Diet Health Books

I recently received this book. I am NOT impressed. It is small enough to carry along with you everywhere. However, even though the back says it "no more math - each food's serving size is already computed into the GL score" it offers no serving sizes at all. For example, it lists "stuffing" at GL-14, GI-76 but offers no further info. How much? What kind of stuffing? Or, meat-filled ravioli GL-3, GI-39. How much? Homemade or store-bought? It goes on like that. There are also not enough listings. This handbook leaves much to be desired.

I also received "The New Glucose Revolution Shopper's Guide to GI Values 2008" (by Dr. Jennie Brand-Miller and Kaye Foster-Powell) at the same time. This book is WELL worth the investment. There are over 1,000 foods listed, including name brand products. If you are looking for a handy guide to take along with you... definitely toss this one and buy the 2008 Shopper's Guide. You will get a much bigger bang for the buck with that book.

That book is MUCH better!

Good luck with the diet. So far, I am excited about it.

Excellent small reference book that is purse size and easy to carry everyday to be used as a glycemic load eating guide when out and about!

This is a fantastic book. Not merely a laundry list of good for you food. It tells you why and makes it very interesting.

The book "The Truth about Food" is the book presenting the material that could be seen on the TV-series of the same name that was run by the BBC. While the series was mildly funny and informative to some degree, it was "reality TV" with hidden camera's monitoring children's and adults' eating patterns. OK, I don't like reality TV and will now review the book.

Many of us have found ourselves in this situation. You want to live longer, improve your fitness level, improve in your particular sport or want more energy. Changing your diet is often the first step. But where to begin? The girl in the Vitamin Store tells you one thing. The guy in the Reform Food Shop tells you something else. And then there's the instructor in the gym with another opinion. It is a confusing situation and probably always will be, given the fact that new discoveries about food are made every month.

"The Truth About Food" is the ideal start for anyone that would like to change his/her life for the better by adjusting the way he/she eats. The presentation of material is extremely clear. Moreover, they put everything they claim to the (scientific) test. The layout of the books is excellent with important fact in boxes and nice illustrations throughout. Many myths about food fell apart before my eyes while reading the book. The book contains information that can enhance your love life, your sports life, your appearance and the health of your children. No problem if you've missed out on the series, all the information is contained in the book.

Some issues were left out that I would like to have seen addressed: What's the deal with Green Tea? Is milk good or bad for you? What about food supplements? But all in all this is without a doubt one of the best books about food out there. Buy it, read it, use it, and it will change your life.

This book was made into a Discovery Health 6-part series narrated by Mehmet Oz. I only caught two hours of it. It piqued my interest and when I saw there was a book, I had to have it. Even though I don't work as a scientist, I think like one. I have a biology degree from college and I don't just take someone's word on something -- I have to have actual, tangible, written-down proof. The thing I love about this book is the fact that they did actual experiments with "control" groups and groups of human "guinea pigs". They don't just throw information at you; they provide you with the real proof behind the information as well. It's a good read with a lot of great info!

This book gives reasons and back them up for why certain foods are better than others for your health.

This book is the reader's version of a 6-part TV special on, I believe, the Discovery Channel, each part of the volume reflecting the content of one of those 6 shows. In Jill Fullerton-Smith's words, the book (page 8) "reveals the real science of food using the latest research from leaders in the field of nutrition, alongside original and sometimes groundbreaking experiments that we carried out especially for the series."

The content of the book begins, appropriately enough, with a quick tour of the digestive system. Part I is termed "How to be healthy." Among other topics, it briefly notes the so-called "Evo" or "cave man diet." One nice feature of this book is the boxed material that pithily sums up major points. Page 26 points out the value of a "rainbow diet" (using fruits and vegetables of different colors, as laid out in a table), reducing saturated fat intake, choosing oils rich in monounsaturated fats, selecting unrefined grains, and watching salt intake. Commonly understood, of course, but still useful advice. Key food for the "evo diet": nuts, fruits and vegetables (as per the table just mentioned), and fish. Also important in diet is fiber. Page 39 summarizes top tips. Another representation from Part I is "detox" regimes, foods that help remove toxins from one's system (e.g., stay away from salt, sugar, red meat, soft drinks, etc. and make sure to eat nuts, fruits, and vegetables). Finally, broccoli as a wonder food.

Other parts to the book focus on "How to be slim," "How to feed the kids," "How to be sexy," "How to be the best," and "How to stay young and beautiful." Just a quick example of suggestions from other chapters. How to stay young and beautiful? Eat lots of fruits, berries, and vegetables to keep your brain young; moderate intake of red wine reduces the odds of heart disease; eating tomatoes (and their kin) can help keep skin "younger"; spinach actually appears to help eyesight.

The book concludes with a useful glossary of terms. The book is well written and provides lots of sensible advice. A lot of the suggestions are widely known already (e.g., the value of broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables), but the book packages such knowledge nicely and reports results of interesting mini-experiments that illustrate the points being made. Worthwhile for those interested in enhancing the quality of their diet.

So you went to the "Health Club" signed up and the "instructor" put you through your paces. Cardio on the bike and a trip around the nautilus circuit. Maybe a spell in the suana afterwards, or perhaps you tested your tolerance for breathing chlorine gas in the communal whirlpool.

You felt great at first, but after about six to eight weeks the whole experience felt toxic and drove you back to your couch with the remote and some serious comfort/junk food.

If that's you, this may be your book. A new way to look at strength training and improving the quality of life. Not a book for those wanting to get huge (bodybuilders) or seriously buff.

If you want to be stronger, enjoy life more, and do it with minimal expense in dollars and time this book is worth a look. At age 44 my first cycle added an inch to my upper arms and I only gained eight pounds with careful dieting (weighing every gram). Normally most experts will tell you twenty pounds of muscle for an inch on your bicep measurements. That means I lost twelve pounds of fat on average.

If you are happy with your bodybuilding routine or other conventional strength training, it is still an interesting read. A bit pricey, but I will buy more books by this outside the box thinker.

Pavel has done it again. The information in this edition is spot on. His ability to explain movements,although old school,makes much of the prevelant philosphy to strength & conditioning pale in comparison. I do recommend that you work with a RKC trainer when embarking on this path as proper coaching and instruction will enable you to more quickly achieve goals and ensure technique is done in a manner as to protect from injury.

This book gives good descriptions of how to perform the deadlift and the side press. I learned how to deadlift from this book, and a competitive powerlifter in my gym complimented me on my form. (That made my day.) The sections on "hyperirradiation" and breathing techniques are also helpful, and the side press is a good exercise with which to practice them. I find that I can side press an Olympic bar only if I use these techniques.

I can't give this book five stars because the writing style is obnoxious. Tsatsouline is often trying to sell you his other books and products, not only with ads at the back of the book, but in the text of the book itself. An example, on page 62: "Check out 'Beyond Crunches.' In the back of the book, you can order my books and videos. Or else." Also, the "evil Russian" gimmick sometimes pushes the boundaries of good taste. For instance, on p. 28, Tsatsouline writes, "To get strong and hard without getting big--train heavy but do not do many sets. Thus spake Comrade Stalin." I do not want to take strength training advice from one of the greatest villains of the 20th century.

As many of the reviews here have pointed out, the program described in this book is primarily for people who want to gain strength without gaining size. If your primary goal is strength but you're not opposed to getting bigger muscles, you might be happier with Starting Strength. It has some features in common with PTTP: emphasis on compound movements, preference for five-rep sets, and detailed instructions on proper form. It covers five lifts, not just two. It recommends somewhat less frequency (3x / week) and somewhat higher volume (three exercises per session, three work sets on most exercises, thorough warm-up). And the writing style is much better.

Whether you are an experienced weight lifter or not. His advice on the types of lifts you should perform, and those you should avoid, is dead on. His concepts of the use of tension in lifts is something I had never read about until I read this book. He gives good advice on how to use cycling to make gains. Simple workout, easy to follow, and the concepts can be applied to other excercises. The only real downside is that it is very difficult to learn how to do the lifts properly from the book. If you're an experienced weight-lifter you may already know how to deadlift and may be able to figure out the lifts on your own, but if you're new or inexperienced, you'll need to get someone to show you or buy the companion DVD. He has a very entertaining writing style, even if he has the tendency to exagerate. Most of the "Russian Secrets" aren't either. Cycling is not a new concept, used only be eastern bloc supermen, nor is heavy weights at low reps ground breaking. Both have been used by western and eastern lifters alike for who know's how long. The tension stuff is new though, at least to me.

Pavel is obviously a great athlete, however his books are filled with very little information about anatomy and physiology, and could be condensed into perhaps 10 pages. The Dragon Door marketing machine pushes these type of publications and kettlebells as a fitness revolution. Save your money, instead look at Power of 10, for example, or Ready Set Go Synergy Fitness, which are filled with excellent routines and theory. I own 4 of Pavel's titles and they are essentially empty pages.

After years of struggling with overeating and overweight, and thousands of dollars in therapy to try to understand the struggle, this book simply and clearly helped me understand the source of my "problem". Eating is a defense, a comfort and a way to escape from the present moment. Why is the present moment such that we need to escape from it? Because of the constant berating of our egos and the stream of negative self-talk we torment ourselves with in every moment of our lives. How do we stop it? Replace it with positivity and love. Invite the spirit into this process, and you will find a whole new world for yourself. I did actually lose weight with the help of this book, but more than that I for the first time understood that it was not lack of will-power that kept me stuck in my pudge, it was my belief that I was undeserving of love. This book is on the older side, relatively speaking, but still powerful today. My only real disagreement with this book is the author's adherence to the idea of the "birth trauma". I personally don't buy into this theory, but for the author, it was apparently necessary in her realization of the ideas that make her book ring so very true to me.

I have been suffering from compulsive yo-yo dieting for sixteen years. I was at the bookstore looking in the self-help section for anything that could stop the insanity in my head and my compulsion with bingeing and dieting. The title of this book caught my attention. The information inside is invaluable. After reading a few pages I tried to find the publishing date. 1982!!! I had a feeling it wasn't written currently because it is so completely honest and straight from the heart. No worries about being "P.C." here. The majority of the book is affirmations and ways to change your way of looking at food.

I wish I could tell everyone about this book. If you are in any way obsessed with food, please give this book a try and then drop by your local Overeaters Anonymous meeting. The two together have changed my life.

This book is not just shallow, it is the usual rehash:

On page 33 it says:

1. Thought is creative and thoughts produce results.

[Thought is creative? What the h? Why in the world does that matter? Why bring that up? Why not say, "Thoughts are made in your head". Who cares? And "thoughts produce results" duh! Why state the utter obvious?]

2. It is not what you eat that can hurt you. It is what you BELIEVE about what you eat that can hurt you.

[Wrong, if you eat poison you will be hurt by it unless you have built up a tolerance for it, and that only works with certain poisons. Try eating a titanium chair and see if your teeth survive. I doubt believing the chair will fit in your mouth and be nutritious will really cause that to happen. But try it if you want. Or how about eat Oreo cookies and imagine it tastes like lemons? How about pretending hydrogenated fat won't clog your arteries if you keep eating it everyday in large amounts?]

3. Therefore food is not "fattening" by itself. [Bull, see above and take my tests then.] The thoughts you have about foods are what make it fattening. No, a food contains fat if there is fat in it, not because of what you believe is in it, and it's going to make you fat if the content contains to little fat or the wrong proportions of fat etc. Our minds do not change reality, it can only act in it.]

a. A study done on people weighing precisely their desired weight showed that all of them could eat anything they wanted to without any concern or worry.

[And what study was this? The one you invented with your creative thoughts? The author makes no reference to this study, I wonder why. And why even bother, if what you believe is automatically true, why bother with references to studies? Show me any study where a group of people can eat aluminum powder, ricin, acid, gobs of salt and the hottest pepper in the world, and sewage, and not get sick. Furthermore, NOT EVERYONE GETS FAT! Of course if you have a group of people who have a high metabolism who eats whatever they want will not get fat because they poop it out immediately. Furthermore, did the study account for exercise? Show us the evidence!]

b. They could do so because all of them had one thing in common. They all had the thought that they could eat whatever they wanted and whenever they wanted without gaining weight. "I never gain weight" is simple enough.

[You heard it! Just believe that you won't gain weight and you won't, of course! The solution to the problems of the world is our beliefs! Well then, believe money into your wallet, believe you are the smartest in the world, believe you've got the highest paying job, believe there is world peace. BULL!]

4. Actually, our true nourishment comes to us from the light of God, not from food.

[Okay, light eating time! Where can I get some edible light.]

5. Any physical technique, such as fasting or special diets, works because your mind believes it will work. [Check it out I'm believing I am thin and I magically just got thin right now, really, I'm not kidding, lol.]

8. You must diet from negative thoughts about your body and food and yourself. [Cool, all you ugly beer-bellied women out there trying to get hot rich husbands, imagine there is nothing wrong with your appearance and that they will marry you for your imaginary good looks, really, it'll work all the time.]

Thankfully, Sondra Ray's brilliant "The Only Diet There Is" does not contain a word of advice about food. There's enough of that to be had elsewhere. However, the affirmations in it provide a marvellous technique for self-discpline and stabilization. You can also apply these techniques to other situations.

The "diet" is basically one of love, based on forgiveness and of complete acceptance of youself. Only when you forgive yourself can you deal with the rest of your life and not be stuck in the past.

This is a book that I regularly dip into. It's fabulous stuff (although I don't buy into the Christian bit or the birth trauma - but you can just take the useful bits and bypass the bits you don't need.) I'm not a New Age person, but have found this to be a useful and flexible book. It will not replace dieting, but it will help you to clear your thoughts and trust your higher self to make the right choices.

Through its excercises of love and forgiveness, I have indeed never been as beautiful as I look today. People notice and have been asking for the secret. Yet, even when that was all in my mind when I first began reading it, soon weight lacked importance at the sight of the major goodness you can achieve by the perfect state of mind that the book implies, such as also gaining remarkable health, better and enhanced relationships with everyone, extending happiness all around you. You may also forsee the possibility of dealing with other issues, like smoking for instance. When I began Sondra's excercises to the reasons my inner self was hiding to prevent weight lose, I just couldn't believe the answers I found in myself.

After seeing this book on TV, I searched for it online. It has some great things in it.

I saw him on the Rachel Ray show and so I bought the book. It did have some good info. in the book but, in my opinion it it just unreasonable to follow "the program" for anyone who has a family or a life in general.

Reading this book changed my life. I wondered why I hadn't read it sooner. It is very well written and I think that everyone in America should read it. Even if you don't change your diet, at least, everything you put in your mouth, you are doing so, informed. I changed my diet about half way through and went totally raw. Which is not recommended, and I may have had an easier time of it had I done as suggested. But, my vision has improved, I have much more energy, I don't get sick. I feel more connected with nature and actually, this is what my body has been waiting for, for 32 years.

Easy to read and follow (read in 3 days) I found this book accidentally (library search - health, detox, etc) & ended up buying it right away. I was sick of feeling sick and tired all the time. Much of what he writes about a friend and former colleague of mine (pharmacist, naturalist, and nutritionist - I know what a combo, couldn't decide what she wanted to be when she grew up) taught me many of the things (sprouted nuts, processed foods & the effects, etc) I have been sharing with friends. It is not easy to break old habits that have been engrained since birth so I am not saying it will be easy but if you are committed to be healthy and feeling better, stick to it, take it slow so you make it a part of your daily routines you will see a difference. I saw the other reviews that talk about him promoting his products. Oh course he will tell you about his products, they are a part of the program. But he also tells you in the text that you can get similar herbal products from natural foods stores. I went on his web site (there's all kinds of free info, health evaluations, suggestions, recipes, etc) I emailed a question about a product I recently saw and the very same day someone called me back!!! This has never happened before. They genuinely seem to care and did not push any products or try to sell me anything.

After seeing Dr. Brantley appear on Oprah and Montel Williams, I was intrigued to get his book and understand more of his philosophy. I wasn't able to write fast enough and digest it while he was on the talk shows ! This is a very easy to read informative guide for healthy life changes.He tells you exactly what foods to eat and why and also how to obtain them. That's why it would be like attending a conference with Dr. Brantley, except missing the questions and answers.I didn't want to put it down and plan to be in his audience one day .

It's a great sign of the times that there has been so much research pushing the advancement of breast cancer research where there are so many treatments available - but it creates another problem in itself where it isn't fully clear which treatment is right for you and your needs. "Choices in Breast Cancer Treatment: Medical Specialists and Cancer Survivors Tell You What You Need to Know" tells you that every case is unique and that there is no one singular correct treatment for the frightening disease. It discusses each of the possibilities and the pros and cons of each. Highly recommended to every women who is fearful and intimidated by the sheer number of options set in front of them, and for community library health shelves in general.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book is a must read for anyone faced with the new diagnosis of breast cancer. This book addressed the majority of our most pressing concerns in depth, but with ease of understanding. Yes, I even sent a copy to the doc so that he could refer it to new patients.

"Choices in Breast Cancer Treatment" is exactly what it promises. It provides the reader with succinct, objective and comprehensive information, as well as the individual guidance and helpful opinions of highly experienced breast cancer treatment specialists.

This is a thoughtfully constructed and remarkably instructive book that does not talk down to patients. It is written by medical and surgical experts in clear and specific language that is understandable to patients, their families, to interested lay readers as well as family practice doctors and other medical service providers who may wish to brush up on the latest treatment concepts and choices in breast cancer.

The reader is also provided not only with numerous, clear illustrations, but reports by patients themselves about their own experiences and perspectives which put a human face on cancer.

In short, this book provides the comprehensive views of medical and surgical specialists as well as fellow patients who communicate meaningfully with you, the interested reader. This 400 page volume is not only a paperback bargain, but an educational public service for patients, their caring friends and families, or for anyone humanly involved or interested in this all too common cancer.
M.Heller, M.D. Haverford, PA

This is an excellent book! Nowhere else have I think I have seen this clear explanation of sugar and its relation to the minerals in our body.
She writes: "in the body, minerals rules over all other nutrients". Other nutrients like vitamins, proteins, enzymes, etc. require minerals to function properly. And also that there are 17 essential minerals. Which must be in balance with each other, illustrated by a "mineral wheel."
Sugar disturbs this mineral balance, and disturbs body homeostasis. If some minerals are excreted, e.g. calcium, due to sugar - other minerals will be lost as well.
This explains why high-carb diets cause e.g. osteoporosis, and why it doesn't matter how much calcium tablets we eat. It will just be excreted. It's the high carbs that cause the calcium excretion. Look e.g. at how sugar causes tooth decay.
High-carb & high-sugar diets' mineral-unbalancing will cause enzyme-malfunctioning, which causes digestion-malfunctioning, especially protein digestion, which result in arthritis & many other diseases. This is only one of the many problems with sugar that the book describes.
I find the information extremely valuable. I just re-read it when I want to be motivated to stay off sugar.
Thanks Nancy Appleton - a great book!

This is a WONDERFUL and ENLIGHTENING work! Thank you for compiling this information and for sharing your own personal experience with Sugar Addiction Nancy Appleton . I have an interest in sugar addiciton and it's affects on the human body and found your book to be a great learning source.

This book was awful. I read "The Sugar Addict's Total Recovery Program" (DesMaisons) first, and I was spoiled by more rational, documented approach to the subject. To be fair, I only got through the first part of this book before I put it down in disgust. This book is the rantings of someone who feels passionately about something. Great. Now back it up. You can't just say, "This is bad and you have to do this!" Well... I suppose you can. But in my opinion that makes for a lousy book for someone who is trying to learn and separate fact from hysteria.

Well, I am not a real new age type of person but I have to say that I believe a great deal of what is said about the harmful effects of sugar. It is my general impression that the substance simply is not good for us and is the cause of numerous health problems. That being said, I will admit that Nancy Appleton is no great writer or scientific authority but I think that much of what she argues here is correct. Yes, her long list of sugar's deleterious effects is probably overstated and overblown, but there is clearly an element of truth in her positions. I found that reading these pages helped to motivate me on my quest to get all the silly and pointless carbs out of my diet so, for that reason, I found the book useful and have to recommend it. The recipes at the end were not real helpful to me but they may be for you. I got it from a z shop on the cheap and you certainly can too if you want to give it a chance. It will add to your will power if nothing else.

Nancy Appleton does an excellent job exposing what the sugar industry would rather you not know! Refined sugar wreaks havoc on the immune system and allows physical degeneration to take hold in the human body. This is a known scientific fact in the majority of the world. The reason it is not recognized here in the US is because of the private interest groups that disseminate junk-science on a daily basis. Anyone who has studied biochemistry in-depth can verify the destructive nature of sugar. This book is a great reference guide and will educate and empower you!


In my book, I outline the fact that sugar feeds cancer and therefore allows the cancer to spread like wildfire! The 1931 Nobel laureate in medicine, Otto Warburg, PhD, first discovered that cancer cells frequently exhibit an increase in anaerobic glycolysis. This is the process whereby glucose is used as a fuel by cancer cells with lactic acid as an anaerobic byproduct. The large amount of lactic acid produced by this fermentation of glucose from cancer cells is transported to the liver. This conversion of glucose to lactate generates a lower, more acidic pH in cancerous tissues as well as overall physical fatigue from lactic acid build-up. Thus larger tumors tend to exhibit a more acidic pH.

Dr. Matthew Loop

-Author of "Cracking the Cancer Code"

Best cookbook I've found -- by far -- for low sodium recipes. If you've been relegated to a low sodium diet, this book will give you part of your life back! So far I've only tried a few of these recipes, but each one has left me very pleasantly surprised. This book has so many recipes for food I thought was off-limits, and the ones I have tried have been positively superb. Just to name a few excellent choices -- Sesame Chicken, French Bread Pizza, chicken nuggets, and focaccia. Who knew I could eat this stuff, with very sodium, and that it would taste great?!

Great recipes but no colored pages and no pictures. I need the color pictures so I know if I made it right.

I own a few low-sodium cookbooks, and this is the one I use most often. It is full of recipes that are easy to make, and that are actually useful. One of my favorites is Sesame Chicken. I make that about once a week. It also has a small collection of low-sodium bread machine recipes that I use often. My only criticism is that there seem to be a lot of mistakes in the recipes. For example, one bread machine recipe calls for two tablespoons of yeast, which is far too much. I'm sure it is supposed to say two teaspoons. Also, in some instances, the author's website (www.lowsodiumcooking.com) will include a recipe that is in the book, but the amounts of the ingredients differ, often confusing teaspoons and tablespoons. There have been two instances when I've emailed the author to verify the ingredients in a recipe. On one occasion, he replied to tell me there was an error. The other time he did not reply. All in all, I'd say this is a must-have cookbook in the low salt category. Just watch for any ingredients that seem suspicious.

I have been on a low sodium diet for 5 years now and this is the first book I have come across that has reciepes my husband actually enjoys! I even had friends ask me for copies of reciepes from this book because they were so tasty. Years ago there were only two books that I could find that were strictly low sodium and I was getting major low sodium burn-out rut! This really helped me get my eating back on track and actually look forward to cooking again. The only thing is a lot of these recipes are high in the sugar. That's why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5. I adjust a lot of these when I see too much in them. Other wise I would get this for anyone who needs to lower their sodium.

Although there are lots of low sodium recipes, I don't think they are all healthy. There are many recipes that seem to be high in fat. Also the recipes are not as easy to make as the American Heart Association book.