What to Eat When You're Expecting

Rating:
Summary: A great diet to aim for
Review: This book provides concrete guidelines for a really great diet to maintain during pregnancy. It is designed to maximize the nourishment to the baby and minimize mom's chance of permanent weight gain. It's been very helpful to me because it is so much more detailed than what I can learn during doctor's visits that are consumed with other business, or from most other pregnancy manuals. Pregnancy is one of the high-risk times for permanent weight gain for American women, and obesity is about to outstrip smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Some Amazon reviewers report that the high standards of the diet frustrate them and make them feel badly about themselves. For me, if I don't live up to all the aspects of the diet every day it doesn't bother me - I'm not living up to all the other advice everyone and their aunt is giving me about pregnancy, either. But I do find it reassuring to have a source of concrete, specific, and detailed information about an excellent diet to follow as much as is practical for me.

Rating:
Summary: These Women Are Crazy!
Review: I bought this book because this is my first pregnancy and I had so many questions. BIG MISTAKE! First of all it scared the ... out of me! Was my baby was going to have a million potential problems because I don't grow my own vegtables and grains and I don't slaughter my own meat? That is how exaggerated this book is. My doctor laughed when I asked her if this book was completely off the wall. She said do not even try to go by that book. The expectations are way too high. No one can eat that way. I've always been a healthy eater and my doctor said to just keep eating the way I have been but increase the number of small meals and snacks I have. My advice is to steer clear of this book. Save your money!

Rating:
Summary: Horrible advice, unrealistic expectations
Review: This book is good for someone who grows their own organic vegetables in their backyard, has an endles supply of dry milk powder on hand, and treats white sugar as a poison. We all want to eat well when we are pregnant to ensure a healthy mother and baby, but this book sets impossible standards for the average woman to follow. Anyone who shops at a normal grocery store will find this book's guidelines hard to follow. Common sense, and an increased awareness of nutrition are enough to give you the knowledge you need to have a healthy baby. Do not buy this book unless you want to start feeling guilty and ashamed and exhausted from trying to follow the diet.

Rating:
Summary: This book sets impossible standards
Review: This book sets impossible standards and makes you feel guilty. I have used it very little. Unless you have a full time cook on staff, there is no way you could prepare this much food. Plus, if you are like me, and didn't have a huge appetite during pregnancy, the quantities of food are impossible. I hate this book!

Rating:
Summary: Contradictory Information
Review: The information in this book is bizarre. On one hand you are totally banned from eating any type of sugar, pasta or chocolate cake, however they talk about surviving the holidays and social gatherings and it is deemed "ok" to permit yourself a few sips of champagne or spiked punch, however earlier in the book the author states in no uncertain terms that alcohol is absolutely forbidden during the entire pregnancy, as even a small amount may prove dangerous to the baby. What? It's ok to drink at cocktail parties but I can't use cooking wine when I cook? I had to re-read that section several times to be sure the authors weren't being facetious. That's just one example of the contradictions in this book.

Rating:
Summary: Should be called "What NOT to Eat When You're Expecting"
Review: I bought this book by accident actually. I thought I was buying "What to Expect"...I'd picked up the wrong title! Anyway, it seemed like a good concept so I decided not to return it to the store. Well, I'm sorry I didn't. This book is discouraging, to say the least.

The information provided in this book is accurate and consistent with what most OB/GYNs recommend. It provides a good overview of the necessary nutrients for yourself and the baby, and it discusses why these are important. It also gives guidelines as to what you need daily, and what foods provide those nutrients. I have found it useful in helping me make sure I am getting exactly what I need, especially in terms of key nutrients from dairy and fruits/veggies. Unfortunately, discussion of the items that are necessary seems to lose focus as you get into the book.

I truly believe this book is incorrectly titled, it should be "What not to eat when you are expecting", as it goes into tremendous and adamant detail when discussing what to eliminate. Right off the bat there is a section, "Forbidden Fruit". This includes basically any sugar, white flour and anything containing these ingredients. I don't have the book in front of me, but it goes on to list a number of item basically banned for the rest of the pregnancy. This is called the "Best Odds Diet". I have a lot of respect for what the authors are trying to do, and I think the other reviewer was correct in saying that this is a diet to "aspire" to. You can't go wrong by eating exactly what they recommend.

However, their method of presentation is discouraing. Let's be realistic, how many pregnant women do you know that can give up sugar? While the diet tries to help you avoid fatigue, I'm usually too tired in the first trimester to put as much effort into my diet as this book requires. And considering many women with morning sickness have very little food that appeals to them, they may not find that the book provides enough options for them.

Additionally, it's very black and white. There is very little room for flexibility. You are allowed to 'cheat' once a month with a piece of carrot cake or similar. With me it would be once a day. So what do I do? According to this book I am likely to deliver a malnourished, deformed baby because I allowed myself to go to Chick Fil A and I ate a chocolate brownie while I was there. Likely, no. But the book doesn't allow for that at all, it is all or nothing. Very discouraging.

Rating:
Summary: A great resource for selecting sound nutrition choices!
Review: If you were looking forward to becoming pregnant so you could have an excuse to eat anything you want, this book is definitely not for you. However, if you want a guideline of things you can do to make sure what you eat is nutritionally loaded and beneficial for you and your baby, it's perfect.

This book is written to provide tons of information so you can make informed decisions on what you eat or do while pregnant. It may even make you think twice about what you're eating or not eating. (From the negative comments it appears that it has definitely done that!) Although it has a long list of foods that are not the best things to eat, it has sound reasons why and lists other choices that are (nutritionally) better.

The book recommends eating a variety of foods which may seem overwhelming at first glance, but serving sizes aren't huge and they have tips on maximizing food choices to cover more than one group. The recipes are varied and actually fun to try. (Although I was disappointed they didn't mention the calories in them, only how they meet the "daily dozen".) The book gives you ideas on how to alter recipes you already use to enhance their nutritional qualities, or how to apply the nutrition guidelines when you're traveling our dining out.

As with any book on nutrition, things change, thus, it recommends contacting the EPA for the latest information on pesticides and fish advisories. It also suggests ways to get the extra protein needed during pregnancy while lessening your chance of exposure to toxins. (So you don't eat a tuna sandwich EVERY day!) It briefly mentions that salmonella is a concern, and to refrain from using the any raw egg white recipes if the eggs are suspect (p 215). However, it should probably mention this information again by the recipe to prevent confusion.("The Pregnancy Diet" chapter in the latest "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book, also has a few additional updates and suggestions on making the Best-Odds Diet easier to follow.)

In light of the fact this book focuses on an extremely healthy regimen, the Best-Odds Diet is probably not for everyone. However, there is enough information to help make healthy selections in any diet and thus makes the book a great resource to have when expecting.

Rating:
Summary: Avoid this book
Review: I felt like I had a good diet before getting pregnant and wanted helpful suggestions for improving my diet during pregnancy. This book did provide some good suggestions, but you really can get those ideas (without as much attitude) from "What to Expect When You're Expecting." This book is unnecessary and very demoralizing. I was left with the feeling that the authors had never been pregnant or maybe had a live in cook while pregnant. If I could give it zero stars, I would.

Rating:
Summary: How to develop an eating disorder when you're expecting
Review: This dietary advice contained in this book is just bizarre. The general approach is encouraging pregnant women to become extremely obsessive over the quantity and quality of "every bite" they take for their entire pregnancy AND AFTERWARDS AS WELL. After their babies are born, they shouldn't get any ideas about drinking decaf coffee or eating garlic, because the baby won't like it in his breast milk. In order to follow the authors' guidelines, the expectant mother would have to quit her job and spend a tremendous amount of time shopping for and preparing food to the specifications given. How easy is it to find whole wheat bread that has no sugar or sweeteners of any kind? Well, that's simple to deal with: make it from scratch. Not having time to do so because you have other responsibilities is no excuse, because it really takes no more time and costs no more money to bake bread than to buy it at the supermarket, an insight that's very interesting to those of us who work full time jobs and go to school and have families to take care of. A whole lot more of her time will go to figuring out how in the world she's going to be able to eat the gargantuan portions directed and not gain any weight, but she'd better figure it out, because otherwise she's cheating her baby and her husband.

This book follows an unfortunate trend in America, a trend most nutritionists decry: that of demonizing certain foods ("Oh my God, you're not actually going to eat a potato chip, are you? Do you know what's in that potato chip?") and the canonization of other food ("Honey, can't you sprinkle a little wheat germ in that brown rice and bean sprout sandwich?"). Pregnant women are the best targets for this hysteria, because not only are they hurting themselves, they're irreparably damaging their unborn child! Common sense dictates eating as healthy a diet when pregnant as possible, but common sense does not dictate that eating yogurt sweetened with fruit and white sugar is the moral equivalent of swilling three martinis. My personal experience after reading this book while pregnant was to feel as if there were NOTHING I could eat without harming my baby, save the holy wheat germ.

The fact that billions of people all over the earth have managed to have healthy babies not following this diet and that the foods decribed as being the most salubrious are not generally eaten in the majority of the world speaks to another revolting aspect of this book: its patent ethnocentrism. Well, I guess all those people in all those other countries just got lucky. To any would be readers, I'd sugest using a little critical thinking in deciding how credible the advice given in this book is, before you torture yourselves.

Rating:
Summary: What's With The Tone?
Review: I do not understand why this series is so popular - is it the good title or just that they have been around some time? My wife and I went out and got an arm full of books and this was one of them. The positive side is that it did seam to provide some good recommendations for what to eat and what to avoid. It also gave us a good idea on the special health and nutrition issues for pregnant women. What we did not like is it seams that this book should have come with an overbearing adult wagging her finger at you. I don't think we needed or cared for the tone the book had about the authors militant views on what not to eat - is 1 coke really going to be that bad? 50 years ago women worked in the fields or factories all day, smoked and drank like fish and we all turned out ok. Overall a nice overview with some good recipes, but if you are aggravated by being talked down to then I would look someplace else.