Diet Health Books

Our Health 11 class used the Meeks Heit Health and Wellness textbook. I really enjoyed reading through this book because it was easy to navigate and exemplified the vocabulary words. Because our class did not have enough health books for every student, I purchased a new copy of his book from an Amazon.com independent seller for less than $5.00. This book was in perfect condition.

Therefore, while I believe this is a good health book, it would be unnecessary to pay the price Amazon.com requires when you can purchase a perfectly good copy from an independent seller and save your money.

Very insightful and informative book! Highly recommend it for anyone that wants to get healthier.

Cortisol. Who knew! Too little, or none.. and you have Addison's Disease and cannot handle stress without medication. Too much? Weight gain, IBS, joint pain, hair loss, and more.

This book not only outlines the problems caused by stress, which causes too much cortisol to be created by the body, but how to cope with it. Not only will you be informed about what and how much damage can be done to the body by too much stress/cortisol, but there are recommendations on how to change it.

Nutrition, supplements to take or not to take? And of course a healthy diet and exercise are the among the answers.

This is not a gloom and doom book by any means. This is a book that explains a problem, and gives simple and often enjoyable approaches to controlling stress and the overproduction of this hormone. Read a trashy novel, soak in a hot tub, give yourself days off each week..hey, I can do that!

Often books that you think you should read to learn something you feel that you should know about are dry and dull and agonizing to get through. This one has bits of humor ( humans are not zebras!) and it presents information in such a clear and simple way that I was able to zip right through the pages, and make my way through it in 2 sittings.

Even though I have read it cover to cover, you can be sure that this is one that will spend a long time on my nightstand. I want it to be available for quick reference and reminders of what I should be doing and looking for. Not just a good and informative read, but by all means, a keeper!

Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (9/07)

If you are living in the USA, or really anywhere in the so-called "developed" world, chances are you are stressed beyond belief. While stress used to be taken lightly in the past, there was a lot of research performed on how it affects us and in recent years doctors are calling attention to all of the risks associated with it. If you think your life is not really complicated enough for you to qualify as being under stress, consider this paragraph from "The Cortisol Connection" by Shawn Talbott, Ph.D., which clearly shows that one does not need to be a CEO to be under stress:

"The most direct example of the chronically elevated human stress response can be observed every day in the lives of a large part of the American (and worldwide) population. Those are the folks who are driving a junker car (and hoping it makes it) to their second job. They are hoping that the money from that second paycheck will last until the end of the month when the bills are due. They are not the people whom you see commiseration about their terrible jobs on sitcoms such as Friends. The constant unrelenting stress of making ends meet, job instability, sleep deprivation, poor diet, lack of outlets for stress, and overall lack of control combine to increase the risk of disease by a factor of five to ten!"

A factor of five to ten is scarily high, so getting stress and the risks under control would certainly be a good idea. "The Cortisol Connection" is an extremely helpful guide in this process, clearly explaining the risk factors, possible effects of those factors and ways and means of controlling stress and taking control of your life. The proposed solution, called the SENSE Lifestyle Program, is more than a diet, since it incorporates several key elements; such as stress management, exercise, nutrition and supplements. Although the book is very detailed and in parts quite "technical," the overall program seems to be eminently sensible and not impossible to follow.

While I have no experience in the medical field and cannot evaluate the book from that perspective, I was clearly impressed by the amount of research that went into this book, as is evident from the extremely extensive "References" section. I found the language easy-to-follow and easily understandable. While an average reader might not care for all the medical references and explanations, I believe most anybody could and should follow the recommendations of the SENSE Lifestyle Program, especially since it was extensively researched and tested.

I would highly recommend "The Cortisol Connection" to any reader who wants to take responsibility for his or her own health and well-being and actually do something about it.

Anxiety and depression run in my family. I also have the added bonus of coping with allergies and asthma, so I'm always on the lookout for books that might help me with any of these issues, which is why I picked up The Cortisol Connection.

This book far surpassed my expectations. I was able to apply some of the nutritional advice before I'd even finished reading the book and immediately felt an improvement in my outlook and mood. This was over the holiday season too, which is normally a very tough time for me.

If you know you are already stressed, you may want to skip the first six chapters and dive right into the advice that starts in chapter seven. Reading those first six chapters that explain what bad cortisol levels can do to you caused me quite a bit of worry, and it took a while to get through all that information. It was good information to have, I just wish I would've read the "what you can do about it" part first.

This book gives the most concise and easy to remember nutritional advice I've ever read. The supplementation information corroborated with things I've read when researching inflammation. In changing my diet and adding some supplementation according to Talbott's recommendations I've been able to reduce my anxiety levels significantly, cut back on how often I need my rescue inhaler and clear up most of my congestion.

My only complaint is the lack of notation. Talbott sites many scientific studies, but never includes notation with those passages to tie them to the appropriate study listed in the appendix. The few times I had the patience to flip to the appendix and try to pin-point the study he was referring to seemed to indicate he'd included all the necessary references, but more specific notation would've given me a little more initial confidence in the information.

From the perspective of a lay person with no medical schooling, but who's spent years reading and researching in an attempt to improve my own health, I find this book invaluable. Several family members have asked to borrow it, but I'll be buying copies for them so I don't have to part with mine.

Current scientific understanding of cortisol's role in stress, disease, weight gain and so on is useful general information, even if it doesn't tell specifically how to endure and surmount the stress of modern life. However, this information is conveyed much more effectively in other books such as Sapolsky's _Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers._

The distinctive feature of _The Cortisol Connection_ is that it tells you what to do about excessive cortisol secretion. Unfortunately, what it tells you do to is complete baloney. A few of the many nutritional supplements he recommends -- magnesium, for example, might be mildly helpful for a few people who have bad eating habits and don't take conventional vitamins and minerals.

All the other recommendations for nutritional supplements lack scientific foundation. Any author can just make this stuff up. Then another author cites the first author, a third author cites the second, and a fourth author cites the first, in a round robin of nonsense. Then other authors claim that these multiple citations prove that the value of such supplements is well-recognzied. This kind of pseudoscience stinks to high heaven, and it makes modern life more stressful than it must be.

Excellent resource for asanas. Well organized and easy to read, yet not overly simplistic. Great information for each posture, for alignments, cautions, primary focus, benefits, and variations. Includes sequences for different types of practice.

This is an incredible book. Plenty of modifications given. great for teachers in training and serious practitioners. It would serve well as ancillary reading for any Teacher Training in any discipline. Judith writes in a concise style explaining benefits of the pose and proper alignment. She completely nails the responsibility of teaching in a safe environment. This book was not even on my TT's reading list but I would not have made it through my TT without it.

This is truly a great yoga reference book to learn what teachers should look at when teaching a pose. It also tells what are things students usually do (but should not)during a pose. The author also relates the physical side to the mental side of a pose, and this can definitely add dimension to our teaching. I think, however, more descriptions are needed when using different props.

One of the best yoga books to assist the beginning instructor on how to adjust and assist the student. Wording is descriptive and to the point. Wish there were more poses than 30. Maybe the author will come out with a second book with 30 more poses...

For the most part, I think this book offers some great, clear advice. I tend to feel that Judith is a bit overly cautious. Most women I know have told me they feel much better after doing an asana practice around their period while Judith would have you skipping many of the most basic postures!

Aside from that, I think this book makes a great addition for those seeking to look a bit more deeply into the practice of yogasana, both as students and as teachers.

This is a wonderful book. I highly suggest reading all of Ann Wigmore's books. These books are highly educational for all that are researching and educating themselves on raw foods. Great book, very enlightening. Must read for anyone that is interested in changing their lifestyle for the better.

Very interesting book, but Ann Wigmore books always are. I'm now back to making Rejuvalac, and fermenting vegies. I've bought, since reading the book,
A 5-1/4 gallon new crock, and two one gallon fermenting jars for making pickles and pickled Vegies such as Kim Chee. The book has been an inspiration.

This is the best source of blended juice recipes I've found yet, easy to use and make. Of course the author is famous for curing all types of diseases. I have been diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and have been drinking blended juices since I was discharged from a weeks hospital stay. At my 6 week check-up the doctor said I was doing very, very well with a tone of amazement in his voice. He, nor any gastrointerologis, doesn't believe diet has anything to do with this disease, but it does and I will cure it and they will ask me how when they perform a colonoscopy next and I will share my treatment with them. Perhaps if more do this then more doctors will realize the benefits of raw/living eating and start recommending this instead of perscription drugs that do more harm to other vital organs than good! I don't care to live the rest of my life on medications, they just don't taste as good as blended juices or lovely vegetables!

This is a great cookbook for any parent who has a child on the GF/CF diet.

Great source of reference for gluten/casein free diet. Excellent recipes, specially the Quickie Baking Mix and the pancakes. The best gf/cf pancakes that I've tried, and belive me, I've tried many!!!

I bought this book in conjunction with starting my son on the GFCF diet and it has proven to be a great resource for me! I highly recommend it to anyone who is going down the GFCF road.

This is a great second book and I highly recommend it. There are so many great recipes and much information. You won't be loaning this one out to anyone, because you'll need it as a resource!

I am amazed at the number and variety of recipes in this book. I use it almost daily.

We are trying to cut back on fat and salt and this cookbook certainly is helping. I love one dish meals and always look for cookbooks that help me with that. This book is a great addition to my collection.

I hate to cook, consequently I'm not very good at it. This book seemed to understand that and made it seem as if I do know how to cook. The receipes are easy and quick.

This is my favorite new cookbook in 20 years. Now, to be totally fair, I'm not much of a cookbook kind of gal. I have a handful of family recipes I usually rotate through without having them written down, and I never cared much for cooking or eating in the first place. I have spent the last two months, though, trying out a large sampling of the recipes in this book, and the whole family loves them. I really like one-pot-meals because I get flustered trying to time too many different pots and pans at once, with a pesky toddler getting into the clean dishes, and older kids asking for help with homework. These recipes are clear and easy and extremely delicious. I can get them done in a very reasonable amount of time. The flavors, variety, and ease of preparation can't be beat. And I love the nutritional breakdown; easy to use, even for those of us new to the nutritional needs of a type I diabetic.

This is a great cook book. How simple can it be to put every thing in to one pot? Lots of "real food" type recipies in this book as well. I believe this is a great cook book for anyone trying to cut back on fat etc...heathly meals for the entire family.

Practical and easy to fix meals. Good ideas for meals using every day food items.

Less meat, more beans. Dietary suggestions are contrary to scientifically known benefits. Such as people from N. America should not eat fruit, avocados or olive oil. Puhlease.

I have been macrobiotic for over twenty years, but there is always something new to learn. I love the updated information in this book. I will be using it a lot.

Every family needs to keep this book handy. It's an understanding between illnesses and foods.

This is a truly comprehensive guide to the macrobiotic way of eating. One friend refers to it as 'the bible'. The entire back half is devoted to helping certain health disorders.

A great writer on natural health issues who does it again with one of his most comprehensive works.He gives advice on many common ailments and diseases and how to prevent them.Each problem is approached with the diet and remedies for each one.Perhaps not a beginners book in Macrobiotics -but for those determined to seek out and follow Macrobiotics in great detail this is one of THE books to have!

I read the book, well written and informative and started the eating plan today. You do NOT have to buy the skin care line, or his over-priced versions of the supplements. I got most (not all) of the supplements locally for about $75.00 for a 2 month supply. That easily replaces mindlessly eating junk at $32.00 a month. And since most of my misc. medical stuff is inflammatory related, I will be happy to get relief! A friend did this and said she had a big change after 4 weeks, energy-wise, plus more. AND you DON'T have to eat just FISH. There's lots of ideas/recipes for lean chicken, turkey and vegetarian dishes. If you can cook (or not), it's not that hard...

Evidently Perricone sold his business a while back, hence no new books. I also couldn't find any active online support groups, etc. Oh well...

This book is really good for people with Inflammatory problems. It's a way of life not just a weight-loss program.

Awesome diet! You receive so much information if you actually read his book. His supplements are great and so are the skin creams. I bought his Neuropeptide Facial Conformer and it is awesome.
Pros- If you do all 3 parts to what he says, you will look and feel 10 years younger. You will lose 1/2lb per day.

Cons-This diet is costly, and quite time consuming. Nothing is for free, however! The NPFC that I wrote of above is $600.00.

I love all of Dr. Perricone's books.
His understudy, Ester Blum has a super book out that I recommend, Eat Drink and be Gorgeous. She is so sweet, and is always available to answer questions for you at his NYC office.

Oh, yeah. I was 30lbs overweight, and kept it off for 3 years now.

Thanks so much Dr. Perricone!

I was referred to Dr. Perricone books by a friend who did his diet a couple of years ago and lost over 90 lbs. The supplement list and explanations and the top choices for foods, spices and such helped me so much. I have lost 15 pounds in 4 weeks. Now, I don't always follow all his recipe plans because some of the meals I just didn't care for. But I did follow the fundamentals of his diet and I do take all of the supplements. I truly believe it's the supplements he recommends that gave my metabolism a jump start. I have done all the well known diets in the past and am fully aware of the protein-carb-fat balance, so eating less and controlling portion size isn't new to me. I would recommend this book for all the combined information it contains!

I first caught Perricone on PBS several years ago. It was all relatively new to me. I don't think I had ever heard of a diet that championed huge amounts of Salmon, but taken altogether it had a true enough ring that I gave it a try. Many years later, Perricone has been one of the best diets that I have tried and one of the few that I have stuck with for any lengthy period of time. It is quite similar to a lot of diets that have popped up since, like the Omega Diet, the GI diet, etc. (or at least I discovered them afterwords) Here is the skinny on Perricone as I view it:

1) It is essentially a diet that calls for eating non-processed foods and staying away from sugar. In many ways it is just another low-carb diet (minus processed foods) but with its own unique qualities like eating Salmon and lots of olive oil. If you have ever done weight watchers it is pretty much what they call a 'core' diet.

2) The recipes are really what differentiate one book from another. Each book has similar content with some minor differences or evolutions, like the introduction of Kefir and Acai in book 2 (The Perricone Promise). Every time he comes out with a new book, I'm always slightly put off because they're the same except for a few new recipes, but I have to say, those recipes are gold. I made the Curried Stew over the weekend and it is just fabulous, eating it for the third day in a row here at work.

3) This diet can be complicated or simple, boring or quite extravagant, it's quite up to you and it may take some time for you to settle into it. In the beginning, when I tried to follow his plan, I frankly found it very taxing. His recipes require a lot of cutting, chopping, and ingredient buying and if you try and make a new recipe every day like in the book you may become disgruntled, not to mention waste a ton of food and money. Over the years, though, I have become quite good at making things more or less Perricone compliant. Last night I had a salad with some pre-marinated lime chicken, mixed some salsa with cilantro and olive oil for dressing, a little sea salt, and voila, a meal I can be satisfied with. I guess my (somewhat long) point is, in the beginning this diet can seem daunting, but over time it gets easier. Lest I discourage anyone from the complexity of the recipes, let me tell you, I have not found many cookbooks with better ones. It is hard to believe that something so healthy can taste so darn good.

4) Of course, the results - I almost guarantee you that if you follow this diet, you will lose weight. It takes some effort, but it has been ultimately more satisfying than other diets that I've tried. It has been easier and I have felt better on this than on any other diet I've tried, and I've tried a lot, from going Vegan, to Atkins, to raw foods, you name it. I am back on it, and after being on it again for a few weeks, it makes me wonder why I ever stopped.

Cheers, and good luck

I purchased this book for a class I am taking called Multicultural Food Habits. I am very much enjoying the textbook. The theories, etc. are written in such a way that it makes the reading very interesting. I highly recommend it. Also, for people who do travel globally, it is a great resource for foods from various cultures, with an extensive glossary.

If you are looking for a resource on food and culture look no further! Food and Culture by Pamela Goyan Kittler and Kathryn P. Sucher sets the gold standard.

The book contains excellent background information beginning with an overview of how food and culture relate to each other, followed by chapters on traditional health beliefs and practices, food and religion, and intercultural communication.

Following these rich and fascinating foundation chapters, the book devotes separate chapters to specific cultural groups. In each of these chapters, the specific group's history in the US. and their worldview (including religion and family) are presented. Also included are each cultural group's common foods and ingredients, typical meal patterns, and foods served on festive occasions. Additionally, the meaning of what culturally specific foods mean to the group and therapeutic beliefs and practices surrounding their consumption are included. Each chapter ends with how the group has adapted its food habits in the US and the clinical implications for dietitians and other healthcare workers who work with members of the group.

Increasing cultural competence is the cornerstone of this extraordinary book. Thus, it is much more than a cultural nutrition textbook. Anyone who works with culturally diverse groups will find the book as an invaluable resource, including nurses, physicians, dietitians, nutritionists, public health professionals, food service professionals, health educators, teachers, and diversity trainers. In fact, Food and Culture is a fascinating read for the general public interested in why different groups eat different foods.

Many discussions of cultural difference gnaw on intangibles. Communication styles, values, equity, political correctness and globalization strategies may be cut up to be analyzed or chewed with passion, but often remain abstract, easy to deny, hard to concretize and forever shifting. Not so food. "You eat what you are," exclaim the authors of Food and Culture. The visible variety of the table gives a rich taste of the history, habits and behaviors of people, and often provide handles for grasping the less concrete aspects of culture.

Kittler, a nutrition consultant, and Sucher, a professor of Food Science, have ostensibly written a textbook for health and food service professionals. Food and Culture, however, reaches far beyond ingredients and dishes on the table in diverse US households, cafeterias, restaurants and hospitals. Food in almost every instance transcends simple nourishment. It has inevitably interpersonal, aesthetic, social, religious, demographic and even political implications. Food is the staff of life in the fullest sense of the word, whether it be anchored in bread, rice, tortillas or taro root. It deserves more attention from interculturalists and diversity trainers in general than it usually gets.

The diversity of diet found among the various groups in the USA is the meat of this book. However, starting with Native Americans and moving through the waves of immigration, this means just about everybody in the world. The authors distill this breadth and complexity by a clear focus on health, broadly understood as physical, psychological and social. They describe how the diverse US population, both by ethnicity and region, express their traditional culinary preferences as well as lift the lid on what is being cooked up in the stew pot of assimilation. In all this they never lose sight of how the health care practitioner like a good maitre d' can competently interpret, assist and advise.

The book opens with an overview of how food and culture relate to each other and to traditional health beliefs and practices. Kittler and Sucher recognize that counselors, educators and healthcare professionals need interpersonal cultural competence, and provide them with a high-caloric chapter on intercultural communication, geared to their specific needs and activities. While many diversity initiatives avoid the treacle of religion, it is an essential ingredient for digesting the topic of eating habits. Food and Culture contains not only an introductory chapter on Food and Religion, but returns to the theme whenever discussing a specific group requires it.

Kittler and Sucher have a set menu for serving up each cultural group. They ready the table with its history in the US. As an aperitif, they describe its "worldview," in particular the institutions of religion and family. The entree is a buffet of the group's common foods and ingredients, laid out to show how meals are composed and served daily, as well as on festive occasions. This is followed by a main dish, the story of what various foods mean to the group and how therapeutic beliefs and practices surround their consumption. Finally, there is a digestive look at how the group has adapted its food habits in the USA and the practical implications for dieticians and healthcare workers dealing with members of the group.

Offering "international food days" in company cafeterias by featuring various cultures or highlighting them in catering events have often been pooh-poohed as "diversity lite" or at best, icing on the cake. Certainly this need not be the case if one were to enrich such events with an educational surround drawn from insights provided by Goyan and Sucher. In any event, this book has a place in every corporate diversity library and trainer's bookshelf. Its contents should be used to provide educational nutrients as well as spice to diversity programs and presentations.

Finally, despite its systemic organization and somewhat reference-book appearance-almost 500 pages of text, charts and images-this new edition of Food and Culture is simply a good read. I was able to finish this review only because there were no recipes included. Otherwise I would still be cooking!

This is the cookbook I use the most. It addresses both sugar and gluten so I don't have to go through a bunch of cookbooks looking for recipes that will work for us.

My husband has many food intolorances and this book was given to me by an aunt for my wedding shower - it has been so helpful. Packed full of scrumptious recipies and easy to make healthy foods, we are both happy. He's healthy and I've lost a lot of weight by using this cookbook. We recently moved to the UK and the recipies are easily adapted to British kitchens.

This book really is wonderful. It is healthy and she has a lot of sugar substitutes that aren't garbage and fake. The only thing I wish it had where pictures =(. Every meal I've made from this book is super yummy and it's not to difficult. The meat loaf is so far my favorite. Even if you are not gluten intolerant I recommend this book. It's a great resource for all the healthy conscious out thier or those wanting to be healthier.

This is a great book! I tried the pumpkin pie and it is like a mousse dessert, it tasted wonderful. I have been trying to stay off the sugar and still have something sweet and with this recipe book, it will taste great and no sugar! Yea!!

I was diagnosed with Celiac disease a little over a year ago, and was frustrated to find that most gluten-free cookbooks out there (ex., The gluten-free gourmet) mostly contained desserts and breads with high fat and high sugar contents instead of healthy meal ideas, and/or recipes that took forever to make and had a million hard to find ingredients. As someone who has always been health concious (I was diagnosed with Diabetes I at age 7) and doesn't always have a lot of time to cook (finishing college), this book has been a godsend. All of the recipes I have tried have been delicious, and most take less than an hour to make. I highly recommmend this book to anyone with celiac disease who wants to maintain a HEALTHY, flavorful, gluten-free lifestyle.