Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Introduction to Insulin Resistance and Other Issue
Review: I've bought and read at least 6 books (Eades, Heller, Sears, etc.)on insulin resistance, low carbohydrate eating and related topics. I've also done some research on the Web. I found this book to be the clearest and easiest to read of all. I highly recommend it.Yes, it can be a bit simplistic at times. But there's a lot of information to convey here, and it's done clearly. Getting more technical would overwhelm the reader, which is what happens with some of the other books on this topic. I'm a pretty bright person who's used to reading articles on science, but I found some of the other books WAY too technical. (Eicosanoids? What are those and why should I care? I can't even pronounce it!) Schwarzbein keeps it all simple and straightforward. I was able to go back to some of the other books with a clear sense of the overall picture, which had eluded me. I'd been too bogged down with details. She pulls a lot of highly technical info together into a neat package that's easy to grasp and remember. Her guidelines for eating and lifestyle are also simple (I'm sorry, but the Zone is way too complicated for me. I eat real food, not blocks. Trying to stay in the Zone made me obsessive and crazy for about 2 days, trying to figure it all out, so I gave it up. Good science, maybe, but not so hot in a real person's kitchen or a real person's life) In my view, this is information that needs to get out to the public. But we've had so many years of the low-fat gospel that anything that sounds different seems nutty and faddish. So the very people who should not be eating starchy foods will go on using "low-fat" salad dressing and no-fat yogurt, thinking it's the best thing for them (read the labels! Don't you wonder how they make them low-fat and still taste palatable? It's SUGAR, by many different names, the last thing Type Two diabetics or people with insulin resistance should be eating in large doses. One brand of salad dressing I checked had twice as much sugar in its low-fat version as in its regular version. Add up all the low-fat products you pay extra for, because they're supposedly healthier for you, and then ask yourself why you can't lose weight or get your pre-breakfast glucose levels down to normal! It's not your fault). And those of us whose bodies tell the story of insulin resistance will continue to get blamed for eating too much, not enough willpower, blah blah. (News flash: "Obesity is the cause of millions of dollars per year of extra health-care costs, so fat people should lose weight." Oh, thank you so much for this piece of wisdom. Precisely how do these experts suggest we do that? And what makes them think we haven't tried, repeatedly, over the years?) Meanwhile, that telltale "spare tire" gets bigger and bigger as we eat all that healthy low-fat high-carb food we're supposed to eat, we get insatiable cravings, and we get heartburn from those healthy potatoes and rice. By the time I heard about insulin resistance and low carb eating, it was no sacrifice for me to give up starchy foods, because they gave me a literal pain when I ate them. And reading the books I've read explained why. All of the books I've read on this topic have included some pretty convincing science. I speak as a layman, mind you, but I can also see the evidence in my own weight loss and improved health. This book gave me the clearest and most comprehensive understanding of what was happening and why. I highly recommend it for anyone just starting out into the maze of information about low-carb/insulin resistance/Syndrome X.
Rating:
Summary: Schwarzbein Principle
Review: Food for thought to review the way we eat, and the impact of our
eating habits on our general health. This book really made me
working on changing my eating habits.
proud mum of a US Soldier - Spec4 Rafael Marcial
Rating: 
Summary: my last review
Review: I wrote the 2-star review about the lack of explanation. I just wanted to let people know that you are welcome to contact me about my opinion on this book, or if you have more information. My 'about you' page has my email address. Thanks.
p.s. I had to put a stars on this 'review', and I did not want to sway the average by putting another 2, so I just put a 4 randomly (no connection to my opinion of the book, which is still a 2).
Rating: 
Summary: Needs much more explanation
Review: I bought this book and the vegetarian cookbook that goes with it. I was very excited about the idea of the book. I read it all, but was very disappointed in her explanation of how to actually do the nutrition plan. She is very general, so that I had many questions after I finished reading. For example, she says to make sure each meal is balanced, but never says what she means. i.e., equal grams of each of the four groups (protein, carbs, veg, fat)? or some other measure? She doesn't want people to focus on numbers, but she doesn't give enough info to actually follow the plan. I am a vegetarian, so for protein I eat tofu, soy products and cheeses. She does not explain whether or not to count the carbs in tofu, soy or cottage cheese (they are all predominantly protein but have some carb). Does she want the carbs included in the allowable amount per meal? In her recipes with tofu, she does NOT count the carb grams in tofu at all, but in her recipes with ricotta she DOES count the carbs. So I was left to try to figure out what that means. She doesn't have recipes with cottage cheese, so I have no idea what to do with that. Unfortunately I came to the conclusion that I am unable to follow this plan, because the discrepancy is too big. For example, for dinner if I have a cup of tofu mixed with vegetables and a third cup of brown rice, if I don't include the tofu than I have had my exact amount of carbs for the meal (15), but if I do count the carbs in tofu I am at 30, which is DOUBLE my allowed carbs. I am certainly not willing to have that much ambiguity in an eating plan, since it may mean whether it is successful or not. I have health reasons for choosing this so I would like to know I am doing it right. I checked her website as well and she has no information on this and no place to ask questions. I would say that if you are interested in doing a balanced eating plan (I think that her information on why they are very important for everyone is great and sounds right on) you might consider looking elsewhere, to a plan that has more details on how to follow the plan successfully. I gave this book a 2 because although her information about why to do the plan is great, her information about HOW to do the plan is quite inadequate, so much so that the plan can't be followed (which is the whole point of the book).
Rating:
Summary: This eating plan is great for PCOS women
Review: This book makes a lot of sense! Even though she disagrees with many of her contemporaries, Dr. Schwarzbein explains how high-carb, low-fat diets really affect our metabolism. Frankly, everything she says makes a lot of sense. This isn't a fad - it's balanced, healthy eating. I have PCOS, and I think this is perfect for a person like me, who is Insulin Resistant. I felt a difference almost immediately after giving up sugar. I'm looking forward to feeling better, and being more healthy, the longer I follow this eating plan!
Rating:
Summary: If you only get one book on eating, this should be it!
Review: This book has been a tremendous help to me. It does not focus on weight loss, but instead focuses on what food does to our bodies on a cellular level, and how food either builds our body or damages it. Eating properly according to this book will reverse many of the diseases that plague our modern times and help us achieve our ideal body weight and composition. If you suffer from diabetes, heart problems, high cholesterol, other illness, or are overweight, it would be worth your while to read this book. It is written in a simple to understand manner, with concrete information that is hard to dispute. This is the book that has taken me off of the diet roller coater and put me back on the path to health. Weight loss is just the "icing on the cake".
Rating:
Summary: No more guilt about food!
Review: I love what Dr. Scwarzbein has done for people like me who have had a weight problem all their lives. I have been on every diet ever invented for 40-odd years. They only wrecked my metabolism and made me feel guilty that I could not control my weight. Now after reading Schwarzbein's book, I understand why I've had such a big problem. Best of all, though, I now know I can heal my metabolism and achieve an ideal body weight. Everything that didn't make sense on other diets (including hi protein, low carb) now makes perfect sense. Don't skip any of the chapters. This book and the data it so easily explains could turn around the deplorable state of health in this country alone. Our kids today are the saddest cases of all. Do anyone you know with kids, especially teen girls, a big favor, and get them to read this book. One chapter in particular covers this issue, how vital it is for teen girls to eat right, and include the correct fats in their diets. I could go on and on about this book and Dr. S's wonderful gift to us, and I have gone on and on to my friends about it. I did lose 15 lbs. and didn't even try. I now eat more butter (YES!) and oil than I did before, and I finally, without having to be a biochemist, do understand very simply what fats are good and which are bad, and why. I eat plenty of food, never go hungry (and must not!) and enjoy a real sense of freedom for the first time in my life about food and what I "can" eat and what I shouldn't eat. I no longer crave sweets. This is a miracle in itself. After entering menopause and gaining 20+ pounds in what seemed like seconds, I know that sticking to this (which is easy, it's now a lifestyle for me) I will be able to gradually (the only way to go) get rid of the unhealthy weight and get down to a really healthy ideal, for me. I only wish I had had this book back years ago, and before menopause, and, what the heck, before puberty! Yes, if I could have ever designed the perfect meals for myself, years ago, I would have exactly designed what Schwarzbein has described! Hey, the recipe books are fabulous, too. It really works!
Rating:
Summary: This Book Works!
Review: I have seen this book do incredible things. It really works! I feel better. I would even use the word "invigorated". Having come from a general lack of health, low immune system, and general fatigue to the point I just didn't have as much stamina as everyone else did, this is saying lots. I have friends who look incredible and tell me they feel much better (no headaches or afternoon slump or excessive fatigue) after applying Diana Schwarzbein's information. She explains her ideas clearly and specifically so that they make sense to the nonmedical population. I'm a big "cheater", and it still works for me. I can clearly see the difference when I follow her advice and when I don't. The results have been so outstanding for myself and my friends that have taken her advice that I am encouraged to adhere more strictly and see what else will come of it. I recommend this book to any and everyone. I've purchased it for several of my friends already.
Rating:
Summary: Solid Information
Review: This work is well worth reading for everyone intrested in good health. So much mis-information is heaped upon us; saturated, unsaturated, calories, etc. with little or no information on nutrition. Thanks to the good doctor, after only two weeks of close attention to the guidelines I feel stronger, healthier, more energenic (without any stimulants!) and mentally at peace-an amazing side benifit.
Rating:
Summary: Schwarzbein tells it like it is!
Review: I was sceptical, like everyone else. But, the author does an outstanding job of explaining how the human body works. She is a doctor, who questions the Doctor Associations! She gives reports from everyday people, and then checks back to make sure they are still following a recovery path. I have bought over 12 copies myself, and handed them out to ALL my friends and family. They have in turn bought many copies and handed them out as well. She makes SENSE! This is the overwelming cause for our enthusiasm. Following her WAY of EATING (not diet) my family has lost weight w/o ANY gains. I will continue to recommend her book and the wonderful cookbook too.
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