Steven G. Pratt

What I love about this book? Well, for one, the things that you won't find mentioned in it: Gluten-free, Low-Carb, Detox, GMO Foods, Juicing, Paleo, Vegan, or plugs for the author's own line of protein powders, supplements or food additives. In other words, there isn't a whiff of quackery, faddism or environmental agenda that seems to permeate so many books on nutrition. The author is both a researcher and clinician and spotlights foods whose health promoting abilities are backed up by show more mainstream research not just anecdotal evidence.

I learned a hard lesson in lifestyle and its connection to health this autumn when I was diagnosed a diabetic. One of the first things I learned from a diabetes educator is that a diabetic diet is basically just a healthy diet. The difficult part of course is learning what that is when so much extreme and contradictory advice exists out there in books and online. I know lifestyle makes a difference because I saw it in my own life these past six months. As I changed how I ate my weight and cholesterol went down, as did my insulin doses--which I was able to eliminate months ago; my endocrinologist thinks that, depending on my next round of tests, I may be able to get off medications altogether. That's how powerful food is--or right versus wrong foods anyway.

And this book isn't extreme, isn't puritanical, doesn't restrict entire groups of foods. The model meal plan and recipes are doable and delicious. Some recipes are involved, but a lot are very simple, affordable and easy to add to your life: Patty's Pumpkin Pudding, Grilled Wild Salmon Burgers (using canned salmon), Superfoods RX Salad, Tropical Yogurt Parfait, Fortified Cereal. All were very easy to incorporate. I found his shopping suggestions invaluable in beginning to make changes. Too many diet gurus seem to sell their own products. When Pratt lists cereals, breads, canned goods, etc, they're from many different brands and not favoring any in particular--there are usually multiple suggestions.

Not that I don't still have work to do. I find you can't change your life on a dime and have it stick. It takes time, and it's easiest to make a few changes at a time. I probably could use more beans in my life. I doubt I will ever be able to work in the amount of citrus, berries and yogurt he recommends daily. I'm dubious of incorporating as much fruit juice in my diet as is suggested here--it's about the only part of his diet that doesn't go well with what I've been told is good for diabetics. But the information in this book has proven invaluable--a list of his Superfoods and "sidekicks" and recommended amounts are up on my refrigerator door as a daily reminder. show less

I thought this book was pretty fantastic. I loved how it gave you all different aspects on the foods recommend. The history of the food, WHY the food is good for you, WHAT the food can do for you and WHO the food might benefit most. There was a lot of scientific information that sometimes I tended to glance through, but it was all very useful information. Then the book broke it down very easily for anyone on how it could be incorporated into our diet. It also gives lots of easy recipes which show more is great. The book was also honest about the fat content and how it should be eaten. It really inspired me to go out and throw everything in my fridge and cupboards away and start fresh. Good stuff. show less

If you have no idea what foods are good for you and how to live healthily, this will tell you. This book is for health beginners, though. If you're already pretty healthy, a lot of this will be stuff you already know. There's also a lot of "this food is related to cancer prevention" that isn't sufficiently backed by research.

I'm constantly trying to figure out simple, practical ways to make sure that my family and I live the healthiest life that we can. We walk the kids to the park rather than drive, I've switched ground turkey for ground beef in nearly all of my recipes, and I read nearly every book I can find on exercise, diet and health that I can get my hands on. Now, I take everything I read with a grain of salt, but this book is pretty good. I initially borrowed it from the library, but I ended up picking show more up my own copy once I realized that there was a wealth of yummy recipes in it. I'm not naive enough to think that I can get my five year old to eat a 2 cups of raw spinach, an apple, an orange, 1/2 cup of beans, oatmeal, honey, 1 - 4 cups of tea, kiwi, and tofu every day, but I can work to incorporate these foods into our daily life more often. I don't know if it will help her live longer, or to have a healthier life, but I'm pretty sure that eating more fiber, and fresh fruits and vegis isn't going to hurt her. And it isn't going to hurt my husband or I either.

This book was really well written. I read it straight through from cover to cover, but it would be just as easy to just read about the food or conditions that you are interested in. There are tons of recipes and advice on getting more exercise and sleep, and decreasing stress levels. I think that it could be overwhelming if you started to read this book and told yourself that you had to eat everything that the author is recommending every day, but if you take his information and consciously attempt to incorporate them into you diet more often, this book becomes a helpful tool. show less