Rating:  - The dish on sugar!
Was diagnosed with Type II last December and after the anger and denial phase, I finally got busy and read everything I could find on diabetes. This book - hands down - was the easiest to understand and completely turned my negative attitude into a 'can do' approach to adapting the principals of GI living. With a sensible progression of information, it gives you the tools and motivates you to take responsibility for your health. My sugars are now within normal range and I've lost over 20 pounds in the last 6 weeks since reading this book. So you could say, this book changed my life!
Rating:  - Only for the person who knows NOTHING about nutrition!
I am newish to the Glycemic Index Weight loss idea, so I thought I should start with a book that covers all the basics of the Glycemic Index. This book covers all the basics of everything. There's even a section entitled 'Don't Supersize'. Really. Gosh, I didn't know that supersizing my french fries would cause me to gain weight. There are even recommendations on what you should wear when exercising or stretching. In a 332 pg book supposedly on the Glycemic Index, there are only 5 pgs of Glycemic Index values (in large type). In addition, this book also contains a lot of poorly thought out, pseudo-science. If you have never exercised or considered your health or nutrition, then maybe this is the book for you (just don't believe everything you read in it). If you have exercised before and have given your health a bit of thought, then this is not the book for you.
Rating:  - Goes nowhere
Even for an idiot's guide, this is rather sparse. Most of the time is spent on "rah-rah!" encouragement, and not enough on the diet or on the glycemic index.
Rating:  - informative
This book has lots of info. But not too many recipes or suggestions. Sort of confusing but with another book about GI diet, this would be a good reference
Rating: - Good basic info...but the recipes are a joke.
After all the hype in the last year about the Glycemic Index, I thought I would take a dive into the world of Good Carb, Bad Carb...just for my own education. Thus, this Idiot book was one of the first I tore into.
The basic info is very good:how and why your body manufactures and controls blood sugar, insulin and cortisol level control,and how to figure overall Glycemic load of foods.
I was especially glad to see the chapter on soy, a very overrated and potentially harmful food that has been sold as the cat's meow of health foods. Soy's digestibility is extremely poor, and does not contain the essential amino acids needed for healthy tissue manufacturing. Many vegans I know are the sickest looking, most unhappy people on the planet. It's easy to see why when they totally reject any animal protein and try...very unsuccessfully...to replace it with other incomplete proteins. Here's a little factoid: wild squid has, ounce for ounce, ten times the digestible protein than tofu, which is fermented and has thus more digestible protein than non-fermented soy products. However, it is incomplete, missing at least two of the nine essential amino acids one needs, whereas squid has all nine to boot!
Truth is stranger than fiction, and the authors did an excellent job of debunking several myths in re soy, veganism, and the overall failure of foods that have been touted as alternatives to getting enough protein in one's diet. Needless to say, you MUST consume animal products to get all nine essential amino acids, and you cannot get them from any other food.
The biggest problem with the book is the lack of complete recipes. I know; this isn't a cook book. However, when you add recipes, you would expect them to at least be tried and complete. It's ironic that the authors provide sample menus, but failed to provide the recipes. Some recipes are hilarious, like the "Spinach and Red Pepper Omelet," which has NO spinach in either the recipe or the directions! This is a common problem in several of the recipes, like the "Cinnamon Nut Oatmeal with Berries 'n Cream," which has no creme in it: they used CHEESE! And the Spinach Dip is horrid. Use your own recipe.
No, I haven't tried them all, but will. So far, only two of the six are worth doing again: The Tomato Cup is lovely; Apple-Walnut Tuna Salad is the other one.
I suggest, in the end, you forgo the recipes and buy another book that is a low glycemic cookbook.
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