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Summary: Cleared up lots of misconceptions I had about nutrition
Review: I found this to be a very direct and readable overview of the current thinking about health and nutrition with a very scientific basis. It cleared up some misconceptions I had and gave me the details behind somethings I've heard but didn't quite understand. For example, I knew some fats are worse than others, but learned that some fats are actually good for you (compared to an equal amount of calories from another source). So, given a choice between a product with "good" fat and a non-fat version with an equal number of calories, it's probably better to go with the version with the fat, even though the non-fat version is advertised as healthier. Also, I'd heard that brown rice is better than white rice, but never really understood why. It also has lots of real world advice for finding healthy products and reading product labels to see if they are healthy. There's a huge selection of recipies, but I haven't had a chance to try any yet.
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Summary: No hype.
Review: This is the most sensible book on nutrition that I have read to date; however, I am not ready to give up the glycemic index. Certain conditions such as diabeties & hypoglycemia require a little more care.
I used this book to help my teenager assume responsiblity for a self-directed eating plan. I hope when she goes to college this year she can avoid the "freshman 15".
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Summary: Nutrition based on science, not lobbying groups
Review: This is an excellent book. It is a basic book on nutrition that essentially takes the USDA food pyramid, explains why it is innaccurate, and then turns it upside down and replaces with his own version.Dr. Willett's advice is based on scientific studies and research, emphasizing the importance of the omega fatty acids found in Salmon and flax seeds, and the importance of staying away from refined carboyhydrates. He also makes a compelling case for staying away from not only saturated fats, but the common culprit partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and the fat substitute Olestra. This is not a "diet" book. It gives you clear advice on what to eat and why- in order to reduce your risk of disease. It gives you information on what your weight should be. It dispels certain myths perpetuated by the media or the current medical establishment, and backs it up with studies (for example, most people get enough protein and calcium, and small amounts of caffeine can be beneficial). Of course, in the future there might be another scientific "study" to disprove what Dr. Willet is saying, but as much of the information makes sense, and one who follows it should feel better as well, it is a great place to get started if you are interested in improving your health and want to get some basic facts.
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Summary: Offers dietary wisdom and sound advice
Review: This book is well researched and easy to understand, with sensible and practical guidelines to help readers make correct dietary decisions. Dr. Willett stresses that food that is good for you need not be boring or tasteless, nor does eating right have to be synonymous with self-deprivation. Although he cites the Mediterranean diet as a prime example of healthy eating, he points out that other traditional diets contain beneficial elements that are worth incorporating into one's eating habits. He has included some recipes, but I have found that the concepts embodied in his book can be very effectively utilized in conjunction with any cookbook that contains healthful and appealing recipes, a notion compatible with his "flexible eating strategy." One volume I particularly recommend is Sonia Uvezian's "Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen," which provides cooks with hundreds of inspired recipes for dishes rich in flavor and nutrition as well as many innovative ideas that can be used in one's everyday cooking to make it more healthful and exciting.
Rating:
Summary: Helpful
Review: This book is very informative, though not as much as it would have been had I read it when it was newly published. Unfortunately, much of this information I have already received through my subscription to Shape magazine, which has been very helpful in giving tips on how to be healthy without feeling deprived. However, the author's gripes about the USDA Food Pyramid are worth checking out. Additionally, there is valuable information about vitamins and minerals which I did not know - such as which ones I likely already get enough in my diet, and which ones it may be smart to take as a supplement. If you've found that diets don't work and are looking for substantive information about how to eat in order to be healthy (not just to lose weight), I would begin with reading this book.
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Summary: Well Researched Book
Review: This is the book for you if you are interested in the medical research concerning a healthy life style. Dr. Willett has his own ideas concerning the food pyramid. His advise is fairly easy to follow and the recipes are for the most part good. You have to be willing to try new foods and do your own cooking most of the time. I believe it is a well researched book and not just another "weight loss" plan.
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Summary: The real story regarding your health
Review: Great, no non-sense, devoid of propaganda - advice that is backed by plenty of data. Useful as both a quick read and a reference guide.
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Summary: Excellent Book for those who have Plateaued
Review: If you are looking to lose weight, understand nutrition, or simply want to break out of your current routine and achieve a higher level of satisfaction from the foods you eat, this book is for you. I lost 60 lbs on a low calorie, low fat diet, but it was difficut at times. If only I had read this book first. Although much of the book seems to mirror what Dr. Barry Sears said years ago in the Zone, this book's views on Protein, Carb sources, and fitness seem to be more reality based and easy to understand. Also, Dr. Willett is level headed and does not sound preachy. Probably the best book I have purchased in the last year.
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Summary: A Great Book with A Bad Pyramid.
Review: As a nutritionally oriented sports surgeon and antiaging specialist, I was delighted to see the appearance of this work from one of America's leading researchers on the effects of diet on health. The cover states: "Unique and authoritative, Eat, Drink and Be Healthy will teach everyone a new and fun way to eat." Dr. Willett starts by attacking the USDA Food Pyramid. "At best, the USDA Pyramid offers wishy-washy, scientifically unfounded advice on an absolutely vital topic- what to eat. At worst, the misinformation contributes to overweight, poor health, and unnecessary early deaths." "The thing to keep in mind about the USDA Pyramid is that it comes from the Department of Agriculture, the agency responsible for promoting American agriculture, not from agencies established to protect our health...And there's the root of the problem- what's good for some agricultural interests isn't necessarily good for the people who eat there products." He then goes on to propose his own "Healthy Eating Pyramid" with red meat, butter, white rice, white bread, potatoes, pasta, sweets to be "used sparingly, and whole grain foods and plant oils "at most meals." Dr. Willett attacks the US dietary "attack on fat." "The all-fat-is-bad message has started a huge national experiment, with us as the guinea pigs." The "rise in the amount of trans fats made and eaten in the United States suspiciously parallels the rise in heart disease throughout much of this century." Finally! A researcher from the mainstream medical establishment (sorry Mary Enig...you were too far ahead of your time to ever be allowed back into the mainstream! <see Mary Enig's Know Your Fats for more>) has come out in a major publication to explain the evils of trans fats to the public (although the section in Drs. Eades Protein Power Life Plan and Dr. Enig's book Know Your Fats are better).
He also joins the bandwagon to watch your carbohydrate intake. "Carbohydrates...contribute more toward weight maintenance or weight gain than any other nutrient." He briefly mentions insulin resistance, barely touches "The Metabolic Syndrome" and points out that "HIGH CARBOHYDRATE DIETS ARE ESPECIALLY BAD FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE OVERWEIGHT." "Experiments in which volunteers were asked to follow high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets ended up with heart-unhealthy changes in levels of HDL and triglycerides, not to mention higher levels of blood sugar and insulin, and these changes were the most pronounced in overweight people." "Dark bread can have just as high a glycemic index value as white bread if the flour is finely ground."
Dr. Willett goes on with well-written and informative chapters on protein, calcium, fluids and supplements, a lot of good recipes and an excellent list of resources for those trying to find whole grain foods that really are whole grain (which alone may be worth the price of the book). In summary, Dr. Willett has provided an excellent summary of the medical establishment literature to date. But I wonder how many times he has sat across an exam table from a 275 pound woman who still thinks bagels (even whole grain bagels) are health food and got her to lose weight with this diet. Dr. Willett bans the regular inclusion of red meat in the diet and limits other animal protein sources (to 0-2 times per day) but offers surprisingly little evidence to support this ban. "Too much protein ... can draw calcium out of the skeleton and possibly lead to osteoporosis and broken bones." He ignores the countless other ways that modern diet causes chronic metabolic acidosis (the medical term he is referring to) , particularly phosphates in sodas. Dr. Willett bans saturated fat from the diet (hence the ban on red meat and butter) despite evidence that eating saturated fat (especially from hormone free meat) does nothing to promote insulin resistance. And he completely ignores legitimate concerns that more then small amounts of even complex carbohydrates are bad (and potentially very bad) for us (see "leaky gut syndrome"). We live in an epidemic of obesity caused by Metabolic Syndrome which itself is caused by insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is not just related to, but is THE primary (but not only) cause of diabetes, heart disease, peripheral vascular disease and a host of other degenerative conditions. INSULIN RESISTANCE IS THE BUBONIC PLAGUE OF OUR TIME. Restriction of carbohydrates is the only dietary treatment to date which helps correct insulin resistance. Conventional medicine, unfortunately, is always "one step behind" leading health practitioners, because conventional doctors insist on study after study before changing current practice. There ARE STILL over 2,000 babies born per year with neural tube defects in America, despite the fact that we have known how to stop them since 1976 with folic acid! Dr. Willett is to be commended for the book which shows how far "mainstream" medicine has come. This book will do a lot to get the word out that trans fats are poison and unsaturated fats are good. But Dr. Willett himself just can't bring himself to admit that his own institution's data shows that saturated fat, while not necessarily good for you, is a dietary "neutral" and is much better then complex carbohydrates at improving insulin resistance. BOTTOM LINE:
-A "must read" for those interested in nutritional medicine.
-Excellent reference source for increasing intake of whole grains, but makes no mention of dietary problems with whole grains. THIS IS A GREAT BOOK FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY LOST WEIGHT AND ARE SEARCHING FOR SOURCES OF WHOLE GRAINS TO INCLUDE A SMALL AMOUNT IN THEIR DIET.
-Excellent section on trans fats.
-This is NOT the book to read if you need to lose weight. If you insist on trying, give it 12 weeks. If it doesn't work, buy Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (2002 edition).
-Dr. Willett "cherry picks" nutritional information to match his pyramid, and ignores (or at least does not include in his book) scientific concerns about excessive carbohydrate intake (particularly "leaky gut syndrome").
Rating:
Summary: Landmark diet book- almost perfect
Review: This book is very interesting from two perspectives - from Harvard University and written by some of the actual people that did many of the landmark diet studies that almost every diet author uses to justify his particular diet. The only thing that I wished had been emphasized more is the Omega-6 to Omega-3/9 ratios that seem to be out of balance in the typical American diet today. The new pyramid level just lumps them all together. As noted by another reviewer, this is misleading if someone only looks at the pyramid instead of reading the complete text. In a similar way, the pyramid does not make it really clear that the whole grains really need to be whole, unrefined grain foods and not just your 'whole, enriched wheat bread' to get the full benefit of the diet. This is just an definition and education issue. Since the typical American diet today consist of readily available refined grains, a switch to more vegetables instead of grains might be more realistic instead of the lower pyramid foundation consisting of whole grain foods. However, this change seems to be within the diet guidelines and allows this type of an adjustment. In fact, the authors really want us to understand what foods our body needs and not just get locked into one and only one kind of diet like the Mediterranean diet, but to understand the basics of good nutrition and make intelligent adjustments accordingly. This book does so much right that I would recommend it to anyone and just point them to the text for a better understanding on the Omega-6 fat.
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