Eating Well for Optimum Health


Andrew Weil - 2000
    It clarifies the mishmash of conflicting news, research, hype, and hearsay regarding diet, nutrition, and supplementation, and further establishes the judicious Dr. Weil, the director of the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, as a savior of public well-being. If you've ever wondered what "partially hydrogenated soybean oil" really is, been perplexed by contrary news reports about recommended dosages for supplements, or questioned the safety of using aluminum pots for cooking, Dr. Weil will make it all clear. Weil (pronounced "while") bravely criticizes many of the major diet books on the market, and backs up his admonitions with science. He warns readers to not fall under "the spell" of the anticarbohydrate Atkins Diet, but also criticizes the eating plan advocated by Dr. Dean Ornish--which has been granted Medicare coverage for cardiac patients--as being too low fat for the majority of people. (The omega-3 fatty acids missing from Ornish's diet are essential for hormone production and the control of inflammation, he says.) It's also fascinating to learn that autism, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease may be caused by omega-3 fatty acid deficiencies, while an excess of omega-6 fatty acids--very common in the typical American diet--can exacerbate arthritis symptoms. Weil's explanation of the chemistry of fats will prove difficult for most readers, but few will want to eat fast-food French fries ever again after reading his appalling reasons for avoiding them, which go way beyond their well-documented heart-clogging capabilities. After a thorough rundown of nutritional basics and a primer of micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals, Weil unveils what he feels is "the best diet in the world," with 85 recipes, such as Salmon Cakes and Oven-Fried Potatoes, that are healthy, tasty, quick to prepare, and complete with nutritional breakdowns. He includes a stirring chapter on safe weight loss (he sympathizes with the overweight and comically recalls his one-week trial of a safflower oil-diet while an undergraduate). Other, equally enlightening sections include tips for eating out and shopping for food (with warnings on various additives and a guide to organics), and a wondrous appendix with dietary recommendations for dozens of health concerns, including allergies, asthma, cancer prevention, mood disorders, and pregnancy. Eating Well is an indispensable consumer reference and one not afraid to lambaste the diet industry and empower the public with information about which the majority of doctors--to the detriment of the public health--are ignorant. --Erica Jorgensen

Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking


Michael Ruhlman - 2009
    Why spend time sorting through the millions of cookie recipes available in books, magazines, and on the Internet? Isn’t it easier just to remember 1-2-3? That’s the ratio of ingredients that always make a basic, delicious cookie dough: 1 part sugar, 2 parts fat, and 3 parts flour. From there, add anything you want—chocolate, lemon and orange zest, nuts, poppy seeds, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, almond extract, or peanut butter, to name a few favorite additions. Replace white sugar with brown for a darker, chewier cookie. Add baking powder and/or eggs for a lighter, airier texture. Ratios are the starting point from which a thousand variations begin. Ratios are the simple proportions of one ingredient to another. Biscuit dough is 3:1:2—or 3 parts flour, 1 part fat, and 2 parts liquid. This ratio is the beginning of many variations, and because the biscuit takes sweet and savory flavors with equal grace, you can top it with whipped cream and strawberries or sausage gravy. Vinaigrette is 3:1, or 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, and is one of the most useful sauces imaginable, giving everything from grilled meats and fish to steamed vegetables or lettuces intense flavor. Cooking with ratios will unchain you from recipes and set you free. With thirty-three ratios and suggestions for enticing variations, Ratio is the truth of cooking: basic preparations that teach us how the fundamental ingredients of the kitchen—water, flour, butter and oils, milk and cream, and eggs—work. Change the ratio and bread dough becomes pasta dough, cakes become muffins become popovers become crepes. As the culinary world fills up with overly complicated recipes and never-ending ingredient lists, Michael Ruhlman blasts through the surplus of information and delivers this innovative, straightforward book that cuts to the core of cooking. Ratio provides one of the greatest kitchen lessons there is—and it makes the cooking easier and more satisfying than ever.

Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life


Thich Nhat Hanh - 2010
    But somehow we get stalled. We start on a weight-loss program with good intentions but cannot stay on track. Neither the countless fad diets, nor the annual spending of $50 billion on weight loss helps us feel better or lose weight.Too many of us are in a cycle of shame and guilt. We spend countless hours worrying about what we ate or if we exercised enough, blaming ourselves for actions that we can't undo. We are stuck in the past and unable to live in the present--that moment in which we do have the power to make changes in our lives.With Savor, world-renowned Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and Harvard nutritionist Dr. Lilian Cheung show us how to end our struggles with weight once and for all.Offering practical tools, including personalized goal setting, a detailed nutrition guide, and a mindful living plan, the authors help us to uncover the roots of our habits and then guide us as we transform our actions. Savor teaches us how to easily adopt the practice of mindfulness and integrate it into eating, exercise, and all facets of our daily life, so that being conscious and present becomes a core part of our being.It is the awareness of the present moment, the realization of why we do what we do, that enables us to stop feeling bad and start changing our behavior. Savor not only helps us achieve the healthy weight and well-being we seek, but it also brings to the surface the rich abundance of life available to us in every moment.

Don't Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight


Rujuta Diwekar - 2009
    ; 20 cm.

The Secrets to Ultimate Weight Loss: A revolutionary approach to conquer cravings, overcome food addiction, and lose weight without going hungry


Chef AJ - 2018
    Her personal and professional experiences have earned her the right to be considered the world expert on “Making the Change.”—John McDougall, MD, cofounder of the McDougall Program In her new book, plant-based diet expert Chef AJ provides you with not only tips and techniques to begin your weight-loss journey but also the secrets to tasty homemade dishes that will fill you up without adding on the pounds. Chef AJ is here to prove to you that eating healthy doesn’t have to be hard. With The Secrets to Ultimate Weight Loss,she covers: the ways her own weight-loss journey inspired her professional career, the most important steps to get started on your own goals, the seven c’s to weight-loss success, the invaluable concept of calorie density, the keys to overcoming the most common and frustrating challenges, and the dozens of delicious recipes that help you lose weight and still love what you eat. From oven-roasted ratatouille to the best no-bean burgers around, Chef AJ shows you how satisfying and slimming a plant-based weight-loss plan can be.

Women, Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything


Geneen Roth - 2009
    Now, two decades later, here is her masterwork: WOMEN FOOD AND GOD. The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. No matter how sophisticated or wise or enlightened you believe you are, how you eat tells all. The world is on your plate. When you begin to understand what prompts you to use food as a way to numb or distract yourself, the process takes you deeper into realms of spirit and to the bright center of your own life. Rather than getting rid of or instantly changing your conflicted relationship with food, Women Food and God is about welcoming what is already here, and contacting the part of yourself that is already whole—divinity itself.

The Omega Diet: The Lifesaving Nutritional Program Based on the Diet of the Island of Crete


Artemis P. Simopoulos - 1999
    There are two types of essential fatty acids (EFAs), omega-6 and omega-3. The problem with our modern diet is that it contains far more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3s. This hidden imbalance makes us more vulnerable to heart disease, cancer, obesity, autoimmmune diseases, allergies, diabetes, and depression.The Omega Diet is a natural, time-tested diet that balances the essential fatty acids in your diet. It is packed with delicious food that contain the "good" fats, including real salad dressing, cheese, eggs, fish--even the occasional chocolate dessert--and an abundance of antioxidant-rich fruits, vegetables, and legumes.The Omega Diet provides:seven simple dietary guidelines for optimal physical and mental healtha concise guide to the foods you need to restore your body's nutritional balancea diet plan that lets you eat fat as you lose fatfifty delicious recipes that are quick and easy to preparea comprehensive three-week menu to help you get started

Prescription for Nutritional Healing: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements


Phyllis A. Balch - 1990
     With more than five million copies sold, Prescription for Nutritional Healing is the most trusted, comprehensive source on dietary supplements, vitamins, minerals, and herbs. A pioneer in the field of nutritional healing, Phyllis Balch passionately and meticulously researched and compiled this groundbreaking book. Now, a generation later, her message has more relevance than ever: consume fresh foods, avoid processed foods and those high in saturated fat, and optimize your intake of essential nutrients with the right supplements. Today's well-stocked vitamin and natural-health stores can be confusing, and people need Balch's clear, concise, landmark guide. To help them make sense of the mind-numbing array of choices that are available, readers of Prescription for Nutritional Healing will: - learn the basics of good nutrition; - find out how to balance vitamins and minerals so that the body can properly absorb both; - determine how best to treat 250 problems-from abscesses to wrinkles-using herbs, nutrition, and supplements; and - get the facts on other complementary therapies, like ayurveda, biofeedback, chiropractic care, and more. Prescription for Nutritional Healing is an essential resource for every health-minded consumer.

The New Atkins Made Easy: A Faster, Simpler Way to Shed Weight and Feel Great -- Starting Today!


Colette Heimowitz - 2013
    The New Atkins Made Easy will guide you every step of the way with: • Easy-to-follow steps to successful weight loss that ease the transition from one phase to the next • Detailed shopping lists for the fresh foods and easy-to-find pantry staples that make losing weight delicious—and easy • Tasty recipes such as Zucchini–Pumpkin Spice Pancakes, Cheesy Chicken and Green Bean Skillet, Chipotle Shrimp Salad, and Tiramisu Pudding • Dozens of low-cook and no-cook options, including grab-and-go foods like Atkins snacks, shakes, and frozen meals • Digital tools and apps to take the guesswork out of meal planning and tracking your progress • Success stories from people just like you, who have used the new Atkins Diet to lose weight and keep it off! The new Atkins is more effective than ever, it’s backed by decades of scientific research, and it’s sustainable for a lifetime. If you’re done with diets that leave you hungry and are looking for a healthy, delicious way of eating that leads to enhanced health, The New Atkins Made Easy is the program for you. Turn to the Week 1 shopping list on page 66, pick up some tasty foods at the grocery store, and start losing weight—today.

The Forks Over Knives Plan: How to Transition to the Life-Saving, Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet


Alona Pulde - 2014
    With so many people looking for change, the outstanding question became, “How can we put these dietary ideas into practice?” That’s what authors Alona Pulde and Matthew Lederman reveal in The Forks Over Knives Plan: The 4-Week Guide to Whole-Food, Plant-Based Health—a clear, easy-to-follow plan that outlines the steps to take each week to transform your diet by cutting out animal-based and processed foods.Forks Over Knives is a leading authority in the “food as medicine” movement, showing how simple dietary changes are proven to prevent, and even reverse, chronic disease such as type-2 diabetes and heart disease and improve your overall health. This is no fad diet; the Forks Over Knives program is backed by original research and has received rave reviews from physicians like Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Mehmet Oz, to athletes like pro football star Arian Foster and pro basketball player Steve Nash, to healthy lifestyle pioneers like Alicia Silverstone, to name a few. Whether you’re already a convert and just want a dietary reboot, or you are trying a plant-based diet for the first time, The Forks Over Knives Plan makes it easier than ever to transition into this new way of eating.

The DASH Diet Health Plan: Low-Sodium, Low-Fat Recipes to Promote Weight Loss, Lower Blood Pressure, and Help Prevent Diabetes


John Chatham - 2012
    News & World Report year after year as its #1 choice in Best Diets Overall, Best Diets for Healthy Eating, and Best Diabetes Diets. Based on research by the National Institutes of Health, and endorsed by top-tier medical institutions like the Mayo Clinic and the American Heart Association, the DASH diet is a scientifically proven method to lose weight, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, and a reduce your risk of diabetes.In The DASH Diet Health Plan, best-selling health and nutrition author John Chatham compiles the findings of the medical and scientific community, alongside dozens of DASH diet recipes, to make it easy to put the DASH diet into action.With The DASH Diet Health Plan you will get:99 DASH diet recipes for every meal, including hearty breakfasts and satisfying dinnersA guide to 147 Dash diet foods, ranging from meats and seafood to sweetsTips for navigating the grocery store and choosing the right DASH diet foods for you and your family28-day DASH to Fitness workout plan, which provides step-by-step exercise routines to accelerate your weight loss and jump-start your health regimen14-day Menu Planner to help you easily get started on the DASH diet

Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating


Walter C. Willett - 2001
    Dr. Walter Willett’s research is rooted in studies that tracked the health of dieters over twenty years, and in this groundbreaking book, he critiques the carbohydrate-laden diet proposed by the USDA. Exposing the problems of popular diets such as the Zone, South Beach, and Atkins, Dr. Willett offers eye-opening research on the optimum ratio of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, and the relative importance of various food groups and supplements. Find out how to choose wisely between different types of fats, which fruits and vegetables provide the best health insurance, and the proportions of each to integrate into their daily diet.

The Biggest Loser Cookbook: More Than 125 Healthy, Delicious Recipes Adapted from Nbc's Hit Show


Devin Alexander - 2006
    Biggest Loser Cookbook Provides More Than 125 Healthy, Delicious Recipes From The Biggest Loser Experts and Cast--As Seen On NBC's Hit Show!By Chef Devin Alexander and The Biggest Loser Experts and Cast with Karen Kaplan and a Foreword by Bob Harper and Kim LyonsBuilding on the groundbreaking success of The Biggest Loser brand, this sequel to last year's best-selling book is sure to be a hit!The Biggest Loser Cookbook offers:- 125 recipes from The Biggest Loser cast, trainers, and fans- motivational before-and-after photographs of the cast- 50 beautiful 4-color food shots- dozens of trainer tips from The Biggest Loser trainers- inspiring stories of how the cast members did it- at-a-glance guides to The Biggest Loser Diet and The Biggest Loser Exercise planArmed with this arsenal of nutritional information and training tips, readers will be inspired to achieve the dramatic weight loss transformations that have amazed TV fans around the country.

The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy (The Build Healthy Muscle Series)


Michael Matthews - 2012
    And this book is the answer: With it, you can cook fast, healthy, and tasty meals every day (and on a reasonable budget) that will help you build muscle or lose weight, regardless of your current skills.The Shredded Chef is more than just a bunch of recipes, though. It's going to teach you the true scientific basics of gaining muscle and losing fat, because bad diet advice is an epidemic these days.In this book, you're going to learn how to eat right without having to obsess over every calorie. These 9 scientifically proven rules for eating are the foundation of every great physique, and they have nothing to do with following weird diets or depriving yourself of everything that tastes good.And the recipes themselves? In this book you'll find 114 healthy, flavorful recipes specifically designed for athletes that want to build muscle or lose fat. Regardless of your fitness goals, this book has got you covered.Here's a "sneak peek" of the recipes you'll find inside: 18 fast, delicious breakfast recipes like Peanut Butter Power Oatmeal, French Muscle Toast, High-Protein Banana Oatcakes, Lean and Mean Zucchini Hash Brown, Macho Mexican Scramble and more. Whether you're trying to burn fat or build muscle, you'll find recipes that will help you get there. 18 mouthwatering chicken dishes like Chicken Stroganoff, Tasty Thai Chicken, Jerk Chicken Stir Fry, Honey-Garlic Chicken, and more. Forget boring chicken dishes, even when cutting! 14 tasty beef recipes like Low-Fat Russian Beef Stroganoff, Lean Bison Burgers, Vietnamese Beef Noodles, Meathead Meatballs, and more. Enjoy beef like never before with these creative recipes and you'll even find low-calorie beef dishes designed for losing weight! 10 savory fish and seafood recipes like Turkey Bacon Wrapped Scallops, Provencal Baked Halibut, Salmon Burgers, Tasty Tuna Melt, and more. Never again settle for flavorless, unappetizing fish and seafood--these recipes will have you singing praises for the sea! 7 hearty, healthy pasta recipes like Chicken Pesto Pasta, Asparagus & Goat Cheese Pasta, Classic Pasta Bolognese, Beef Lasagna, Chicken Fettuccine with Mushrooms, and more. Each of the pasta dishes are high in protein, making them great muscle-building treats. 14 awesome side dishes like Wasabi Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potato Fries, Hot 'n Healthy Brown Rice, Zucchini Risotto, Couscous Salad, and more. You're going to love mixing and matching these side dishes with the entrees and discovering your favorite combinations! 5 delectable desserts like Key Lime Pie, Peach Cobbler, Chocolate Protein Mousse, Banana Cream Pie, and more. These sugar-free desserts will satisfy your sweet tooth without the calorie overload! And more! (I haven't even mentioned the recipes for pork, salads, protein shakes, protein bars, and snacks...)SPECIAL BONUS FOR READERS!With this book you'll also get a free 31-page bonus report from the author called "Muscle Meals: How to Use Nutrition to Maximize Your Muscle and Torch Your Fat." In this bonus report, you'll learn the truth about "good" and "bad" carbs and exactly which you should eat and which you should avoid, and 5 snacks that are delicious, easy to make, and that can help you build muscle and lose fat.

Everyday Detox: 100 Easy Recipes to Remove Toxins, Promote Gut Health, and Lose Weight Naturally


Megan Gilmore - 2015
    In this healthy guide to detoxing naturally, nutritionist and blogger Megan Gilmore shares 100 delicious, properly combined recipes that will leave you feeling satisfied and well nourished while promoting weight loss and improving digestion and sleep.Because the recipes were developed with digestion mechanics in mind, detoxers won’t feel bloated or uncomfortable after eating. And crowd-pleasing recipes for every meal of the day—such as Banana Coconut Muffins, Chocolate Chia Shake, Broccoli Cheese Soup, Mediterranean Chopped Salad, Skillet Fish Tacos, Cauliflower Flatbread Pizza, and Peppermint Fudge Bars—are packed with all-natural, whole-foods ingredients designed to stave off feelings of deprivation. With helpful information on how to stock your detox-friendly kitchen plus a handy food-combining cheat sheet that demystifies this cutting-edge health principle, Everyday Detox makes it easy to start eating this way today.