Special Diets Books

book, I haven't really had a chance to read much of the book. what I have read seems interesting.

(a) very, very American
(b) very sugary writing, almost patronising
(c) weak on facts and evidence
(d) no help whatsoever except as a grade 1 introduction

Our standard American diet can result in many digestive ailments for adults and kids. This book has helped many of my clients get back on track.

If you are a fan of Dr.McDougall, you will know that he recommends a plant based diet to cure disease. He explains in great detail along with humorous cartoons to get the message across as to what causes constipation, diverticulits, colitis and so much more. Eat your plants and you won't end up like the cartoon characters, overweight and miserable.

I would also like to add that the more natural your diet is, the better for you and you feel fantastic. If you feel that eating a plant-based diet is a horrible thing to do, then you aren't creative. You don't just put veggies on your plate..you create wonderful and delicious recipes. There are so many sites online to find great vegan and raw recipes.
I recommend getting a powerful blender and a food processor. With those two gadgets you can make delicious soups, smoothies, sauces, ice cream, pudding, and so much more. You will never miss your old way of eating, and you will stay regular, your skin will clear up, and you will have more energy than ever before. Guaranteed.

The review before me says this book is very AMERICAN. I think all of McDougall's books are anything BUT american. The american diet is our problem to begin with. I had (notice past tense) severe JRA and had been on medications. While pregnant with my son i was in remission and thought this state would stick around afterwards. Didn't happen. I flared horribly 6 weeks after his birth and could hardly hold him. i was afraid I would drop him or be unable to care for him without medication. A friend gave me his book and I have yet to be on medication again. My son is 12 months now! It isn't an easy plan to do because our society is not set up for this type of eating. So, eating out is rare for us, but my results are beyond appreciation for his research. I have no doubt that God sent us this program. My husband and I are healthier than we have ever been in our lives and we were pretty healthy people to begin with. My husband did the program with me as support and he has seen his allergies go away as well!

This book is very informative, but there is too much repetition. What would be equally useful would be some charts listing low and high glycemic foods, some foods that lower blood sugar, etc. I skimmed the book and made my own lists.

Every American eats an average of 5 and a half POUNDS of sugar a month.

No, you say. Not me. Oh yeah? Start counting.

This book is a must for those who would understand the role sugar plays in our lives and how our society has been turned into the fattest in the world through the food industry's inclusion of high-fructose corn syrup in almost everything it sells.

Commercially prepared foods are full of high-fructose corn syrup - which is not the "natural" sugar manufacturers would like us to believe it is. It's simple refined sugar - and it's deadly.

This is a must read book for those who wish to turn their lives and their diets around.

I got a lot of closure as well as information from this book. the day that I read it helped me to understand what my grandmother had just gone through. I read it at work. By the time I got home she had just died. So then I ordered this the book. Yes she was a diabetic.

While the focus of this book is how sugar does damage to your body by raising your insulin level and leads to weight gain, it also covers every other topic related to health. It shows you which foods to throw out and what to buy on your next grocery trip to lead you to a healthy lifestyle. You will receive specific advice on exercise and meal plans. The end of the book provides you with 60 healthy recipes using the items you were told to buy.The book also provides you with 30 sugar solutions that are great tips I have found in other books that will really help, like always eating breakfast, making sure you have enough fiber, drinking lots of water and much more. If you are new to reading diet books this may very well be the only one you ever need. I lost 60 pounds on a similiar program "The Zone", and my guiding principle was controlling my insulin level through balancing my carbohydrate (Sugar) intake with my protein intake. The key is that insulin is a fat storing hormone, sugar intake causes your body to release to much insulin which brings your blood sugar down to much and stores the calories you eat as body fat. Your body can only burn fat when your insulin level in your blood is very low, allowing your body to release stored fat as energy. While the book is rather boring, it does contain all the information you need. It is not a 5 star because the writer could have made reading it at least a little fun.

After a long, up and down battle with weight and food, I ballooned to a dangerous size that threatened my health. At 32, I was confused. I knew that it was harder to drop weight as one ages, but I wasn't that old. Worse still, I was hungry constantly. How could I lose weight if I literally couldn't stop thinking about food? I had forgotten what true hunger felt like.

Then I purchased The Sugar Solution. The first thing the book did was scare the crap out of me. I didn't realize how my eating habits literally endangered me. About 50 pages in, I began to realize that sugar was possibly keeping me from losing weight. It was affecting me on a cellular level, urging my cells to retain unneeded fat. It was also putting my arteries in severe risk of damage due to high blood pressure and unchecked sugar levels.

I began checking sugar content before I ate anything and was surprised to find how much sugar seemingly "safe" foods contained. Soon, I began to drop some weight. Amazingly, I found myself putting food away 3/4 into a meal. I began eating when I was actually hungry. A month and a half after reading the book, I am 25 pounds lighter and generally calmer. I don't suffer mood swings anymore--another symptom of blood sugar spikes.

My beef with this book is in the tone. The book was put together from pieces of magazine content, and it feels like it. Titles are consistently alliterate and tacky. Exclamation points should be used sparingly (or so I thought). After a few hundred pages of this, I began to get irritated, as the book felt less scientific and more corny.

Overall, I would absolutely suggest this book to people on the road to diabetes or people simply concerned about their health. For me, the culprit is sugar. If I can control my sugar, I can control my eating. Get healthy before it's too late.

UPDATE
Forty-five pounds shed and counting. I can't say things would have gone this smoothly if not for this book.

This book provided me with information and insight into issues related to my disease that no doctor has been able to provide in the 9 years since my diagnosis. Although I have yet to put the actual diet piece into practice, the information I am learning is so important and really helping me to feel like there are other solutions to my disease than medications.

I bought this for my son who was recently diagnosed with Cohrones Disease., He said the book has been very helpful

This book is mostly a review of literature and interviews conducted by the writer who sees to have written many other diet books for chronic illnesses. Did not like its contents much.

He speaks in easy to understand terms.

I bought at least six books over the last 18 months - this is by far my favorite one.

I was diagnosed with chrones a month ago and had no idea what foods were good or bad ive bought tons of books this one is one of the two i kept i take it everywhere with me the other book is 100 Q&A about chrones and colitis i realy belive from all the books ive got these two are the only ones you need.

I've been looking for a cookbook for FMS for quite awhile. This book is informative, with a lot of great ideas. I look forward to trying out the recipes. I would suggest this book for anyone looking to help themselves with Fibromyalgia, and what foods to avoid.

I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 1996. Since that time, I had tried a variety of things to reduce the intensity of my symptoms and the number of flare ups that I experience. Then, about three years ago, I began noticing how food could either exasperate my health issues or make me feel better, particularly my moods and energy levels.

Over time, mostly through trial and error, I have created a nutritional plan that seems to support my needs, increase the number of good days I have, and is easy enough to follow without feeling like I'm on a diet. In some ways, it's like learning to cook again so I'm always on the look out for interesting recipes that I can adapt as needed. Generally, this tends to mean making two dinners, one for myself and another for my family.

Then, I came upon The Fibromyalgia Cookbook. I was pleasantly surprised. All the things that I had to learn the hard way (no red meat, no refined flour, no refined sugar, and plenty of fresh raw vegetables) were set out in black and white before me. What's more, the recipes were simple to make (even when I'm having a bad day) and tasty enough so that my family actually enjoyed quite a few of the meals and salads.

The platters are delicious & great for patients with FMS

Simple recipes, safe for fibromyalgia, (If that's what I have). The introduction, while simple, provided two
major clues to self-care, and the results strongly suggest that my self-diagnosis was correct. I feel better,
and my family likes the dishes.

I am a good cook, so when I saw these simple recipes I was not impressed...so many are like things I'm already doing, and are so simple. BUT...each one was delicious, and tho' I frequently think something I've created needs salt, these low-sodium recipes are wonderfully tasty. Instead of being on the cook-book shelf in the pantry,
it's taken it's place on my kitchen counter!

A wonderful easy to read and understand book. So far has greatly helped in a constant fight against Fibromyalgia for my partner Lesley McGregor. The recipes are simple yummy and easy to prepare and i enjoy them myself. Thank you for this great addition to the fight against this chronic desease.As a partner i do need to understand more of what Lesley goes through and the publications on this subject from Amazon have helped.

This book is changing my life. After watching my weight creep up, up, up for the past 8 years and dealing with the usual results...high blood pressure, high cholesterol, clothes not fitting, depression, and most recently, mild type-2 diabetes, I got my hands on this book and I now have a clear understanding of what I've been doing to my body and what foods I need to really watch. By following the book's guidelines I've been able to lose 14 pounds in about 5 weeks. I still have a ways to go but I'm confident that I'll be able to accomplish my goal. And, without hunger. Even if you're not (yet) diabetic but need to lose some unwanted pounds, I guarantee you'll be able to quickly do it with these guidelines. After my fantastic results so far, my doctor is ordering a copy and will be recommending it to other patients. One of the biggest things I learned..."Sugar is the #1 poison!"...which it states throughout.

I was initially very excited to read this book, based upon most of the reviews as well as the preliminary information I read. However, after carefully reading the information, I'm afraid I cannot recommend this book to anyone else in good conscience, due to the issues I point out in the following note, which was e-mailed to the author at the address given in the book (and subsequently returned as "undeliverable," as the e-mail listed in the book is apparently incorrect or no longer working).

Not only didn't the figures from the book's Daily Meal Plans add up (which as you can see from my note below, were WELL beyond their stated limit of 40g of carbohydrates per day, even for a partial list of items from their very own recipes), but the e-mail itself was returned as undeliverable at the address listed on page 149 of the book (ezrin-ctrs@aol.com).

If the daily menus contained in the book don't even conform to the author's very own stated requirements and even the author's e-mail address is incorrectly listed, why in the world would a reader ever entrust their own health and well being to this dietary program?

I assure you I am in no way connected to any other dietary program of any kind, nor do I have any ax to grind against either the authors or their Insulin Control Diet program. I'm just a guy very recently diagnosed with a condition of "Type II Diabetes" whose doctor recommended weight loss as a solution and who turned first to this book in order to try to find it.

I even gave the authors the benefit of the doubt by trying to contact them based upon the information they gave in the book to obtain clarification on the apparent inconsistencies in the text, in case my observations were incorrect. But as I mentioned, I was unable to receive a response, due to the apparently inaccurate listing of the e-mail address for the author.

I am extremely disappointed in the book, not only due to its incomplete or inconsistent information, but also due to its extremely haphazard presentation.

My note to the author (returned as undeliverable) is included below.

R. McGowan
Los Angeles, CA

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2005 11:44 AM
To: 'ezrin-ctrs@aol.com'
Subject: Figures for the Figure don't Figure
Importance: High

Dr. Ezrin,

I am a 46-year-old male recently diagnosed with Type-II Diabetes and was excited to discover your "Type 2 Diabetes Diet Book," since it was written from the perspective of an endocrinologist. While the program does seem to make sense overall, what is most perplexing to me is how you arrive at a daily carbohydrate intake limit of 40g for your meal plans (which you say the daily meal plans maintain).

You mention several times throughout the book that a standard serving of fruit consists of 15g of carbohydrate (also referenced in the Appendix on pp. 303- 304). Since each of the meal plans consist of 2 standard servings of fruit (or even 2 ½, such as in the example I give below), this means that fruit alone counts for a full 75% - 94% (30g - 37.5g) of the daily carbohydrate intake amount, leaving only 10g carbohydrate for all the rest of the foods combined throughout the day.

As an example, following is the carbohydrate breakdown for Day Two of the Insulin Diet Meal Plan (from p. 135), based entirely upon the carbohydrate figures referenced in the Appendix:

Breakfast

Decaffeinated coffee- (not in Appendix)- 0g?
1 soft-cooked egg- 0.6g
1 cup chicken bouillon (not in Appendix, but listed separately on p. 243)- 1g
1 peach- 15g


Lunch

Iced coffee (not in Appendix)- 0g?
Salmon Salad Sandwich- 5oz (1tbs chopped onion- 0.6g; mayonnaise- 1g; lettuce- 1g)
Salad (not defined) with Low-Cal Vinaigrette (iceberg lettuce- 2.9g; Vinaigrette dressing- 6.6g)
Gelatin (why not specifically state "sugar-free" here??? I'm assuming it is...) with D-Zerta topping- 0g?


Snack (afternoon or evening)

1 ¼ cup watermelon cubes- 15g


Dinner

Decaffeinated coffee- 0?
Chinese Fish Steaks- (1/2 cup chicken bouillon- .5g; mushrooms- NOT EVEN LISTED ON THE VEGETABLES LIST IN THE APPENDIX!- 0.5G?; soy sauce- NOT LISTED IN THE APPENDIX- 0.5G?)
Beans with Basil (It doesn't specify the KIND of beans. However, based upon the Appendix under "Vegetables," `1/2 cup of cooked beans shows 15g carbohydrate)
Salad (not defined) with Low-Cal Vinaigrette (iceberg lettuce- 2.9g; Vinaigrette dressing- 6.6g)
1 cup beef bouillon- 1g
Gelatin & Fruit (again, it doesn't specify "sugar-free," but I'm assuming so. However, even ¼ cup of fruit is still 7.5g carbohydrate, no matter how you slice it)


You separately caution to allocate fruit portions sparingly, and yet even in this ONE DAY of the meal plan, the fruit portions alone that you specify already account for a full 37.5g of carbohydrates of the 40g maximum daily intake of carbohydrate that you recommend (in fact, you even state a recommended limit of between only 20 - 35 grams of carbohydrate in any 24-hour period elsewhere in the book).

The total amount of carbohydrate of all the other ingredients combined for this one-day's meal plan alone (the carb amounts for which are all pulled from the book's Appendix) which even then only constitute a partial list, based upon what the recipes call for, comes to 46.7g (already over your 24-hour maximum limit). When added to the amount of fruit indicated, this makes a carbohydrate consumption of 84.2g for this one-day's meal plan alone- well over TWICE the daily carbohydrate intake you recommend throughout the book (FOUR-TIMES the amount, if you go by your lower recommendation of 20g carbs per day).

Examples from the text, for reference:

p. 109, paragraph 2: "For the duration of your weight loss period, we ask that you limit your total carbohydrate intake to 20 to 35 grams." (while it doesn't specify "per day" here, elsewhere you do indicate no more than 40 grams during any 24-hour period).

p. 109, paragraph 3: "In other words, more than 40 grams of carbohydrate in any form will trigger your overproduction of insulin and return you to the weight gain cycle you know so well." (again, based upon other references, this indicates "per-day").

p.111, paragraph 3: "Be advised, however, that regardless of total calories consumed, carbohydrate intake for the day should never exceed 40 grams."

Which begs the following question: "How can any reader reasonably trust the advice given, when the numbers for your own daily meal plans don't even come close to remaining within your stated limitations for daily carbohydrate intake?

Secondly, it took me over an hour-and-a-half to determine the actual carbohydrate amounts listed for this one day's meal plan listed above alone, since it required me to constantly flip back-and-forth between the meal plan listing (which DOESN'T indicate any carbohydrate/protein/fat information), the recipes (which are also difficult to track down and which also don't list any carbohydrate/protein/fat information for any of the ingredients) and the Appendix (which doesn't include information on all the items in the recipes and, even if it does, does not give information equivalent to the amounts the recipes call for).

It would be a FAR more usable resource if the information was:

a. more comprehensive, including carb/protein/fat amounts listed right along-side meal plan and recipe ingredients;

b. more logically presented, so that a reader doesn't have to shift back-and-forth between the meal plans, the recipes (which are also hard to locate), and random information sprinkled throughout the text itself (such as the information on boullion, which is not in the index, but only in a separate section I was able to locate) and

c. constructed to stay within it's own set of stated parameter guidelines.

For example, the appendix lists "1 celery stalk" as having 2g carbohydrates, but the recipe for "Salmon Salad Sandwich" calls for "1 tbsp of chopped celery." How are you supposed to make the conversion between "1 celery stalk" and "1 tbsp of chopped celery?," in order to evaluate that "all-important" carb-per-day total? And while "1 tbsp of "chopped chives" is listed in the Appendix, "1 tbsp of onion" called for in the recipe is not and "green pepper," which is also called for in the recipe, is not even on the Appendix under vegetables at all! (nor, by the way, are mushrooms, which are called for in a separate recipe).

The fundamental question is this: If "more than 40 grams of carbohydrate in any form will trigger your overproduction of insulin and return you to the weight gain cycle you know so well," as you state on page 109 and your own meal plan doesn't even maintain those guidelines, then how on Earth can the Insulin Diet program that you recommend possibly accomplish the weight loss goals that you claim? The figures simply don't add up. Either your statements regarding a daily limit of 40g carbohydrate are incorrect, or else your meal plans simply do not work, according to the parameters you yourself have indicated.

I'd love to receive clarification on this issue at your earliest convenience, since I do want to get a handle on the effects of added weight on the symptoms for Type II Diabetes. However, I can only do that if I have complete confidence in the logic of the information that's being presented. As it is, my confidence in the program is shaky, since the figures on how to improve my figure just don't figure.

I look forward to your reply.

Best,
R. McGowan

When I first looked at this book, I thought there's no way - how can I go without bread, rice, pasta, etc. After thinking about it for a couple of weeks I decided to give it a try. I loved it. I truly never missed the processed foods and surprisingly was never hungry. I feel like my diet is much more nutritionally sound than what I had been eating, and after the first couple of weeks I had pretty much trained myself what and how much to eat. I've lost 18 pounds so far and a lot of it has been the "stubborn belly fat". Couldn't be happier and feel great. I think that as much as following the diet you need to include the exercise, which is talked about in the book. This diet may not be for everyone, but as someone who has been unsuccessful with weight loss, even with exercise, it's been a Godsend.

OK, this is less about the book than it is about the diet. It works. I have tried everything including Atkins and Weight Watchers. I had 15 pounds to lose. When my doctor said elevated blood sugar was the only thing he could find to explain why I wasn't losing the weight, I bought this book. Now, it is NOT an 'eat all you want of certain foods' diet. And sometimes I've been hungry. But it is easy to follow, not the least complicated and there's no measuring (aside from knowing what 3-4 ounces of meat/chicken/fish looks like, and 1/2 cup of fruit/vegetable.) I'm down 14 1/2 pounds. One caviat: since I didn't have a lot of weight to lose (I'm guessing this is the reason) it's taken me awhile. But it's the only thing that has worked. Right now I'm slowly re-introducing grains (bread, brown rice) and the loss continues (this was a problem with Atkins - the minute I ate a dinner roll, the weight came back). It really works.

I per chance picked up this book as I thought I was heading for Diabetes Type 2. I am in the Medical Profession this book is sound and well researched. I started on the diet 3 weeks ago lost 6 kilo's and don't feel hungry. I don't use all the menus and adapted my own. The book is incredibly informative and once you have this knowledge you realise how other diets and pills and potions cannot work.
I just have a problem with the email address I cannot contact either author on the email printed in the book.
Well done for this valuable information

The book has only 50 recipes and most of them call for ginger or celery or parsley that I hate. I could find only 3-4 recipes that sounded good to me. I saw the book in a store and liked that it had nutrition information for juices. Not every book has that. But the recipes themselves suck if you do not like ginger or celery.

The variety of juices specific for each disease is what I like best.

The book is good and lots of easy recipes and great tips on how to prepare things to be juiced. The only problem is the book was written quite a long time ago and the juicers he recommends have long been discontinued. I researched other juicers by the same brand names of the ones he liked, but the on-line reviews of other juicers from those very same companies were often quite bad. Apparently companies who make juicers occasionally hit the jackpot and make a fantastic model once in a while, but their other models are not very good. Then, of course, as all companies do, they "improve" the fantastic model and mess it up completely, and it ends up being not very good at all. Why companies feel compelled to change a very good thing just for the heck of it I don't know, but many products are ruined after a couple years by being discontinued and replaced with a new model that is not half as good. So the book is very good to learn about juicing, but you're on your own to find a current, good brand of juicer.

Hey--I am not a vegetarian, but sure appreciated this book for its multiple qualities and useful info:
a. recipes--main reason I got, combo ones as well as those under individual fruits and vegetables: even teenage son likes "Cruciferous Surprise" (even has broccoli and cabbage, and the surprise ingredient which "soothes" the flavor), which tastes better than its green color, and "Better Red than Dead" (carrot, beet and sweet potato) builds up sun protection, etcetc.. innovative, tasty
b. fruit and vegetable individual listings, such as carrots,apple, broccoli, listing nutritional components,vitamins, calories, benefits, as well as good tasty combinations for each
c. benefits of juicing, nutritional primer/info--this may be where some other readers were left cold, as they did not embrace what they perceived as author's vegetarian perspective/agenda. It is handy to read about why juicing (in combination with other food consumption) can be more beneficial than just munching raw or cooked veggies. Well, I am not a vegetarian, and sure still like meat and chocolate!...but one can take what one wants from the book, as in other matters in life. There is a section on juice fasting, as well, for those interested.
Of the several juicing books I had, I wound up actually using this repeatedly, and have given several copies, new and used when I can find them, away over the past couple of years.

I love this book. Then again, I love most of the books that I have on juicing. What I like most is the nutritional information presented on the fruits and vegetables in here. I had a limited palate for fruits and vegetables before I ever started juicing. Then I read a Christian health book that promoted juicing and detoxification. I did a serious detox program along with juicing and had dramatic results a couple of years ago. It really made me realize that I was neglecting my health by neglecting nutrition. Later I purchased this book because I wanted more recipes. This book has about 50 and I've tried about 30 of them. What I love about this juicing book is that I can find all of the ingredients where I live. Other juicing books like Gary Null's sound great, but I can't find half of the ingredients he lists. The other less than favorable reviews are also correct in stating that this author slants toward a vegetarian lifestyle and organic fruits and vegetables. Another reviewer also pointed out that several recipes call for ginger and celery which is also true. But you could easily substitute fennel for celery and something else for ginger or don't add the ginger. I am not a vegan but I have no problem with the author's views on those issues. I just wanted to learn more about what I was actually juicing, and the information presented in this book along with a few others, convinced me that juicing is definitely worth the time and investment for good health. I'm not a health nut but I don't trust the quick fix vitamin industry. As someone who is 40 years old, I cannot absorb many vitamins in pill form so I rely on juicing when I feel sluggish or depressed and it always helps me. The key for me having a variety of recipes available so I don't get bored. If you want to incorporate juicing into your lifestyle, I very much doubt that just one juicing book will address all of your problems or issues or have every favorite recipe. That is why I advocate buying more than one book on the subject. Also, look up recipes on the Internet and try those first before you invest in some books. And when you buy the books, either buy them brand new so you can return them if you don't like them, or buy them used from others really cheap.

I originally borrowed this book from our local library. Felt very fortunate to find it at a much reduced price. It was in like new condition. I'm very pleased with this purchase.

My daughtert was diagnosed with Celiacs Disease a few months ago and this book has been very helpful. She uses it quite frequently. She has her favorite recipes. Other recipes she hasn't cared for, but overall, very happy with the book.

This book has many recipes that are easy to follow. They are very good and help satisfy the longing for breads, etc. that people on non-gluten diets miss. Great book.

We are seniors with a new diagnosis of gluten intolerance. Gotta learn to bake all over again. This book not only gives lots of good recipes, but talks about those strange ingredients and how to exchange them for something else, or for each other. Very helpful

Bette Hagman is a pioneer and has performed a great service to those who are diagnosed with celiac disease, and nobody can take that away from her. Unfortunately, she's not much of a baker if this book is any indication. If you are unable to eat wheat, then this isn't a bad place to start. You can make better GF baked goods than you can buy simply by following her recipes to the letter, and if you have no desire to do more than that, then by all means buy this book.

BUT, there are problems with many of the recipes in this book. They are inconsistent. So much so that I wonder if she's even tried them all. Then there are telling errors that make one wonder whether she truly understands what she'd doing.

For example:

Everyone's favorite (and mine too), the Yeast-Rising Thick Pizza Crust has 4 cups of various flours and 1 tsp of salt. Result: fairly flat (I double the salt). However, the thin crusts on the previous 2 pages have 1 cup of flours and call for the same 1 tsp of salt, the equivalent of quadrupling the salt on the yeast crust. Result: a salty crust made edible only by diluting the salt with the toppings.

All of the breads that I've tried are flat. She tends to use 1/4 tsp of salt per cup of flour (including the yeast crust), which isn't enough, at least not for me. I like about 1/2 tsp per cup, or the bread has little taste.

Then there are outright boneheaded things like my personal cookbook pet peeve: 3 tsp. The Challah recipe calls for 3 tsp of xanthan gum. And the muffins. Wow. She warns you not to overbeat your muffins! This is gluten-free flour! You can't overbeat it! The lack of basic food knowledge and kitchen arithmetic is depressing.

The buttermilk biscuits are a mess. They're by no means a cut-out biscuit, they're drop biscuits. But even then they have nothing to hold them together and just crumble. You can't very well butter something that disintegrates when you look at it wrong.

I try to always follow a recipe exactly the first time, just to see what I have to work with. I can't really do that with this book. The times I have, the results have gone from mediocre to disastrous.

If you get (or have) this book, then if nothing else, remember 1/2 tsp salt per cup of flour, and everything will be so much better. If you have another GF cookbook and can wait, then rumor has it that Chef Richard Coppedge, Professor in Baking and Pastry Arts at the CIA, is going to publish a gluten-free cookbook sometime soon. The only thing I have to go on is the word of a current CIA student, but I hope it's true. I am personally looking forward to it, and will be getting it as soon as I see it.

The Diet in this book was good but difficult to follow. I finally counln't continue with it.

This diet works! Wine, in moderation may be consumed.The 30-Day Low-Carb Diet Solution

If you read "Protein Power" but were befuddled by the diagrams and medical terminology and just wanted to know how it worked, "The 30-Day Low Carb Diet Solution" is what you're looking for. Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades give a simple, jargon-free explanation about how the diet works, then provide meal plans and recipes to get you started. It makes everything very easy to understand and you can jump right into it. The only annoying thing is that the book seems to be a pimp for the larger and way more detailed "Protein Power Lifeplan," as it's mentioned frequently in the body of the book. Still, if you're interested in low-carb this is a very good overview.

I bought this book for my son-in-law who needed to lose some weight. He followed the diet for the 30 days, lost about 10 pounds, passed his physical and then stopped the diet. :-(

But it was easy enough for him to pick up and follow - just not convincing enough for him to stick with it!

I LIKE THE BOOK AND I GOT MY BOOK IN 2DAYS.

This book gives excellent information on hypertension and just regular diet guidelines. Would recommend it to anyone with hypertension or without. Great for someone who wants to lose weight even if they don't have hypertension.

The dietician at the VA Clinic in Lufkin TX says this is the best diet for anyone with high blood pressure. It is a low salt diet and helps a person to lose weight. The American Heart Association has endorsed this diet. It's mostly about portions and the correct amount to eat at each meal. I recommended this book to relatives who have high blood pressure.

This book is excellent. My bloodpressure was up to 160/90 and now
I have a bloodpressure mean of 120/60 ! But: You have to follow all instructions of the DASH Diat. And it really works ! Great book and the price you spend for your health is nothing !

Well, mine was one of those very very very difficult cases for physicians. In fact in my family has been a tradition of very high blood pressures. I have been sort of a buddhist meditator for years in the aim to help my high blood pressure, and I look in Taoism to see if I could find any help for it. Almost three or four weeks ago I received my manual to lower my blood pressure in 14 days. The main problem I had with it was that I had to translate the 67 recipes into spanish, as I live in Colombia, South America, so I just tried to resume the philosophy of the DASH diet, insisting in more fruits, vegetables, less red meat, very very very little sodium and much more dairy products than we usually do.

I decided to order the Dash diet manual the day I had a very severe crisis of blood pressure, 200/120, very early in the morning, even though I had been taking the days before maximum dosis of drugs for hyper tension prescribed by my physician.

So just use it if you have high blood pressures, and you will see the results by yourself!!! It really works!

Now I am just taking one drug, and my aim is to take none, as I had to suspend another maximum dosis of drug with dangerous side effects, as for the first time in my life I had a low blood pressure crisis.

The Dash Diet for Hypertension: Lower Your Blood Pressure in 14 Days--Without Drugs is a good book to learn about Hypertension but as far as the diet is concerned it is far too high in refined carbohydrates and not enough protein. Their diet would be very difficult and or dangerous for a diabetic. The diabetic would have to take much more insulin than necessary to follow the diet. And to lower the blood pressure 6 points is nothing in the total picture. So I would not recommend this book. I have a degree in nutrition and work with diabetics (my husband for one) all the time.

We are trying to cut back on fat and salt and this cookbook certainly is helping. I love one dish meals and always look for cookbooks that help me with that. This book is a great addition to my collection.

I hate to cook, consequently I'm not very good at it. This book seemed to understand that and made it seem as if I do know how to cook. The receipes are easy and quick.

This is my favorite new cookbook in 20 years. Now, to be totally fair, I'm not much of a cookbook kind of gal. I have a handful of family recipes I usually rotate through without having them written down, and I never cared much for cooking or eating in the first place. I have spent the last two months, though, trying out a large sampling of the recipes in this book, and the whole family loves them. I really like one-pot-meals because I get flustered trying to time too many different pots and pans at once, with a pesky toddler getting into the clean dishes, and older kids asking for help with homework. These recipes are clear and easy and extremely delicious. I can get them done in a very reasonable amount of time. The flavors, variety, and ease of preparation can't be beat. And I love the nutritional breakdown; easy to use, even for those of us new to the nutritional needs of a type I diabetic.

This is a great cook book. How simple can it be to put every thing in to one pot? Lots of "real food" type recipies in this book as well. I believe this is a great cook book for anyone trying to cut back on fat etc...heathly meals for the entire family.

Practical and easy to fix meals. Good ideas for meals using every day food items.