Book Review: Make It Easy

Make It Easy: A Healthy Meal Prep and Menu Planning Guide—A Cookbook by Danielle Walker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book will guide you through the process of menu planning and prepping. It is full of general cooking tips, in addition to easy recipes that are free from grains, gluten, and lactose.

There are three parts. In part 1, Getting Started, discover which meal-prepping persona you are and how to navigate this new world of freezer meals, reheating tips, stocking your pantry, tools and appliances, and basic recipes. In part 2, 15 Weeks of Meal Plans, take advantage of shopping lists, ingredient combinations to reduce waste, and less time and stress in the kitchen. Part 3, More Recipes, offers back-pocket dinners and make-ahead meals.

If you are looking for a guidebook to teach you how to plan your meals to reduce your stress and time in the kitchen while still providing nourishing meals to your family, this book is for you.

There are many practical items, such as the stock your pantry and freezer checklist, shopping list QR codes, meal plan QR codes, notes, shortcuts, and make-ahead options. Her website also offers an updated list of her favorite and trusted brands.

The author mentions that her seasonings are Whole30-approved; the reader may not know what the Whole30 program or approval means. Also, if you are new to this author, she believes in grain-free and gluten-free living but doesn’t explain why.

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Book Review: Dark Calories

Dark Calories: How Vegetable Oils Destroy Our Health and How We Can Get It Back by Cate Shanahan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book presents scientific research supporting the link between vegetable oil and poor health. The author describes how the oils are made, the levels of toxicity, and how they can cause inflammation and disease. You will learn how to identify and avoid vegetable oils, what to use instead, and how to eat healthy and delicious foods without them.

There are three parts. Part one, The Science that Medicine Overlooks, dives into the poison in your pantry, the buffet of chronic disease, the unseen metabolic problem, and fat bodies, starving brains. Part two, Dark History, explores the truth about cholesterol, Ancel Keys and the American Heart Association, the sicker you get the richer they grow, and the reason for hope. Part three, Taking Back Our Health, presents how to ditch vegetable oils for good, eating to heal, and a two-week challenge.

4 Pillars of a Human Diet
1. Eat fresh food from healthy soil, raw or gently cooked
2. Preserve and enhance foods using fermentation and sprouting
3. Extract nutrients that support healthy connective tissue by boiling animal bones, skin, and joint material
4. Use every part of the animal, including the organs and the fat (p. xiii)

Hateful Eight Seed Oils to Avoid
· Corn oil
· Canola oil
· Cottonseed oil
· Soy oil
· Sunflower oil
· Safflower oil
· Grapeseed oil
· Rice bran oil
· *Avoid “vegetable oil,” a general term used for any of the above eight oils.

Each chapter begins with a “In this chapter, you will learn” section that highlights the key concepts. This is very helpful. While she indicates the “hateful eight” oils to avoid, she also provides the “delightful dozen” cooking fats to include. If people knew what processes these seed oils went through to become edible, they would be less likely to consume them. Dr. Shanahan does a good job explaining these complex concepts.

The most practical chapter is the two-week challenge with meal planning tips and simple meal ideas. The end of the book has numerous resources to support your health journey.

This is not a quick and easy read. Many scientific studies are presented and discussed, and the details can be overwhelming.

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Book Review: The Plan

The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius by Kendra Adachi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Kendra Adachi offers a different approach to time management by focusing on living life without the constant need for productivity. She introduces the PLAN acronym: Prepare, Live, Adjust, and Notice. This method helps you manage your time based on what matters to you in your current life state. The book promises to change your time management perspective by integrating personal factors like hormones and personality, using the Lighten the Load framework and freeing you from the pressures of potential and hustle, allowing you to live wholeheartedly.

Calling out key quotes, using bold font for key words and phrases, and summarizing each chapter is valuable to reinforce the number of concepts and acronyms presented. If you are a fan of the author’s other books and her Lazy Genius method, you will appreciate how she incorporates it into this book. The “pep talks” are targeted topics and can be consulted as needed. There is also a helpful quick reference guide.

The book is written for women. Men may not feel invited to the party. Also, if you tend to be a type-A, checklist-loving person, you may not feel there is enough accountability and practicality in the recommendations.

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Book Review: Rethinking Diabetes

Rethinking Diabetes: What Science Reveals About Diet, Insulin, and Successful Treatments by Gary Taubes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a detailed investigation into the history of diabetes (type 1 and type 2) research and treatment. Before the discovery of insulin, diabetes was treated almost entirely through diet, from meat and reliance on fats to repeated fasting and near-starvation regimens. After two centuries of differing medical advice, most authorities today think diabetics can have the same dietary freedom as the rest of us if insulin therapy and other blood-sugar-lowering medications are used. Unfortunately, these guiding principles have been associated with a dangerous rise in diabetes over the last 50 years.

The author argues for a refocused diet—fewer carbohydrates and more fat—and reduced reliance on insulin and other medications. He also suggests that doctors and medical researchers turn their attention to clinical trials and not be afraid to challenge established wisdom.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in diabetes or diagnosed with pre-diabetes or diabetes type 1 or type 2.

The author, Gary Taubes, is well known for his investigative reporting, and this book provides a deep dive into diabetes.

Even if you know what you are getting into and are a fan of the author’s work, it can be a bit overwhelming as you go through the book.

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Book Review: Good Energy

Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health by Casey Means
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Good energy means your cells can function and support your physical and mental health. This book aims to show you how to maximize this good energy and thus, feel better, prevent disease, and perform optimally.

Part 1: The Truth about Energy explains metabolism, the causes of disease, and being proactive for your own health. In part 2: Creating Good Energy, the author provides tools and strategies to address eating, sleeping, moving, and toxins. There are also three primary sources of “bad energy” foods that should be avoided: refined added sugar, refined industrial vegetable and seed oils, and refined grains. Part 3 is a four-week, prescriptive plan with a baseline quiz, detailed lists, and action items. Part 4 is a sampling of good energy recipes.

Dr. Means offers stories and lessons learned through her experience in the medical system and highlighting expert health leaders. Don’t get bogged down with the number of recommendations; choose what resonates most with you, the doable habits, and the sustainable actions.

I highly recommend this book to those interested in learning about underlying causes and improving their health. Some of the most valuable resources Dr. Means includes are a chart on analyzing a standard blood test (normal and optimal ranges), a key micronutrient for good energy chart, a list of the best antioxidant sources, a list of the best omega-3 foods, a list of the best ways to get fiber, and a chart on building good-energy meals components.

Six Principles of Good Energy Eating
1. Food determines the structure of our cells and microbiome
2. Eating is the process of matching cellular needs with oral inputs
3. Food is how you communicate with your cells
4. Extreme food cravings are feedback from your cells that you’re giving mixed messages
5. Ignore diet philosophies and focus on unprocessed food
6. Find awe in food (p. 137)

This book contains a great deal of information that is presented thoughtfully and thoroughly. If you are looking for a prescriptive plan, this book has it. The downside may be that the amount of info becomes overwhelming.

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Book Review: Lies I Taught in Medical School

Lies I Taught in Medical School: How Conventional Medicine Is Making You Sicker and What You Can Do to Save Your Own Life by Robert Lufkin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book covers the medical lies that the author believed, taught, got sick from, and eventually began to question. Dr. Lufkin presents the truths that saved his life.

Your health depends on diet, genetics, environment, stress, sleep, toxins, and deficiencies. The book provides an overview of nutritional and lifestyle recommendations based on the latest scientific research. I highly recommend this book--it is chock full of practical advice you can implement to improve your own health.

10 lies covered: Metabolic Lie, Obesity Lie, Diabetes Lie, Fatty Liver Lie, Hypertension Lie, Cardiovascular Disease Lie, Cancer Lie, Alzheimer’s Lie, Mental Health Lie, Longevity Lie.

Dr. Lufkin shares his personal health journey and how he overcame obesity, high blood pressure, prediabetes, dangerous lipid profiles, and gout. For a book club study guide, visit the author’s website, www.robertlufkin.md.com/bookgift. It provides a great summary of each chapter with questions to reinforce the key concepts.

I found the first chapter a bit unclear, with three of the lies partially covered in the introduction. Sometimes the medical explanations can get very detailed and may not be easily understood by the average reader. The longevity lie chapter was my least favorite. The biohacking, promotions, and recommendations did not resonate with me.


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Book Review: Nutrivore

Nutrivore: The Radical New Science for Getting the Nutrients You Need from the Food You Eat by Sarah Ballantyne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book seeks to improve your nutrient awareness, i.e., what nutrients are, what they do, how much we need, and how we can get them. It is an excellent resource for addressing specific symptoms and conditions by choosing health-promoting, nutrient-dense foods.

There are three parts: What is Nutrivore?, Nutrients and Your Health, and Nutrivore in Practice. The book is educational, providing definitions, examples, cheat sheets, and recipes.

Basics of the plan
1. Choose primarily whole foods
2. Eat a diverse diet
3. Eat the rainbow of fruits and vegetables
4. Use the nutrivore meal map (50% veg/fruit; 25% starch; 25% protein; drink water; choose healthy fats)

This book is replete with practical information, e.g., marvelous minerals cheat sheet, valuable vitamins cheat sheet, eat the rainbow chart, nutrivore foundational foods cheat sheet, serving size cheat sheet, 17 tips for weight loss, and simple recipes.

This book is challenging to read, cover to cover. The nutrivore score is helpful but not something I would use regularly. It seems more important to vary a whole-food diet. The nutrivore meal map does not include a percentage for healthy fats. This part needs to be clarified.

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