Nicholas Perricone

Once upon a time I collected diets--and diet books. I'm chucking this one. Because despite the M. D. after his name I smell quack and junk science--not solid research. Because I'm on to the key to fad diets is to make certain foods, even very healthy ones villains (like oranges, carrots, peas, pumpkin) and others the hero. (Salmon! Salmon! Salmon!) Also, beware the diet doctor who wants you to buy their special products. I felt like this book was one long commercial. It doesn't get an even show more lower rating because in terms of nutty diets, this probably won't do (much) harm--and even has some good suggestions. Certainly it is true that eating salmon with its heart-healthy Omega-3 fatty acids and berries with their cancer-fighting antioxidants are good things (if pricey--although not as pricey as his supplements and creams). But then, you know, oranges and pumpkins are superfoods too. show less

Ok…I really haven’t gone insane. I saw this particular “diet” mentioned on a show I was watching about a month or so ago and the dietitian talked about how the “core” of the program is actually pretty solid but she thought, by and large the supplement and skin care regimen that he’s created is “excessive” – I think she was one step away from saying it’s just too much (money) to be spending and too much to be taking in terms of vitamins and other supplements. If you did show more everything Perricone said, you’d be taking about 20 vitamins and various other supplements and putting 4-7 lotions and topical creams on your person everyday, twice a day…and most of them are hundreds of dollars apiece if you’re buying his brand (and still quite pricey of you “shop around” for the same thing from another manufacturer). You’d be spending several thousand dollars a month just on supplements and creams before you even got to the food part of this.

Reading this and being able to be objective out it (i.e. I’m not looking for a quick fix, I’m looking for additional strategies to add to this whole healthy living adventure thing I’ve got going on) it’s slap you in your face obvious how this guy makes his living because, according to him, everything can be made all better with these supplements and creams. My complaint with this is it’s clearly for people who are making a LOT of money…he wants you to eat fish (specifically Alaskan salmon, but a few others are in there too) seven days a week and for more than one meal a day…according to him, that should be the staple of the diet with some chicken and turkey breast thrown in, but never beef. If everyone were to suddenly start eating like this, wouldn’t that have a long term negative impact on the salmon population….for the amounts he’s recommending, it seems like this diet will coast a lot of $$$ to stick to the letter of the plan. I think I’ve come away from it with some things I can defiantly work into my plan and it was interesting to read about health and well-being from a dermatologist perspective, but I’m guessing the people who can really embrace and benefit from this type of diet/lifestyle long term are the one’s making loads and loads of money. I do give kudos that all the recipes are the embodiment of simplicity, even my 8 year old daughter could make everything listed in the recipe section…he seems to think under his plan you could eat this way for the rest of you life…I think you’d get sick of salmon after a while…no matter the health benefit, eating ONLY one food 95% of the time, in my opinion can be really hard to stick with long term (unless you’re fanatical about salmon). Overall, interesting read from a dermatological perspective, but not something I think most people would be able or willing to do for a lifetime. I’ve come away from it with a few new ideas about supplements (small changes that I can make that won’t cost me tons of $$$) and some new (for me) info on bad and good sugars and carbs. I give it a C simply because the average Joe couldn’t get on this program without bankrupting themselves. show less

One thing I found believable in this book was the reasoning behind the myth that scientific studies have shown that eating chocolate or fried foods do not cause breakouts. I have long believed that there was a connection between my diet and breakouts, but was always told that science proves otherwise. This book explains why the particular scientific study was faulty and also goes on to say that many people have the problem of breakouts after eating chocolate or fried foods.

The book covers show more the basics but doesn't go into very specific conditions that might trigger acne (pregnancy, hormones, food allergies, etc.)

The recommended diet will be difficult for many to follow. If you are vegan, vegetarian, pregnant, allergic, unable to eat fish because of mercury concerns, you are out of luck. Even my doctor forbade me to follow the diet because she did not want me eating that much fish! But there are things in the diet which can be added to your regular dietary regimen which might help (cantaloupe, oatmeal with ground flax seed, yogurt). show less

The book covers a variety of topics including diet, exercise, supplements, and treatments including stem cells for decreasing the effects of aging. I found the author to be well educated in many of these topics. His expertise is dermatology and this is where he provides more depth of knowledge. Many of the ideas states are consistent with information elsewhere so this provides some sense credibility to some of the more questionable ideas. His data on supplements is interesting since show more supplements are not regulated and do not require clinical trials. show less