sugar, salt, and beverages origins in the diet are also shared with the consequences of each are expressed.

Deadly Harvest devotes a good amount of space to the anthropological science behind various diets and their impact on modern health. Carbohydrates are what drives up blood sugar levels if consumed in quantities higher than the body can use for energy. Hyperglycemia makes the pancreas work harder pumping insulin into the body to counter the "sugar rush" and then overcompensates by throwing your blood sugar into the other direction known as hypoglycemia where feelings of dizziness, headaches and cravings for more food commence within a couple of hours of consuming a high-carb meal. Insulin stability can only happen when carbohydrates are kept under control. The replacement of fat in our diet with sugar-based carbohydrates has only led to more obesity and obesity-related diseases. Fat consumed by itself does not increase insulin levels as evidenced by the fact that the Cretans "could consume a whole jigger of olive oil on an empty stomach and not get fat."

The imbalance of essential fatty acids remedied by the consumption of meats and eggs is revealed by Bond with the problem of excessive omega-6 fats in the modern diet explained in detail. Omega-3 fats are found in greater quantity in quality meats and eggs that are raised on a farm as compared with the ones found on a grocery store shelf that were fed a grain-based diet and not allowed to roam freely as nature intended. One major problem I have with Deadly Harvest is Bond's insistence that saturated fats are "almost certainly unhealthy." Like many of the health journalists and nutritional health "experts" he rails against in the pages of his book, Bond also lumps together trans fats and hydrogenated fats with saturated fats in the "unhealthy" category. His recommendation that "all fats should be avoided" except for small amounts of omega-3-rich oils is just too sweeping a comment without an explanation of why they are harmful. A list of the good vs. bad kinds of fats to consume is shared on page 153, but I still think Bond is missing the boat in light of what the science is showing us regarding dietary fat consumption as part of a healthy lifestyle. He claims that our early ancestors ate very little fat in their diet which seems incredibly odd.

The "Savanna Model" of eating is shared to give people an idea about how they can eat like our early ancestors, including food lists and suggested meal options. Bond explains what kind of positive changes you will experience once you make these dietary alterations like reduced digestive problems, fat loss, normalized bowel movements, mouth hygiene improvements, and more! Regardless of your age, this is a way of eating that will change your life forever by altering the course of your diet that almost certainly would have led you down a path of disease and possibly death. He also points out that vegetarians and vegans can eat this way by avoiding the animal-based food recommendations rather than the "eat anything" besides meat diet that many of them adopt. Although he does share his concerns that vegans are severely lacking in an essential nutrient in their diet in vitamin B12 which led Bond to conclude that "veganism is not a natural human eating pattern." Interesting.

The conclusions of Deadly Harvest are that disease control happens by eating a strict low-glycemic diet, lowering the percentage of body fat you carry around, eat a diet consisting of mostly non-starchy plant-based foods, eat a low-fat diet with ample amounts of omega-3 fats, maintain good colon health, engage in regular physical activity, get some daily sunshine, and reduce chronic stress. If you do this, then diseases like cancer, heart disease, digestive problems, allergies, autoimmune diseases, brain diseases, diabetes, and obesity can be avoided. A full list of resources and references for the book are included in the back for further investigation and research for those interested in these concepts. While disagreeing with his assertions about saturated fat, Bond most certainly gets much of the rest of his message right on which is something sorely needed with the degradation of our modern diet. Perhaps we can get him to examine the Inuit people to see how a high-fat, low-carb diet was what helped them thrive with vibrant health for generations. If the evidence is there and he seeks it out, then I have no doubt Geoff Bond will have conclusions that follow the anthropological history.

‘Feed Your Brain Lose Your Belly’ By Dr. Larry McCleary

2010-09-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

Navigating through all the daily barrage of information that comes out about diet and health these days can be quite intimidating. There are thousands upon thousands of books telling you to eat this, don't eat that, add these foods and supplements, avoid these things or they'll kill you, so forth and so on. As a consumer living your life the best you know how, it can be extremely hard to know who and what to believe and whether any of it really makes practical sense for you and your family. How do you know who you can trust to tell you the truth about the relationship between what you eat and the effect that will have on essential functions of the body like your metabolism, heart and brain? It's extremely rare to find someone (ANYONE!) who fits the bill when it comes to providing reliable information that is backed by solid research and not just some flippant opinion based on a whole lot of nothing. But leave it to a brain surgeon to be the one to assimilate all of the data, cut through all the complexities about it, and then make it all seem understandable and convincing for us common laypeople. That's exactly what you get from pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Larry McCleary in his latest book called Feed Your Brain Lose Your Belly.

Dr. McCleary is the bestselling author of a fantastic book released in 2007 entitled The Brain Trust Program that closely examined the impact our diet has on brain health. But with this new book, he wanted to dig deeper into the unmistakable connection between the brain and the "other brain" commonly known as the metabolism. The thesis Dr. McCleary asserts in his book is that there is a very clear connection between the brain and the belly and that by feeding your body the right kind of nutrition to keep your brain healthy, you'll experience a domino effect in your metabolism that will keep your hunger at bay, make you feel satisfied with the way you eat, and enjoy amazing weight loss success. And this isn't some fast and loose diet thesis we're talking about here--Dr. McCleary has tested this on real people who have been highly successful at shedding the pounds while improving their brain health dramatically thanks to some sound scientific principles explained within the pages of this book.

You'll learn in the first few chapters of this book that the purpose of this plan is primarily to control the release of the fat-storing hormone called insulin. As long as insulin is present, weight loss cannot commence because the fat cells become "sticky" making it that much more difficult to remove them from your body. Dr. McCleary says insulin is the key in this process because it acts as the "on-off switch" for your fat cells which explains why so many people struggle with shedding the pounds despite eating less calories. And the more fat you have on your body, the more food you will want to eat because the insulin your body releases in response is making you hungrier and hungrier--a vicious cycle that is begging for an intervention! You'll learn about five specific diets and how they impact insulin levels in varying ways, including a low-fat, low-calorie diet, a high-fat, low-calorie diet, a starvation diet, a cruise ship diet and the standard American diet. The example of diabetes is used as a prime example of why controlling insulin is life and death for some people and that failing to take action with the insulin issue can lead you down the same path to destroying your health (obesity, diabetes, and even Alzheimer's disease can all be directly linked to high blood sugar and insulin levels).

So what exactly does the Feed Your Brain Lose Your Belly program entail and does it work to control the insulin so weight loss and vastly improved health can occur? First and foremost there's heavy a focus on the importance of consuming healthy fats as the primary fuel source for your brain and body. Dr. McCleary understands the unique role that ketone bodies play as the preferred fuel for healthy individuals and realizes the importance of getting adequate fat in the diet. In other words, if you want to lose fat, then you've got to eat fat! This is no doubt counterintuitive to everything you've ever heard before about a healthy diet, but he makes a solid case for this in Chapter 5. And one of the best sources of fat he advocates for is cold-water fish which he describes as "brain food" and "a key food source for fat loss." Pastured eggs are also encouraged for the quality protein content and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids found in them. Shorter-chain omega-3 sources such as flax seeds, flax seed oil and other sources are also promoted as part of this plan as well as non-starchy veggies and berries. Additionally, you are urged to consume nuts and seeds to provide magnesium and potassium, herbs and spices for their antioxidant properties and variety, brightly colored foods which are generally chock full of nutrients, fresh avocados for a healthy dose of mono-unsaturated fat, coconut oil as a super-healthy source of medium-chain triglycerides which help suppress the appetite, and green tea and red wine as the preferred beverage choices. As you can see, the diet itself is quite appetizing and easy to implement as part of a healthy brain-belly nutritional regimen.

A full seven-day meal plan with recipes is included in Chapter 6 to help get you started off on the right foot eating this way which you'll quickly discover is a high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb diet that will nourish your brain, repair it from the damage brought on by low-fat dieting, and restore optimal functions in both the brain and belly. In Chapter 7, Dr. McCleary explains why exercise is a vital element in this equation as well, including regular walking in your neighborhood. Unlike the obsessed glorification of hours of daily cardiovascular exercise promoted on television shows like "The Biggest Loser," you'll find that's just not necessary. Resistance training and walking at a mild to moderate level will give you the results you are looking for when combined with the prescribed diet plan outlined in this book. Chapter 8 deals with some of the head stuff that happens to people who are overweight and feel like they are trapped into being that way for life. He offers some much-needed inspiration that you will be successful if you, as he shares in Chapter 9, learn the lessons of those who have gone before you and risen above the challenges that faced them. Commitment and hard work will be rewarded handsomely when you have the right tools in place to make them happen. Practical strategies for implementing this strategy are shared in Chapter 10 while the ultimate answer to the question about whether it works is evidenced by the results of Dr. McCleary's clinical trials detailed in Chapter 11.

Suggested reading material is provided by Dr. McCleary in the back of the book, including key studies and books like Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes for further investigation into the science supporting the information contained in Feed Your Brain Lose Your Belly. Interestingly, there is also a basic educational primer in the Appendix section that explains in layman's terms the methodology used in scientific studies looking at supplements. All in all, this book is a fascinating read for people who are concerned about both their brain health and the health of their body. Curiously enough, the optimal diet for both is exactly the same. Whether you have the courage to buck the high-carb, low-fat trend of all the so-called health "experts" is the choice you'll have to make. The evidence for high-fat, low-carb living is there if you're willing to embrace it and implement it for yourself.

‘The Liberation Diet’ By Kevin Brown And Annette Presley

2010-09-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

People these days feel trapped by the obvious failure of conventional wisdom when it comes to their diet and health. They have faithfully followed everything they've been told is good for them down to the last bit of whole grain bread and tofu burgers that are most commonly associated with the standard low-fat, high-carb, plant-based dietary recommendations--but they still inexplicably deal with obesity and chronic disease like never before! What the heck is going on here? It's one thing to fool around with your personal fitness and nutrition where you are expected to gain weight and have unhealthy blood sugars, lipids and the like. But what can explain these things happening when you're supposedly doing everything 100% right? That's the answer that personal trainer Kevin Brown and registered dietitian Annette Presley answer for readers in their counterintuitive book called The Liberation Diet: Setting America Free from the Bondage of Health Misinformation!.

Brown and Presley do an outstanding job of explaining the breakdown that is happening with nutrition in the 21st Century. They correctly identify what's wrong with a "one-size-fits-all" approach to promoting the same diet to everyone without taking into account the specific individualized factors that make one way of eating better than another for certain people. Challenging this conventional wisdom on nutrition is what you get early and often from The Liberation Diet and the authors don't hold back in blasting away at the nonsense that pervades from the so-called health "experts" and government policymakers responsible for perpetrating these lies on the unsuspecting public. The stories behind how foods like Crisco came into being are truly fascinating and should make you shudder about what the food industry is feeding Americans that we DON'T yet know about. We learn that clever marketing and a little slight of hand is all it takes to convince people to start eating something their great-grandparents would have never even entertained a thought about eating. From margarine to Cool Whip to Wonder Bread, we're surrounded by so many "fake foods" that the message this book implores on the reader is to simply get back to eating real, whole foods again. Duh!

As you turn page after page of The Liberation Diet, you'll no doubt find yourself becoming angrier and angrier by all the preponderance of the evidence presented that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have been lied to about what constitutes a healthy diet. And even more egregious is the story you'll read about entrepreneurs Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller who were the ones who set up the accreditation process for medical schools. Because they saw the potential for billions of dollars in profits from pharmaceutical sales, the only schools that would be accredited were ones that taught students about how to prescribe expensive drugs to their patients rather than having them learn about the equally effective nutritional therapies. Unfortunately, this model for teaching medical school students still exists today while millions of people in the United States are needlessly suffering from mostly preventable diseases related their diet. You may need to start breathing deeply or take a walk in between chapters to get your blood pressure down again because this information will have you up in arms!

Brown and Presley also point readers back to the infamous "Seven Countries" study by Ancel Keys that has become the standard bearer for the low-fat diet quagmire that is surprisingly still in existence today despite the fact there have never been any scientific studies published proving it is effective for weight loss or improving health. In fact, there is ample evidence that the diet has been a dismal failure for people with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and other diseases of modern man. But rather than admitting they've been wrong all these years, the purveyors of the high-carb, low-fat diet keep touting it as the gospel truth while tens of millions more are getting sick and dying from the biggest health scam in the history of the world. And the politicians on Capitol Hill are partially to blame for this as well.

Senator George McGovern and his committee on nutrition in the mid-1970s were the ones who created all the mass hysteria and fear-mongering about saturated fat when they promoted the now-infamous "Dietary Goals for Americans" that was later picked up by the United States Department of Agriculture to help them promote the sale of more key crops like grains, corn and bean (which just so happen to be very high in carbohydrate). The authors write in their book, "They liked the idea of a low fat diet because if people cut the fat from their diets, they would have to add carbohydrates." Again, this is still the overriding theme of the USDA's Dietary Guidelines released every five years in the United States with seemingly no dramatic changes each time new recommendations are released. This is why The Liberation Diet book was written and so sorely needed in modern-day society. It's time for public revolt against the status quo!

So if everything is so grim and bleak, do we have any hope at all? You bet we do! It's called THE TRUTH and you get a lot of it within the pages of this book. Learn why saturated fat and cholesterol are not the reasons why we have heart disease, how eating butter, lard, and coconut oil are actually good for you, why high cholesterol foods like eggs are healthy, why consuming real whole (raw) milk is optimal for your health, and why the highly-processed hydrogenated fats (trans fats) and vegetable oils are the real villains in our diet along with sugar and excessive consumption of carbohydrate. And there are some real doozy stories you'll read about how common carbohydrate foods consumed by most Americans like cereal actually came into existence. You'll never believe it until you read about it. This book is peppered with ample evidence that should convince you that eating carbs will make you fat, diseased, and eventually dead from some preventable chronic health problems that nobody is talking about. You'll learn that there is absolutely zero science supporting a high-carb diet and that livin' la vida low-carb is NOT the fad diet it has been made out to be by the anti-low-carb members of the health media.

Other topics of interest covered in this book include calories in, calories out, salt, water, exercise, supplements, and more! Real-life examples of how people have changed their lives by implementing the strategies of The Liberation Diet are also included to encourage you as you take this newfound journey for yourself. Of course, you also get lots of recipes, references and other resources to help you along as you improve your lifestyle for good. Having interviewed both Kevin Brown and Annette Presley for my health-based podcast, I can personally attest that they are the real deal when it comes to articulating information that will help you in your personal weight and health goals. If you've been frustrated and felt trapped by the low-fat lie that's been heavily promoted for far too long, then why not give the concepts outlined in this book a try for yourself? It could be the answer you've been looking for all along.

‘Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms When My Lab Tests Are Normal?’ By Dr. Datis Kharrazian

2010-09-13T04:01:00.000-07:00

Millions of people are walking around right now with many of the most common symptoms of a thyroid problem--namely obesity, fatigue, depression, hair loss, constipation, cold all the time, muscle cramps, morning headaches, numbness in extremities, sleeping excessively, itchy skin, low body temperature, and more--despite the fact that their doctor tells them their thyroid is just fine since the tests he ran indicate as much. The most frustrating part for people dealing with these problems is the lack of weight loss despite all the dieting in the world. There comes a point when an alternative explanation has to emerge to account for this physical reaction happening in the body despite the fact that everything is considered "normal." That's where Dr. Datis Kharrazian comes in to explain that you're not going crazy as he clearly answers the question that is the title of his book Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms? When My Lab Tests Are Normal: A Revolutionary Breakthrough In Understanding Hashimoto's Disease and Hypothyroidism.

If you've been stuck in your weight loss efforts and have suffered through any of the symptoms listed above, then Dr. Kharrazian has good news for you. It's possible that you've been misdiagnosed as having good thyroid function when the truth of the matter is you have problems that are missed by most conventional thyroid tests. His expertise in human nutrition, chiropractic, and sports medicine as well as lecturing to doctors worldwide annually on this subject make him uniquely qualified to provide education on thyroid concerns. The book reads like a virtual textbook on all things related to the thyroid, including what the thyroid gland is, the function that it serves in the body, and the ramifications that can happen if something is preventing it from running optimally.

Dr. Kharrazian explains in great detail over several chapters the autoimmune disease known as Hashimoto's and how to know if you have it or not. The differences between hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism are also explained in easy-to-understand language with lists of symptoms to be on the lookout for. You'll find out why a low-carb, gluten-free diet is so critically important for anyone suffering from thyroid problems because it will help bring insulin resistance, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and inflammation under control. This book also identifies other issues to consider, including Vitamin D deficiency, estrogen fluctuations, stress, environmental toxins like heavy metals, and why you shouldn't be taking an iodine supplement if you have Hashimoto's. It's all explained within the pages of this book.

Honestly, this is a book your doctor needs to read because he/she will learn more about the thyroid function and how to best treat your individual circumstance than any other resource on the market. Dr. Kharrazian gets into the nitty gritty of looking for low thyroid function and what tests to run to find out. He's disgusted with what he describes as "the grossest mismanagement of hypothyroidism" with the standard blood tests that are conducted that can leave thyroid issues undiagnosed to the tune of nearly 13 million annually. Most doctors tend to run TSH and not much else and even then they use the "lab ranges" to determine if the patient has good thyroid function or not rather than the "functional ranges" explained in this book. Missing a critical blood test can leave no other choice for some people than to be put on medications for the rest of their life. But if it's identified soon enough, the conditions of hypothyroidism can be reversed.

You'll learn the six patterns of low thyroid function, including primary hypothyroidism, hypothyroidism secondary to pituitary hypothyroidism, thyroid under-conversion, thyroid over-conversion and decreased thyroid binding globulin, thyroid binding globulin elevation, and thyroid resistance and what to do about each of these. Discover what the functional blood chemistry pattern looks like and what nutritional support is available to fix it. The diet aspect of this whole thing is one of the most fascinating parts of the book. You'll learn why essential fatty acids from fish oil, flaxseed, primrose oil, raw nuts and seeds, and fish are critical to erasing the common deficiencies in upwards of 80 percent of the American population that can make your thyroid susceptible to being damaged and malfunction.

The most widely-prescribed thyroid hormone replacement prescription medications are noted in the book, including Armour (whose formulation changed in late 2009), Cytomel, dessicated thyroid, Levothroid, Levothyroixine, Levoxyl, Synthroid, and Thyrolar, as well as common prescription and over-the-counter drugs that can negatively impact thyroid function and lead to imbalances. This is why it's always a good idea to be resistant to taking drugs whenever possible because you never know what the unintended consequences to your health will be. A beautiful summary of each chapter's key points is provided for you to hammer home the most important points to remember.

In his chapter on "taming the blood sugar beast," Dr. Kharrazian speaks with great wisdom best summarized by the statement, "America's addiction to sugar, fast foods, and a grain-based diet has produced a nation of carbohydrate-addicts riding the highs and lows of blood sugar swings." He understands the importance of livin' la vida low-carb to ward off conditions like dysglycemia where the body can no longer control blood sugar levels because of the damage caused by excessive carbohydrate consumption. It is noted that diabetes has reached such epidemic levels that is is predicted to bankrupt our health care system completely. Low blood sugar, high blood sugar, and insulin resistance are best resolved by eating a low-carb, high-protein/fat breakfast, consuming protein every two to three hours, never going above your carbohydrate tolerance in a day (experiencing cravings shortly after eating means you consumed too many carbs), not eating a high-sugar food without fiber, fat or protein, abstaining from consuming sweets prior to bedtime, skipping fruit juices, avoiding caffeine, consuming meats and non-starchy veggies mainly, getting rid of food allergens, removing toxins and parasites from your body, and never going on a fast.

Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms? is chock full of so much useful information for people who have become frustrated by the lack of answers coming from the medical community. Dr. Kharrazian has done his homework and arms you with everything you could ever want to know about your thyroid. The book includes a rather unorthodox 5-phase meal plan for "unwinding insulin resistance" that you'll have to see for yourself to believe. It's unlike anything you've probably heard before, but he swears it has worked with his patients.

This is the definitive book on thyroid dysfunction and what to do about it. There's an entire chapter on the 22 patterns of metabolic thyroid disorders that lead to "normal" blood test results and Dr. Kharrazian provides all the necessary information about the interconnection between the immune system, hormones, nutrition, and brain function in treating them. A thorough list of nutritional compounds is also provided in the back of the book to address your specific thyroid issue as well as a glossary of common terms like TH-1 dominance, thyroid peroxidase, and triiodothyronine (T3), for example. And just in case you think the information provided in this book isn't backed up with quality science, think again! There are over 50 pages of studies, papers, and articles supporting everything Dr. Kharrazian has to share. Even if you only think you might have a thyroid problem, you owe it to yourself to get a copy of this book to educate yourself about one of the most complex and completely missed medical conditions of our day!

‘Big Fat Lies’ By Hannah Sutter

2010-09-13T03:04:00.000-07:00

It all seems to make sense to the government health authorities who encourage citizens to eat less, exercise more, cut the fat and calories, eat more fruits and vegetables and all will be happy and healthy for life. Wellllll, not exactly. Although we've had this very advice pretty much shoved down our proverbial throats for nearly four decades, what has been the result? MORE obesity, MORE diabetes, MORE heart disease, MORE chronic disease than ever before in the history of the world. They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. And this business that a low-fat, high-carb, vegetarian diet is the only way to produce optimal health is just about as insane as it gets. That's why it's good to know there are people like Hannah Sutter out there exposing the nutritional scam that is being perpetrated on innocent people worldwide. She hits this subject square between the eyes in her book Big Fat Lies: Is Your Government Making You Fat?

Sutter is a former lawyer in the UK who still has a keen nose for sniffing out truth from fiction. In looking at the dietary recommendations being promoted in her country by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and in the United States with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), she noticed that certain scientific studies that are an integral part of the health equation have either been overlooked or ignored by the very agencies commissioned to stay up-to-date on health and nutrition policy. Additionally, the people selected to serve on these advisory boards are either ill-equipped or tied too closely to food and drug manufacturers who have a vested interest in keeping the status quo alive and well. These disturbing revelations laid the groundwork for Sutter exposing all the "big fat lies" she sees being passed off to the public regarding their health.

This book is especially prescient right now in light of the USDA-recommended 2010 Dietary Guidelines that are being released to the public this year pushing more carbohydrates, less fat and saturated fat and a more vegetarian-styled diet for all Americans. Sutter explains quite brilliantly why having such broad-based nutritional dictates for everyone to follow is pure folly and actually even more destructive to public health in the end. She literally makes her argument with the tenacity of a voracious lawyer arguing for the plaintiff (the people) against the powerful defense attorneys (the status quo). What unfolds in just over 150 pages is something every government health and nutrition bureaucrat needs to know about and implement if we're gonna get a handle on the skyrocketing rates of obesity and chronic disease.

Big Fat Lies, as the title implies, is an unapologetic smack back in the face of the conventional wisdom that has dominated all the talk of health since the 1970s. Sutter tells us how calorie and fat consumption is lower today than it was back then and yet we still deal with these same problems. What in the world is happening? One answer: we've been duped. The whole low-fat, high-carb mantra has been based on a fabrication that those things are somehow important as it relates to health despite the fact there have been no randomized clinical trials proving they make any positive impact at all. How can governments in good conscience keep pushing this message as the gospel truth when they know good and well there is no scientific evidence to back it up? Because nobody is challenging their authority. That's exactly what Hannah Sutter is attempting to do with her book.

In fact, Sutter's personal revelation about this issue began in 2004 when she attended a nutrition conference in Denver, Colorado where she heard people like Drs. Mike and Mary Dan Eades from Protein Power imploring for food companies to come up with delicious and authentic foods that are healthy for consumers. This lit a fire in the creative mind of Sutter who went home to England and started experimenting in the kitchen to come up with something special that would fit the bill. The result was the creation of GoLower bars which is a delicious combination of nuts, seeds, and a fiber-based low-glycemic sweetener. The bars immediately became a hit in the UK and have sold quite well in the United States as well. These high-fat, low-carb bars would be deemed "unhealthy" by the major governmental health organizations, but Sutter has seen first-hand how obese and diseased people have gotten better by ignoring the "expert" advice and forging their own path to better health using alternative methods that fit them best. It's the heartbeat of the central theme of this book.

The best part of Big Fat Lies is where Sutter implores us to "get back to our roots" and eat a diet that was ideal for our early ancestors which was most decidedly one of a hunter-gatherer. She notes that nearly three out of every four people living in that time period ate a diet consisting of more than half animal foods. In other words, meat was the base of the diet and vegetation was added for variety and perhaps some fiber and micronutrients. This kind of diet was the norm until about 10,000 years ago when wheat, rice and corn consumption began spreading around the world. These empty carbohydrate sources were especially deficient in the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids that are essential for health. And yet they began being consumed like there was no tomorrow and the downward spiral ensued aided by the Industrial Revolution which made manufacturing and refining these starchy grains easy and dirt cheap.

Sutter shows us that the real superfood diet is one that includes red meat, poultry, organ meats, fish, green leafy vegetables, berries and seasonal fruits, nuts and seeds, and eggs. NO STARCH ALLOWED! Each of these foods are defended for their health benefits and then proof is presented about how eating them will ward off cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome, vitamin deficiencies, and more. While the low-carb diet has been vilified and ripped apart as a "fad" diet because people still fear fat and are wary of eating high-protein, it really is an ideal way to resolve most of the weight and health concerns of our day. This means going into ketosis to shed the pounds, eating like a hunter-gatherer, and applying some rather practical solutions that Sutter outlines for you in Chapter 9 of her book. And it's especially good for people with diabetes.

She concludes Big Fat Lies with her closing argument to the jury hammering home her case that the eat less, consume a low-fat, high-carb diet, and exercise more message has failed miserably. And people have been listening to the message and applying it--with lackluster results. In fact, it's making people fatter and fatter because counting calories, eating starch, and exercising 'til you drop is only making the problem worse. Sutter says people need to stop fearing fat, stop loving starch and sugar, and take back control of their own health whether the government gives them their rubber stamp of approval or not. She even shares her desire for someone to possibly sue the government over their current dietary guidelines destroying their health. Wouldn't that be a hoot? But she is hopeful that the preponderance of the evidence will eventually speak for itself and real change will begin to happen.

The book ends with a rather blunt, but ever-so-poignant quote: "...now is the time to stop the bullshit and get on with really solving the problem--without blaming the British public for being lazy and greedy." The same could be said for the American people, too, Hannah and it is with people like you sounding the alarm and raising the banner for healthy high-fat, low-carb living that someday soon the ship will get righted and the insanity will end at last.

‘Living Low Carb’ By Dr. Jonny Bowden

2010-09-13T02:08:00.000-07:00

One of the most honest and accurate health writers and speakers on the planet today has got to be the amazingly prolific and one of the all-around lovable good guys--Dr. Jonny Bowden. His stellar writings which are featured through a wide multitude of various nationally-syndicated columns such as on AOL, The Huffington Post, iVillage as well as his bestselling line of books make him a highly sought after expert on all things related to nutrition, diet, and living a healthy lifestyle. Back in 2003, he penned what many in the low-carb community considered the quintessential magnum opus book on the awesome benefits of carbohydrate-restriction that has ever been written in a readable style that was palatable to anyone interested in learning more about what this way of eating is all about. The book was called Living The Low Carb Life: From Atkins to the Zone Choosing the Diet That's Right for You and it was an outstanding book that literally allowed you to compare all of the most popular low-carb diet plans side-by-side with a brief synopsis of each one along with the pros and cons to decide which one is best for you. Dr. Bowden has always maintained the philosophy that people need to find the diet that is right for them.

But when the low-carb diet supposedly fell out of favor with the public in 2005 after the big low-carb food marketing craze subsided, Dr. Bowden's publisher discontinued printing the book despite strong sales. Then in 2009 there was such a great demand for this book by people sincerely interested in learning more about what low-carb living was all about and the emergence of a whole host of solid scientific evidence supporting low-carb diets that the publishers had no choice but to contact Dr. Bowden requesting that he update his classic book with all of this brand new information that has released since the publication of his original manuscript. The end result of that updated and expanded version of his 2003 book is what we have in the 2010 edition renamed Living Low-Carb: Controlled-Carbohydrate Eating for Long-Term Weight Loss.

For fans of the original book, most of the information contained in this update will be familiar. But there are a lot more diets included in the comparison including ones that have released in the past few years like The Biggest Loser, The Maker's Diet, The TNT Diet, YOU: On A Diet, Curves, The Low GI Diet, and The 6-Week Cure For The Middle-Aged Middle, for example. The format for featuring these various low-carb plans (and a few non-low-carb ones as well!) is the same as the first book--a quick "in a nutshell" overview of the plan, a few pages explaining the genesis of the program and how it works, and finally you get "Jonny's Lowdown" where he give a 1-5 star rating for the diet along with commentary explaining the positive and negative aspects of the particular diet he is highlighting. There are 38 diets examined in all and you can bet it includes just about all of the major low-carb diet plans out there (with the exception of the bestselling New Atkins For A New You which released in March 2010 after the publication of this book).

Before he gets to the comparisons, though, Dr. Bowden lays the groundwork why low-carb living is optimal not just for weight loss but also your health with a series of chapters. He begins Chapter 1 by providing the history behind low-carb and how it all came about in the first place thanks to a man named William Banting (surprise, it wasn't the late, great Dr. Robert C. Atkins who first created low-carbohydrate diets). Then in Chapter 2, Dr. Bowden meticulously explains why low-carb diets work by showing you the mechanism that takes place when you eat this way. A new chapter included in this update is about the ongoing controversy regarding dietary fat and cholesterol and whether they negatively impact heart health as most of the "experts" have been saying for decades. A discussion of whether we've been "misled" on this issue and supporting facts making the case for that are included in Chapter 3.

Another new addition to the book is Chapter 4 begs the question, "So Why Isn't Everyone On A Low-Carb Diet? (OR Why Your Doctor Doesn't Know About This Stuff)" is an eye-opener to anyone who is still convinced that the conventional wisdom regarding high-carb, low-fat and even vegetarian diets is the optimal nutritional path. The continued misinformation about healthy low-carb diets persists despite both anecdotal and scientific proof to the contrary. Dr. Bowden explains some of the obstacles that stand in the way of low-carb being widely accepted by our culture and what needs to be done to bring out the truths behind this dietary lifestyle change. Chapter 5 explores the concept of the "metabolic advantage" on low-carb diets while Chapter 6 tackles most of the biggest myths about low-carb, including the assumption you're missing out on nutrients eating this way, the alleged danger of being in ketosis, the fear of kidney damage eating so much protein, the needless heart disease fears, and more. All of this information is written in an easy-to-understand yet thorough way so that the reader will feel confident in the veracity of everything they soak in from the 400+ pages included in this updated version.

After going through all of the diet comparisons in Chapter 7, Dr. Bowden shares an inspiring story in Chapter 8 about an aboriginal community in Canada that was placed on a high-fat, low-carb diet and went on to lose 1200 pounds between them as part of a study conducted by Dr. Jay Wortman featured in a documentary called My Big Fat Diet. Chapter 9 covers the use of supplementation and diet aides while on low-carb which is simply a synopsis of a lot of the information contained in several of Dr. Bowden's other recent books on this subject. The frequently asked questions in Chapter 10 is probably the most exciting part of this book because it includes a potpourri of burning questions that real people have submitted to Dr. Bowden over the years, including when can I eat carbs again, how long will it take for me to lose 10 pounds, why am I constipated, how do I beat sugar cravings, how many calories do I need to eat on low-carb, and many more. It's quite the collection of the real-life questions most people have about low-carb diets with a level-headed professional response to each.

In Chapter 11, you get to pick up on 50 or so "tricks of the trade" to make your low-carb lifestyle much more pleasurable and effective while preventing the bad habits that inevitably creep into the diet of anyone who has "failed" at being a success on low-carb. Finally in Chapter 12, Dr. Bowden helps you assimilate all of the information he's provided in his book to discover exactly which plan is going to provide the best success for YOU! In the end, that's the primary purpose of Living Low Carb--you want to find what will work for you and then DO IT! Once you choose your program, there are a whole host of low-carb support resources listed in the back of the book, including web sites, blogs, books, and cookbooks to keep you on the straight and narrow as you begin your low-carb journey in earnest. If you could only get one book about low-carb, then this is it! Dr. Jonny Bowden has done his homework. Now you have the tools and information to take away all of your excuses and make livin' la vida low-carb work for you. GO FOR IT!

‘Six Weeks To Sleeveless And Sexy’ By JJ Virgin

2010-09-12T23:09:00.000-07:00

There's something appealing about a woman who feels confident enough to show off her arms in public. Feeling comfortable in your own skin and even flaunting it a bit is the dream of so many women and yet most of them think it's just a pipe dream to even think about trying to wear a tank top or some other sleeveless top in a public place. But celebrity fitness and health coach JJ Virgin says it doesn't have to be that way and she shows you how in her latest book Six Weeks to Sleeveless and Sexy: The 5-Step Plan to Sleek, Strong, and Sculpted Arms.

JJ has such an infectious writing style that you can't help but be attracted by what she has to say. But just one look at this woman who is "sleeveless and sexy" herself and you'll be convinced of the very principles she teaches in her book. The format is simple--seven chapters to show you how to do it, including two critical ones that focus on nutrition. This may shock a lot of people who think the key to getting good-looking arms is all about the gym, but that's where JJ Virgin is different. She knows a healthy diet is essential and it's not just any old diet either.

Once you get started on your plan, one of the first things you do is "Clean Out Your Kitchen." Gone are the starchy, sweet, and processed carbohydrates that are dooming you to a lifetime of flabby arms. She also encourages you to dump the so-called "healthy" foods that are chock full of sugar like yogurt with fruit in the bottom, microwave popcorn, those gimmicky 100-calorie packs, fruit juices, and "light" salad dressings. JJ gives you a reality check that taking the fat away from anything just to make it healthier is in fact doing just the opposite because they're packing that product up with more sugar in the process. Finally, common sense and cold hard facts from a diet book!

In order to make fat-burning commence in your arms and the rest of your body, JJ recommends a diet that doesn't skimp on the protein, includes healthy amounts of fat, nonstarchy vegetables, and high-fiber carbohydrates that rank very low on the glycemic index. She believes all four of these foods are "essential to your health" and to not go overboard beyond the natural satiety mechanism that is within all of us. Paying attention to your body, feeding it properly (which likely goes against much of what you've heard is "good" for you most of your life), making sure you consume protein at every meal, and drinking an ample amount of water between meals will have you well on your way to "sexy" arm success! Recommendations about what the right kinds of foods to consume are included in the book so you're not left to your own devices trying to figure it all out. It's right there, including what foods you probably need to avoid as well. This really is a user-friendly guide you can refer to again and again.

Six Weeks To Sleeveless And Sexy also provides readers with ways to incorporate healthy habits into their diet which is a vital element for achieving the results you've been looking for. While most of the "experts" in health are encouraging people to eat more carbohydrates and less fat, JJ Virgin knows this is pure nonsense if you want to be successful. Get rid of the sugar, ditch the vegetable oils, chunk the processed, pre-packaged foods, forget about orange juice, no more artificial sweeteners, say no to peanuts, give up white potatoes and mashed potatoes, stop eating grain-fed meats, kick the margarine habit...the list goes on and on. She encourages better choices like using coconut milk, opting for extra-virgin olive oil, walnut oil, or coconut oil, making your own salad dressings, using xylitol or stevia for sweetening, consuming a whole orange on occasion, selecting better nuts like almonds and walnuts, eating sweet potatoes or using cauliflower instead, buying grass-fed beef from a local farmer, and choosing fresh organic butter whenever possible. This is the kind of sage advice we need to hear from those at the forefront of nutrition and fitness in America, but unfortunately JJ Virgin's message is a rarified breed.

So what about the exercise part? Yep, it's in there. You didn't think you'd be let off the hook on that one, did you? But the good news is JJ makes it easy by sharing exactly what you need to do, what equipment you'll need to accomplish your goals, and full pictorial demonstrations about how to properly do each exercise well. Seeing the author with her well-toned "sleeveless and sexy" arms showing you step-by-step what to do will motivate you to make it happen for yourself. She's a built-in inspiration for anyone attempting to make these changes become a reality.

In addition to the right kind of diet and specific exercises, you'll learn that a good night's sleep and proper stress management are integral parts of the equation as well. Getting too little sleep can quickly derail your best efforts to lose weight and build muscle and JJ explains why in this book. She arms you with the tools to get the best possible sleep at night so you can receive all the healthful benefits it offers your body. On the subject of stress, you'll learn that it "makes you old and fat and it forces you to reach for granny gown instead of a sexy nightie!" The body will protect itself when stress is present and it's not a pleasant experience. Hormones go wild and fat-burning ceases while it deals with this crisis you're putting it through. A domino effect of reactions happen when stress happens, so JJ gives you practical ways to destress and get your life back again.

Finally, you'll find out why you've failed at keeping your weight off in the past and how to prevent that from happening again this time around. You'll no longer be in "diet mentality" because JJ teaches you this is a lifestyle change you can live with and will want to do forever and ever. No more needless calorie-counting, slashing fat grams, choosing "healthy" packaged foods, and all the other garbage advice we've been led to believe is best for our bodies. In Six Weeks To Sleeveless And Sexy, you learn there is a better way and there is no way you cannot be all that you can be following this plan. You'll learn that your body is not a simple bank account of calories in, calories out. It's about the quality of those calories you consume and the type of movement you put your body through that will pay the biggest dividends for you in the end.

Even when you think you might have messed up, JJ Virgin explains all is not lost. You're on this journey and it's a winding road of ups and downs just like life. But it's how you respond to the adversity that determines where the road will lead you. With a health coach like JJ explaining it all for you and helping you to understand the why and the what all along the way, you'll have no choice but to show off your "sleeveless and sexy" arms in no time flat. Don't believe it can happen? Give JJ six weeks and commit yourself to this like nothing you've ever done before. You'll be surprised by the results you will get accomplished in such a short period of time. Now get out there and GO FOR IT!

'Bread Matters' By Andrew Whitley

2010-09-12T22:59:00.000-07:00

I enjoy reading books that stretch my intellectual boundaries beyond any preconceived notions that I have about a subject. That's where true knowledge can be formed when you surround yourself with information that may run counter to what you already believe is true so that you can either strengthen your opposition to it or find a new way to look at it from a different perspective. That's certainly what I attempted to do by reading British baker Andrew Whitley's book on the carbiest of all carbohydrates entitled Bread Matters: The State of Modern Bread and a Definitive Guide to Baking Your Own.

People within the low-carb community which I am an active part of may answer the question of whether bread really matters with a resounding NO, but I was willing to hear what Whitley had to say on the subject before hastily dismissing it. Yes, that's blasphemy in the land of livin' la vida low-carb, but I like to buck the trend and take a second look at topics that may teach me something. This book certainly didn't disappoint.

One of my favorite parts of Bread Matters is the fact that Whitley completely annihilates the state of modern bread, especially those claiming to have some sort of "healthy-eating" marketing scheme attached to it. Inferior and cheap breads completely distort the value of real bread made from quality ingredients and the author does an excellent job of exposing the kind of garbage they are putting into bread these days that is completely unnecessary for making it for human consumption. Just read pages 8-13 to see what all they are putting into most modern breads to know why you need to avoid them like the plague.

This book is a historical reference as much as anything showing how bread used to be made before the Industrial Revolution started refining grains and producing these mass-marketed breads that are anything but what bread used to be. It's kind of like what has happened to a lot of other foods we consume these days with all the added sugars, refined carbohydrates, and processing that makes them virtually useless for human nutrition. That's what they've done to our bread and Andrew Whitley laments this travesty to what he believes is a real dietary staple. While I don't think that's necessarily true, I expect a bread maker to say that.

I love the snarkiness of Whitley because he nails the food industry for their hypocrisy. In discussing the food companies that tout the "healthy" versions of their foods, he asks the following question wondering out loud if they've even considered the answer: "If all the qualities with which you have so generously endowed this new line are as vital for my health as you imply, why are your ordinary products not as good?" It's a great question to ask to which we'll never hear an answer. The food manufacturers don't care about your health--all they are concerned with is padding their bottom line. There's nothing wrong with making a buck, but don't do it under the guise that you care about people's health.

Then after outlining the problem with modern bread, Whitley does something rather amazing: he shows YOU how to make good, quality bread yourself and there are four essential ingredients you need to have to make that happen--wheat flour (and he describes several different kinds for you to examine to determine which one is best for your baking needs), yeast, water, and salt. He takes you through the five stages of breadmaking and explains why each one is an important part of the process of making real bread. Gorgeous color photos show you what the bread is supposed to look like after you are finished with all the process of making your bread. Recipes for making every version of bread you can think of under the sun are included in Bread Matters and this is certainly the most comprehensive book I've ever seen on the subject anywhere.

Although there is a nice recipe for how to make gluten-free bread in the back of the book, I'm not convinced that my diet needs to include a daily dose of bread of any kind just yet. For those who can tolerate more carbohydrates than mine, I certainly don't see how baking up some fresh real bread for yourself would be out of the question from time to time. While I may not see it as a staple of anyone's diet, I can now understand why Andrew Whitley declares that Bread Matters which is why he's undertaken an international campaign to promote real bread around the world. People should stop settling for what they see in a grocery store as their impression of bread and get back to the basics of how it is made the right way.

'Cereal Killer' By Alan Watson

2010-09-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

It's obvious to anyone who has been paying attention over the past few decades that the direction of our overall health in the United States is rapidly DECLINING with seemingly no end in sight. Obesity, diabetes, cancer, and death are all increasing at astronomical rates that make you wonder what in the world is going on that our proverbial house is on fire and nothing effective is being done about it. If the problem is really that serious, then shouldn't every solution be brought to the table in order to properly tackle this issue head-on? That's precisely the question that health writer Alan Watson seeks to answer in his explosive and humorously-titled book Cereal Killer: The Unintended Consequences of the Low Fat Diet.

Watson makes the case that there is significant financial pressure applied by cereal and other grain-related companies in collaboration with the pharmaceutical drug industry on those that make health and nutritional policy decisions in the United States that is preventing the public from being fully informed about the dangers of carbohydrate consumption. He makes the case that the heavy promotion of low-fat diets (which by definition are high in carbohydrate) and unnecessary vilification of saturated fat have merely made the weight and health of the American people WORSE, not better. The "unintended consequences" of this decision to push low-fat nutrition has been more obesity, more chronic disease, and a monstrosity of a problem that seems to be too out of control to ever reign back in again. It's difficult to argue against this conclusion in light of the current situation we find ourselves in.

That's where Cereal Killer comes into the picture. Exposing the behind-the-scenes back room deals that are happening to influence the 2010 Dietary Guidelines For All Americans set to be released later this year, Watson notes that the heavy influence of lobbyists representing the sugar, grain, and vegetable oil industries is ever-present and as a result we will likely see little to no change in the very policies that have led our nation to become fatter and sicker than ever before. Despite the health degradation that has taken place in the health of average Americans that could have been prevented with simple changes in their diet, the status quo remains. This book is a call to action for citizens from coast-to-coast to take back control of their own health by ignoring all of the unsavory, ill-advised, and outright biased information they've been fed from their government and the so-called health "experts" for far too long!

After being challenged by his supplement company customers to identify what the healthiest diet is for them to be eating, Watson began doing his own investigation and research into the matter. What he found was disturbing to him after long believing that low-fat nutrition was optimal for health. But it wasn't until he heard the late, great low-carb diet guru Dr. Robert C. Atkins in a debate with one of his low-fat adversaries that it all clicked for Watson. From that day forward, he was fully convinced the healthy low-carb lifestyle was certainly the way to go if we are ever going to turn the obesity and chronic disease boat around in the United States. It not only can be done, but it MUST be done if we ever hope to get a handle on our out-of-control preventable health crisis.

If you are new to the basic concepts of low-carb living, then this book is the perfect introduction to this proven and effective lifestyle change. Watson shares how low-carb IMPROVES various health markers, including blood lipids, and defines what the various numbers really mean. He provides evidence that a high-fat, low-carb diet and not a high-carb, low-fat diet is actually the desirable diet if you are concerned about your cardiovascular health and he arms you with the evidence to back up every statement he makes. Although Cereal Killer is only a little over 100 pages in length, it will catch you up-to-date on everything you need to know about the current state of affairs we find ourselves in regarding diet and health in the 21st Century.

'Diabetes Rising' By Dan Hurley

2010-09-12T22:56:00.000-07:00

The alarming rate of diabetes growth over the past two decades alone has quite literally become an international health epidemic in 21st Century society. As the numbers have continued to rise and rise while blood sugar disorders have become much more common than ever before, the health experts have attempted to put on their thinking caps to come up with a solution that will help people suffering with diabetes have the ability to beat this problem once and for all. So far, there have been no cures found. What we need are people who can come up with solutions to this monstrosity of a disease and Dan Hurley has attempted to do just that with the release of his book Diabetes Rising: How a Rare Disease Became a Modern Pandemic, and What to Do About It.

Hurley himself has Type 1 diabetes and as an investigative medical journalist has a personal vested interest in this topic. After living with this disease and seeing so many people suffering from both the juvenile diabetes (Type 1) and adult onset diabetes (Type 2), you would like Hurley would examine ALL of the science and latest information on how to best control the symptoms of diabetes. But one thing glaringly missing element in the Diabetes Rising book is the lack of any mention of the low-carbohydrate nutritional connection to diabetes and how it would play some role in the solution. With all we know about carbohydrate-restriction as an essential part of an effective way to control blood glucose levels, this is quite perplexing to say the least.

But there are exactly TWO references to low-carb (one simply mentioning the Atkins diet and another talking about what the low-carb diet is). But that’s it! I'm greatly concerned that this seemingly innocuous oversight will lead people to believe carbohydrate awareness and control plays virtually zero role in treating diabetes. I've had the privilege of interviewing Dan Hurley on my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show" podcast and he admitted to me that low-carb living is an ideal way to manage diabetes. So then it begged the question: WHY NO MENTION OF IT AS PART OF THE SOLUTION?

Even more disconcerting was the lack of any references to those medical practitioners who are doing amazing work using low-carb diets on real diabetic patients. People like Dr. Richard K. Bernstein who wrote Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution and Dr. Mary C. Vernon who co-authored Atkins Diabetes Revolution are at the forefront of effectively normalizing blood sugar levels in diabetics of all types simply by cutting their carbs and shifting them from being carbohydrate burners to fat burners. A high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb diet is the cornerstone for making this happen for diabetics and yet Dan Hurley missed this point in his book? In fact, he'd never even heard of them before I brought up their names. How can you write a book about solutions to the diabetes problem and miss the two biggest names using low-carb diets?

I credit Hurley for realizing the change in dietary recommendations in the 1970s to a high-carb, low-fat diet negatively impacted diabetes rates and that's exactly right. And while Type 2 diabetes tends to get all the press for being on the rise, he also makes the case for why even Type 1 diabetes is skyrocketing as well in Diabetes Rising. It's certainly a well-organized and sorely needed book on the subject of diabetes that lawmakers and health professionals alike should take heed and notice. And yet it's impossible for me to take a work like this seriously because of the low-carb omission. Despite heaping great praise on carbohydrate-restriction as a solution during my interview describing it as "the best diabetes diet," Hurley said he didn't include it in his book because of his belief that people won’t follow a low-carb diet because we’re surrounded by cheap carbs. What a crock of you know what!

I'm not a diabetic, but I've been eating a healthy low-carb nutritional plan for nearly seven years and it has helped me stave off diabetes and control my morbid obesity. Had I not begun a low-carb lifestyle change on January 1, 2004 when I went on the Atkins diet, then there's no doubt in my mind that I'd be a Type 2 diabetic today. But carbohydrate control has kept my blood sugars at normal levels and I challenge anyone to tell me I'm not a healthier man today as a result. It's disheartening to think a book about diabetes can be written in 2010 with all that we know from the science about this disease and the low-carb connection and have nary a mention of this way of eating. Completely and utterly incomprehensible!

'Dana Carpender's New Carb & Calorie Counter' By Dana Carpender

2010-09-12T22:54:00.000-07:00

She is the reigning queen of low-carb cuisine and for good reason--Dana Carpender knows her stuff when it comes to easily making a carbohydrate-restricted eating plan a part of a normal, everyday way of life. While the media and health pundits choose to denigrate low-carbohydrate nutrition for whatever their reasons, people like Dana just keep living by example and sharing with the world the knowledge and experience she has attained as a decade-plus low-carb veteran. And more than anything else, she recognizes that people need help keeping track of their carbohydrate and calorie intake which is why she's released Dana Carpender's NEW Carb and Calorie Counter-Expanded, Revised, and Updated 4th Edition: Your Complete Guide to Total Carbs, Net Carbs, Calories, and More.

When a book has been through four updates and revisions, you know it's a useful tool for people and this book is no exception. In typical Dana Carpender style, whose line of low-carb cookbooks are heralded by any serious low-carb dieter, she starts off by telling you the basics of livin' la vida low-carb and how to make the most of her 350-page mass paperback book. Useful tips, health checklists, common health problems improved by low-carb nutrition, ways to enhance your low-carb lifestyle, and gentle encouragement dominate the first 30 pages.

It's a great refresher course for those of us who have been eating this way for a long time or an outstanding introduction to a whole new way to think about healthy eating for those who are new to carbohydrate-restriction. I especially liked her section "10 Great Snacks for 5 grams of Net Carbs Or Less!" to help all you road trippers know exactly what to bring with you to stick with your low-carb plan. She even does the same for national fast-food and popular sit down restaurants telling you EXACTLY what to order at places like Burger King, Hardee's, Denny's, KFC and even Pizza Hut! This is a nice book to keep in the glove compartment of your car for speedy reference while traveling.

The bulk of the book is in a table format with the name of the food or beverage, serving size, calories, total carbs, fiber, net carbs, protein, and fat listed for each. It begins with 16 pages of beverages, then 107 pages of common foods you would purchase for your family to eat, and finally nearly 200 pages of all the nutritional information about the foods you would order at a restaurant. I suppose it's a sign of our times that restaurants would receive nearly DOUBLE the amount of space in a book like this, but I'm all about arming people with information that will help them make better choices for the sake of their health. And Dana has done just that with this newly updated version of her carb and calorie counter book.

'Food Rules' By Michael Pollan

2010-09-12T22:49:00.000-07:00

If you've been paying attention at all to the subject of diet and health over the past few years, then there's no doubt you've heard of the name Michael Pollan. A trained journalist, he's transitioned from reporting on the story to BECOMING the story with his highly-influential New York Times bestselling books The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food as well as a major appearance in the critically-acclaimed film on the state of our food supply in America called Food, Inc.. Yes, Pollan has been a busy man and he's doing great work educating the public about what healthy eating is all about. While most people tend to make their diet more complicated than it needs to be, the reality is it's rather elementary if you stick with a few basic principles to guide your daily decisions. That's the concept behind Pollan's latest offering called Food Rules: An Eater's Manual.

An unassuming little 4.5x7-inch book, this is one power-packed punch of information you can use to make healthy decisions for you and your family. Broken up into three parts--"What Should I Eat?" "What Kind Of Food Should I Eat?" and "How Should I Eat?"--Pollan says it's all about eating real food, mostly plants, and not too much. If this theme sounds familiar, then it should if you've read any of Pollan's previous books on diet. But the bite-sized format of Food Rules may make this more compatible for the average person to consume and absorb all the lessons he's been conveying through his previous works. Maybe Gary Taubes and his publisher could put something together like this for his bestselling 2007 release Good Calories, Bad Calories. People like simplicity when it's done right like this book is.

I knew the book was going to start off well when I saw Pollan dedicate it to his mother who "always knew butter was better for you than margarine." YES! He proceeds to share how eating has become more of a chore these days because we needlessly rely on media pundits and so-called health "experts" to tell us what's right and wrong about what to put in our mouths. Food is no longer the sustenance of life, but rather something to be critically examined for its impact on health either negatively or positively.

While I certainly see nothing wrong with being careful about what foods you choose to consume (and neither would Pollan), he's right about the obsession and it cuts both ways. You've got one group of consumers who absolutely don't give a rip about what they're eating as long as it tastes good to them. So they fill up their shopping carts at the supermarket with Cheetos, Hot Pockets, Twinkies, and Coca-Coca none the wiser that not a bit of that is real food. On the other hand, there's another set of consumers who are ardent about perfection in their diet. You can only eat fresh organic vegetables, grass-fed meats, and nothing artificial at all. They believe if you stray from this even a little that you are damning yourself to an unhealthy lifestyle. Both of these extremes are ludicrous and Pollan says there is a happy balance between the two.

Pollan's mantra of "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." that was basic premise of his book In Defense of Food is the underlying theme of Food Rules and it guides all of the information contained within these pages. I would only amend that statement to say "Eat real whole foods. Eat to satiety. Mostly grass-fed meats and organic vegetables." He does seem to be stuck a bit on conventional wisdom regarding the health halo of consuming vegetables, but Pollan is most of the way there with many of the 64 "rules" he shares within the 140 pages of this book.

His goal with Food Rules is to help people make better choices when shopping for food and that's a very good thing. And he's starts off with a bang with Rule #1 to just "Eat Food." Sounds simple enough, but most people haven't got a clue what "food" really is. Pollan explains this concept which lays the groundwork for what he attempts to communicate for the rest of the book. Positive messages for people who are livin' la vida low-carb include "avoid food products that contain high-fructose corn syrup," "avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients," "avoid food products with the wordoid 'lite' or the terms 'low-fat' or 'nonfat' in their names," and "shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle." This is all sage advice that will serve you well when purchasing food for you and your family.

The visualization that Pollan uses to get people to think about real food is remarkably effective. He educates people to think about food as something that is supposed to "eventually rot" and that you should be able to think about it growing in the "raw state." Mickey D's French fries and Twinkies never seem to spoil no matter how long they stay in your cabinet which is why you don't need to be putting them inside of your body. And too many people think food comes from supermarkets. Actually, real food comes from local farmers which is why Pollan is such a fan of farmer's markets where you can support the locavore movement while feeding your family the most nutritious and delicious foods possible.

As for the kind of food to eat, Pollan acknowledges that there is such a thing as a "healthy" high-fat or low-fat diet. It's about choosing the plan that's right for you. He encourages eating the leaves of plants which falls right in line with the green, leafy veggies you consume on a healthy high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb lifestyle. But his insistence on treating meat like a "flavoring" or "special occasion food" is where I would part ways with him. He repeats the mantra that vegetarians are "generally healthier than carnivores" and that's just plain nonsense. While not identifying what he thinks is the exact blame for why meat is a poor choice on a regular basis, Pollan does hint that it could be the saturated fat, protein, or absence of veggies from the meals. But the latest science is showing saturated fat has no bearing on heart disease, protein should be limited to the amount that is adequate for the individual, and veggies can be combined with meat for a nutritious meal plan. This is the heartbeat of the low-carb lifestyle!

I do appreciate that Pollan notes it's better to consume animals "that have themselves eaten well." This means avoiding the grain-fed factory farm meats in favor of those that have been grass-fed and treated humanely. It's not just good for you, but it's the right thing to do. He also says to mix it up and eating something new from time to time, including wild game that you hunt yourself. And that includes the "oily little fishes." Stocking up on this kind of quality meat is an important part of absorbing all of the lessons of Food Rules .

One of my favorite rules is #37: "The white the bread, the sooner you'll be dead." HA! I like that and it's so true. Pollan explains that white flour is a health risk we've known about for ages and he notes that the body treats it "not much different from sugar." YES! He does tend to favor whole grains and I suppose they are better than the refined ones. But I tend to lean on the side of NO grains instead.

Finally, on the subject of how to eat, Pollan was hoping to help people "foster a healthier relationship to food." That's always a good thing because our culture has so jaded us to the idea that food has to be dirt cheap to be worth it. But you'll learn that when you "pay more" you "eat less." I don't think calorie-restriction just for the sake of cutting calories is a smart idea. Yet if you are choosing more satisfying calories coming from fat and protein sources and less from carbohydrates, then you will consume the right amount of nutrition for your body. Pollan even notes to "stop eating before you're full" and "eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored."

Although he's all about using smaller plates, taking smaller bites, and the like, I think his overall message in Food Rules is solid: get back to real, whole foods, avoid the artificial garbage that you've become addicted to, and make this a permanent and healthy lifestyle change you can live with and enjoy for the rest of your life! Despite my disagreements with a few of his positions on what all of that entails, I do think Michael Pollan has emerged as a great leader in the movement to bringing real food back to the forefront of American culture. If we are going to get a handle on obesity and chronic diseases of modern man under control, then we need a lot more people like him out there carrying the torch and leading the way.

'The New Atkins For A New You' By Dr. Stephen Phinney, Dr. Jeff Volek, And Dr. Eric Westman

2010-09-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

New Atkins for a New You: The Ultimate Diet for Shedding Weight Fast and Feeling Great Forever was written by the perfect trio of today's brightest low-carb scholars -- Dr. Stephen Phinney, Dr. Jeff Volek, and Dr. Eric Westman -- and it aims to set the record straight about why low-carb works, what you need to do to make it work, adapting it to your busy lifestyle, and then providing the evidence that proves what they say about the Atkins lifestyle is valid. This is a book that has been sorely needed on the market ever since the untimely death of the late, great Dr. Robert C. Atkins in 2003. And the authors acknowledge the forward-thinking that Dr. Atkins possessed so many years ago when he started using his low-carbohydrate plan on patients and they hope to carry on his legacy for many years to come by sharing the amazing research that is now confirming much of what he taught people struggling with weight and health problems.

Even for people who have read the 2002 edition of Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, this new version contains a whole new way to look at low-carb living like you've never seen it before because the authors made it easy-to-understand and instituted subtle improvements to make the plan more effective than any of the other Atkins imitator books that have come along in recent years. This new Atkins will shock the naysayers (that is, if they actually READ this one!) when they learn you consume lots of healthy non-starchy veggies on it, can implement some basic strategies for greatly reducing or preventing the common negative symptoms associated with starting low-carb, have a great guide for knowing when to transition from phase to phase of the diet, will find a detailed explanation of making this a permanent weight maintenance plan, have the ability to customize the plan to your specific dietary wants and needs, and that eating low-carb on the go isn't as impossible as some people think. This really is a new way of looking at healthy low-carb living from a new perspective.

The contents are broken down into four main parts:

PART I outlines all the nutritional mechanics of Atkins low-carb eating. The authors help you determine if the Atkins approach is right for you, clearly explain that this program is not meant to completely eliminate carbs, just limit them, identify the various health improvements that one could expect by following the plan, share what the four phases are and why they are important, define the "Atkins Edge" that comes when you put your body into fat-burning mode, give the mechanism behind why food becomes energy and is stored as body fat, reveal the damning role that most carbohydrates play in healthy living and discover the right ones you should be consuming, uncover the unique role of protein in the Atkins diet and give reasons why this plan is not high-protein as is often erroneously claimed, and share the evidence behind why consuming dietary cholesterol and fat, especially saturated fat, should become your diet's best friend.

PART II gets into the nitty gritty of the diet by showing you what you are supposed to eat and tailoring it to your specific health goals. The authors help you focus intently on looking at the net carbs of the foods you consume, insure you are getting an adequate amount of protein in your diet daily, understand the amazing benefits of fat when you greatly reduce your carb consumption, learn the benefits of consuming fiber-rich foods, keep the added sugar and refined carbohydrate out of your menus, supplement your diet with the appropriate vitamins to obtain optimal health, and find the appropriate level of exercise that will fit within your specific physical fitness capabilities. Tools for making yourself successful are also included in this section, including setting goals, finding support, planning meals, making appropriate lifestyle changes, keeping a food log, and participate in online web sites and blogs. They even show how you can make your Atkins diet vegetarian or even vegan if you so choose and even a "Latin Beat" version for the growing Hispanic population dealing with obesity and diabetes. Specifics for following Phase 1 Induction, Phase 2 Ongoing Weight Loss, Phase 3 Pre-Maintenance, and Phase 4 Lifetime Maintenance are also included with more information than you've ever seen before about doing it right along with some common pitfalls that may sabotage your efforts along the way. As long as I've been studying low-carb over these past few years, never have I seen a book so clearly demonstrate the details of this way of eating in such a concise manner.

PART III is dedicated to helping you live the Atkins life in the real world by arming you with ways to make virtually any restaurant into your own personal low-carb restaurant with appropriate substitutions and changes. The authors recognize the necessity that many people have to eat out as part of their job, so they provide an alphabetical listing of restaurants with both the approved "Thumbs Up" choices as well as the "Thumbs Down" selections to avoid. Additionally, various styles of restaurants like Italian, Mexican, Chinese, and more are Atkins-ized just for you! A section of recipes and an extensive set of low-carb meal plans is also included for making various low-carb sauces, flavored oils, salad dressings, marinades and rubs, and broths to complement your Atkins meals.

PART IV is all about the science that support low-carb living for health. While the media and the so-called health "experts" out there enjoy mocking the low-carb diet as an unhealthy and unbalanced nutritional plan, the authors explain that nothing could be further from the truth. They provide compelling evidence that demonstrates heart disease, diabetes, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, metabolic syndrome, and cancer is improved by low-carb and actually made worse by low-fat diets. The process of how the "fat-storing" hormone insulin works is noted as well as why saturated fat isn't the great danger that it has been made out to be. The long history of low-carb diets is also revealed to show that this isn't just some here today, gone tomorrow eating plan -- it's been with us for many generations! Finally, the authors identify diabetes as "the bully disease" and that Atkins is the answer for the millions suffering from it.

I have only but scratched the surface of what New Atkins for a New You contains, but hopefully it has whet your appetite to pick up a copy for yourself. Anyone who thinks the Atkins diet is going away anytime soon is delusional. Atkins low-carb living is here to stay forever!

'The Six Week Cure For The Middle-Aged Middle' By Drs. Mike & Mary Dan Eades

2010-09-12T22:30:00.000-07:00

For those of us who have been livin' la vida low-carb for years, the temptation is always there to allow a few more carbs and/or calories slip into our diet than we did when we originally followed our chosen controlled-carbohydrate plan. It's perfectly within human nature for this to happen for those who desire variety in their menu choices while still attempting to eating in a healthy high-fat, adequate protein, and low-carb way. Low-carb diet experts and bestselling authors Drs. Mike and Mary Dan Eades know about this all too well. After shooting a pilot episode of their hit low-carb television cooking program called "Low-Carb Cookworx," the producer of the show told the honest truth to Dr. Mike and Dr. Mary Dan about their major problem -- you're "too fat" for a health-related television show! Shocked by this revelation from an outsider of their condition at the time, this caused the well-known low-carb authors of the bestselling Protein Power books to reevaluate their own personal dietary habits, devise a plan for ridding their bodies of a little excess weight that had come on them, and make it happen as quickly as possible. Thus was born the concepts for what would become The 6-Week Cure For The Middle-Aged Middle: The Simple Plan to Flatten Your Belly Fast!.

While the Eades are abundantly aware of the long-term, lifestyle change approach to losing weight the low-carb way, they admit that sometimes there are compelling reasons to take the weight off a little faster as in the case of their TV show, an upcoming wedding, or some other significant life event that is coming. That's exactly what this book offers in just a 6-week period. And the plan is PERFECT for both the people who have been low-carbing for years or for the newbie low-carber alike. This is a great way to kickstart your low-carb lifestyle into high gear.

So what do you have to do for 6 weeks, starve to death? Not hardly!

The first two weeks is a period where you release the toxins in your liver -- the organ most responsible for helping you get rid of the visceral fat stores in your body. This is the fat that accumulates around your organs that can be dangerous if left unchecked. Using a proven 3 and 1 plan drinking a trio of specially-formulated protein shakes along with one meal (the delicious recipes are included in this book) along with certain restrictions on alcohol, caffeine, medications, and other interesting requirements (like donating blood?), you only have to stay in this phase for two weeks. Anybody can do this for a measly fourteen days!

The second two weeks when your liver is cleaned up and ready to help you burn off a ton of stored body fat, you get to enjoy what the Eades affectionately call the "Meat Weeks." Your meals will consist primarily of meat, fish, poultry, game, and eggs consumed throughout the day in quantities enough to keep your hunger at bay. What most people will find is the fat and protein content of these foods will keep them PLENTY satisfied.

Lest you think you'll need to opt for the "lean" cuts of meat like chicken or turkey -- NOPE! In fact, fat is ENCOURAGED, including liberal amounts of butter, olive oil, avocado oil, and macadamia nut oil, just to name a few. This will allow your body to rev up your metabolism by switching from being a carb-burning machine to a high-octane fat-burning one instead by reducing the typical insulin rush seen by most carb-focused dieters. Vroom vroom!

Finally, the last two-week period of The 6-Week Cure For The Middle-Aged Middle should look very familiar to people who have read the Protein Power books or followed any number of low-carb plans like Atkins. After getting your body going with a month-long restoration and revitalization, the Eades turn your attention to establishing good long-term healthy eating patterns into your lifestyle so you can prevent the dreaded weight gain from happening to you again. That includes keeping total carbohydrates in check, limiting your consumption of starchy carbs as much as possible, and transitioning to a low-carb maintenance phase.

If trouble ever arises again, you just get right back on the plan again getting back to the basics of what it takes to lose the weight again. Don't be discouraged because we've all been there before. NEVER GIVE UP!

We owe Drs. Mike and Mary Dan Eades a huge THANK YOU for the tireless efforts they invest in helping people who are livin' la vida low-carb day in and day out with the work they are doing. I consider it an honor and a privilege to know them as friends, be continually educated by their nutritional wisdom, and to follow their example of humility and selflessness towards others in this journey to better health. You owe it to yourself to pick up several copies of The 6-Week Cure For The Middle-Aged Middle and give it to as many friends and family members that you can think of who feel frustrated by the failure of the low-fat dogma that has dominated American culture for decades.

The tide is turning because the truth about low-carb living is finally penetrating the minds of health-conscious people. Will you become the next to join the low-carb revolution that is taking America by storm?

'The Ketogenic Diet: A Treatment for Children and Others with Epilepsy' By Dr. John Freeman, Dr. Eric Kossoff, And Jennifer Freeman

2010-09-12T22:29:00.000-07:00

A "ketogenic" diet is nothing more than a low-carb diet that restricts carbohydrate intake to a level that produces ketones in the body through a process called ketosis. This is the basis for what many people who desire weight loss on a plan like Atkins or Protein Power attempt to attain. But research has shown quite convincingly in recent years that a ketogenic diet is much more than about weight loss--for children with epilepsy, it can control the frequency of their seizures. With medications providing only nominal aid for kids dealing with this disease while offering some unwanted side effects, a ketogenic diet truly is the "answer" that so many parents have been looking for. The diet is very high in fat, very low in carbs and protein since both of these can kick you out of ketosis in excess. The Ketogenic Diet: A Treatment for Children and Others with Epilepsy by Dr. John Freeman, Dr. Eric Kossoff, Jennifer Freeman, and Millicent Kelly combines the expertise of the top researchers and practioners on this subject to describe why this way of eating works so well for treating epileptic patients, how it should be administered, and what the future of epilepsy care with ketogenic diets will be like. This updated edition includes sample menus, recipes, and other helpful tips for educating parents about the use of low-carb ketogenic diets for their kids with epilepsy.

'The Glycemic-Load Diet Cookbook: 150 Recipes to Help You Lose Weight and Reverse Insulin Resistance' by Dr. Rob Thompson and Dana Carpender

2010-09-12T22:28:00.000-07:00

We've heard a lot about the glycemic index in recent years, but not many people know exactly what that means and why they should care. The problem with GI is it is an incomplete equation when it comes to figuring out what impact a particular food will have on the body. A better tool is to determine the glycemic load of what you eat and that's something Dr. Rob Thompson has devoted himself to with his diet plan. In this book of recipes that serves as a companion to The Glycemic-Load Diet, Dr. Thompson teams up with world-famous low-carb cookbook author Dana Carpender to whip up some yummy recipes that are designed to control insulin spikes which lead to weight gain, hunger, and disease. One thing you can always count on when Dana Carpender contributes recipes to a cookbook is variety, mouthwatering dishes, and a commitment to keeping them low-carb. You get 150 outstanding recipes to enjoy for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and everything in between with The Glycemic-Load Diet Cookbook: 150 Recipes to Help You Lose Weight and Reverse Insulin Resistance!

'The 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy' By Dr. Jonny Bowden

2010-09-12T22:20:00.000-07:00

If Dr. Jonny Bowden is writing a new book, then I'm reading it! From offering advice on choosing the low-carb diet that's right for you, eating the healthiest foods, making delicious healthy meals, and implementing natural cures, his books have been impacting the diet and nutrition industry for years. This latest offering provides more ammunition for your health arsenal by giving you 150 ways to get energized naturally through a mix of some common sense and practical techniques that entail diet, supplements, exercise, and other non-prescription methods for you to "boost your energy." Always an engaging writer who will keep you captivated from page-to-page, Dr. Bowden has delivered yet another winner in his successful Fair Winds Press series of books with The 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About Using Nutrition, Exercise, Supplements, Stress Relief, and Personal Empowerment to Stay Energized All Day.

'The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite' By Dr. David Kessler

2010-09-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

As a former 400+ pound man, I know what it's like to overeat. You don't get to that level of morbid obesity without consuming food in excess and there's a perfectly good reason why so many of us have that urge to eat like there's no tomorrow. Former FDA commissioner Dr. David Kessler examines this issue and dives head first into explaining his theory behind why people can't seem to control their desire to eat, eat, eat. Not surprisingly, he says we have become so conditioned to eat certain foods that drive us to eat more of those foods (can you say carbohydrates?) that we no longer eat for hunger--but instead do it as a "reward" for our accomplishments. You'll read some fascinating research on this issue that points the finger at some of the biggest names in the fast food and food manufacturing industries for marketing to a targeted audience destined to fall lockstep into faithful obedience to out-of-control eating. The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by Dr. David Kessler isn't an easy read, but one worth exploring if you've ever felt compelled to pounce on a Cinnabon!

'The Stubborn Fat Fix: Eat Right to Lose Weight and Cure Metabolic Burnout without Hunger or Exercise' By Dr. Keith and Valerie Berkowitz

2010-09-12T22:14:00.000-07:00

Most conventional diets these days encourage you to "eat less, exercise more." But what if you had a diet to tell you to "eat more, exercise less?" Sound appealing? Well, that's exactly what you get from Dr. Keith Berkowitz and his registered dietitian wife Valerie in their new book. They know from many years of working with patients that the vast majority of diets are destined to fail before they start because they neglect to deal with the reasons why people gain weight. And the strategy that most people have been told to shed the pounds (eat less fat, consume more "healthy" grains, fruits and veggies, lower your calories, exercise often) has just made matters worse, not better. The Stubborn Fat Fix: Eat Right to Lose Weight and Cure Metabolic Burnout without Hunger or Exercise identifies exactly what you need to eat to heal your metabolism from the damage done by these other diets by allowing you to enjoy delicious non-addictive low-carb foods and an occasional indulgence to help you stick to your plan forever. These nutritional tactics are combined with supplementation, controlled exercise, and stress-relief techniques to complement the "fix" you are giving your body. This book encourages the use of "real food" with a clear plan of action to make you as successful at shedding stored body fat as you can possibly be.

'The Complete Idiot's Guide To Diabetes' by Dr. Mayer B. Davidson and Debra L. Gordon

2010-09-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

Whenever I read a book about diabetes control, the first thing I look for is what they have to say about the subject of carbohydrates since this is the central key to this terrible disease. Plenty of research is out there that shows if you cut the carbs, you control blood sugar and insulin spikes, and clinically cure the disease. So what does Dr. Mayer Davidson and Debra Gordon have to say about carbohydates? Just turn to pages 83-84 for their take on low-carb diets. They say the "jury is still out" on low-carb for diabetes and that people who follow an Atkins-styled approach is probably too "hard core." In referring to whether a diabetic should cut the carbs, the authors state it is undetermined and that patients should consult with their diabetes health-care provider or nutritionist to come up with what to do. But almost negating their own advice, you turn the page and you see they encourage people who do decide to cut their carbohydrates to lower their fat intake and eat plenty of veggies and fruits. Eat lean protein and whole grain pastas, cereals, and breads, too! All I can say is, "WHAT?!" Are you TRYING to sabotage a perfectly good and healthy diabetes diet that is high-fat, low-carb that will virtually bring under control blood sugar and insulin levels without the use of medications or insulin?! You really MUST be an "idiot" if you get The Complete Idiot's Guide To Diabetes by Dr. Mayer B. Davidson and Debra L. Gordon and expect it to help you with your diabetes.

'The Mood Cure: The 4-Step Program to Take Charge of Your Emotions--Today' by Julia Ross

2010-09-12T22:09:00.000-07:00

Do you know anyone who always seems to be in a bad mood (if you don't, then have you ever thought that maybe it is YOU who has perpetual moodiness)? For whatever reason, so many people struggle with controlling their emotions and channeling them into a positive force for good. That's what psychotherapist Julia Ross offers those who deal with mood problems in The Mood Cure: The 4-Step Program to Take Charge of Your Emotions--Today by Julia Ross. It may surprise you to learn that your attitude may just be a direct result of the food you are putting in your body. Yep, what may seem innocuous to you actually could be leading to an avalanche of stress building up inside of you that is set to bring about destruction to all those around you. You learn what is getting your mood out of whack, what you can do to get your mood better naturally through a "nutritherapy" approach, and using specific tools to permanently and safely rid yourself of mood problems for life. Sound like a plan, man?

'The System For Health & Weight Loss' by Thomas Fox

2010-09-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

When you consult for the National Football League, National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer on fitness and health, it's a pretty good bet you know what you're talking about regarding those subjects. As a professional exercise physiologist, Thomas Fox is out to prove to people that weight loss and health are both attainable when you know what to do to make them happen. Many people attempt to tackle losing weight and getting into shape with a one or two-pronged approach. But Fox says you must develop a multi-faceted and interrelated plan that includes diet, exercise, genes, stress, and other essentials to improving your health. Easy-to-read and well-documented, The System For Health & Weight Loss is a quick read that will give you guidelines for making the best choices for your particular health & weight loss needs. My major problem with this book is Fox's insistence that low-carb diets have some of what he describes as "serious nutritional shortcomings" which could lead to "serious health problems." He repeats the lie that you're robbing your body of essential vitamins and minerals, claims you only lose only water weight, and describes those of us who are livin' la vida low-carb as "religious zealots in their faith and devotion to eliminating carbohydrates." Well, Mr. Fox, there's a reason we are so passionate about this way of eating--it has changed our lives forever for the better (I lost 180 pounds in 2004) and we'll forever be grateful for the improvements to our health, namely stabilized blood sugar and insulin, greatly improved HDL and triglycerides, and a whole array of potential health issues that are brought on by excessive carbohydrate consumption. Your concerns over this way of eating are greatly exaggerated and unnecessary.

'Freedom from Disease' by Peter Morgan Cash and Jay Lombard

2010-09-12T22:04:00.000-07:00

It's becoming more and more commonplace in recent years, but authors Peter Morgan Cash and Jay Lombard want to make sure people know about it loud and clear--INSULIN is at the heart of most of the preventable diseases in modern society. Until we get this hormone under control inside of our bodies, no progress will be made on such health issues as cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, obesity, depression, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and more. We are people who are walking around with insulin in excess which leads to inflammation and disease occurring in epidemic proportions. To attain "freedom from disease," the authors draw from current research on this subject and interview some of the biggest names is health today--to the detriment of the message, I believe. What starts off as a good premise for a book with a spot-on message quickly turns into more of the same we've always heard. Eat less fat. Eat more "good" whole grain-based carbs. Yadda yadda yadda. If the authors truly wanted to share information that would help to bring insulin under control for good, then they would have included much of the breadth of research that has been done on carbohydrate-restriction over the past decade in Freedom from Disease: The Breakthrough Approach to Preventing Cancer, Heart Disease, Alzheimer's, and Depression by Controlling Insulin. Unfortunately, if you look up "low-carb" in the index at the back of the book, you'll come up empty. That's too bad because I think they have correctly identified the problem...they just missed the ultimate solution by a long shot!

'Fix-It And Enjoy-It Healthy Cookbook: 400 Great Stove-top and Oven Recipes' by Phyllis Pellman Good

2010-09-12T22:03:00.000-07:00

On the back of Fix-It And Enjoy-It Healthy Cookbook: 400 Great Stove-top and Oven Recipes by Phyllis Pellman Good it boasts, "Yes, it is possible to combine tasty, quick, and healthy!" We'll just see about that. This cookbook comes from the Mayo Clinic, so I really didn't hold out much hope that it would offer much in the form of truly "healthy" recipes--and it held true to form! They might be tasty recipes for the stove top and oven, but it's because they are LOADED with carbohydrates. The theme song of this book is all about limiting the fat, cutting the calories, and eating tons and tons of carbs for your health. YIKES! We shouldn't be surprised to see this from the Mayo Clinic, but it's a real shame to see low-fat recipes dominate a cookbook marketed at "healthy" when there is just as much (if not more!) compelling evidence in favor of low-carb being healthy, too. I guess you don't get to have that option if you listen to the Mayo Clinic.

'The Complete Idiot's Guide To Fibromyalgia' by Lynn Matallana

2010-09-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

Millions of people are walking around with fibromyalgia and don't even have a clue about how to deal with the complications that arise from this mysterious disease. But Lynn Matallana offers various ways people can cope with it by sharing what they can do and avoid doing to keep from exacerbating the problem. Not surprisingly, some of the best ways to handle fibromyalgia is by taking care of your emotions, getting adequate sleep, eating and exercising right, reducing stress, don't sweat the small stuff, get support, and be pro-active about your condition. On the subject of diet, I was curious to see what the authors would say about the low-carb connection to this disease. And sure enough, they commented on the Atkins diet on page 221. They maintain that getting a good balance of carbs and protein will provide the right level of neurotransmitters in the brain, but to avoid eating too many carbohydrates lest your blood sugar gets knocked off kilter and leads to fatigue and moodiness. My wife Christine deals with fibromyalgia and it's not a pretty sight when she eats too many carbs. Overall, The Complete Idiot's Guide To Fibromyalgia isn't a bad message, although I think the condition would be improved greatly by going full-fledged livin' la vida low-carb.

'The Younger (Thinner) You Diet' by Dr. Eric Braverman

2010-09-12T21:40:00.000-07:00

Whenever the subject of weight loss comes up, most people just automatically assume it has to do with your diet, the calories you consume, how much exercise you get, and the genes your parents passed along to you. While all of those things may play a role in determining how you fare at shedding the pounds, Dr. Eric Braverman says the reason people fail at dieting is because it's all in their head--because their brain chemistry is messed up. That's right, when people tell you a problem is "all in your head," apparently it's true when it comes to weight loss. Why? Because weight loss happens first in the brain and any struggles you experience means your brain is aging. If you can fix the issues with your brain first, then the weight loss will come. As an expert neurosurgeon, Dr. Braverman has identified four brain chemicals--dopamine, acetylcholine, GABA, and serontonin--that allow the brain to fire at just the right moment for your body to function at optimal level. When one of these four chemicals is out of balance, your brain will compensate by sending signals for food cravings that further destroys your health and weight and aging your brain even more. It's a ruthless cycle! The Younger (Thinner) You Diet: How Understanding Your Brain Chemistry Can Help You Lose Weight, Reverse Aging, and Fight Disease by Dr. Eric Braverman shows you how to replenish your brain with fresh, new cells that will restore your brain so your metabolism can run at full capacity. The plan suggests specific foods, spices, and other components to bring about these changes. This is arguably one of the most unique nutritional concepts I've ever heard of and worth an investment in learning more about.

'Get The Sugar Out: 501 Simple Ways to Cut the Sugar Out of Any Diet (Revised and Updated)' by Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman

2010-09-12T21:15:00.000-07:00

What's not to love about the amazing Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman? The queen of sugar-shunning has revised and updated her classic book Get The Sugar Out: 501 Simple Ways to Cut the Sugar Out of Any Diet on the importance of removing sugar from your diet by adding even more fuel to the damning fire that this sweet stuff is destroying the weight and health of literally tens of millions of Americans on a daily basis and they don't even know it! As only she can, Dr. Gittleman gives you 501 practical tips for dealing with the sugar rush that comes from flooding your body with excessive carbohydrates, even ones that aren't necessary made from sugar. Expert tips on dealing with sugar cravings, how to read food labels, why artificial sweeteners may not be a good alternative to sugar, recipes galore, and so much more can be found in this book. Get it, absorb it, and live it!

'Dying to Change: My Really Heavy Life Story, How Weight Loss Surgery Gave Me Hope for Living' by Katie Jay

2010-09-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

Katie Jay was like a lot of Americans who have struggled with being overweight or obese for most of her life--unhappy about her weight, wishing there was something she could do, feeling desperate to do ANYTHING to shed the pounds that plague her, concerned about what is happening to her health, and feeling powerless to bring about the changes that need to happen in order for the prize of weight loss to come. The best thing about Dying to Change: My Really Heavy Life Story, How Weight Loss Surgery Gave Me Hope for Living is the fact she has LIVED what she writes about and all the complexities of dealing with the changes that have happened to her in her life, including one of the biggest decisions she ever made--having weight loss surgery! But while many look to going under the knife as their saving grace, she realized that it was merely the beginning of a journey to better health that continues to this day. What she found through this life-altering experience was that we all must embrace the responsibility for our own weight and health and find support from others going through these same issues to keep us accountable and motivated to keep going. Today, Katie Jay has taken all the lessons she has learned about the weight loss surgery journey to become the director of the National Association for Weight Loss Surgery.

'The Dietary Cure For Acne: A Dietary Plan That Can Actually Eliminate Acne' by Dr. Loren Cordain

2010-09-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

Don't eat too much chocolate, fatty foods, or sweets or you'll have zits all over your face! I heard that for most of my life and who was I to question it? And yet even when I avoided all those things so dutifully, I still dealt with acne well into my 30s. Using every over-the-counter acne-fighting wipe and cream I could find, nothing at all worked to clear up the blemishes on my face and body. Dr. Loren Cordain, creator of the famous low-carb Paleo Diet, understands this problem and created a dietary solution to a very common problem. Like most health conditions, acne is a direct result of our modern diet and we need to eat like our early ancestors to restore the natural beauty and complexion that they had way back when. In The Dietary Cure For Acne: A Dietary Plan That Can Actually Eliminate Acne, he identifies the causes of acne, what foods you can eat to "cure" it, and what foods you should avoid to keep it from coming back. There are 174 scientific references to back up every single recommendation provided in this 120-page book--this will give you plenty of evidence-based proof to be convinced!

'Getting Your Kid On A Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet' by Susan Lord

2010-09-12T20:59:00.000-07:00

With the onset of Celiac disease and autism in children around the world, it's important for people to become educated on the benefits of implementing a gluten-free, casein-free diet into their child's life. These diets are well-known to improve cognitive function, settle down unruly behavior, help with speech impediments, and give a sense of well-being to young autistic sufferers. The author is dietitian Susan Lord who knows this works firsthand because her own daughter was diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder when she was five years old and has eaten this way ever since with spectacular results. Changing a child's diet can seem like an impossible task with such finicky likes and dislikes, but Lord shows how you can make it simple and stress-free with delicious meal plans, shopping lists, ingredients to look out for, and ways to incorporate this way of eating into a "normal" life. Although the foods recommended in Getting Your Kid On A Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet aren't necessarily "low-carb," it's difficult to argue with the success people like Lord are seeing in their own children placed on a diet free from gluten and casein.

'Secrets of Gorgeous: Hundreds of Ways to Live Well While Living It Up' by Esther Blum

2010-09-12T20:58:00.000-07:00

Wanna be drop dead gorgeous? Well, sure you do! That's what nutritionist Esther Blum aims to do with this cute little pink book full of 200 down and dirty "secrets" to making it happen for you. In Secrets of Gorgeous: Hundreds of Ways to Live Well While Living It Up you'll get diet advice, supplements to take, exercises to do, attitudes to take on, and foods to stay away from in this fast-paced book that's perfectly-sized for bathroom reading. And best of all, you'll quickly notice Blum is NOT afraid of dietary fats and telling people to reduce their carbohydrates to look good. And you gotta love that!

'The Complete Idiot's Guide To Boosting Your Metabolism' by Dr. Joseph Lee Klapper

2010-09-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

We all hear people talking about revving up and boosting their metabolism, but what the heck does that mean? Dr. Joseph Lee Klapper sets out to explain it in The Complete Idiot's Guide To Boosting Your Metabolism which gives you diet-based strategies for doing exactly that. Since my focus leans towards low-carbohydrate nutrition, I looked to see what he had to say about it in this book. Turning to pages 171-172, he deals with it directly and, unfortunately, Dr. Klapper falls into the trap of believing complex carbohydrates are somehow immune to the negative impact on health that we know them to be. Instead, he turns his ire and disdain to the "adverse physical effects" of low-carb itself. He incorrectly claims that important healthy foods are "eliminated" and that people should be eating three to five servings of fruit daily to give you plenty of fiber and "smaller spikes in blood glucose levels." Dr. Klapper, do you know what would happen to my blood sugar and insulin levels if I ate that much fruit, even in the form of low-sugar ones like blueberries and strawberries? It would be through the roof and out-of-control. That's why I need to limit my intake of those supposedly "healthy" foods in my diet. He also promotes white potatoes as healthy because they're low in calories. Big whoop! Just like the fruit, these absolutely wreak havoc inside my body and I'm better off avoiding them. Finally, he says not to add any fat to your diet. Well, it's my fuel source in the absence of carbohydrates, so that's just not good advice. I suppose I'll just have to stick to "boosting my metabolism" with what I know best--low-carb all the way, baby!

'The Amazing Adventures Of Dietgirl' by Shauna Reid

2010-09-12T20:55:00.000-07:00

It's a bird, it's a plane...no, it's just Dietgirl Shauna Reid! The ever-present and uber-popular weight loss blogger has finally decided the time had come to write a book about her amazing journey which led her to lose half of her body weight and rise above all the circumstances that got her to be morbidly obese to begin with. The Amazing Adventures Of Dietgirl by Shauna Reid is a VERY inspiring story for anyone who has battled the bulge written by someone who's been there, done that..and now written the book!

'Fat-Hater's Club' by Tanya Attebery

2010-09-12T20:54:00.000-07:00

Are you a fat hater? Author Tanya Attebery used to be when she was a kid and she's been on both sides of the issue--as the fat kid and the skinny one. Fat-Hater's Club by Tanya Attebery includes several characters which make up various parts of who she was growing up and how she matured out of being a member of this dubious group. This book is perfect for teenage girls and young women who have felt the brunt of emotional abuse because of their weight.

'Primal Body-Primal Mind: Empower Your Total Health The Way Evolution Intended (...And Didn't)' by Nora Gedgaudas

2010-09-12T20:49:00.000-07:00

Unga bunga! Me Tarzan. You Jane. How we eat? Meat yummy. Fat yummy too. Fish sometimes yummy. I eat few plants, berries, and nuts. No worry about calories. And run real fast from hungry predators from time to time, too. That is, in a nutshell, what Paleolithic living was like thousands of years ago when grocery stores and gyms didn't even exist. And author Nora Gedgaudas uses humor, science-based facts, and sometimes common sense in Primal Body-Primal Mind: Empower Your Total Health The Way Evolution Intended (...And Didn't) to debunk many of the myths we have been told about weight and health control in the 21st Century. She shares quite heavily throughout the book on the benefits of consuming fat for burning stored body fat while allowing your body to function at the highest level possible. In our bassackwards world of high-carb, low-fat eating, Gedgaudas notes that our early ancestors understood healthy nutrition and exercise much better than we do and we could learn a lot from our primal predecessors. Quoting and referencing some of the biggest names is the world of healthy high-fat, low-carb nutrition research and education--Eades, Enig, Fallon, Schwarzbein, Stefansson, Cordain, Mercola, Gannon, Pollan, Ravnskov, Taubes, Shai, Sears--this is yet another book to complement your healthy lifestyle change away from the conventional wisdom of our day back to the diet we were meant to be eating all along. My only criticism of the book has absolutely nothing to do with the content inside the pages--but the front cover is so dark and drab it makes the book look like it was published in caveman times. Perhaps that was by design to match the theme of the book, but it could pose a marketing nightmare promoting this book. Just get it and you'll be glad you did!

'The Complete Idiot's Guide To Natural Remedies' by Chrystie Fiedler

2010-09-12T20:45:00.001-07:00

Reading through this book, I couldn't help but compare it to Dr. Jonny Bowden's fabulous title The Most Effective Natural Cures On Earth--and there's no comparison! This one is woefully inadequate and missing some key "natural remedies" that include low-carb diets for blood sugar control, weight loss, and other key aspects of health mentioned in the book. Were these scientifically-based all-natural remedies simply overlooked or ignored? The Complete Idiot's Guide To Natural Remedies by Chrystie Fiedler showed a lot of promise, but didn't deliver.

'1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes' by Dr. Carol Fenster

2010-09-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

One thing is for certain--you will most definitely get your money's worth out of this 2-inch thick book that contains 1,000 recipes in its nearly 700 pages! Can you say War And Peace for gluten-free living?! If you are on such a diet and need to find a recipe for any occasion, then you'd be hard-pressed not to find what you're looking for in 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes by Dr. Carol Fenster.

'The No S Diet: The Strikingly Simple Weight-Loss Strategy That Has Dieters Raving--and Dropping Pounds' by Reinhard Engels and Ben Kallen

2010-09-12T20:44:00.000-07:00

Most people like the old KISS adage of "keep it simple stupid," so here it is when it comes to healthy nutrition: no snacks, no sweets, no seconds...except on days that start with S. That's pretty easy to remember, right? Leave it to software engineer Reinhard Engels to come up with what he calls "the simplest and most effective diet ever to sweep the Internet." Engels quickly grew tired of all the miracle diets promising gobs of weight loss if you cut this, added that, or did something spectacular with the way you lived your life. He noticed many of these would work for a while, but none of them were sustainable for life. His The No S Diet: The Strikingly Simple Weight-Loss Strategy That Has Dieters Raving--and Dropping Pounds grew out of this frustration with the diet mentality and encourages sensibility over obsession about every morsel of food that you consume. He includes quite a few success stories, tough love answers to your burning questions, and a writing style that draws you in to this introspective man's commitment to living healthy--his way!

'Joy's LIFE Diet: Four Steps to Thin Forever' by Joy Bauer

2010-09-12T20:40:00.000-07:00

We all want to Look Incredible, Feel Extraordinary (LIFE), don't we? That's what Today Show nutrition and health expert Joy Bauer wants people to believe can happen for them, but how? Here's what she says--"Forget low-carb, no-carb, low-fat, high-misery diets. How about a diet that's just no-gimmick and low-fuss?" Well, Ms. Bauer, what's so miserable, gimmicky, and fussy about livin' la vida low-carb that you have to label this wonderful way of eating so many of us enjoy in such a disparaging manner. She offers four secrets to LIFE that all start with the letter "r": Release, Relearn, Reshape, and Reveal. So, what's the diet? Although she eschews low-fat diets in that quote from Joy's LIFE Diet: Four Steps to Thin Forever I shared above, she admits her program is a low toxic-fat diet that is moderately high in carbohydrates from fiber-rich sources. Hmmmm, a low-fat, high-carb diet...that's not very new at all, Joy! Sure, you allow more fat and less carbs than Ornish, but this is still essentially the same old conventional diet advice we've always heard along with mindless exercise that has been proven time and time again to be ineffective for weight loss over the long-term. If this is LIFE, then I think we desperately need some oxygen!

'Keto Kid: Helping Your Child Succeed on the Ketogenic Diet' by Deborah Snyder

2010-09-12T20:39:00.000-07:00

Does you child need to be on a ketogenic diet to control their epileptic seizures or obesity? Then Keto Kid: Helping Your Child Succeed on the Ketogenic Diet by Deborah Snyder is the book you need to read from cover to cover and follow exactly for important information about making meals you kid will eat, deal with special events like birthdays, helping your child understand why he can't have certain foods anymore, and a detailed diary account of the author's success at implementing this low-carb approach with her four-year old son who was having constant seizures. Two years later, he was seizure-free because of a high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet.

'The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat' by Dr. Loren Cordain

2010-09-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

As one of the classic diet and health books to ever be written, The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat by Dr. Loren Cordain surely stands the test of time because it is based on the diet of our "hunter-gatherer" ancestors. Or, as Dr. Cordain puts it, this is "the diet you were designed to eat." Health and weight loss await you as you take your eating habits literally back to the Stone Age consuming foods like fish, meats, fresh fruit, and non-starchy veggies in virtually unlimited quantities can bring about weight loss and prevent such health calamities as heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome, and more. Although there are a few subtle differences between the Paleo Diet and more mainstream low-carb diets such as Atkins, the premise is the same--reduce your carbs, control the insulin, and improve health dramatically! You'll get a history behind why all those other diets have failed, a detailed explanation about why the Paleo Diet will work, lists of foods you can eat as well as foods you shouldn't eat, and a plan of action that includes six weeks of sample menus and recipes that will have you eating like a caveman. In fact, this diet is so easy even an American can do it!

'The Diet Cure: The 8-Step Program to Rebalance Your Body Chemistry and End Food Cravings, Weight Problems, and Mood Swings--Now' by Julia Ross

2010-09-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

Leave it to someone like a "nutrition psychologist" to come up with the REAL reasons why we struggle with losing weight and then uncovering the ultimate "cure" for dealing with this ever-present problem. Julia Ross does just that in The Diet Cure: The 8-Step Program to Rebalance Your Body Chemistry and End Food Cravings, Weight Problems, and Mood Swings--Now by explaining quite methodically why we have actually conditioned ourselves through poor dieting habits and other destructive behaviors to keep ourselves from being successful. Through a rather unique 8-Step Quick Symptom Questionnaire that tailors a plan for your specific needs, Ross arms you with ways you can take on the obesity monster by bringing back balance to your body and showing you how to eat best for YOUR body. We're not all the same, so applying a monopolistic dietary approach to everyone is silly. She guides you through each of the steps of the "master plan" giving you tips and strategies for dealing with whatever obstacles you think might hinder you from completing this. Is it a "cure" for your diet woes? You'll never know if you don't give it a try!

'The Great American Heart Hoax: Lifesaving Advice Your Doctor Should Tell You About Heart Disease Prevention' by Dr. Michael Ozner

2010-09-12T20:35:00.000-07:00

Dr. Michael Ozner is obviously passionate about this subject and provides some rather interesting food for thought on the subject of heart health. Unfortunately, in The Great American Heart Hoax: Lifesaving Advice Your Doctor Should Tell You About Heart Disease Prevention (But Probably Never Will), he is so dogmatic in his belief that the Mediterranean diet is so far superior to all others that his thinking is completely jaded. He ignorantly blasts away at healthy low-carb diets by describing them as a "fad" diet devoid of any long-term data to support them. On pages 101-102, Dr. Ozner goes through a laundry list of health conditions you will supposedly suffer from if you go on a low-carb regimen--none of which have happened to me or other fellow low-carb dieters in all the years we've been eating this way. Do yourself a favor, Dr. Ozner! Open your mind to the idea that the world of diet and health doesn't revolve exclusively around the Mediterranean diet alone!

'Feed Your Skin, Starve Your Wrinkles: Eat Your Way to Firmer, More Beautiful Skin with 100 Foods That Turn Back the Clock' by Allison Tannis

2010-09-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

If you are a fan of the book's by Dr. Jonny Bowden (who writes for the same publisher Fair Winds Press as this author), then Feed Your Skin, Starve Your Wrinkles: Eat Your Way to Firmer, More Beautiful Skin with 100 Foods That Turn Back the Clock by Allison Tannis on skin health shares some of the best anti-aging foods you can eat. Not surprisingly, many of the 100 foods you see featured in this book are livin' la vida low-carb friendly and are probably already a part of your diet anyway. Find out why they are good for your skin to help make you look young and beautiful while enjoying the familiar easy-to-follow format that you get from Dr. Bowden's books.

'Dr. Cohen's New Hippocratic Diet Guide' by Dr. Irving A. Cohen

2010-09-12T20:32:00.000-07:00

Reading through this "diet guide" from Dr. Irving A. Cohen certainly reminded me of when I was reading Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution which promoted a high-fat, moderate-protein, low-carbohydrate nutritional approach. And while Dr. Cohen promotes eating healthy high-fat, low-carb foods in his plan, he dismisses the Atkins low-carb diet because he says it put the emphasis on protein. With all due respect, the Atkins diet does not do this. Contrary to popular belief in most media accounts and from so-called health "experts" in their description of the low-carb lifestyle, it is not and never has been a "high-protein" diet. At best, you can call it a moderate and even low-protein nutritional approach. More accurately, it is high in dietary fat which is very similar to the method of eating outlined in Dr. Cohen's New Hippocratic Diet Guide. I wish for once people who comment about low-carb diets would at least do the minimal research activity of reading the book first before assuming they know what it is all about. Overall, this book is outstanding for anyone wishing to follow an effective high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. I'll just have to forgive Dr. Cohen for his haphazardness on what the Atkins diet really is.

'The Statin Damage Crisis' by Dr. Duane Graveline

2010-09-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

If anyone knows about "statin damage" in the world today, it's got to be former astronaut Dr. Duane Graveline. As a medical doctor himself, Dr. Graveline realized that something was gravely wrong with him when he went to see his NASA physicians for his annual checkup and they diagnosed him with having amnesia as well other other neurological problems. At the time he was taking the popular statin drug Lipitor for his "high cholesterol" and was none the wiser about what this prescription was doing to him until he began researching it more for himself.

What Dr. Graveline discovered about these popular statins like Lipitor and Crestor is that they do a lot more damage to people than the FDA are letting on to the public and he sincerely believes we are in a state of "crisis" from it as a result. I used to take both Lipitor and Crestor myself prior to losing 180 pounds on the Atkins diet in 2004 and I experienced massive muscle and joint point that was so excruciating. Even now, five years later, I STILL have trouble with my finger joints getting sore when I play recreational sports like basketball or volleyball as a result of the damaging effects of taking these cholesterol-lowering medications.

The Statin Damage Crisis explains exactly how statin drugs work, what they are physically doing to your body when you take them, why "high cholesterol" isn't the great health disaster that these pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals want you to believe it is, how chronic inflammation from consuming too many carbohydrates is a much bigger health issue to deal with regarding heart health, the role recommended diets like low-fat have played in this national calamity, and proven ways to reduce inflammation without the use of these risky statin drugs. Dr. Graveline has lived it himself, so he knows exactly what he's talking about. Reading his story of how he is struggling to this day because of what the statins did to him in both sad and eye-opening. He has committed his life to exposing this for all the world to see.

If you or someone you know is suffering from a statin-related illness which could include ALS, peripheral neuropathy, myopathy, chronic neuromuscular degeneration, Gulf War Syndrome, or aches in your joints and muscles while taking one of these drugs, then you owe it to yourself to read what Dr. Graveline has to share in this amazing book. He is trying to save millions more from suffering the same ill effects that he has while educating them that they probably don't need to be taking that statin prescription to begin with if they want to protect themselves against heart disease. Highly-recommended for anyone concerned about living healthy and staying healthy.

'The Drinking Man's Diet Cookbook' by Robert Cameron

2010-09-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

At first blush, you'd think a diet book for a "drinking man" has to be some kind of joke. Nobody can seriously think they'll lose weight drinking alcoholic beverages in their menus, right? Well, don't tell that to award-winning photographer Robert Cameron who has enjoyed having a drink or two throughout his lifetime. Back in 1964, long before anyone ever heard of Dr. Robert C. Atkins, he wrote a book about consuming a carbohydrate-restricted diet for weight loss and health entitled THE DRINKING MAN'S DIET which went on to sell over 2 million copies.

Because of the success of that book and the desire by people to have recipes to follow on the plan, Cameron followed up in 1967 with The Drinking Man's Diet Cookbook. Forty years later, the book is still around and has been updated with all the contents of the original book for you to benefit from. Cameron focuses on the quality of the calories you receive from high-satiety foods while mixing it with a low-carb nutritional approach of about 60g daily.

After a fateful meeting with a nutrition expert at UC-Berkeley during his Air Force years, Cameron realized that carbs lead to stored fat and that cutting back on your intake of them will reduce the amount of fat in the body. He was taught that green leafy vegetables provide an excellent source of carbohydrate, although he was also told being in a state of ketosis is "unpleasant." Hmmm, I don't know what's so bad about it, but this non-ketogenic low-carb diet seems to work for Cameron because he's still on it to this very day in the twilight of his life.

The book is written specifically for people who enjoy having a good time going to parties, drinking a glass of wine or two with friends, and anyone who is hosting guests in their home or at an event. Frequent tips about how to cut down on the carbohydrates in your personal diet and in the food you prepare are included along with so many delicious low-carb recipes that include appetizers, seafood, meat dishes, gourmet sauces, dairy delights, the right kind of veggies, salads, soups, "your best friend" bread (since he allows for 60g carbs daily), and even desserts! Most of these are fine, although I'm not convinced his recommendations on the carb counts jive with what the most recent research is saying about this macronutrient and health.

So what about the "drinking" part? Oh yeah, there's plenty of that with recommended wines and other alcoholic beverages to eat with each dish. Allowing for more carbohydrates gives you the flexibility to add this into your diet if you so choose. I'm not a drinker, so this wouldn't appeal to me at all. But perhaps someone who feels they can't give up alcohol in their life completely could benefit from Cameron's plan.

Interestingly, Cameron notes that the largest HMO in the United States tells its members to cut down on the carbohydrates like white bread, pasta, white rice, potatoes, and sugar because those foods are packed with calories and not nutrient-dense. He describes sugary sodas as "liquid corn" alluding to the high-fructose corn syrup they put in soft drinks these days. And his overall message is to lower the amount of food you are eating to get slim and healthy and stay that way. I like his no-nonsense approach to this idea of being on a diet like his. Here's what Cameron says:

"It's your choice. But little by little it will become an obvious choice."

At the end of the day, that's really what managing your weight and health is all about -- making the "obvious choice" to live a permanent and healthy lifestyle change forever and ever. You certainly can't argue with the results Robert Cameron has seen over the years.

'Fat to Skinny Fast and Easy!' by Doug Varrieur

2010-09-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

How can you NOT love an outstanding weight loss success story like Doug Varrieur? As a former 260-pounder who was tired of living his life as a fat guy, he took action to change his life forever and shed an incredible 100 pounds off of his body by implementing some key strategies into his routine. And for those of us who are livin' la vida low-carb and lovin' it, this story will bring a great big smile to your face.

Half-autobiographical/half-children's book-style, Varrieur definitely wanted to capture your attention while hopefully imparting to you everything he has learned about weight control and health over the past few years with the book. It's quite entertaining with all the cute illustrations that hammer home the various points and the strategic use of an all-caps "FAT" anytime that word is used in the book. You can tell Varrieur has quite a creative mind for communicating his message and he does so very well throughout.

Varrieur says foods like corn, sugar, vegetables, grains, and other carbohydrate-filled foods are doing nothing more than than leading to stored body FAT. Again, he uses all-caps when sharing about SUGAR because he wants people to realize eating foods that contain it or turn to it in the body will make them FAT. On page 22 alone he capitalizes SUGAR sixteen times. I guess you could say he believes it's a point worth repeating (and I tee-totally agree with him!).

The concept of measuring food in terms of "teaspoons of sugar" is not a new one, but it is not talked about nearly enough. Varrieur does so brilliantly yet again by looking at the SUGAR contained in French fries, soda, the bun, and a pie from a fast food restaurant. The way the numbers add up so quickly are shocking...and it's a message people need to hear loud and clear. Obviously, if people can cut down on these "teaspoons of sugar" in their diet, then they'll be a lot better off in their efforts to losing weight "fast and easy."

Half of Fat to Skinny Fast and Easy! is filled with recipes that Varrieur himself uses on his low-carb plan as well as some key low-carb foods and substitutions in his diet that have helped him keep his "skinny" body. Eating low-carb has obviously worked for him not just for weight loss but radically improved health markers too. His triglycerides plummeted from 400 down to 70, but I was somewhat concerned to see Varrieur concerned about his cholesterol levels so much that he feels the need to take a statin drug like Lipitor to lower them.

A high-fat, low-carb nutritional approach has been shown to lower triglyceride levels well below 100, raise HDL "good" cholesterol above 50, and make your LDL cholesterol the large, fluffy, and protective kind that you don't need to be concerned with. Sadly, Varrieur has bought into the notion shared to him by his doctor that he needs to take these risky prescription drugs with his low-carb diet to make his heart arteries "healthy." Additionally, he cuts down on healthy saturated fats, meat and egg consumption, and opts for low-fat cheeses, fish and soy for protein instead.

It is such a shame that Doug Varrieur and so many others like him have it right about the carbohydrates being at the root cause of obesity and health that far too many people are dealing with these days, but then are still caught up in conventional wisdom regarding the unproven and disastrous cholesterol-heart hypothesis that Ancel Keys unleashed on America so many decades ago. While I'm happy for his 100-pound weight loss success, I hope Varrieur will continue to do his own personal research on what will keep his heart and health strong for many years to come.

'The Best Kept Secret to Permanent Weight Loss' by Dr. Barnet and Jordan Meltzer

2010-09-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

Being a physician for four decades doesn't necessarily mean you know very much about what it takes to produce "permanent weight loss." But Dr. Barnet Meltzer realized in recent years that his medical practice should be more about preventing disease from happening in the first place through deliberate strategies that target keeping weight under control while arming your body with the best nutrients to make you happy and healthy for a very long time. That's what this book encompasses.

Dr. Meltzer realizes that in order to change your weight and health you absolutely MUST make certain changes in your lifestyle, including adding exercise, making smart choices about the foods you consume, keeping insulin levels stabilized, allowing your liver to function at optimal levels, removing unnecessary stress from your life, and supplementing with the proper vitamins daily. These are all a part of his "LYF-Style" factors that go into improving your metabolism. Detoxifying your body and setting it up for success first will get you going on the right track.

He shares about what he thinks are the proper ways to eat to be healthy which unfortunately focus too heavily on the low-fat options to resolve what is referred to as "appetitus," but I have to give Dr. Meltzer some credence for making people become more aware of what and why they are feeding themselves the way that they do. His holistic approach to dealing with these mental and psychological reasons why people eat like they do is certainly something that makes him stand apart from the other so-called health "experts" out there. Bringing about these necessary behavior modifications are a necessary starting point for anyone regardless of what nutritional plan you choose to get there.

The Best Kept Secret to Permanent Weight Loss by Dr. Barnet and Jordan Meltzer is very science-minded with a flair for explaining some oftentimes difficult concepts into layman's language so you're not left asking yourself "What's he talking about?" after reading it. And Dr. Meltzer doesn't talk down to you either -- he acknowledges the hurt and pain you have gone through becoming overweight or obese and offers up real-life solutions for making that happen. Plus, he accurately identifies the addiction to food (especially sugary, high-carb ones!) and the constant overall obsession with food that far too many Americans are allowing to encompass their lives. Best of all, he offers strategies for breaking this ruthless cycle once and for all.

After you implement his metabolic changes and physical disciplines into your life, Dr. Meltzer then shows you how to revolutionize the way you think so you will create permanency in the new lifestyle you are now living. This "dynamic willpower" as he describes it is the key to keeping weight off forever. I'm not a big fan at all of the concept of willpower when it comes to weight loss, but instead having a steadfast resolve to make better choices for the sake of your health. But Dr. Meltzer makes a compelling argument for thinking much more positively in the direction of a can-do attitude regarding implementing these disciplines and applying active self-control certainly isn't a bad way to get there.

All in all, this 450-page book is loaded with some useful information for anyone deciding the time is right to grab hold of this weight problem and get it under control once and for all. Dr. Barnet Meltzer and his son Jordan are applying the concepts that have worked with the people they've come into contact with and they work by "outsmarting" the typical ebb and flow that happens when you usually go on a diet. Proven-science or psycho-babble? YOU DECIDE!

'Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change' by Pat Murphy

2010-09-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

I generally only review diet and health-related books because that's what I'm focused on in my writings. So what's up with a book about conservation, renewable sources of energy, and being environmentally aware? Plenty! While it wouldn't seem like the kind of book that is pertinent to nutrition and wellness, Plan C is actually ALL about finding ways to deal with the pending global food crisis that is upon us.

You may have noticed in recent years some of the things happening with the world food market, including major price increases on certain key staples, scarcity of food that has always been in abundance, an exponential rise in the world population, droughts, deforestation, global warming, and skyrocketing oil prices. There have been food riots breaking out as a result of this unrest and while things have calmed down somewhat because of the drop in oil prices over the past year, the United Nations is concerned there will be even more outrage as record-high prices are expected to return in the next decade.

Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change outlines many of the issues impacting the sustainable food supply and offers solutions about what can be done regarding the problems that are on the horizon. There is grave concern that the food crisis will become inevitable by the year 2015 when global oil production will hit its peak. Why is this important for the food supply? Because most of the food is grown using these fossil fuels for energy. That's why Pat Murphy decided to write out his own "plan" for dealing with this BEFORE it happens.

I love this quote from Murphy in the book when he says "The understanding of good food and nutrition is also disappearing" and he's exactly right! People tend to take for granted that food will always be there, but food security is a very real concern that people need to take more seriously now while there's still time to do something about it. Preemptive measures if implemented deliberately and strategically to counteract this can be effective with a shift in our food culture. This includes eschewing those foods that are heavily subsidized by the U.S. government like corn and wheat and instead purchasing locally-grown fruits and vegetables and grass-fed beef at your neighborhood farmer's market, for example.

Murphy shares some key statistics in his book regarding how much energy is burned creating the food we eating, including the fact that it takes 10 calories of fossil fuels for every 1 calorie of food consumed by Americans, less than four percent of agricultural land in the United States is used to harvest fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes, and the price of fruits and veggies has sharply risen while HFCS-sweetened soda has dropped by nearly 25 percent. There's a little bit of vegetarian bias in the book as Murphy laments that it takes 25 calories of fossil fuel energy to create one calorie of "factory-raised beef protein" and that livestock produce 18 percent of the greenhouse gasses worldwide. But he does encourage buying local from farmers who aren't implementing these energy-wasting techniques and believes this is the wave of the future that needs to happen much sooner than later.

An intriguing aspect of this book that I think might be worth pursuing is the concept of "kicking the media habit." Murphy says there's a bit too much pro-corporation positive spin happening on television and in newspapers for people to be indoctrinated with the wrong messages. He encourages readers to give up some of our technological advances and get back to enjoying the life where we live by volunteering to give up a day, a week, or even a full month of Internet, television, radio, reading books, watching movies, etc. to see how you react to it. Instead, go out to hear local bands, spend long conversations with friends and family members, and get back to living life the way it used to be. I don't know if I'm ready to take that plunge just yet, but it certainly sounds enticing.

All in all, Plan C seems to be grounded in a reality that far too many Americans are utterly clueless about. For their sake, I hope they learn about it long before it's too late.

'Sinner to Thinner: A Devilishly Dynamic Guide To A Heavenly Body' by Dr. Thomas Bynes

2010-09-12T20:26:00.000-07:00

If author Dr. Thomas Bynes wasn't a chiropractor, then it's a sure bet he'd be a stand-up comedian or teacher because this is a thoroughly entertaining book to read about the subject of nutrition and health. As the brother of young Hollywood starlet Amanda Bynes (who wrote the foreword), Dr. Bynes has instead forged a career path that puts him face-to-face with people who need to do something about their weight and health before it's too late. And he does it with solid, science-based techniques that he creatively explains within the pages of Sinner to Thinner: A Devilishly Dynamic Guide To A Heavenly Body.

Humorous illustrations accompany some very serious education about the ways you can shed the pounds. Dr. Bynes intersperses his "Thinteresting Trivia" at the beginning of each chapter to let you test your knowledge of diet-related topics with regular "STOP: DANGER AHEAD" notations outlined in shaded boxes so you'll pay especially close attention to what is being communicated there. Generally, it's a startling statistic or fact to back up the claims being made in that particular section to continue impressing the message into your head even more.

Personal stories of Dr. Bynes' patients and their miraculous turnaround will inspire you as you seek to implement this program into your own life. The "Thintastic Tips" located at the end of each chapter also give you a quick wrap-up of the take-home message you should not forget once you are finished reading the book. They are nice reminders to go back and re-read again and again when you need to reinforce and remember what was shared. You'll quickly realize this is arguably one of the most practical books on dieting you'll ever read with concrete example of exactly what you should and should not do. If you need structure, then this is the book for you.

So what is the overall message Dr. Bynes is attempting to communicate about losing weight? Take in smaller portions, eat regularly, journal your food intake, work the plan with all the gusto you can muster, stick with it, chill out about the day-to-day fluctuations, surround yourself with a support team, drink lots of water, choose better snack and dessert choices, healthy fiber consumption, consuming low-glycemic index foods, avoid trans fats, taking healthy supplements, eliminating toxins from your body, getting in regular exercise and more. Unfortunately, though, he also embraces some mistaken conventional wisdom health concepts such as the "healthy" whole grain foods sham, the alleged dangers that come from consuming saturated fat (described as "one of the leading contributors to heart disease") despite modern research to the contrary, cutting your salt intake is somehow doing your body some good, and neglecting the negative impact that sugar-based foods play on insulin levels which wreak havoc on weight and health.

All in all, the book is a mixed bag with both some good and not-so-good information, but overall I think what Dr. Thomas Bynes has written is worthy of closer examination for people who currently show no interest in getting their weight and health back under control. At the end of the day, that's who needs to be reached with the message regardless of the path they take to get there.