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Summary: The straight scoop on good eating
Review: Dr Weil has been my medical guru for several years. In my opinion he ranks number one in the "Counsel of the Wise on health". This book is very well written. It will help you live better longer.
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Summary: So much info that it's hard to get "actionable" reading
Review: Dr. Weil promises in the early pages to not bore the readers with too much very detailed scientific data, and to focus on what the reader can actually improve in his day-to-day diet. But Dr. Weil doesn't deliver. The book is full of so much science, in such detail, that i) it's hard to follow; ii) it's hard to understand what is the end recommnedation. In net, not recommneded, unless you need it to get a PHD. If you're looking for a way to eat healthier, not sure you'll get it out of this book.
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Summary: Important and informative
Review: Following the recommendation of the July 28, 2000, customer review, I purchased both this book and Sonia Uvezian's "Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen." They are two of the best investments I have ever made. My family and I have already benefited greatly from Dr. Weil's excellent advice, and although I own dozens of volumes on Mediterranean cuisine I now find myself cooking from Uvezian's book more than from any other. Her recipes not only yield incredibly delicious results but offer much better nutritional value than most so-called health food cookery provides. Both Weil's and Uvezian's books really stand out, and they are well worth buying even if you already have other titles on these subjects.
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Summary: Truly A Must Have if You Care about Your Well Being
Review: The greatest thing about this awesome book is that it gives you often overlooked common sense advice about food. It is in no way difficult to decifer or extremist. Weil tells you exactly why some foods are cancer causing and just plain bad for you. He lets you know what chemical additives you should avoid because of their detriment to the human body. Weil even talks about the spiritual importance of food. Weil doesn't believe in "dieting," instead he gives you valuable information so that you automatically make the right food choices in order to avoid obesity, heart disease, cancer etc... Once I started reading this book I didn't want to stop. Weil's approach is interesting. I find myself referring to the book frequently, which means it's never been placed on my bookshelf. I keep it out so it's easily accessible. Weil includes easy, delicious recipes, and a helpful glossary and index. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who cares about both their and their family's health. Just the advice on avoiding hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils alone more than makes the price of the book worth it. This book exceeded my expectations.
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Summary: not very motivating
Review: I read this book, but I couldn't get past how technical it was,which made it a very boring read. The only thing I really liked about is to eat in moderation and eat wholesome foods, nothing new really, just some motivation to continue. I appreciated knowing how olive oil is beneficial and how bad french fries are for you and why. Most of us already know how we should eat more fruits and vegetables. I found the recipes to be boring as well. I actually took my copy to a used book store and traded it for more interesting books, and I usually don't part w/my diet books.
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Summary: Powerful Information
Review: This book is powerful and motivating; I have made so many positive changes as a result of reading it. I have increased energy, improved mental clarity, and no longer require the antidepressant I have relied on for many years. As an older mother with three young children, I am grateful to Dr. Weil for the rather amazing improvement in my health and outlook and for the beneficial effects this book has had on my family's eating habits. Dr. Weil is a Harvard-educated medical doctor who also embraces alternative/holistic medicine. His writing style is straightforward and sensible, and doesn't insult the reader's intelligence with hype. I would highly recommend any of Dr. Weil's books to the reader who wants to improve his health but doesn't know out how to proceed. To get a feel for what he is all about, check out Dr. Weil's website at: http://www.eatingwell.net/search_by_condition.shtml
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Summary: Dr. Weil's work is a great service to us all.
Review: Dr. Weil's diet and lifestyle recommendations have changed my life in so many positive ways. I refer all of my students to his work so they too can reap the benefits of his collected wisdom. Bill Douglas ... --This text refers to the Hardcover edition
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Summary: Stop ripping on this guy because he is overweight!
Review: ...News flash for the 21st century: it IS possible to be what society deems "overweight" and still be fit and healthy. Thank God for Dr. Weil who actually has the good sense to advocate taking pleasure in eating! The man doesn't eat meat, for heaven's sake, or dairy products - yet you'd think he was encouraging us to eat all our meals at McDonald's from the tone of that reviewer. This is probably the best book I have read on nutrition in a long time, and I have read a bunch. Good nutrition is about feeding your body well for the purpose of a long and pleasurable life, not about achieving some media-induced unrealistic body shape. If more people followed Dr. Weil's advice, & laid off the black coffee-for-breakfast, yogurt-for-lunch, small salad-for-dinner lifestyle, everyone would be happier AND healthier.
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Summary: Read this if you aspire to the body fat % of the author.
Review: There are those who say, and there are those who do. I am left rather unimpressed with "healthy" fat people. Please make your own judgements. Side Note: Men consuming soy protein will be glad to know that it will help increase their estrogen levels; the man-breasts you've dreamed about can be yours. Source: Strauss, et al. "Genistein exerts estrogen-like effects in male mouse reproductive tract," Mol Cell Endocrinol 1998 Sep 25;144(1-2);83-93
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent in many ways but too extreme in some
Review: This book definitely helps in some ways. I did take his advice and try soymilk, which I never expected to do. Mow it's what I use for milk. However, it didn't stop there: I read elsewhere that the FDA says people should replace 25 grams of their daily protein from meat with 25 grams a day of soy protein (this is supposed to have a cholesterol lowering effect). I tried soyburgers and now have a soyburger every day for lunch. However, contrary to his advice, I absolutely still use sugar substitutes (non saccharin), and I microwave my fish and vegetables because elsewhere I have read that, cooking fish at high temperatures destroys more than half the Omega 3's (but microwaving does not) and that even steaming vegetables( unlike micraowaving) causes the loss of 30% of the water soluable vitamins (and boiling 70%). He says microwaving "can change the chemistry of food, especially proteins, possibly lowering the nutritional content and possibly creating unnatural compounds that may be hazardous to health" and "I recommend microwave ovens for rapid heating of food, not for cooking of more than a few minutes duration". That's enough to scare ya'! However, two ( 4 oz. each) servings of most fish microwaves in 4 minutes or less...I don't call that "more than a few minutes". As for his criticism of "high fructose corn syrup" and some other chemicals: we may need some more healthy fats like Omega 3's in fish and flax oil (and to a lesser extent in Walnut, and Canola), but that doesn't mean that trans fat free fat free margarine , fat free mayonnaise. fat free cream cheese , fat free processed cheese, and fat free sour cream do not ABSOLUTELY have their place--and if they have high fructose corn syrup and other chemicals, so be it! I do absolutely think that while he is to be taken seriously in many areas (not just "more fruits and vegetables": PHYTOCHEMICALS), he is to be taken with a grain of salt in others. I just read (here) that in 1972 the author wrote a book about the use of drugs to expand consciousness. Expect only so much. But that so much is a lot. One comment, however, about ONE of his recipes--I tried his recipe for lentil salad. What's not funny is that not only did I think it was dismal, it's very like the one in the current edition of may late mother's cookbook (no her cooking wasn't dismal). There is a much better one in Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home (also available at this webiste).Some highlights of that recipe: includes Dijon mustard in the vinagrette (which is healthful olive oil), includes a chopped tomato and shallots, scallions or onion in the vinaigrette, includes cooking 1 cup of chopped onion WITH the lentils too. So, as to this. there is better that is no less healthful. Finally, I think that some of the comments about the author's looks and taking his own advice are inappriately derrogatory. I don't know what some of these people expect him to look like--if he were obese, maybe they'd have a point, but he's not. (And I am female, 5'3 1/2" tall and weigh 106, so this is not coming from someone who is generally considered to be overweight) In any case, much of his advice is good. The idea that healthful food should taste good and that what tastes good is, to some extent, culturally determined is a valuable insight, especially since we all have to live with our healthful dietary choices. However, I am not knowlegable enough to know when he's right or wrong about certain things, from certain chemicals in foods to microwaves ( it's not true, however, as far as I know, that the body cannot obtain lycopene...from tomatoes unless the tomatoes are cooked and then only if fat is present in the digestive tract...[ p. 157]. What is true is that the lycopene in tomatoes is a great deal more bioavaliable in cooked tomatoes, and cooked tomato products like tomato sauce, and that the presence of some oil helps.) Four stars only because I think he's a bit extreme.
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