Diet Health Books

this is a great book to keep on hand when eating out. I now feel like I can eat out without breaking my diet plans!!

I was hoping for a lot more tips that I could use in my own kitchen, but that's not the type of book this is. For those who eat on the go very often, this can be useful. Overall, it felt more like a review of fast food restaurants in America. Some of the calorie counting was only marginally helpful. Like I said, if you eat out for almost every meal,and if you are just really strict about calories and need to watch every bite, then this may be right for you.

This book is the "food bible"!!! My husband and I learned so much from this book and I bought it for 3 friends as gift already! If you are interested in what you are eating and how you can improve, you want to buy this book.

This book was very informational and reviewed many popular products and restaurants. I will use it when grocery shopping as it showed that many of the choices I thought were healthy or "better", were not.

Would get 5 stars except occasional contradictory items, e.g. some coffee drinks with essentially the same nutritional info were separated into good/bad foods.

As all of Dr. Agatston's books, this is excellent. The exercises are good, the recipes are delicious and the program for weight loss works. I recommend this book as I do all his other books.

I received my order very quick, great book. I will recomend it to anyone who wants to achieve their goals.

This is an excellent addition to the South Beach diet phenomenon. It has lots of new tips and great new recipes. I'm really looking forward to "digging in" and losing more weight.

Updated info on the South Beach Diet. Easier to follow than ever. One caution, however. If you have a bad back, be very careful in doing some of the Pilates exercises. Go slowly and modify if necessary. Otherwise, excellent.

This is a great book, I have had more success with the south beach diet than any other, I also love the menu..This is so helpful....

This is a great book, and an even better extension of the Hungrygirl.com website. I literally use these recipes every single day, and they really help me keep on track with Weight Watchers. A majority of the recipes are for 1 or 2 servings, which helps me dive right in and make them for myself instead of trying to divide out the recipes. It's easier to double or triple the recipe anyway, so that isn't a problem when I'm cooking for more than myself. Most recipes are no more than 3 points, while many are only 1 or 2 points. I've been able to eat all of the foods I love again thanks to Lisa's great ideas for tweaking recipes. I highly recommend the book.

I'm not really a girly-girl who starves herself or worries about what she eats, but I did put on a few pounds that needed to go. The recipes in this book are tasty and I have lost some weight. I've also been exercising, so I'm not going to say the book is completely responsible for the weight loss, but I think eating some of these meals really did help. Good luck girls!

I absolutely love this book! Every recipe I have tried has been easy and delicious. A huge plus for me is the number of recipes for one person! It is SO nice to be able to prepare just enough for me. The tips in the back of the book to help keep us on track in different situations are fabulous.

As a huge hungrygirl.com fan the book did not dissapoint! While I have only tried a couple of the recipes it was exactly what I knew Lisa would turn out. The only (very small) disappointment was that the WW points were not listed on the recipes.

As a member of weight watchers... I appreciate any guilt free eating I can get. Also, the daily free newsletters are the bomb! Highly recommend this book.

I bought this book at a time when I was looking for motivation to change my diet and adopt a healthier lifestyle. I did not realize at the time that this is a pro-vegan book. Still, I found the tone of the authors enjoyable to read, and although I am still a ways off to eating soy cheese regularly, I am glad I read it.

The authors advocate a vegan lifestyle to become skinny. And they have a point -- ever met a fat vegan? I'm not surprised that other reviewers are not particularly thrilled at this advice, because it is a bit preachy, and the approach seems rather hard-core.

But, again, they have a point. Refer to my earlier question regarding fat vegans.

The data in this book did not convince me on way or another that milk and steak is making me fat, but there are some rather convincing arguments regarding the food lobby's influence on the FDA and the treatment of animals in slaughterhouses (which I had to skim because otherwise I might have thrown up a little. And the characterization of meat as "dead, decaying flesh" was enough to keep me from a hamburger that evening). But, ultimately, this is nothing that your hippy card-carrying-member-of-PETA-friend wouldn't be happy to inform you of if you asked. However, if you don't have a hippy friend in PETA, then this book will do.

Ultimately, as a result of having read this book, I'm cooking more vegetarian (but not vegan) meals, and I only rarely drink milk or eat ice cream. The authors have managed to get inside my head, and I am grateful.

Recommended.

A fast, easy to read book with interesting eating/food facts. There were also product lists, info and websites that I'm going to check out. The only thing that I didnt like was the harsh language they used to make their points, they could have kept it classy and made the same point. Read it, open your eyes, then, GO Vegan!

This book is a vegan propaganda piece. Crudely written with the intent to scare you out of your current eating patterns. Unfortunately, once they disgust you, call you names and generally make you feel pretty bad, they give no useful advice on how to embark on this new lifestyle. Hey, I don't offend easily, but I just paid money to get called all kinds of filthy names and go to bed hungry!!!

What a fun and interesting book! It took a lot of guts for these women to put themselves and their lifestyles out there in such an in-your-face way. I appreciated the fact that they pulled no punches and were unapologetic about their choices. I also have the cookbook and it is excellent. It's easy to give a negative review if something does not concur with what you already believe, but it's more difficult to be open-minded and try something different. Of course, since I adhere to a mostly vegan diet, I was already in agreement with their choices. Telling how animals are abused in the production of America's insatiable appetite for meat is not an "animal rights rant." It's a truth that everyone who eats meat should have to face before they make that choice. Another book, called Baby Boomer Bachelorette: How to Have Sex at Least Once More Before You Die recommends the same type of diet. She describes how the vegan diet helped her skate through menopause, unlike most middle-aged women, who suffer terrible symptoms, and usually end up on harmones or other medication. This book also contains some great dating advice for the over-40 crowd!

I have never been so angered by a book. First and foremost, I have nothing against the vegan lifestyle, if that is how someone chooses to live. What I have a problem with is the authors' "scientific proof" that a vegan diet is far superior to a non-vegan diet. Every time they make some scientific claim in their book, I checked their sources and I never found a credible scientific journal. They even mention in their book how average women do not peruse medical/scientific journals to learn all the ins and outs of all the foods and chemicals they are ingesting... well, neither do they.

Here is an example of their inexcusable ignorance: As a biochemist with a strong background in physiology, I happen to know what enzymes are and what they do... these women DO NOT. They have this gross misconception that enzymes that function in plants continue to function in our digestive tracts and miraculously make it into our blood stream somehow and again, continue to function. Anyone with basic biomedical training can tell you their claims could not be farther from the truth. Enzymes are created to function in very specific environments, are dependent on many factors (temperature, pH, etc) and are tightly regulated. Can they honestly believe that an enzyme created in a plant, to perform PLANT processes, would actually continue to function in an extremely different environment? Not to mention the full on attack by our digestive enzymes would render them useless.

And their "knowledge" of enzymes is just the tip of the ice berg. I could go and on about all their scientific inaccuracies, but I'm trying to make this readable.

I guess my next big concern is if they were allowed to publish all these scientific inaccuracies, how can I trust the rest of their information? It's scary that these two women are allowed to sell their version of human digestive physiology and readers will believe it without questioning its validity.

If this review stops even one person from reading this trash, I feel I have done a little good in this world :)

I thought it was beyond funny that the first people Michael Pollan cited in his acknowledgments sections were his editors. I thought this book could have used some more editing actually. It was repetitive and overly sensational. I cook my own food and have a garden, and it still made me feel incredibly inadequate at providing for myself, which is ridiculous.

I am not entirely convinced that we should completely denounce nutritionism and science because God does it better. Sounds like the same malarkey that challenges evolutionary science. And I thought it a serious weakness that Pollan uses food studies when it's convenient for his argument to do so.

Kudos to Pollan for making a lot of this research and information approachable to the average American, but I feel like he's preaching the the choir. The people who really need to read this book probably can't afford it.

Bottom Line: I celebrated finishing this book by serving myself up a HUGE bowl of Lucky Charms. Ah...high fructose corn syrup...it's been a while, my friend...

You really have to read Pollan's masterpiece, "The Omnivore's Dilemma," to appreciate this one, which functions as a kind of coda to Omnivore's exploration of industrial farming and its effects on the food supply. In "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto," Pollan's attack on nutritionism--the separating of a food into its components--certainly puts the lie to "alternative" medicine health gurus like Andrew Weil, who sometimes seem to push pills (vitamins, anti-oxidants, etc.) as heartily as his counterparts in traditional medicine. According to Pollan, there is no magic substance, whether it be oat bran or omega-3 oils, that can bestow health. He points out that human beings have thrived on all kinds of different diets, the so-called Western diet excepted. He convincingly argues, citing infant formula as just one example, that efforts to reduce a valuable food to its components are primitive at best and that attempts to define what comprises a healthy diet, like the emphasis on low fat consumption, have been just plain wrong. Shop the outer walls of the supermarket, he advises, looking for the real food: vegetables, fruit, fish, and meat. Stay out of the middle, where the "whole grain" junk food and "heart healthy" cookies dwell. This is an interesting and sensible book full of good advice that is ridiculously easy to follow. Despite some of the more enthusiastic reviews, I do have to say that for middle-aged readers the notion that if you follow Pollan's precepts you will live longer and avoid devastating diseases is a bit silly. (Pollan does not make this claim.) Who can predict such things? However, for those who choose to teach their children or grandchildren to eat well---what better gift for the next generation? Reader: if you can't cook you are going to have to learn.

If this fabulous book becomes a best-seller, as it should, if enough people read and follow its advice, if we can manage to get the kids on board with healthy eatting (PLEASE write a kid's version, asap), we can put the food processors, food "scientists" on notice that their imitation food is at least one contributing factor behind so many "new" epidemics: bi-polarity in children, autism, ADD, allergies, asthma, diabetes I & II, obesity, etc etc etc.
Thank you Michael Pollan for stating the case for real food so very well. This Saturday, I'm off to the farmer's market.

As a Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator I am delighted that Pollan has put together one pouch with most all the jewels. The system while well meaning is not yet optimizing our access to the path of health.

I almost put this book back on the shelf after seeing its sub-subtitle: "Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants." I thought, well, duh, who doesn't know that? I expected yet another rant that we're eating too much of the wrong food, which isn't new and isn't helpful.

But this book posits some interesting reasons why we're eating too much and even more importantly why we're not eating *food*. Until I read Chapter One I had not even considered how long it's been since I looked at an item of food as something in and of itself instead of just as a collection of nutrients. Our grandparents looked at an orange and saw an orange; we look at an orange and see part of our daily allotment of Vitamin C. Yet we really know very little about what's in an orange that's protective to our health. We should eat it because it's delicious and has been part of the human diet for centuries, not because some expert tells us to.

Mr. Pollan also advances the idea that we don't spend enough on food, that if we can afford to we should spend more. This seems counter-intuitive, but in fact he's right. When you spend $6 for a half-gallon of organic, non-homogenized milk, or $4.89 a dozen for eggs from pastured chickens, you really become conscious of the food you're eating.

At the end he provides some practical advice on how to avoid the pressures that cause us to eat too much of the wrong things.

With the rise of the farmer's market in most areas we now have more opportunity than we've had in decades to eat real food. Try it, you'll like it -- that applies to both this book and the real food it advocates.

I am loving this book. She inspires you to begin making small changes in your lifestyle. Her approach is to "lean into" wellness one step at a time. How many people have quit a diet or workout routine because the change was too drastic? This is a great guide book for becoming healthy.

If you saw the interview on Oprah - you can save yourself reading the book. Much a do about nothing - nothing unique or original, all info from likes of dr oz, dr weil etc.
my advice would be take the money for the book and spend it on a healing lunch! Read the rest of the self help info on the net or watch oprah.

A guide to finding happiness is within this book. Very easy read, logical and inspirational. I enjoyed and recommend it higly along with another book on this similar subject of creating the life you always wanted, Living The Secret Everyday: My Secret Workbook.

I just joined in on a discussion on a community wellness website [...] and I love the book. It reads so easy and with such plain talk. It is very helpful and makes change seem so possible. I encourage all to read this book.

The author has some very good points of view as to why one shouldln't eat meat and the importance of a plant based diet. The 21 day cleansing wasn't difficult to do and there are good references in the back of the book for other books, some of which I purchased and will review at a later date.

A must have book. Easy to read through and reference over and over again. Clearly lays out all of the pros and cons of which vaccine. A very matter of fact book that simply gives you all of the information you need to make the decisions that you, as a parent, feel most comfortable about. We will be referencing this book for years.

It's sufficiently difficult to ask good questions during the rushed doctor visits so it was wonderful to have a book ask (and answer) important questions that hadn't even crossed my mind. In fact, after I had expressed some concern at the 2 month visit, my pediatrician asked for a schedule and well... duh... I thought she'd have a few alternative schedules for me to choose from... NOT. Before opening this book, I had already pulled a schedule together based upon CDC info, some Internet-based research, and our plans for the little one. Well, let's say that there was plenty of new data to add to my decision matrix and plenty of revisions resulted. Some of my conclusions based on the book's data differed from those of Dr. Bob but that is because I have different priorities from those assumed by Dr. Bob (and his assumptions are stated very clearly). Then again, the separation of fact from opinion in this book is what makes it so useful for a parent who wants to make a customized schedule. I've been through all the sections once now and certain sections multiple times (as the cross-referencing is very thorough). Dr. Bob really makes you think things through from multiple perspectives and I'm very happy not only with the changes I made but I'm also much more satisfied with many of the decisions I had made beforehand on much less information.

Well, having started to get into this subject in some depth I couldn't wait for my copy of the Vaccine Book to arrive. We had chosen this book as it is written by a doctor and it is recent (so presumably using the most recent research articles). After receiving it, I wanted to give it one star based on the information on why to vaccinate and giving vaccines after injury (tetanus and rabies) as I did not find the information to be accurate. (but then again I am being cautious and I am concerned that generalised statements on the safety of vaccines are out of place)

However, I gave it 3 stars as there is important information regarding boosting your child's immunity naturally, and he does go into calculating risks, he does cite recent and relevant studies and he does go into the details on the manufacture of and ingredients used in vaccines. I just choose to differ on the conclusions reached.

The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child, by Robert W. Sears, M.D.,m F.A.A.P, is the most comprehensive and understandable vaccine book out there. Okay, I confess, I haven't read them all if any...but I can't see how any book could beat this one!

Dr. Sears walks through EVERY vaccine our children receive in their pediatric life-time, and lists out not only each vaccine maker and label, BUT EVERY INGREDIENT. I'm not joking. This book is truly comprehensive in every sense of the term.

He talks about the vaccine side-effects, the frequency of your child actually getting those side-effects, the likelihood of getting that particular illness if your child isn't vaccinated, the dangers in getting the illness (discusses minor to fatal outcomes (if any)), treatment for those who get the disease, why some parents choose not to get the vaccine. and what to consider when traveling. Yeah, as I said, COMPREHENSIVE! There are five chapters at the end of the book that discuss the following topics: "Combination Vaccines, Vaccines for Travel, and Vaccines for Other Special Situations", "Vaccine Safety Research", "Vaccine Side Effects", "Vaccine Ingredients [which talks about why it's in the vaccine and the risks involved with some ingredients]", and "Myths and Questions about Vaccines". Do I need to say it again? Okay, I will...C-O-M-P-R-E-H-E-N-S-I-V-E!!

Ultimately, Dr. Sears leaves you, the reader, with the choice of whether or not to get a certain vaccine--this is a nice change from regular pediatricians who leave you feeling without a choice; however, he does not leave you high and dry in making that choice. Every chapter that discusses a vaccine ends with a section called, "The Way I See It". I found this section to be VERY HELPFUL. It's nice to have a doctor's opinion, whether or not I agree with it--although, I did find myself agreeing with him in nearly every circumstance (I'm a theologian, not a vaccine specialist or a pediatric doctor...at some point, I have to defer to those who know more...whether I like it or not...).

But here is the truly awesome thing about this book: it doesn't end with just a whopping load-full of information that you are left to decipher and figure out...helplessly. The book ends with the chapter: "What Should You Do Now?" Hey, what? Really? You are going to lend me a hand in figuring out what I should do with my child(ren)? Nuh-uh! In this chapter you find the ever helpful ALTERNATE VACCINE SCHEDULE! Yes, I'm yelling. This alternate schedule is awesome and I'm yelling to express my love for it. I haven't used the schedule yet, but I plan to when Baby Jack is born. I can't wait to, once again, swim upstream in the mainstream of Doctors! Oh, boy...and I proclaim that I really don't like conflict. HA HA HA HA!

He even takes the time to address those parents who delay or decline vaccinations. And, he respects them. Yeah, it's true, he's really a doctor. I know, a foreign concept!

Dr. Sears truly addresses every aspect of Vaccines and Vaccinating/Not Vaccinating/Delaying Vaccinating. No stone is left unturned; and, if by chance he couldn't turn it over, he admits it and tells you to check his website (www.TheVaccineBook.com) for updates. He is humble (he admits he doesn't know everything) and loves what he does (he loves children and respects you as the parent). To top it off, as if this book were not awesome enough, Dr. Sears peppers this book with a lot of humor. Who knew vaccines could be fodder for laughter!

I laughed, I learned, and I am all the more better for it. A truly great read (well written) and a must have for all parents currently undergoing the vaccination down-pour of their child's early life!

I highly recommend this book.

If you are concerned about vaccines - this is the book for you. It is even-handed, thoughtful, and will help you work with your child's pediatrician to come up with a plan that is right for you. Even if you can find a copy of Dr Sears' alternative or selective vaccination schedule online, I highly recommend that you have this book so that you can learn why he has made these alterations to the accepted vaccine schedule. It is harder for a pediatrician to balk at an unconventional idea when they know the parent has "done the research." Well worth the money.

Excellent read! Learned many new things and confirmed I was already doing a lot of things right. Highly recommend it. It will be an eye opener for many.

A little bit goofy, a refreshing sense of humour, but not a lot of in-depth information. Good for a teenager, perhaps--but not especially informative for a well-read adult.

I read it from cover to cover and ready to do it again.
I was amazed at how much I did not know ( forgot from biology in H.S )

Very pleased that I purchased it.
I have people ready to borrow it.

Simply amazing. it's only books like that from which you can learn things medical facts in such open minded way.

There are 2 reasons why I chose to read this book. Dr. Oz on The Oprah Show has gotten the public to openly talk about the function of their body parts in ways that many didn't dare even think about - let alone allow themselves to be free to talk about.

Also, while sitting at a JuicePlus presentation, I found it interesting that everyone kept talking about how much we need to add fruits and vegetables in our diet, but no one talked about assessing what we are eating now, how our body functions, and the fundamental things we must do to honor being on earth. They seemed to be sold, without question, as though they are at church, and not free to challenge the beliefs.

In "You: The Onwer's Manual," this and more is discussed. Questions are asked, allowing you to have those "Ah hah" moments. I particularly like that from the beginning to the last page this book is written in a way that talks to my soul, and truly makes me have belly laughs, while I hone my "body maintenance skills," if you will.

I recommend this book as a great source amongst books about living fully.

This is the most entertaining yet informative diet book you could ever read. It actually had me feeling as if one of the docs were in my livingroom explaining the workings of the body in a very down to earth way. Illustrations are thru-out the book and reinforce the information. The exercises and diet are easily followed. There is even a shopping list that tell you how to find the items in the store! Great and highly recommended. Wish me luck to get a healthy waistline!

Great book, enjoyable and easy to follow. Not too "sciency", clever and witty writing.

While this book can be tedious, with its 'dumbed-down' illustrations and YOU-reka interruptions, for someone who is new to studying nutrition and wants to learn how food is affecting their body, this is a very useful book. I especially appreciated the way the authors presented the effects of saturated fats on our arteries, and their introduction to the omentum - an organ that many of us never learned about in school. The tips about the effects of cinnamon on insulin resistance and eating nuts before a meal as a weight-loss aid will be very new information for some.

People who already have a good education in nutrition and biology will likely find this book too simplistic, but for many others, this book presents valuable information in a highly accessible format. I really recommend it for anyone who wants to understand why diets are making them fat.

I purchased this on the recommendation of my doctor. It is an easy read, the cartoons are cute. However, it really didn't tell me that much new. By eating more healthy foods and exercising more, we can all be in better shape.

How refreshing to have physicians write scientifically-based books that promote a healthy body, healthy living, and disease prevention. Maybe these authors will inspire their colleagues to talk more to patients about living healthfully. The book is written in a way that makes nutrition and physiological insights readable and understandable by people who do not have a strong science background. The emphasis is on trimming your waistline rather than focusing on weight. The authors explain the interaction of the brain, hormones, muscles, stomach, heart, and genes in dictating body size. They provide information on diet and exercise, and include a two week program. I hope our authors are closing the chasm between patients and doctors by raising issues that patients can further discuss with their doctors resulting in healthier patients. Author of THE 3:00 PM SECRET: Live Slim and Strong, Live Your Dreams

This book is a refreshing change from the glut of fad diet books. It is very readable, yet takes a serious and scientific look at what we eat and the resulting health problems. The core of the book is about a 20 year study, in China, sponsored by NIH and the governement of China. Be prepared to have a paradigm shift in your concepts of healthy eating.

I just completed The China Study and I feel it was a very interesting, informative read. It's kind of a scientific thriller as in what else will our good scientist T. Colin Campbell reveal?
The end of the book was the most interesting to me...how the establishment ignores easy, inexpensive ways to heal disease thru diet, how doctors who espouse nutritional therapy are rejected and how industry and government are intertwined and, as a result, the public is left ignorant on how they can easily and simply heal themselves. One thing to think about: I am sure many who read this book want nationalized health care. I am not sure that would be a good thing at the moment with a government that is unable to give us the information we need right NOW. It is addicted to costly procedures and drugs making everything more complex, painful and expensive. In fact, people are DYING from our conventional medicare...one of the biggest killers of Americans. Do we really want to hand over the reigns of our healthcare (and money) to a government that is unable to act in our own self-interest? If we did, our money would be wasted in furthering the pharmaceutical and medical industries at the expense of our health. I don't think it's a good idea unless it can be cleaned up and the motives clean. I'd rather give my healthcare dollars to people and institutions that espouse the truth...something the government is incapable of.

This is a well written, easy to understand book, full of information that i believe everyone should have been taught as children. I think schools should incorporate this way of eating for our children. I am definatly changing my views and habits.

shocking and scary what we didnt know all these years. It makes you think about what if : what if we all started eating this way long ago, how many people would not be so sick now?

"China Study" gave me extremely important and necessary information about nutrition. It explained clearly and logically the link between nutrition and certain diseases. It also explained the way scientific studies are designed, and how science is often influenced by politics, which affects the set up of the experiments, as well as published results. To me, this book proved to be invaluable guide in creating a healthy diet for me and my family.

I am a practicing optometrist in O'Fallon missouri and I work with alot of patients of all different classes. Many of them are way overweight and in poor health at an early age (50's-60's and I just know that the reason is because of poor eating habits and lack of exercise. The China Study really helps to emphasize the importance of good everyday eating and what the consequenses will be if one does not follow a good everyday diet. I'm lucky enough to enjoy good health everyday and I hope I can pass on to my patients information about this book to make a better world.