The Wine Sense Diet

Rating:
Summary: Make room on the kitchen shelf
Review: As if we needed convincing, this book begins by detailing the many health benefits of incorporating wine into our daily diets. Then it provides so many delicious recipes that it makes it just as difficult to select the meal as the wine to go with it.

My favorites, the Cashew Chili on page 177 and the Nectarine-Blackberry Cobbler on page 109.

I'm going back for seconds...

Rating:
Summary: A long term healthy lifestyle awaits!
Review: I'm the author of The Wine Sense Diet so please don't take my word for it -- I encourage you to take a look for yourself. I bet you'll agree that being healthy doesn't have to be as painful as you may have thought! It's once again time to enjoy mealtime! An active lifestyle, and passionately and reverently making the mealtime experience a part of your daily routine -- naturally with wine in moderation -- is the secret. This is not a quick-fix, fad diet geared toward overnight weight loss. It is rather a pleasurable, enjoyable way to begin to make small changes in overall lifestyle promoting good health. And you'll be pleasantly surprized to learn that although not the focus, a healthy weight is likely to follow -- hear it from those whom I've profiled in the book. I've found many examples of those who reside in the Napa Valley who enthusiastically embrace this lifestyle -- they're constantly surrounded by good food and good wine yet maintain wonderful health . . . including appropriate waist sizes! -- and you too can use this "roadmap of discovery" to chart your course. And there are over 180 easy-to-prepare recipes to help you do just that! The best news is you don't have to live here to make it work. It's easy to adapt anywhere you might be across the country with a few simple principles. Any questions? Feel free to email me at [e-mail]. Cheers! P.S. I encourage more reviews from those who have read the book. Please let us know what you think!

Rating:
Summary: Finally - a guide to a healthy lifestyle that makes sense!
Review: Ms. Shafer has provided the reader with a fun, yet no-nonsense guide to a healthy lifestyle that anyone can follow. I love wine and to be able to incorporate it into my daily habits without feeling guilty is a treat. This book is a great guide - not only to some fabulous recipes, but to maintaining a balance in one's life. The reader is able to capture a little bit of the beautiful Napa Valley for themselves in terms of food, drink, philosophy and surroundings. I loved it!

Rating:
Summary: Finally - a guide to a healthy lifestyle that makes sense!
Review: Ms. Shafer has provided the reader with a fun, yet no-nonsense guide to a healthy lifestyle that anyone can follow. I love wine and to be able to incorporate it into my daily habits without feeling guilty is a treat. This book is a great guide - not only to some fabulous recipes, but to maintaining a balance in one's life. The reader is able to capture a little bit of the beautiful Napa Valley for themselves in terms of food, drink, philosophy and surroundings. I loved it!

Rating:
Summary: An elegant, wonderfully illustrated, informative compendium
Review: The Wine Sense Diet is an elegant, wonderfully illustrated, informative compendium of ways to incorporate wine into daily life for the purpose of improving and enhancing our physical, mental, and emotional health. Annette Shafer reveals winemaker secrets to a perfect pairing of food and wine to the full enjoyment of both; fifteen steps to follow for experience a true "joie de vivre"; more than 180 easy-to-prepare, healthy, seasonal recipes and menu selections drawn from well-known Napa Valley locals; as well as wine trends to look for in the new millennium. The Wine Sense Diet is very highly recommended for anyone seeking to extend their life span, reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer, have a clearer memory, regulate their weight, slow the signs of aging, savor their meals, and improve the quality of their life experiences -- alone or in company.

Rating:
Summary: But does wine really help you lose weight?
Review: There is some evidence that wine (red wine, at least) may be helpful in preventing heart disease. But, is there any real evidence that it helps you lose weight? Another review of this book (at eDiets.com) claimed that wine does help with weight loss: "New research shows that a glass of wine a day keeps the doctor away... and the extra fat, too! .....it's become clear that wine works in mysterious ways -- it can ward off disease and help the body burn fat more effectively. In her Wine Sense Diet(Lifeline Press), author and grape expert Annette Shafer shares recipes and tidbits about the wonders of wine....Weight-conscious folks are toasting the fact that wine appears to play a role in fighting fat. Shafer bases her book on science fact -- not something she heard through the grapevine."

OK, so the claim is that drinking wine helps you lose weight, and that this is based on solid evidence. But where is this evidence? The same eDiets review states: "According to a recent study at Colorado State University, wine boosts insulin sensitivity -- and that's something than can regulate weight."

I went to Medline (an online database of all major mdeical research) and found only one experiment on wine consumption and weight loss. It was, in fact, conducted at Colorado State University. But, this study found NO EFFECT of wine consumption: "RESULTS: Whether wine was imbibed or not, no significant differences (p >0.05) were demonstrated for any of the following variables: body weight, body fat percentage, skinfold hickness, resting metabolic rate, respiratory quotient, caloric intake, dietary macronutrient content, or fasting insulin or glucose concentrations." (Original article is J Am Coll Nutr 1997 Apr;16(2):134-9.) This was just a small study, so maybe further research will find an effect. But, as far as I can tell, the current evidence that wine helps you lose weight seems weak to non-existent.

The author of this book, Annette Shafer, also says: "My personal philosophy is that if you concentrate on weight loss, it's so much harder. If you have a responsible diet and you don't concentrate on trying to lose weight but instead on changing your lifestyle and being active, it happens naturally." I agree that having a healthy lifestyle is better for you than strenuous dieting. However, I strongly disagree with the claim that a healthy lifestyle "naturally" produces a normal weight. Research shows that an optimal lifestyle leads to a weight loss of around 20 to 40 pounds in overweight individuals. (For example, Dean Ornish found a weight loss of 25 pounds in his overweight patients, who gained back 12 pounds over the next 5 years.) Unfortunately, even people who have 100 or more pounds to lose, get the same 20 to 40 pounds weight loss from lifestyle changes -- not nearly enough to reach a normal weight.

Annette Shafer has ties to the wine industry. Also, the forward to this book is by the owner of a major wine company. So, this diet book looks like so many others -- it makes money by preying on the desperation of the obese, but has little or no proven new information to offer them.

Rating:
Summary: A great and timely book
Review: This book was informative and fun to read. Annette has done a great job combining health information with the recipes of some of the interesting people of Napa Valley.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: This is an excellent book. I've read the text from cover to cover and have used many of the recipes. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to cook, or anyone who just enjoys wine.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: This is an excellent book. I've read the text from cover to cover and have used many of the recipes. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to cook, or anyone who just enjoys wine.