Rating: 
Summary: The best diet plan out there
Review: Three cheers for Challem, Berkson and Smith! This book is easy to read and understand. The authors did a great job of taking a complicated medical topic and explaining it in simple, practical terms. The chapter, "The Diet We Were Designed For and How It Changed," is the best explanation I've ever seen about the decline of our diet. It really motivated me to change my diet more than anything else I've read. What's even better is the authors' Anti-X Diet is the best-balanced and most reasonable diet plan out there. It sounded so tasty to me that I started following it, and I lost 14 pounds (weight that previously wouldn't come off) in two months, all while feeling energetic and not deprived in the slightest! This is a TERRIFIC book. I highly recommend it.
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Summary: Low Carb DOES Solve Health Problems- Here's MY Proof
Review: Trying reading this book to learn more about this condition--Here's my story--I have had high blood pressure for about 6 years. It stayed in the 158/110 range even with medication. I even did the AVON 3 Day 60 Mile Walk in 2001 and trained for it for months. I walked about 45-50 miles per week and lost weight too. My blood pressure did not go down. The doctors doubled my medication and still no results. I was very discouraged and concerned. I started following Weight Watchers (for a healthy diet) and eating complex carbs such as brown rice, etc with lots of vegies-- no change in the BP. I measured my BP about every other day with a home kit that is pretty accurate. Finally in desperation I started the Low Carb diet. In three DAYS, my BP was down to 128/67. I stopped taking the medication and my blood pressure has stayed constant at 128/70 within a point or two. And I have the records to prove it. It is now 5 weeks later and I've lost 13 pounds (not easy at age 53) and no longer take glucosmine or BP medications. My arthritis is much better though I have a little pain when its cold. This diet may not be for everybody but if you have a medical condition, it's worth a good try to see if it helps you. And once you feel better it's easier to stick to- I have no trouble with it. I will never go back to bread, pasta, etc. Now I see carbs as mud clogging up my veins and arteries.
Rating: 
Summary: "Syndrome X" explains what really derails your health.
Review: What makes our Syndrome X book different from the many other health, diet, and anti-aging books on the market? It's our emphasis on Syndrome X, the medically established condition that underlies obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and many other common conditions.Syndrome X is defined as insulin resistance (a type of prediabetic carbohydrate intolerance) combined with abdominal obesity ("spare tire around the middle"), high blood pressure, or elevated blood fats (high cholesterol or high triglycerides). The cause of Syndrome X is the way we eat: the average person consumes excessive amounts of refined carbohydrates and sugars, which result in elevated blood sugar and insulin levels. Basically, most people eat a diet that sets the stage for prediabetes.Our book emphasizes two protein-rich diet plans that include large amountsof veggies. These veggies -- and, in one of the plans, small amounts of other carbohydrates such as fruit and brown rice -- provide adequate quantities of carbohydrates. In addition, our plans recommend the use of specific nutritional supplements, such as natural vitamin E and the antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid, which help the body efficiently handle glucose and insulin.Why should you choose this dietary and supplement plan? And why do we discourage people from eating large quantities of carbohydrates, even unrefined carbohydrates? The reason is that we are not biologically designed to consume large quantities of carbohydrates from grains. Our genetic heritage is that of hunter-gatherers. For most of evolution, humans and their ancestors hunted animals for lean meat and gathered veggies. Our need for carbohydrates was provided by vegetables. It wasn't until around 10,000 years ago that people started to cultivate grains (because they had wiped out most big game). Since then, grains have become increasingly refined, as have sugars. Over the past 100 years, the amount of refined grains (in the form of breads, pastas, cereals, muffins, etc) and sugars has skyrocketed, particularly with the popularity of low-fat diets (which are actually high-carbohydrate diets). These refined carbohydrates and sugars rapidly boost our blood sugar and insulin levels, which leads to Syndrome X, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. More than 50 percent of Americans are now overweight, and that's because we have strayed so far from the food we were meant to eat.Our Anti-X and Anti-X Extra Healing diet plans return us to dietary basics that are tasty and easy to prepare. Our emphasis is on heart-healthy chicken, turkey, and fish (and game meats when you can get them -- not beef or pork), with large amounts of vegetables. We urge people to avoid breads, cereals and pastas (which are often promoted as healthy foods, but are as nutritionally worthless as white bread). We also recommend steering clear of unhealthy fats, especially trans-fats, found in margarine, deep-fried foods and foods that contain partially hydrogenated oils, and oils high in omega-6 fats, such as corn, soy and safflower oils. Compared with other protein-rich diets, ours is far more balanced nutritionally. From all fronts -- in the areas of fats, proteins and carbohydrates -- our plan is the best one out there for preventing and reversing insulin resistance and Syndrome X. This means it's great for losing weight, preventing hypertension, reversing diabetes and heart disease, and slowing the aging process.Our Syndrome X book also contains menu plans, recipes, and guidelines for safely navigating through supermarkets and many different types of restaurants. In other words, our book provides practical tips to easily stay on our Anti-X program whether cooking for yourself or eating out. And it's the only book of this type that has a chapter on how to individualize the Anti-X diet and supplement program according to different health conditions (everything from being just a few pounds overweight to having diabetes or heart disease). In sum, our book is a reader-friendly guide on how to use nutrition to correct a health condition that affects millions of Americans, or to prevent it from developing in the first place.
Rating:
Summary: Sound advice for a serious problem
Review: With a title like "Complete Nutritional Program" I thought you would find a lot more recipes. The book spends a lot of time explaining what syndromeX is, history of our changing eating habits, and basically how the average american diet is very unhealthy. I would imagine that most people looking to get nutritional information, already know that. What I wanted to know is, OK, now what do I eat, since basically most of my diet is .... All you get is a one week sample diet, and some of the things they tell you to eat are not clearly described, or you wonder where you find this stuff. The restaurant guide gives you vague suggestions. Why not give us specific menu choices for various fast food restaurants? i.e. don't get a Big Mac, order a "xxxxx" instead.
The supplement section was helpful though.
There was one thing I was surprized that was not listed in the book - at least I couldn't find it - just how much carbohydrate are you limited to each day? I know we eat way too much, but give me some guidelines so I know how to gauge myself, and also how to evaluate the labels of the things I eat.
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat Disappointed
Review: With a title like "Complete Nutritional Program" I thought you would find a lot more recipes. The book spends a lot of time explaining what syndromeX is, history of our changing eating habits, and basically how the average american diet is very unhealthy. I would imagine that most people looking to get nutritional information, already know that. What I wanted to know is, OK, now what do I eat, since basically most of my diet is .... All you get is a one week sample diet, and some of the things they tell you to eat are not clearly described, or you wonder where you find this stuff. The restaurant guide gives you vague suggestions. Why not give us specific menu choices for various fast food restaurants? i.e. don't get a Big Mac, order a "xxxxx" instead.
The supplement section was helpful though.
There was one thing I was surprized that was not listed in the book - at least I couldn't find it - just how much carbohydrate are you limited to each day? I know we eat way too much, but give me some guidelines so I know how to gauge myself, and also how to evaluate the labels of the things I eat.
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