Diet Health Books

Wish I would have found this 7-8 years ago when it was first published.

I lost 65 pounds but became stuck for a year or more. This book helped me break the plateau...and I'm on the way down again!

THIS BOOK IS FABULOUS AND WELL PRICED TOO. IT GIVES WONDERFUL INFORMATION ON HOW TO CONTROL YOUR DIET WITH VOLUMES OF FOOD. I FIND IT VERY USEFUL AND THE RECIPES INSIDE ARE JUST AWESOME!!!

The quality of the books are excellent. I had a problem receiving the books, though. When tracking them I was told they were delivered, but I had never received them. I got connected with customer service through the website and they helped make things right by re-sending my order. These books came in the same time I should have received my other books. I feel confident that I can order through Amazon again and they will make sure that I am satisfied. Thank you, Amazon!

The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan is the best thing to come into my life since sliced bread - no pun intended. Barbara Rolls is a researcher and scientific investigator who isn't trying to sell you overnight success or supplements or super-duper curves or a body to die for. In fact, as far as I've been able to figure she ONLY selling her 2 books, and boy are they worth every penny you'll spend to buy them. The science isn't new, just the presentation. The book is filled with color pictures that actually SHOW the difference between a quarter cup of raisins versus a cup of grapes - a veggie pizza wedge versus a cheese slice.

The premise is simple and the science is sound. Your body doesn't know from fat, carbs, etc. It know from FULL or NOT. Make it think it's full, it'll quit nagging you to eat. It's so simple I can't imagine why we haven't all come to this plan.

Why am I using this book? I'm fat. I've been fat for about 16 years. I'm glucose intolerant, have high blood pressure, and before I found this book I was on the way to full blown diabetes, the very real possibility of a stroke, blown knees, and a life of waiting to die. My doctors have been telling me a simple truth for years. ALL - that means every single one - of your physical ills are directly attributable to being overweight. Sound familiar? For years they've been saying - start with 1800 calories Mary. Lose 20 pounds. Then we'll reevaluate. Just begin, Mary. So - I began - dozens of times. And failed. Dozens of times. I beat myself up mercilessly for my failures. Then, trolling Amazon as I am wont to do, I bumped into Volumetrics. OK, I thought. Can't hurt. Nope. Didn't hurt a bit. This is far and away the best eating plan I've ever met, and I've met a few. As soon as I started charting 1800 calories a day using the principles in the book - I started losing - slowly and steadily. And I felt full - ate stuff I loved - learned to plan for the day - even the week - bought a nice big roomy food carrier to take to the office. It's not in the carrier - it doesn't go in my mouth. For all of you out there who have been praying for the one that clicks - try this. It's a cheap price to pay for what may be the most important book you'll ever buy. It works for me and my hand to God, it'll work for you. Try it. You'll love it.

How can air in food make you more satisfied - make you eat less? How can it curb a tendency to be fat, or reverse a trend?

Can it? Turns out - yes.

Feed a hungry college student a half glass full of smoothie and they will eat 20% more at lunch ½ later than the college student who drinks the SAME smoothie only whipped until it swells to a full glass with air. Not only that, but the ones that eat the airy smoothie don't make it up at their next meal.

My brother, John, and my food guru, Dick, have both recommended Mindless Eating and Volumetrics to you and me. I finally read them. Actually, John recommends listening to Mindless Eating as a book on tape, so that's what I did. I recommend it.

Listen to get the fun of it and the flavor of it. Then get the book to read the summaries of what to do.

Both titles don't really work to tell you their messages. The subtitle of Volumetrics is great - Feel Full On Fewer Calories. I'd rewrite that to read - Feel Satisfied on Fewer Calories.

It's not my job to re-title these excellent books. Mindless Eating deals with how our brains are tricked to eat more than we want by other visual cues and often by genuine optical illusions.

You could summarize Volumetrics - We don't eat calories, we eat size, volume. We are stratified by greater volume and not necessarily by greater calories. Satisfied means you eat less, means you lose fat and still feel, well, satisfied.

These are not deprivation diet books. DEPRIVATION DIETS DON'T WORK. And need I say, not fun.

The two cheapest ingredients in food are water and air. Adding air or water is the simplest way to feel more satisfied with no additional calories. You read about air in the smoothie above. Soup is food with water added. Raisins are grapes with water removed.

Let's see what that does for you...


Raisins

Which is more satisfying. ¼ cup of raisins or nearly 2 cups of grapes (50 ml or 500 ml). The metric numbers makes the size difference even more startling. Exact same number of calories. Exact same food. One has water; one doesn't.

Which would you choose if you wanted to feel most satisfied?

Yep, me too.


Soup is the Free Lunch of Satisfaction

I live on good soup, not words. - Molière

Even though soup is mostly water, you and your body perceive it as food. This is very counter intuitive to me.

Proof? Give people a 270 calorie chicken-rice casserole and a glass of water as a first course to a luncheon.

Give another group the same casserole with the water added to it to make it a soup. Check both groups to see how much they ate for the rest of lunch.

The soup people ate 100 calories less of the lunch that followed and didn't make up the loss at dinner. Cool, yes! Soup created more satiety, satisfaction. Other experiments showed that chunky soup creates more satisfaction than strained soup. And hot and cold soups both create the same benefits.

You can read the physiology in the books if you're interested. But this seems like magic to me.


Bag the Peanut Butter

I over eat peanut butter; it is one of the highest density foods you can find. If I eat volume, then you have to eat a mountain of calories to get a decent volume.

If I lived alone, I would just not bring it into the house. Obviously you can use this useful tip for all your trigger foods. Since I live with the Mysterious Madame Ling, who likes peanut butter on apples, I simply put the peanut butter in a brown paper bag.

Not only is this -- Out of sight, out of mind -- it puts inconvenience into the circuit making it harder to mindlessly eat.

Note: You may be and I am on a seafood diet, I eat everything I see. Out of sight, out of mind.


OK, One Optical Illusion

People perceive tall as more than short.

Remember the optical illusion from childhood of the upside down T. They ask which is longer - the horizontal part or the vertical section.

People say the vertical is up to 20% taller when they are in fact the same length. (The illusion is so strong for me, that I got out a ruler and tested it.)

Tall thin glasses will have you drinking less wine, juice, or Coke. And again, you will feel satisfied. Remove the short squat glasses from your life, unless you want to increase your consumption of water, then the idea works in your favor. I drink water out of a Bavarian beer mug.


Action

If you have people in your family who need to monitor fat gain, get the books, read them, and then apply the tricks.

Eat well,

William

Unless you're capable of eating twice what you normally do on your up day (the day you're allowed to eat "normally",) there is no way you can't lose weight following this.

I have been using this way of eating for three weeks and have lost 14.6 pounds. I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Johnson's Alternative Day diet!

I will not comment much on the content of the book -- others have done a good job of that. I will comment that while this seems a reasonable way to accomplish calorie restriction, I was dismayed that he advocates drinking meal replacement shakes in the beginning of the program for alternate days. This might be a personal bias of mine, but I do not consider these nutritious (he does mention that they usually taste so bad that one does not feel an urge to over-indulge in them).

The rest of this review pertains to the Kindle formatted book. The majority of the book is fine, however, there are sentences in each section that start and then are not finished. They get finished in odd places, sometimes a chapter later. I am assuming that this book was not proofread after it was converted to Kindle format. As is usual with Kindle books, the majority of tables and graphs are nearly impossible to read. This was expected. While the fragmented sentences did not make it impossible to access the content of the book, they drove me CRAZY! I would give the book 4 stars, but the Kindle edition gets 3.

I have been following this lifestyle for just over 9 months since discovering it online, and I consider it utterly revolutionary; I plan to do it for the rest of my life, and I believe that everyone (who is medically capable) should do so as well. Few things have changed my life as dramatically as this diet. I moderate an online community with over 300 members and the overwhelming majority agree with me.

Most notably, in addition to the obvious benefit of achieving and maintaining a slender figure, this diet can improve inflammatory disorders (arthritis, asthma, tendonitis, allergies), expand cognition, increase your energy levels, reduce your risk of developing cancer, and extend your life (while maintaining a youthful state). It's also an incredibly easy diet to follow and stick to, which is rare when it comes to weight-loss inducing diets.

The book is reasonably well-written and generally enjoyable and easy to read. I feel that Dr. Johnson makes good use of evidence (and does not dumb down the data), and only rarely makes unfounded or exaggerated statements. I would certainly recommend this book for people who are not swayed by the general concept and online information alone, as they will almost definitely consider an actual BOOK by an actual MEDICAL DOCTOR more seriously. In that vein, it would make a great gift, and you can make sure the giftee has read the book by asking their opinion on the diet. However, the book is not necessary to do the diet (which is so inherently simple) - though it may be quite helpful for some - as essential information can be found online.

Predictably, the book does focus on weight loss, despite discussing the numerous other health benefits of the diet. Dr. Johnson dubs the major gene that the diet activates (SIRT1) the 'skinny gene' and I find this a bit gimmicky. I realize that many people (myself included) are almost obsessively interested in being slim, but I truly think the other health benefits are much more interesting and worthwhile. Also, people who are happy with their weight may be turned off by what they perceive to be a weight-loss oriented 'diet', as opposed to an eating pattern that will revolutionize their lives both physically and mentally.

A significant portion of the book goes into general nutrition and exercise information, and while it's mostly solid enough, I think there are better books for such principles. For example, I disagree with Dr. J's assessment of red meat, cholesterol, and saturated fats - all things I consider perfectly healthy and woefully demonized in the public eye. I appreciate that the diet alone will not gain one optimal health - and it does not exist in a vacuum - even though one can lose weight and improve one's health by doing nothing else, exercise and actual food consumption still matter. But again - there are better sources for both, and Dr. J does acknowledge this to an extent.

The down day meal plans (30 days of such days!) suck, frankly. Total calories average about 600, which is above 20% of the recommended caloric intake for much of the population. I feel that 20% is too high anyway as I personally stick to near-complete fasting, so nearing 35% is even worse! The recipes, on the other hand, are actually pretty decent. Some of them sound quite tasty and creative, and many of them are under 200 cals/serving. Standalone or for up days, they could indeed be useful. Ones which caught my eye: Creamy Oats and Berries, Lemony Hummus, Mixed Greens Tossed with Noodles, Chicken with Pineapple, Bell Peppers, and Onions, Sesame-Crusted Baked Chicken Breasts on Napa Cabbage, Turkey-Stuffed Bell Peppers with an Italian Accent, and Zucchini Ribbons with Tomato Sauce. The recipe section also piqued my interest in Kojac (an Asian yam high in soluble fiber which slows sugar absorption and promotes fullness) and Shirataki noodles (made of tofu and kojac, they average 40 calories/8 oz), both of which I plan to explore.

As I said initially, while the book may not be necessary in order to do the diet, it can be a useful tool and as a alternate-day eating fanatic and health-obsessed scientist, I learned many interesting tidbits reading the book. I imagine that anyone seriously contemplating the diet as a permanent lifestyle choice will want to have read this.

The phenomenon of calorie restriction and its physiological benefits including increased lifespan has been in the scientific literature for decades. Animals fed 60 to 70% of normal calories live longer and are much healthier. Calorie restriction is beneficial when the calories eaten are highly nutritious. The Alternate-Day Diet achieves calorie restriction by severely restricting calories on alternate days so the balance is a calorie-restricted diet over time. Of course you cannot pig out on the alternate days or you will still ingest more calories in a week than your body is burning and will not enjoy the benefits of calorie restriction. A positive outcome of this diet may be that if a person can stop overeating half the time, then they may learn to like the way the low-calorie days feel enough to not want to overeat on the alternate days either.
The book includes over 50 recipes and emphasizes low-calorie, nutrient-rich foods such as vegetables, fruit, chicken, whole grains, beans, etc. There is a lot of interesting information in the book and it is worth reading. This book offers a creative way to lose weight and keep it off. I was curious about this diet since it is somewhat similar to THE 3:00 PM SECRET: Live Slim and Strong, Live Your Dreams.

This is one of the best books I have read. This book and PBS program on HOPE helped me understand what happens inside our body with respect to digestive system what we have to take care if we need to live longer and healthy. Guys I say don't hesitate to buy this book and this might save your or your loved one's life. I mean it. I have started following some of the recommendations. I am planning to buy detox strategy book by Brenda too.

Earning in life is important but you need to be healthy to enjoy it. To be healthy awareness is vital and this book greatly helps. I enjoyed the presentation part of this book. It's simple and unique and easy to graps the essentials.

I am one of those who reads reviews but not write one but this book pulled me to write one.

I really want to thank the author for writing a book in such a language that everyone can understand. A great book..

My husband's gastroenterologist sent him for every high-tech test which cost our insurance co. thousands of dollars to try to diagnose his abdominal discomfort. Absolutely no conclusions were reached by 3 M.D.'s and my husband's extreme pain continued for 2 year. The "purple pill" was recently prescribed by the family M.D. and the side effects became worse than the problem.

Lo and behold we heard of Brenda Watson's H.O.P.E. formula about 6 weeks ago and the change has been phenomenal. The cause of his problem is so clearly explained by Brenda and the solution has been easy to implement. Brenda Watson is a Godsend to anyone experiencing abdominal discomfort and she does a great job in this book.

Signed,
One grateful family!

it was a very good book.very easy to read & understand. Also it actually includes pictures to help give you better understanding. I had seen her on tv and thought i should get her book. I was very impressed and had to buy her Gut Solutions book also. I havent finished that one yet.

A no-nonsense approach to better health with out going crazy exercising. I have studied nutrition for over 26 years and this really makes a lot of sense. M.D.'s that also have a nutritional background would have a hard time arguing that this isn't beneficial and the book is endorsed by one. The book explains the details of what the briefing on PBS covered. After a few days of following I already feel better. I am anxious to have my cholesterol checked after following the formula for a month.

Dr. Lee's research has removed much of the mystery surrounding the topic of hormonal balance in women. After years of unnecessary prescription of synthetic hormones by doctors who, while well-intentioned, were actually contributing to the problem rather than alleviating it, Dr. Lee's findings have provided a natural method to eliminate hot-flashes and increase bone density. Hormone replacement therapy DOES NOT have to subject women to an increased risk of cancer and heart trouble. After learning of Dr. Lee's regimine, I have taught my local physician these principles. The result: she has totally changed her treatment program for pre- and post-menopausal women to line up with the better, natural way Dr. Lee recommends.

I found this book to be EXTREMELY helpful. It cuts through all the technical stuff and gets to the bones of what a woman (in her confused, menopausal mind) needs to know...just the facts please! I have been reading so many books and online articles and talking to menopause vetrans for info that when I stumbled upon this book it was like a breath of fresh air! Gave perspective to everything I've researched so far and helped me sort out what to hold on to and what to discard. I read it with an open mind and did not blindly agree with everything he said, I was skeptical about how he would spin everything toward progestrone creams, since they are his "thing", but it really did all make sense with everything else I've read pretty much. And, I think it would be an excellent book to read BEFORE you read all the other stuff because it will help you to understand it MUCH more clearly. I definately recommend this book to anyone going through this phase of life...before they go through it so they know what to expect and how to handle it without desperately falling into the doctor-just-give-me-something frenzy. For more about my research see Ms.Li as a comment uner the lady who gave this book a "one" star.

Finally some help with dosing of Bioidentical Hormones. This book really does help with adjusting your hormone appliations without running back and forth to see your Dr. or trying to get your Dr. to call you back to discuss an adjustment of you hormones. It really is up to us. My Dr. has not been of much help in keeping my hormones in balance. This book really tells you how and when and where to apply. It has Resources to get your saliva testing done. Some Drs. do not believe in hormone testing as they do not think there are accurate tests. But at least there is a place you get saliva tests and test your self so you know where you are and you can make adjustments based on the test results. Get this book if you are using bio-identical hormones. Well worth the price.

I bought this book because I was having trouble getting pregnant and someone recommended that I read this book. It is very informative and gives a lot of insight on the hormonal changes a woman's body goes through on a monthly basis. I wouldn't act on anything in this book until speaking with your doctor. Through this book, charting my cycles, and my dr we were able to determine why I wasn't getting pregnant.

This book is a great companion to Dr. Lee's books, "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause" and his book with the same title, but about menopause. Dr. Lee's, "Hormone Balance Made Simple" is a quicker read and deals directly with dosage, timing and who might need what. There is a symptom check list to help you keep track of yourself and to help you get an idea of what kind of deficiency or excess you might have. It is definitely informative and helps you to become aware of the fact that some of the symptoms that you have could be from a hormonal imbalance, thus balancing the hormones can bring healing. He also provides a resource section for further testing and information.

This book covers a wide variety of topics that new vegans, and those interested in animal rights in general, will find useful. While it doesn't go into great depth on any specific topic, it is really not meant to do so. This is meant to be a guide for those seeking some direction in becoming vegan, and points to many other resources to help the reader.

I am looking forward to the second edition of Vegan Freak. I think the authors have evolved their opinions on many of the topics presented in VF and part 2 will be a welcome continuation and evolution of their views.

This book was written in a really warm style and the writers come off as very likable, that said there isnt anything really new in this book and all of the interesting points are from other (better) books. The rest is common sense stuff so this book is in a way pointless (sorry!) its like a light read for people who dont know anything about being vegan and dont know how to use google. If the writers were not so nice i would have given it a 1 because I dont think this needed to be produced there are better books out there....

I am a long time vegan, and I would normally support a project like this, but I have found the veganfreak.net site that accompanies the book to be very unfriendly and unwelcoming. They do not try to help, they turn you away in ridicule if you come asking questions they don't like. I don't like the tone of the book or the authors' (or whoever they have running veganfreak) attitude. Thanks for turning this vegan away and leaving an extremely bad taste in my mouth! You are doing more harm than good.

I thought this book was good and provided a lot of information, but the authors were in my opinion, a bit too judgemental. Ive been a vegetarian for years and have been a vegan only a few months. It has been a challenge for me with determining whether a product has animal by-products. The authors make you feel like the worst person in the world if you call yourself a vegan and accidently eat a by product. They really hard core put you down if you are not a "perfect vegan" which earlier in the book they praised people for trying. Towards the end of this book it turned into a "BASH ALL THE VEGANS WHO ARE TRYING BUT MIGHT NOT BE 100% YET" which turned me more off to veganism than on. So, if you do not have tough skin, do not read this book.

The book is a very easy read. Styling of the read is conversationalist. It is good. They just basically restate why being Vegan is good and any other diet is bad. All in all, I would recommend just getting it from the library and save your money for a more in depth book like Becoming Vegan or The China Study.

The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook: Delicious Dairy-Free Cheeses and Classic "Uncheese" Dishes

These recipes are not only some of the easiest (a spoon or blender is the highest tech I have used so far), but the most delicious uncheeses EVER! I have tried many mac n' cheese boxed uncheeses, bottled uncheese, and block uncheese. These recipes don't have a lot of soy, and therefore lack the chalkiness you sometimes get with the uncheese you buy in the store.
The one drawback to these recipes is the unique ingredients. I love the cashew butter chedder, and the white bean boursin (with umi boshi paste to make it tangy!). Some of these ingredients can be pricey (especially if you insist on the organic options, but the flavor is awesome because you can feed them to your cheese eating friends as "white bean spread" or "cashew butter spread" and you won't get that puckered "Fake cheese?" face.
The best I've had!

I was very impressed by the uncheese dips in this book that I have made so far. I have been vegan for the last five years and the one food that I miss from my pre-vegan days is cheese. This cookbook is a great way to make tangy cheese-inspired dips that are flavorful, but not loaded with fat, the way cheese made from dairy is. So far I have made the Chick Cheez, Gee Wiz spread and the Red wine cheese spread (forgot the exact name). The Chick Cheez came closest to the dairy cheese taste that I remember. I plan to try the cheese blocks as well to see how well they slice and grate. I will continue to experiment with these recipes, as they are a tasty and healthy way to satisfy cheese cravings.

I've made a few recipes in this book. They have all been great! We make grilled "cheese" sandwiches, use it in wraps, on English muffins, etc. Tonight I made the Eggplant Parmezano. Excellent! I've also made the baked Mac and Cheese, which was also very good. I definitely recommend this book. It's cheesy, though it doesn't really taste like "real" cheese. But my meat eating, cheese loving husband has loved everything I've made so far and is impressed by the cheesieness.

This is a wonderful book. I recently decided to become a vegetarian/vegan and was resigned to giving up the comfort of cheese forever. I bought it for its novelty value and did not have high expectations. I was happily surprised. Not only are most of the recipes delicious but they are also a lot of fun. The Crock Cheese is addictive I must keep in the fridge at all times. I'm surprised I don't sleep with some under my pillow! It makes the most wonderfully decadent grilled cheese sandwiches when fried in a lot of veggie margarine. I prefer them to Velveeta! Thank you for the hard work, compassion and inspiration that went into this terrific book!

In the interest of becoming vegan, I bought this book. Cheese has always been the one thing holding me back from my conversion. Well, no more! This book is really good for those who love cheese and are looking for good substitutes. The illustrations and guides for gluten free, etc only enhance the versitility of this great book.

I was really hoping that this book would work for me. yeah..another diet book. hum. But since I'm a big fan of extreme makeover I thought I'd give it a try.
I currently have 20 lbs to lose. I lost 7 lbs in 1 week. After 3 days I was able to get a pair of shorts past my thighs and was able to button them up without passing out!

The diet is a challenge to stick to. The first day was the day I experienced the most pain and suffering. Drink 100ozs? I never did make that amount. 64oz was my limit. After each day I knew where all the bathrooms were in every store I visited. Felt like being pregnant again.

I did prepare all the meals in one day..it did take a few hrs to get it all organized, as it was my first time. That is a great bonus beacuse I was able to grab and go the right thing to eat instead of being rushed and eating unhealthy foods full of fat.
Plus because I made the meals in advance I had lots of time to prepare meals for my family and sit down with them at mealtimes..with my own special foods.

Eating 'on time' was a bit of a challenge because I'm not used to eating 6 meals a day. I now look forward to those little meals and my stomach is so full before I can finish all the foods. Even though I know I'm supposed to eat everything I never did make it.

THE PROS
This meal plan taught me:
*To discover new vegetables and they are healthier and tastier to steam.
*To discover new spices and found balsamic vinegar and love it, Mrs Dash table blend is awesome.
* To drink lots of water throughout the day.
* knowing I'm reparing the damage I've done over the years and being happier that I am healthier.
* got my children interested in my varieties of veggies and they now love them also. (children and steamed veggies? never thought I'd see the day)
* My husband wants to try it for himself.

THE CONS
*I hated the turkey patties. I know they would have tasted better with ketchup and if I couldn't have that as a dipping sauce that I couldn't even go there.
*I couldn't eat 'greens' without some sort of tasty dressing..so never ate them either. It was better to do without.
*It is hard not to break my bad habit of snacking after dinner. But I survived it by having 1/2 cup or 1/2 more grapefruit. The recipe with spenda and cinnamon is dee-lish! Also the rice pudding is amazing.
In the end I have learned to switch up meals. If I don't want egg whites in the morning I eat chicken. Then have my egg whites in rice pudding for lunch. I figure as long as I get everything in during the day this can be accomplished otherwise it gets boring.

I'm going to keep going until I reach my goal. I am looking forward to having a baked potato again but instead of a big one will settle for 4 small creamer potatoes. Its all about compromise.

2 days before I got started with the plan as I was busy reading this book I was thinking? Gawd Almighty! I was so excited I wanted to start right away. Thinking I had 2 more days of unhealthy eating made me sick.

We are going on vacation next week. We will get a hotel room with a kitchen. I am preparing all my meals before we go and will eat them all week. I know it can be done.

This book is the best yet because it really does work if you are committed enough to stick with it. I love the fact that everything is listed and the right amounts. It's really dummy proof.
I had no problem finding all the foods in my local supermarket.

You really have to make it your own. As with any diet, if you follow it EXACTLY, you will lose weight. BUT, who follows a diet, exactly 100% of the time? Robots, maybe. . .and that I am not. You can get great fundamentals about dieting, your body type, food advice, what to shop for. I think that the reader has to be more open-minded that he/she has to see what modifications they can do to make this diet (as with any other) their "own". Plus, making a lifestyle change is what it's all about. Dieting does not work, we all know that. If you don't know that, you'll find out soon enough. It's like cleaning a house, you have to start somewhere and work your way through the house. Your body is just like that, you can make small to big changes and enjoy your journey to better health. You didn't just wake up and BAM!...you're fat. It crept up. You might have lived "too good" of a life. This book offers great advice. But as far as the menu/food choices, I believe it's up to the reader to create their own parallel to this system.

I read the book. He is into whole foods which I totally agree with. However, he lost me when his recipes said to add Splenda to alot of stuff and ok'd things like diet soda as long as it's sodium free. Even though FDA approved, Splenda used to be sugar but the chemical changes made to it make it some sort of chlorine bleach (check out [...] website for some truths on this hideous sweetner). It isn't safe and it doesn't help you lose weight unless you are a sugar freak....in that case, cutting out sugar altogether will help you drop weight instantly.
I will use some of his points but disagree with many. I read and study lots of nutrition stuff and do suffer with that premenopausal pooch. I think if you want to be no fat/no curve/boyish, perhaps all of his suggestions are ok. However, no olive oil? Come on. Now then, he is very clear that this plan is a 6 day only (10 day max) and you will keep weight off. However, that is only if you continue to eat extremely low fat, no sodium and ultimately low calorie (this program is) which long term is not necessarily healthy. The kudos he gets is that he stresses low glycemic and alot of veggies. He also stresses eating lots of greens (collards, turnip, etc) but with nary a drop of oil or flavor other than water and saltless spice and lemon juice sounds like a pucker waiting to happen. I will incorporate some of his ideas as I can do anything for 6 days but I will omit any artificial sweetners as they are not necessary nor healthy and I will allow a little olive and/or fish oil. Instead, I would go back to Ultrametabolism by Dr. Mark Hyman. He puts health first and weight loss follows but is heavy into supplements. I think a combo of these two programs would be good.

I purchased this book looking to jumpstart weight loss of about 40-45 pounds, also to develop better eating habits and flush my body of processed foods. With those goals in mind, 6 Day Body Makeover was a success. I dropped a net of 5 pounds, and developed a habit of eating more vegetables and weaned myself off my sugar addiction. That being said, the diet is difficult to follow (who will really avoid all salt for the rest of their life?) and I doubt it can reasonably become a way of life. Before you start it, be advised of the pros and cons:

Pros:
Whole foods - the book advises eating non-processed and whole foods. Good! I never realized that vegetables dressed with simply lemon juice could taste good.
Full - I can honestly say I wasn't hungry on this diet. Eating six mini meals with constant lean protein keeps you full. Lots of vegetables helps provide fiber so you're feeling full as well. Fruit in the morning and evening provides a burst of sweetness to help with sugar cravings.
Works! - At the end of 5 days, I'd lost 7 pounds.

Cons:
Boring - Like other reviewers, I have to say I was bored on the diet. You do eat the same thing (chicken, rice, and vegetables) everyday. Yes, you can vary it with the recipes provided and some aren't bad, but it's still hard to create a creative meal with NO salt or sugar.
Unreasonable restrictions - Some of Michael's restrictions are insane. No cooking spray to cook? I don't know what kind of Teflon he's using but my egg white omelette took days to come off after I didn't use cooking spray. The good news is after the omelette debacle, I ignored this directive and used a few small sprays of cooking spray. I still lost weight.
Inconvenient - There is a lot of prep. To bring all my mini meals to work I had to bring like 5 plastic containers and baggies, practically a whole grocery bag of food, to work. For someone who's busy, it's hard to find the time to eat on schedule every few hours either. I struggled to not skip meals, even though I wanted to eat.
Doesn't taste very good - I don't care what other reviewers say, the recipes provided might be ok, but they're not delicious. Maybe I just like salt too much, but I found most bland. while I've definitely developed more of a taste for veggies, I have to say that eating them all day with little seasoning was really a challenge for me. I just got tired of asparagus and lemon, broccoli and lemon, and bell peppers.

Bottomline, it's a good way to jump start your weight loss and incorporate some healthy habits into your diet. Does it stick? Three days post makeover, I'm still eating two salads a day and snacking on carrots in between meal - not exactly the same level I ate on the diet, but a dramatic improvement. Stepped on the scale one day after the diet was over and I'd put two pounds back on, without adding much fat or calories back into diet, which makes me believe that some of the original 7 pounds I'd lost was water weight.

Still 5 net pounds in 6 days isn't bad!

This programs promises you will eat more and exercise less. NOT TRUE! For my body type, the diet is basically chicken, tuna and salad all the time every day 7 days a week. And not only do you have resistance exercises to do two days of every week, they also recommend that you do an hour of aerobic exercise 6 days a week. That doesn't sound like more or less of anything to me. The fact is, I couldn't stay on the diet. After 3 days I was sick to death of chicken and salad. And the fact is--if you exercise 6 days a week for an hour, it doesn't matter what you eat--you're going to lose some weight. Too expensive a program. You can get the same info. on the internet for free. It's also too hard for some people to figure their body type with this program. I answered all the questions and could have come under two body types, but it gives you no information about which diet to follow if you fit two profiles.

The photos in this book are exceptional. The recipes are delicious. This cookbook is a must for anyone who wishes to augment their SCD cooking library. The Specific Carbohydrate Diet has completely healed me of Crohn's Disease. I have been free of disease for over 5 years and am taking no prescription medications, all thanks to this diet. This diet is the only way to control my chronic diarrhea.

Healing Foods is a helpful adjunct for a specific carbohydrate diet recipe collection. The photography is especially appealing. I would suggest that the author make a few changes to a possible next edition; a) include a "what to order in a restaurant" section, b) find a more successful bread recipe to accommodate sandwiches (those in the book are either too sweet, or break apart and can't be used as sliced bread, and c)proof the text more carefully as there are some errors. Finally, and important, would be a section listing sources for internet or phone orders for hard to find, organic, and vitamin orders. In summary, buy this book, as it's worth the money.

I am sort of collecting SCD books now! I have really been enjoying this book. There are many great, well-thought out, tested, recipes. There are comments and how-to's with recipes, which I appreciate. The recipes do not call for the dried curd cottage cheese which is impossible to obtain in Northern California--so I am appreciating that. There is a website mentioned in the book which I have checked out--it is just getting going it seems.
Oh, there are also beautiful pictures in this book. This book is really worth the price--I highly recommend it.

This book is fabulous. I've struggled with UC for 35 years now, so I've tried it all. The pictures are wonderful and the recipes are delicious. I can't wait to find the time to try more of them.

If you follow the SCD (absolutely miraculous help for me with Crohn's disease), you will certainly want to own this book. I haven't cooked from it extensively yet, but it's a lovely book to read through and will give you many ideas for new and delicious foods to cook when you are following the diet. As anyone on a diet knows, ideas and beauty are almost more valuable than recipes, as they make following the diet feel much less arduous. The Cheddar Cracker recipe alone is worth the price of the book. One of the best salty/crunchy snack foods ever, including "normal" foods! (I leave out the dried thyme and add onion powder and black pepper along with the cayenne pepper.) And they are incredibly easy and foolproof to make. Highly recommended.

Good research and some really interesting material....however, putting his recommendations into practice would be very tough for a normal person.

Good read - just not an overly practical plan...

Clunky style, ego-ridden reading. You get much of the same done better in the Absdiet series (same publisher, I believe). Over-priced, over-hyped, and just a PITA to read. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad place to start. But so many have done it as well, and certainly better, it's hard to give this more than an average rating.

Although the way that Dr. Berardi explains his program takes almost anyone by the hand to achieve excellent benefits, at the time he suggests recipes for any meals, he just considers American culture, leaving out any other out.
Even when at his web page, there are members from all over the world using his program, that by the way, really works.

I read the book in only a day, easy to read and enlightening about the importance of speeding up your metabolism after your 30's. I had followed Bill Phillips "Body for Life" program for several years, with good results, but halted progress. I suspected already I could not loose more fat since I was not able to gain anymore muscle with the BFL system, due to restricted calories and fat intake. That's when I bumped into this book and decided to buy it. For three weeks now I have been trying this program of excercise, nutrition and NATURAL supplements and the results are already there.
It is great to eat lean protein with avocado, olive oil, and other healthy fats everyday, but I find a bit diffucult to restrict my carbs to the post-workout hours, and breakfast, I hav no problem eating vegetables, but cutting on fruit and dairy is hard. Nonentheless my body is begining to show changes, and my metabolism is going faster, since I feel hunger like I felt when I was 18 years old (I am 44 now). The theory on resistance training and interval cardio training was already familiar to me, but I had not been previously convinced of it's relevance to speed up metabolism. I am now, and it is all for the best, I have not lost weight, but I have lost 3 pounds of fat. If you are over 30 and you are experiencing difficulties loosing fat with a restricted calorie intake which in turn makes more difficult bulding new muscle, this book will let you undersand why, and it gives also the cure. A plus, which I find very important: the book provides several meal recepies which are really tastefull. I have not been disappointed of my purchase.

This book is extremely informative and has some great recipes. It is a little hard to follow the diet exactly because it is a little more strict than say "The Abs Diet" , but definitely filled with great info that I needed to know.

I think this book is a little pedestrian in its layout and overall look, but the contents are interesting and will be used when the situation arises. I think that coconut oil is wonderful for you, so this book is worth checking out.

This comprehensive book tells all about coconut oil. It will answer all your questions and then some. It will also explode all those outdated beliefs about oils and fats. I now know the properties of coocnut oil, specifically how it is beneficial to my health, and what to look for when buying it. A great book for my library.

The author is very thorough. Each point is well explained. A great "How To..." book. Coconut Cures: Preventing and Treating Common Health Problems with Coconut It has tons of preventative treatments as well as cures for all types of ailments. This book will assist the reader in making an informed choice. The only problem I had was finding enough fresh coconuts up here in the Northwest.

Excellent book. I recommend reading all of Bruce Fife's coconut books, starting with Coconut Oil Miracle. Eat coconut oil, just like he says.

I love this book!!! It is so well written. I have learned some amazing things from it and I love the section in the back for remedies (quick reference) It is my favorite book on this subject!!!