A Data Driven, Compelling Case for Plant-Based Diets
595813
I just finished this book, but I am going read it again immediately.  I have a data-driven personality, and I tend to make major life decisions based on data and research; because of this, I think this book will change my life.  The book is well structured and presents a remarkable example of research curation.  The data that Greger lays out is compelling, convincing and mind-blowing; and it has hard scientific data to back it.  I paid $24.00 for the book, but it has a million dollars of research rolled into it.  Bravo, Dr. Greger.
4689482
This book has an amazing amount of pertinent research regarding the health values of eating a whole plant food diet. Dr. Greger gets right to the point in this book and on his free website, NutritionFacts.org. I am now addicted to watching his videos on YouTube. I occassionally supplement with watching them on his website. The website allows you to read the text instead of watching the video, which though less entertaining can be quicker and allows you to review what your just read more quickly. We had a friend who once said he would rather die than give up his meatballs, steaks, etc. Sadly he may well get his wish. We went to a sporting event with him and he couldn't go up one flight of stairs at the stadium without stopping to catch his breath. He was not only overweight and out of shape but his cholesterol was really high. It is sad that people in this country are not exposed to tasty, high quality vegan or vegetarian cooking. We live fairly close to a Veggie Grill which has many tasty and healthy entrees, salads,
soups and more. I can always get a good veggie meal at a Thai or Vietnamese restaurant, but you have look carefully to find the vegan menu items or just learn to ask for no meat with your meal. In any case, Dr. Greger does a great job of explaining the benefits of eating vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds. It helps to also read something by Dr. Dean Ornish for more information on complementary lifestyle changes like stress management, exercise, and social interaction.
2991545
I'm a firm believer in eating the way a wild human would have eaten prior to developing agriculture.  A low-carb diet high in protein and good fats.  This book is full of good information to help anyone starting out on this path at a great price.  I highly recommend it.  I received this product at a discount in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.
3142494
Scholarly books about cholesterol are rare. There are lots of popular books on diet and cholesterol, and there are books with angry titles like the cholesterol lie or the cholesterol hoax, but I am aware of only one recent single-author book that properly reviews the scientific data on plasma cholesterol, its determinants, and its effect on heart disease. That book is Steinbergs The Cholesterol Wars. Unlike Steinberg, Truswell focuses on diet; his book covers most of the foods and nutrients that affect heart disease risk.
The writer is an insider in the diet-heart field. His publications span 50 years and cover a range of nutrients and diseases beyond diet and heart disease. Nutrition students and scientists may also know him as the author of several textbooks of nutrition.
The book consists of 32 brief chapters which tell the story of diet and heart disease, from the first rabbit studies in St Petersburg in 1908 to the rise and fall of coronary heart disease in Eastern Europe in the 1990s. However, this is not primarily a history book; the focus of each chapter is on a particular topic, e.g. Sucrose, Fiber, Coffee, Serum Triglycerides, or Critics and Sceptics. Topics go well beyond cholesterol, as shown by chapters on e.g. thrombosis, obesity and alcohol. Relevant statements are documented with references to the original research paper on which they are based. References extend to 2009, and number 887 in total.
Each chapter starts with a summary, and section titles in bold help the reader to follow the development of the topic. The longest chapter is that on salt and hypertension. At 17 pages, it does a good job at summarizing this controversial field. The text is internationally oriented, with a good sprinkling of British and Australian research.
The book brings out not only the research but also the people who did it, such as Ancel Keys and his Seven Countries Study, and the imperious Walter Kempner whose unpalatable rice-fruit diet lowered both blood pressure and cholesterol. The text is succinct and well balanced. Truswell obviously feels that diet plays an important role in the causation and prevention of heart disease, but he gives a fair hearing to the opponents of various diet-heart hypotheses.
The book is sturdily bound. It has 179 pages of core text plus another 39 pages of references, and fits easily into the readers hands or into a shoulder bag. The text and the many black-and-white figures are sufficiently legible, though the layout is sparse by modern textbook standards. Strong points of the book are its international orientation and its historical background. Topics like saturated fat, plant sterols or dietary cholesterol and their impact on heart disease have been debated for decades. Being aware of those arguments helps the reader to put current debates into perspective.
I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in diet and heart disease, including public health experts, dieticians, physicians, science writers, and last but not least researchers.
[This review was slightly modified from an earlier version published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2010, doi: 10.3945/ajcn. 110.001750]
[Another scholarly review of this book may be found at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3684314/]
872663
This was a fascinating and informative book that advances a hypothesis and then seeks to show the truth of that hypothesis.  The hypothesis is that what we eat matters, a lot.  As diets have changes to, in general, more carbohydrates and vegetable oils (poly unsaturated fats) chronic disease and indeed genetics they have affected human well being. Many of the commonly believed myths that cholesterol is bad for you and that saturated fats should be avoided are discussed in an intelligent manner.  References are provided for those interested in seeing backup for the points of view.  I only wish the government could get motivated to modify some of the dangerous half-truths and its nutrition recommendations because they have a large impact on all of us.  Dr. Shanahan also touches on some of the highly regarded organizations such as the American Heart Association and where their funding's comes from (pharmaceutical firms).  By itself this is not necessarily bad but it seems less than pure.  I guess my only criticism would be it does mix the anecdotal with journal references but that probably makes for a better read.  Really good book!
1544512
The China Study data shows there is an 80 times increase in the incident of breast cancer comparing regions in China that eat a plant based diet to regions that eat an animal based diet (Western Country diet). We in the US consume roughly 10 times more animal protein than the plant based regions in the study.

There are 500,000 bypass operations performed in the US every year. The China study data supports the assertion that almost all of atherosclerosis disease can be prevented by a change from an animal based diet to a plant based diet.

Colin Campbell estimates that 70 to 80% of US medical costs can be eliminated by a change from an animal based based diet to plant based diet. Cambell's research is supported by thousands of people who have changed their diet, including myself.

Based on Campbell's and other's research, I eliminate steaks, chicken, dairy, cheese, and dairy from my diet. I am now eating a plant based diet and enjoying it. My blood pressure is optimum. I sleep better. My arthritis symptoms have disappeared.

I do not understand why there any negative comments concerning Forks over Knifes. I would assume that the negative comments are due to an estimate reduction in health care costs of 80%. It is truly astonishing that the majority of people are not aware of the China Study data. All of my friends and my love ones have made the change and have experienced the same health benefits.
3066812
Going plant based could not be easier than with this step-by-step guide!
3831498
Joel Fuhrman, M.D.'s latest book, Super Immunity caught my eye since I have an auto-immune disease.

Fuhrman writes for the patient who wants to be involved in his treatment.  The language is not overly technical, though he does use accurate terminology and chemical names which the patient may have need to discuss with his doctor.

This "manual" is comprehensive:  in the first two chapters, he looks at the typical American diet and shows how we are compromising our immune systems by what we eat and how we live.  He argues the evidence for health supports a largely vegan (no animal product) diet.

The third chapter looks at the positive influence of plant foods on the immune system - and the whole body.

In the fourth he looks at colds and the flu, mythology and scientific fact, making recommendations for avoiding and getting through sickness.  One thing I did not know about that I will bring up with my doctor is resveratrol.

In the fifth chapter he addresses the myths and facts about carbs, fats, and protein.

The sixth chapter addresses exercise, salt, soy, and other "head-line" issues regarding health.  In this chapter, I read about EPA and DHEA, which I will also be bringing up with my doctor.

The final chapter is a two-week recipe and meal plan for super immunity.

The book includes an extensive glossary.

I found this an excellent and persuasive book which I would recommend discussing with one's doctor.
671148
Not just another diet book. This one provides us a thought-provoking, insightful view of the increasingly popular paleolithic (aka "paleo") diet. In essence, The Paleo Manifesto: Ancient Wisdom for Lifelong Health claims we've lost touch with our hunter-gatherer ancestral roots -- that of a caveman. So, why should we eat and act like cavemen? Aren't we better today with modern medicine to keep us alive longer and technologically advanced farming techniques to feed the world better?

The paleo diet is also known as the caveman diet, which focuses upon an ancient diet of wild animals and plants. This diet has been around since the mid-1970s, and has been promoted in numerous books and articles. Supporters of this diet claim several health studies that suggest improved health. They also claim that most of our modern diseases of obesity and neurological problems come from an overreliance upon industrial foods, primarily cereals, refined sugars, and vegetable oils. Unfortunately, most of the calories (or energy) consumed by Western people come from these industrial foods. Yet, we can find numerous critics to dispute these claims.

The author, John Durant, with his educational studies of evolutionary psychology at Harvard, provides some credibility to his theories. He challenges the popular view of a healthy diet being one of low fat requiring an energy balance of calorie counting. The author further claims, backed by several medical studies, that humans began developing medical problems around the time that we began consuming a grain-centric diet, around the time of the agricultural period in history.

To overcome many of our medical problems, we should embrace an active lifestyle with a healthy ancient diet. We should eat the right foods, avoid industrial foods and sugars, drink plenty of water, and lead a healthy active lifestyle. As a result, this should help us become stronger and more resilient.

Combining ancient wisdom with science, The Paleo Manifesto should inspire you to think about your life in a better way. The author's vision of a healthy lifestyle is encouraging.
1694743
I've been reading the newly released Digestive Health with Real Food by registered dietitian Agla&eacute;e Jacob, a copy which was sent to me for an honest review. Here's my take on it:

Firstly, it's a beautifully designed book, chock full of charts by the author detailing several digestive issues such as IBS, Crohn's disease, Celiac disease, GERD and more. Author Jacob explains the basics of digestion in the most complete manner I've ever read. Quotes such as this one by Hippocrates ("All diseases start in the gut") and this one by Heather Morgan, M.S., N.L.C. ("Every time you eat or drink, you are either feeding disease or fighting it.") explain the purpose of the book. Jacobs, who has dealt with digestive issues speaks from personal experience and strives to show the basics of digestion--what goes on in the gut--and what happens when digestion goes wrong. Charts showing food allergies and intolerances, a description of short-chain fermentable carbohydrates (FODMAPS)--what they are and why to avoid, along with descriptions of small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and the foods that can cause a reaction are all shown in comprehensive yet simple-to-understand text and charts. Almost every digestive issue can be found with details of the why it occurs and how to minimize the problem through diet and restriction is given.

Chapter 4 is devoted to nourishing foods with tables to measure and monitor your own health. Here, Jacob explains the micro-nutrient balance between fats, carbohydrates and protein and gives a list of safe vegetables and which to buy organic. You will learn about probiotics, safe natural seasonings, and which fluids to enjoy and which ones to avoid. For many digestive issues, healing is accomplished by discovering the allergens, eliminating them from the diet and finally, slowly reintroducing them.

Ms. Jacob convinces the reader that a paleo diet is preferable to others to combat each digestive issue and then offers real food solutions. A troubleshooting chapter covers cravings, fatigue and what to do if the symptoms return. I was interested to see she gives recommendations for that nasty distress constipation, often a companion to other digestive issues. Her recommendations in a nutshell: eat more fat, be patient, avoid trigger foods, take probiotics, get enough water and exercise. And if these don't help, she offers info on managing stress, abdominal massage, taking magnesium, sipping ginger tea and more. In short, everything you can do to help yourself naturally is listed.

Chapter 10 gives some wonderful basic recipes for digestive health such as making ghee, bone broth, basic soups and stews, all-in-one salads and some snack foods. Each is accompanied by a full page, full color photo to get the digestive juices flowing. It's not a complete cookbook but offers enough recipes to fuel your body and your imagination. If you are eliminating foods, there's a section offering a weekly meal plan to reintroduce foods back into the diet.

In conclusion, this book should be the bible for anyone suffering from digestive disease who wants a step-by-step manual for a holistic therapy. Jacob did it using her methods and so can you. Highly recommended.
4883826
As the title states so well, for many people, dieting is a frustrating series of unhealthy weight swings. Everyone knows that long-term weight maintenance requires a life-style change, but that is far easier said than done! Orwell offers a weight loss and management solution in superfoods that focuses on optimal nutrition while addressing the usual pitfalls of cravings and snacking. The first half of the book provides the science of how our bodies process foods. If knowledge is power, this section lays a strong foundation for making new food choices. The second part of the book offers a four-week weight-loss menu and two-week maintenance menuwith recipes! This takes the difficulty out of planning, shopping, and preparing foods that will take off those extra pounds as well as improve overall health. Check out the Superfoods Today Cookbook for more great recipes.
1459419
Someone stopped me once while I was carrying a copy of The Starch Solution. The person said something that indicated she assumed the book was meant to help the reader eat less starch.  Wrong.  And I love the irony. The cover image of a baked potato is appetizing enough to get me thinking of food shopping, chopping, and cooking, looking for the pot at the end of the rainbow.

John McDougall is a magnificent and reliable guide to the radical health benefits of eating a whole foods, plant-based diet low in fat and sugar.  But don't take it from me.  Consider the testimony of T. Colin Campbell, a Cornell University scholar of nutrition and author of the bestselling landmark brief on this way of eating,&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-China-Study-The-Most-Comprehensive-Study-of-Nutrition-Ever-Conducted-And-the-Startling-Implications-for-Diet-Weight-Loss-And-Long-term-Health/dp/1932100660/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted And the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, And Long-term Health</a>&nbsp;(2005) and its sequel,&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Whole-Rethinking-the-Science-of-Nutrition/dp/1937856240/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition</a>&nbsp;(2013).  Campbell effusively praised McDougall: "His nutrition and health knowledge is phenomenal, greater than any other doctor I've met and greater than any of my nutrition colleagues in academia." (p. 329 of The China Study).  That's what I call street cred.

The Starch Solution packs a brisk, lively, and easy-to-read survey of what's wrong with the standard American diet including animal products, and what's right about eating plants in whole form with no added oils, low sugar, and watch the salt.  Actually it's worth noting that McDougall is a bit more relaxed about salt than other authors in this ilk, who I also like very much, including the people behind&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Everyday-Happy-Herbivore-Over-175-Quick-and-Easy-Fat-Free-and-Low-Fat-Vegan-Recipes/dp/1936661381/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Everyday Happy Herbivore: Over 175 Quick-and-Easy Fat-Free and Low-Fat Vegan Recipes</a>&nbsp;(2011) and&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Forks-Over-Knives-The-Cookbook-Over-300-Recipes-for-Plant-Based-Eating-All-Through-the-Year/dp/1615190619/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Forks Over Knives - The Cookbook: Over 300 Recipes for Plant-Based Eating All Through the Year</a>) (2012).

Besides excellent discussions of health and food, the recipes include a bunch of real winners.  Not everything I've tried has been fabulous, but some dishes have been, including Broccoli Bisque (p. 273) that now is a regular item in my home, and Tunisian Sweet Potato Stew (p. 277) that was my first love in a vegan stew -- and helped turn me vegan!  What's more, the recipes strike a nice balance midway on a scale of simplicity to complexity in preparation -- time-conscious and not requiring high skills, but enough there to make the dishes come out delicious. Honestly, not every recipe I've tried has been a winner in my family, but everything has been well worth trying, and some recipes have been prepared eagerly in repetition.

In short, this is a fabulous all-in-one book.
840022
I'd been a long-time vegetarian, but in recent years due to some health issues with inflammation had to try first a Paleo and then a low-carb diet. That has worked like magic for my chronic back problems, though I did miss being a vegetarian for ethical and aesthetic reasons. Recently, I've come to a ketogenic diet, which has worked like magic for my chronic fatigue and moods, but I've had a very difficult time keeping my protein intake low enough. Thus, I turned back to Low-Carb Vegetarian, to incorporate more vegetables in my diet and fewer animal products. Interestingly, I've come back, at least in part, to my vegetarian roots.

I have the older edition of this book, which I consider a treasure. Back in the day, Celia Brooks Brown did something that many considered impossible--write a truly low-carbohydrate cookbook. (The other book in this category is Rose Elliot's The Vegetarian Low Carb Diet, also a valuable resource for people needing and wanting to eat this way).

For years this book was rare and costly, f you could find it used. When I saw it was re-issued and updated, I immediately purchased a copy. With all the information learned about diet in the intervening years, I was sure this updated book would be amazing.

Unfortuanately, this "updated" book is almost virtually the same text as published ten years ago in 2004. This is quite suprising, considering the dynamical changes that have occurred in recent years in the field of nutrition, metabolism research and weight loss. Since my first purchase of the 2004 book, we've also had some interesting revolutions in the area of low-carb ingredients for cooking and baking, and I am sorry this wasn't really reflected in the new edition. For example, the text asserts that keeping fat consumption low with a low carb diet is good for weight loss--a mistake that this generation's ketogenic dieters know to be an absolute falsehood. In fact, it is essential to eat a good quantity of high-quality fats when on a low-carb diet, otherwise you will sabotage your weight loss efforts. And why no inclusion of coconut flour? Surely coconut flour is more versatile than the soy flour the author used back in 2004.

As some other reviewers have noted, many of the recipes have a "frou-frou" feel.  How about Cheese "involtini"? Or Goat's cheese "timbales"?  Or "tian," whatever that is? I can understand how these words--many of which may be Continental terms that someone in the UK would be more familiar with than someone living elsewhere--might be off putting, but I wouldn't let that stop me from trying these recipes anyway. The recipes here aren't hard, and gratin is just a fancy way of saying something with melted cheese.

In conclusion, although this was a valuable book for its time, and the recipes are still innovative and useful for those eating this way, I wish this were a truly updated version of the 2004 book. That would indeed have been a "new" treasure. The author and publishers really missed an opportunity to do a lot of good in the world.
4058303
Taubes is a real pioneer in this age where the authorities are recommending grains and carbs as the foundation of our healthy diet, and fat is cast out as the evil stuff that makes us get, well, fat. After reading about Robb Wolf's The Paleo Solution on Tim Ferriss' blog a few months back, I immediately changed the way I was eating to fit that diet, which is essentially - no sugar, no grains, no dairy. I've never felt better in my life. Taubes' work was recommended to me by other people on the paleo diet as a way of understanding the subject in a deeper way.

I wasn't disappointed. Taubes discusses scientific evidence going way back and comes to a different conclusion than the calories-in, calories-out set likes to espouse. He discusses what exactly it is about grains and carbs that activate our fat-storing capabilities and keep us from feeling as healthy and fit as we could otherwise be.

While his recommendations based on the analysis are incomplete (in my view), they only take up a chapter and provide an excellent starting point for anyone wishing to examine a grain-free way of eating. I did disagree with his inclusion of dairy, and I wished he'd discussed the importance of pasture-raised meats in sustaining a good omega-3 to 6 ratio. I would have used the carbs saved from excluding dairy to encourage more vegetable consumption (he has proteins in the "eat all you want" category, but veggies are rationed out, which I found very odd since there are many non-starchy veggies that are great for eating as desired).

I think this is an excellent book for anyone wanting to better understand the nutritional evidence and science behind a grain-free diet. Once you've finished, I'd suggest The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf as the actual "how-to" guide for following through with this style of eating as a lifestyle. Also, Mark Sisson's The Primal Blueprint Cookbook is invaluable for this style of diet. While Sisson does include dairy, I just substituted coconut milk for it and the recipes worked fine.
2459418
An excellent book by a leading expert on the relation between diet and health, disease prevention and cure.
The book is comprehensive but easy to understand and doesn't take long to read. It explains very clearly how consumption of gluten, grains and even other carbohydrates (both simple and complex) affect metabolism, create allergies, food addictions, reduced insulin sensitivity, imbalances in the hormonal system and in the hunger/satiety mechanism.
The book relies on a large body of scientific evidence to show how the standard dietary recommendations (i.e. - high grain/carb , low fat, low cholesterol, monounsaturated veg oils ) have resulted in significant increases in a range of health problems (e.g. obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, inflammatory conditions, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, ADHD, depression, anxiety and even cancer). The book leads the reader step by step from the problem to the solution and finally provides a complete action plan that includes diet strategy, ingredients, weekly plan, recipes and important supplements.
This is not a  Paleo diet book although the suggested diet has similarities to the paleo diet. However the significant difference is in the evidence based scientific approach and recommendation of specific supplements in order to restore the functioning of the body's fat based (vs carb based) energy system and the correct balance between major hormones (insulin, leptin and ghrelin). After reading the book you will be able to enjoy butter and eggs again without fear! One of the best books I have read on this subject. Highly  Recommended.
1852990
In a refreshing twist on health and food books, Robinson advocates the eating of fruits and vegetables that are as close to their evolutionary originals as possible. This is no faddish "paleo" diet but a sensible, biologically based argument that the heirloom or original varieties of common fruits and vegetables are much richer in active compounds that improve health and fight disease. I may not be eating a purple carrot soon, but I will try to shop more at farmers markets and be aware of what I eat. Excellent recipes as well.
4854254
Julieanna Hever presents in a fun and energetic way the benefits of eating a whole foods, plant based diet. Interviewing many of todays leading advocates in the field or nutrition, medical and scientific practice.

If there's anything new that I got from this video was when Julieanna quoted (which always seems to stump the naysayers) "A Vegan driving a Hummer is more energy efficient than a meat eater to driving a Prius! It says it all right there" :-)