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Summary: Control Your Carbs Plus Recipes
Review: "The Good Carb Cookbook" is an excellent guide for enhancing your health through carbohydrate control. It can benefit you if you have diabetes/insulin resistance, or weight or heart disease problems (hypertension, high cholesterol/triglycerides) which have not been resolved from a low fat diet. I personally feel that it's also generally good diet advice for everyone, and have heard that Weight Watchers is now advising their customers about good and bad carbs."The Good Carb Cookbook" has two sections. The first explains that the carb kingdom is made of good carbs and bad carbs, and what the bad and good carbs do to your health. Woodruff then identifies which carbs are good vs. bad, then makes specific dietary recommendations which include proteins, carbs, fiber, and fat. Although not a really "diet", there are ranges for how many calories and grams of nutrients you should be getting. The book is concise yet packed with helpful tips and specific food suggestions for cooking and eating out. There is also a fairly complete glycemic index appendix (Glycemic index is a number which indicates about how much/fast, relative to other foods, that a specific food will affect your blood sugar). I would consider it a good basic to intermediate diet guide. For people who don't want to read more than one nutritional/diet book, this is a good choice. In the second part of the book are recipes which should help you keep your blood sugar low by controlling your carb intake/reaction to carbs. I haven't made a lot of the recipes yet, but of the few I have made, some (3 out of 5) are excellent. The ones that were not scrumptious tended to be simple ones that anybody could make (sandwiches, omeletes); it just needed to be put in the book as a suggestion of what you can eat without messing up your carbs intake. Even though this is more of a cookbook than a dietary guideline (recipes are 2/3 of the book), the dietary information in here is worth the cover price alone. Although you do have to count calories and grams at first, I don't think this is beyond the average person's understanding. For $(...) you get information which will improve your health yet not get overcomplicated.
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Summary: Results ARE Typicacl (finally)
Review: ...My personal study of carbohydrates led me to this book. The Good Carb Cook Book is more than a cook book. The whole first half of the book teaches you how to identify a good carb from an inferior one. This is based on the Glycemic Index which most diabetics are familiar with. It was a real eye opener. I had no idea how worthless the food I was consuming was. I didn't change how much I eat, only the kinds of foods I eat. I've lost 100 pounds (it's February 25th 2003) with very very little exercise (very inconsistant too). I'm still loosing! I have to admit that I've never used a single recipe from this cook book but the information in the first half has been invaluable to meThis will be the best [money] you ever spend!!!
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Summary: All the Secrets Exposed
Review: After being diagnosed with insulin resistance and ignoring the doctor's advice for 6 months, I finally jumped in with both feet. After following the doctor's recommendation for a month, I bought this book and another. Combining the information in the two books, but relying more heavily on the accurate information in this book, has enabled me to drop almost 80 pounds, lower my triglycerides to 157 (from 360), increase my HDL and lower my LDL in 8 months The book provides the best advice (and recipes) to lower your insulin resistance. The different food pyramids provided in this book are excellent. With the explanation provided you too can figure out which food pyramid meets your body's needs. Excellent! Buy this book before you buy any other!
Rating: 
Summary: Another rip off
Review: Another magic diet book that seeks to separate you from your money. Want to shed pounds? Reading this re-hashed book won't help. Eat healthy meals, get some exercise.
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Summary: Great for Metabolic Syndrome or Hyperinsulinemia
Review: As a person newly diagnosed with hyperinsulinemia (a.k.a. Metabolic Syndrome) my diet had to change drastically. And I mean DRASTICALLY! I was put on a low glycemic index diet and I started out eating celery and peanut butter - and being really surly to everyone around me - until I found this cookbook. It contains an overview of what eating complex carbs is all about, including information about the relationship between food and different disorders and conditions. It also discusses the glycemic index itself and provides a good list of common foods and their ratings. But the best part is the recipe section. On a low glycemic diet, my usual bagel or pancake or cereal or toast breakfasts were history. Sandwich for lunch? Forget about it. This cookbook offered plenty of alternatives including a really good oatbran blueberry muffin recipe that I love. It also has terrific Beef Paprikash and Zesty Chili recipes that even impressed my food-snob father. I highly recommend this book!
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Summary: What A Source of Cooking for Health
Review: As one who has climbed onto the low-GI bandwagon, this book is one of many that I have purchased to help. Using the South Beach Diet, 15 pounds have been shed and am on my way to about 8 more. Like others, the boredom and desire to find ingredients and recipes that help spice up the diet is a goal. I am a cookbook collector, reader and user. This is truly one that I will seek for guidance and creativity. What struck me immediately is the great and thorough sections about restaurant dining by overall tips for selection of a restaurant and then once there, what to order at various ethnic eateries which we all love. The insights like to order sauces on the side and ask questions about ingredients are insightful. The section on mastering low-gi cooking is outstanding. Ingredient recommendations and alternatives are given in the hope that even us amateur gourmets might develop the cuisine that would allow us to modify our fav recipes to fit our new dietary needs. Some of this seems contradictory to South Beach advice, e.g. use of fruit juices. It must be said however in fairness to the author that this can be easily overcome with other alternatives. Again, principles to creativity. The extensive recipe section which covers necessary categories like appetizers, salads, soups, etc. is attractive, creative, and provides needed great variety. Gravitate to such as: Quick Chicken Chili; Sunrise Smoothie; Buttermilk-Oat-Bran Pancakes; Bacon, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich; Cajun Grilled Tuna Salad; Cashew Crunch Turkey Salad; Chicken Breasts with Savory Apple Stuffing; Slow Simmered Pork Roast; Oat-Bran Pizza Crust; Very Blueberry Mousse. This is just outstanding and one can turn and use this to one's health easily and reliably. Only one small wish that a "Sources" listing for certain ingredients were included for those in areas where finding such might not be found, or for those of internet age who might want to purchase that way.
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Summary: Lots of nutritional information and delicious recipes!
Review: Being relatively new at eating in this more healthful way this book was a tremendous aid to me. Not only did it contain an amazingly large number of recipes I can't wait to finish trying, it contained lots of information seemingly adapted just for me. I was impressed that the author gave me lots of sample meal ideas which are very helpful. I might add that the recipes are wonderful!! My daughter has stolen my book so I am back to buy another.
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Summary: sensible eating plan that makes sense
Review: here's a sensible eating plan that makes sense. the author promotes a food pyramid (w/ variations) that is very similar to that espoused by the harvard school of medicine (see "eat, drink and be healthy"). this is an eating plan (not a diet in the sense of restricting calories) that is backed by research and is doable -- not extreme like some diets out there. all the recipes i have tried so far are good, though there are more dairy and meat recipes than i care to have. i am eating more but weighing less, and knowing that i am eating a healthy diet!
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Summary: Delicious easy to prepare recipes
Review: I absolutely love this book. Not only does the author explain the GI index and eating well on a low fat, good carb diet, but her recipes are excelllent. I only cook from her book. Her recipes for Blueberry Oat-Bran Muffins, Tasty Tuna Spread, Country Bean Soup, Spinach and Pear Salad, Broccoli Couscous, Pecan Chicken, and Raspberry Parfaits are some of my favorites. I'm all for easy to prep recipes and hers are easy and good for you too. In addition to the recipes, the chapter on Mastering Low-GI Cooking has been so helpful. The author goes into detail on the type of dairy products to eat, salad dressings, oils, and grains. This is one of my favorite books ever. And I have felt great since eating the good carb way.
Rating: 
Summary: Careful....
Review: I agree with an earlier reviewer: this book offers solid nutritional advice but the recipes are uninspiring, which in itself would not be a bad thing if recipes didn't comprise 2/3 of the book. Do not be misled: this is not a low carb cookbook...it is firmly in the low-fat/low-calorie/balanced food group camp. For people looking for a good low carb cookbook that you can use to feed everyone at the table, I highly recommend "The Low-Carb Cookbook: The Complete Guide to the Healthy Low-Carbohydrate Lifestyle with over 250 Delicious Recipes" by Fran McCullough.
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