Diet Books

Dr Plasker shows you, in a very easy to read format, how to live a long, healthy, active lifestyle. This is about looking at the different parts of your life and taking active steps to balance, strengthen, and use those different parts to create a fun life that will keep you healthy, physically, financially, and emotionally for 100 years and beyond. Read the book and have a great life!

I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Plasker at the 1st annual DCS Jam and the book is a must for anyone who wants to be in on the 100 year lifestyle. This is also a great read for your patients!

Dr Erik Plasker's Book is a great read for anyone looking to take stock of their life. The main message revolves around the fact that many of us will live to be 100 and beyond, so we may as well start preparing for this increased longevity that not many of us have planned for.
"What changes would you make today, if you knew you would live to be 100?"
Health, finances, relationships, career, social, and more are looked at in this book.
What will we do with this advanced warning our ancestors didn't get?

This book is life changing! Realizing that we have all this time to accomplish things in life is an awesome feeling. I loved the comparison of cris care vs. self care. If people realized this and started practicing this we would have a healthier nation. I have personally given out over a hundred copies of this book and everyone for Christmas will be getting a copy!

I've given this book to more than 100 people. They are changing their lives from stopping smoking and loosing weight, to starting exercise. The people that take the message of the 100 year lifestyle to heart are playing harder and living a higher quality of life. Thank you Dr. Plasker for allowing me the privilege of helping so many people through your wonderful book.

My husband is not a book reader, but he read this book cover to cover. It scared him, but let him know what to expect. He was a wonderful caretaker. This book helped him get ready and know what to do, as well as what "Not" to say! We give it to other couples that have been diagnosed.

My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer in early September 2008. A book was recommended for her to read (Just Get Me Through This!: The Practical Guide to Breast Cancer)which we found on Amazon. While on Amazon, I found this book for husbands, read the reviews and decided to buy it. Boy, am I glad I did! It is filled with helpful facts and figures, but beyond that, it is filled with meaning accounts of husbands and health care professionals that has helped me to be a better husband, care giver and support to my wife as she goes though this most difficult time in her's and our lives. It covers the husband's role in every stage of the process, from diagnosis through treatment. This book is money well spent.

I think I enjoyed this book the most out of all of the books I've read in the last few month of facing breast cancer. Being able to read it from a man's point of view was very uplifting and encouraging. The way in which the author explained things helped me to understand the my husband better and what he must be feeling. Thank you for taking the time to put yours and many other husbands feeling on paper.
Enjoyed the book very much, I feel that both men and women can learn much from this book.
Stepahed

Excellent book for the husband but great if the wife reads it too. Wonderful author, easy to read and I would recomend to every Breast Cancer Husband out there!

This is an interesting and informative book for husbands whose wives have been diagnosed with cancer. A lot of the book is common sense but it has informative passages that help with the awkward social situations that come up in conversations and with friends. It helps take some of the stigma sting out of answering stupid questions that people ask. I liked this book a lot and recommend it for reading.

I think it is a bit overly long but a good weekend with a 6 pk. of cold Bud Lite will easily get you through the entire book.

For quite some time I've been fascinated by essential oils. While they can at times be quite expensive to collect a few high-quality essential oils can go a long way.

This book is divided up into three main sections. In the first section there is a brief history of essential oils and an interesting picture to show steam distillation. There is information on why lavender and neroli stimulate new cell growth and how rosemary encourages healthy hair growth.

The second section is very helpful with ideas on which essential oils to use for a wide variety of common complaints. While it is interesting to note that cardamom and black pepper are good for heartburn, a recipe would be useful. If you want a recipe I can recommend the one for a chai tea in Savoring the Spice Coast of India: Fresh Flavors from Kerala. I made it tonight using soymilk and a rooibos teabag.

Part three in this fascinating book includes information on 165 essential oils. While I've read many books on essential oils there were numerous oils I'd never heard of before. In this section there are a few oils you want to avoid like wormwood that can cause brain damage. You may recognize bergamot if you have ever made Earl Grey tea. Could lemonade be part of a cure for arthritis? This book gives all sorts of new information and also has a helpful glossary.

While this book is comprehensive I think it would have been better to organize the essential oils according to their common name instead of their Latin name. Fortunately there is a good index so you can find your favorite essential oils fast. In the index you can find the common name (frankincense) as well as the Latin or botanical term (Boswellia Carteri).

If you are looking for any additional information I can also recommend anything by Connie Higley: Reference Guide for Essential Oils Tenth Edition, October 2006. I have the 1999 edition but have been considering the new edition to add to my collection.

~The Rebecca Review, currently wearing Aura Cacia Love Potion Essential Oil .5 oz. I love all the Aura Cacia essential oils.

This is the one book I would not be without.
It is very informative and helpful.
I am a soapmaker and use the information re: the essential oils to make aromatheray and therapuetic, skin softening soaps.

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils is a wonderful book to add to a collection of knowledge of Aromatherapy. It contains very detailed properties of each essential oil - easy to understand and great for reference for all to read, learn and practice. If you can't find what you are looking for specifically for an essential oil, you will most definately find it in this book.

Gives uses for many plants and the essential oils but no complete details for making the remedies with the oils. Eg. how much of each oil to put into the natural remedies?

If I had to have only two books in my Aromatherapy Library, this would be one of them, along with The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy, by Salvatore Battaglia. I have been an Aromatherapist since 2003, I know - a relatively short time - but a productive time, and I could not have accomplished what I have without this book. It is a very complete list - if not the best list - of essential oils available in book form, with all their properties, chemical breakdown, methods of extraction, history, ancient uses for the plants and oils, modern uses, toxicity and as if this wasn't enough - the photos are marvolous and extremely helpful in identifying plants and the oil colour. Every plant gets a whole page and the format repeats and is so easy to follow. What makes this book stand out among its peers is the ease of use with an excellent index, glossary of terms, botanical index, botanical classification and references (just because a book has these thing doesn't mean they are always good or useful).
The most toxic of essential oils, which are hardly mention in other books , or, we are merely warned to stay away from for aromatherapy use, are also covered in Ms. Lawlwess' book, and I am glad for that because I want to know the "why" of everything. Why is it bad? After all - this is meant as a reference book, not a "how to". It is one of the most important books on essential oils and you are cheating yourself not to have a copy. I don't know if Ms. Julia Lawless is alive, and if she is, when she will come out with an updated version, but I sure hope so.

I'm a huge Jane Brody fan. Over the past 10 years, I've bought several copies of "Good Food" and "Good Food Gourmet." I've worn out a few of my own copies and have found it the perfect gift for those I care about. Because of Ms. Brody's dedication to healthy eating and use of diverse foods, I have kids that eat vegetables and people that are always asking for the recipe. If you are looking to learn how to cook, eat better, or feel better, I couldn't think of a better book to suggest. Today, I am ordering a copy of the Good Food Book for my sister-in-law for Christmas. She loved the sweet and sour cabbage rolls I made at a recent party.

Living is easy when you follow Jane Brody's advice to health eating. The recipes are easy to follow and have ingredients common to most kitchens. Some of the recipes are a bit bland but can easily be spiced up with a little help from a kitchen herb garden or spice rack.

I have used Jane Brody's book so much that the pages were yellow and torn. I was glad Amazon could supply me with a crisp, clean copy.
I put the old one in our high-rise book exchange area. It was gone the next day.

I have a 20-year-old softbound copy of this cookbook that is in tatters, so I am very happy finally to find a fresh copy. I have made many of the recipes in this book and my family has a couple of all-time favorites, especially the pork with green beans and the vegetarian lasagne. While the basic recipes are wonderful, I frequently find them to be bland. My cookbook is filled with margin notes about what herbs and spices I have tried over the years to enhance the recipes. Nonetheless, this is a treasured part of my cookbook library.

The first part of the book is lots of info about nutrition and so on, very interesting and informative (like talking about how potatoes have gotten a bum rap, there really healthy, she mentions one guy who lived healthily for 300 days on nothing but potatoes (and a little margarin). The second part is a few hundred recipes, which are great - easy, delicious, pretty fast, a lot of them with ingredients we keep around the house. Some of our favorites - the chili recipes, the spaghetti pancakes, multigrain pancakes (good with soy flour and blueberries), etc. This (along with books from Moosewood, Tara Duggan, and the Quick Vegetarian Pleasures book) is one of primary cookbooks; we use it all the time. Highly recommended.

I bought this book in 2001 after hearing Crystal's story on Oprah. Oh how she inspired me. I too struggle with weight loss issues. My personal life has also had its challenges. Crystal is someone everyone can relate to. She is witty and funny and smart. She wrote about experiences that all overweight people can experience (shopping and being told we don't carry your size). She made me believe that I could do this. It's second only to my bible that i refer to for inspiration.

Thanks

Good for you Crystal for losing 167 pounds. I don't blame you for writing about it either, something this dramatic needs to be shared. What I really liked about this book was that it did not pressure the reader into losing weight. Diets these days are very stick: don't eat this, you must eat this, that and nothing else. Crystal shows us that you can lose weight your own way and it's up to you to set the pace.

I would like to give this book 3 1/2 stars but there aren't any 1/2's so I have written it. I really enjoyed her story and how she worked thru her struggles. It was a little unorganized but still enjoyable.

This book allows one to understand that the challenges of temptation for those struggling with weight loss is normal.

Some people kick themselves for backsliding on the diet trail. But this is verifivation that you still can continue and get over those mental humps.

This is chrystals everyday challenges that gets her through the storm. She begins to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I admire her because she experimented and found a method that was good for her. She teaches that there is no "blueprint" available for everyone.

If this book taught me anything it was the power of jeeping a journal. It will help you see where the problem lies and how to get through; and it will enable you to identify what is causing you to stifle your plans. It may be mental, physical or spiritual.

I use this book strictly for motivation. It's nice to read the words of someone who has been there.

I'd like to see her now! I hope she has kept up the good work.

"The Me I Knew I Could Be" is Crystal Phillips' journey from 292 lb (size 26) to 138 lb (size 6). I believe Crystal's obesity and binge eating would probably fall into the worst case category so I couldn't identify with Crystal's struggles, but I was inspired by her committed plan to lose weight. Apparently, the 292 lb was a result of her continuous binge eating (4 steaks, entire peach cobbler, and much more in one setting) causes my emotional issues (anxiety induced by grandfather, death of her brother, volatile marriage, and insecurity) she refused to deal with. Instead of just waking up one morning stating "I'm going to lose weight", Crystal learns the real reason she binged and began to deal with it. She uses typical weight loss techniques that can be found in any book, but what sets this story apart is her true story (complete with journal entries) that describes how she worked through the emotional problems to stop the emotional eating. At times, Crystal discusses how she came to a crossroad had to make the decision on whether or not to emotionally eat - sometimes she did, most times she didn't. When she did emotionally eat, she didn't give up but got refocused. Never does she say she's cured of binge-eating but offers ways to prevent to urge, i.e., after a big family gathering give leftovers away or only buy the smallest portion of a snack item. Her story is very honest.

Included in this book: recipes, before-after photos from her workshop participants, several exercises, and much more. The one unique item I found is the contents for a Survival Kit - a bag packed with healthy food and water that prevented Crystal from stopping at fast food restaurants.

This book is based upon solid research of a natural substance that is nuturing every living thing. It is found in your own body.

One of the reviews here mentions the name "Bill Rich." Many of the statements about him are true, but he has nothing solid to do with MSM, other than he stumbled upon it and tries to sell it.

This book and Bill Rich should not be mentioned together (forgive me). Mr. Rich does not speak for MSM, anymore than a bad teleevangelist speaks for God.

Get the hardback edition of this book, it will change your life for the better!

I've been trying alot of things against my severe allergies since 1982.Tested in 1972 up-down my back.Nurse left for a min.I Turned Super-Red outside Burning up inside.Doc gave me a big shot of adrenaline.

In the 1990's those symtoms started to come back.On 5-11-2003 i went to Rainbow Grocery store.They sell alot of Herb type items there.I told the lady there i needed something really good for my allergies.She took me over to MSM quickly!

She also showed me the little handbook by Dr.Ley "MSM On our way back to Health With Sulfur".I started with 3 grams on 5-11-03 i now average 20 grams of MSM per day.It really helps w/allergies.
I'm 50 years old.When tested allergic to ALL Molds and Pollens.

Mold is hardest to Beat.MSM is helping against it too.

I've ordered 5 of The Miracle of MSM By Dr Jacob and Dr Lawrence.

Thank You amazon.com for the good prices on those Books!!!!!

MSM is wonderful for me. I have taken MSM for nearly 2 years now (off and on). I would quit taking it, just to see what would happen. It wouldn't take long before my pain and stiffness would return to my knees. I wouldn't want to go through life without MSM. I am able to go through life without pain in my knees when I take MSM on a regular schedule. I have had no problems taking MSM and I take 12,000 mg. a day. I use a powder MSM that I put in my water, which also encourages me to drink the water I need daily. I even use a MSM soap and lotion for my skin. It has helped my skin alot. I can't say enough good things about MSM. This is the first book I bought about MSM and would recommend it to anyone. I've also read many other papers and articles on MSM, plus I've read alot on the internet about MSM. In fact I've bought this book to give to other people. I am always telling the wonders of MSM to people. I wish you well and happy health.

This title by Drs. Jacob and Lawrence is by far the best word on MSM (along with product manufacturers dmso2.com etc).

I, also, prefer the hardback version of this book. It is out of print but I found that it is still available at the distributor (msmsupplement.com as mentioned by someone in another review).

I hope that there is a new, updated version of this book on the horizon, because I know that MSM is helping so many people with a variety of problems (e.g. Arthritis, Allergies, Energy, Joint and Muscle & Nerve Pain, Skin Conditions ...). I even give it to my dogs and cats now!

By the way, Dr. Lawrence (on of the authors) is the doctor of the famous actor James Coburn. Mr. Coburn now attributes his recovery from crippling arthritis pain to benefits derived from MSM.

This book is the best that you will get on MSM. It is written by the "father of MSM" (IMO), Dr. Stanley Jacob. Co-written by Dr. Ronald Lawrence, doctor of famous actor James Coburn...

Get the hardback edition - it costs less than the not-so-well-bound paperback. You will use this book as a reference for natural dosage, et cetera, so definately get the hardback.

Amazing detail and written instruction for those wishing to pursue Pilates in any shape or form, from the mat to the various machines used. It is very in-depth about the importance of the body's posture and alignment, and about how to prevent and strengthen/heal injuries.

I very nearly bought this book for its cover, which is beautiful in its simplicity. But instead, I read the reviews, all the reviews. THEN I bought the book. And, when it arrived, I discovered that I had bought one of the most thorough books ever written, about any exercise, ever. I'm going to try to avoid talking about what other reviewers have already written.

First, this book is thorough. Very thorough. There are generally two types of exercise books: those that provide lots of pretty (or, manly) pictures but little explanation and those the provide endless explanation but few illustrations. This book, like those by Sue Luby (no, we don't know why Amazon doesn't carry her yoga and fitness books; they're excellent) falls neatly into the center: just enough photographs and just enough discussion. Even more critical is that, unlike almost every Pilates book I've seen, the author provides photos from various levels, including those from above, to show, for example, how far apart your feet should be in various positions and explains what and where you should direct your concentration.

The book is divided into twelve chapters. The first three, which are ABOUT Pilates (Enhancing the Mind and Body; Alignment, Posture, and Movement; and Powerful Pilates Practices) are not only informative but also deeply inspirational. If you don't feel like hitting the empty spot on the floor (assuming you have one; we're certainly running low on emptiness) and opening up every joint and muscle in your body, send the book back because you won't be happy with the rest. Chapters 4 through 11 detail exercises on various bit of equipment. Chapters 4 and 5 cover mat (chapter 4) and Reformer (chapter 5) routines. The next six chapters cover other pieces of equipment, ranging from the most expensive (chapter 6: Cadillac) through the Wunda Chair (chapter 7), Barrels (chapter 8), Ped-a-Pul (chapter 9), Arm Chair (chapter 10), and the magic circle (chapter 11). This division by equipment is quite useful. If you don't happen to have the Cadillac (or the several thousand dollars it's takes to buy one), just skip that chapter. I have found, however, that many exercises usually performed on more elaborate equipment can be modified using simpler equipment. For example, I am daily impressed with the extraordinary range of exercises you can do using a simple resistance ball.

Finally, Chapter 12, provides an excellent set of "Sample Exercise Routines" for mat, reformer, and cadillac, further organized by time and skill level. In this chapter, the photographs from various angles are used to greatest effect.

In sum, I think this is a perfect Pilates book. And I say this as a long-time addict of Moira Stott's various books and videos. I think just about everyone can get something out of it. It's certainly worth giving it a try.

Wow. This is one thorough treatment of Pilates. Whether you're a beginner who needs to start out with the basics, or an experienced practitioner who needs some of the more advanced moves, it's all here for you. You can use this book for mat work or for the various types of apparatus work. You get a basic idea of which muscle groups get worked by the various exercises, and the proper visualizations to get you where you need to be. A very well-written, easy to understand, easy to follow guide. I highly recommend this book.

No other book this comprehensive can beat the price of Rael's Pilates book. This is a good book for people who practises pilates in various ways including the cadillac. It is a step-by-step guide to the pilates exercises. But honestly how many people who do pilates on the reformer goes back to the mat? I just bought a reformer and it's worked out for me better than the mat exercises. It's nice that it offers everything within the book but if you want to focus, Ellie's book is better. I use this book for reference but in terms of reformer exercises Ellie's book cover pretty much everything including the box and stick. That's just my experience.

The book is well written, comprehensive and very informative. The philosophy behind the work of Joe Pilates and repertoire is first explained in detail. the vast Pilates system of exercises from mat to Reformer and all the other basic apparatus, is then broken down and presented in logical chunks that really make sense. I am both a student of Pilates and a trainer. I loved the organization of the work presented by an author whose authoritative knowledge and love of the Pilates Method is infectious. Rael I. explains the context within which each exercise works, in relationship to the whole body, and then explains how to incorporate it in a Pilates session. I love the book, and I carry it around with me for inspiration.

Although I am well versed in good nutrition, I found Marc David's book, The Slow Down Diet, wonderfully insightful, educational, and even inspirational. His coverage of the eight metabolic factors in nutrition, energy, and weight loss transcends traditional approaches to dieting and nutritional eating, and takes our understanding of these areas to a much higher level. He convincingly shows the power of relaxation, food quality, awareness, rhythm, pleasure, thought, story, and the sacred in how we assimilate nutrition, and how these qualities affect our overall health. He places what we eat and how we eat it into the context of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. His wholistic and systemic approach is something I have benefited from, and which will be of value to everyone. In fact, the understanding he provides is critical to our society with its burgeoning health problems. The secret is eating and living in such a way that most health problems can be prevented. This is so much better for ourselves and our society than depending on a broken health care system to fix our broken bodies.

This is another favorite of mine that I recommend to my clients. This book is extremely helpful for people who do not know (or remember) how to slow down, be present and actually experience eating their food. I highly recommend it to those who are trying to heal their relationship with food and at the same time strengthen their spirituality. It is also great for people who have to go on a restrictive diet due to a medical condition or who are trying to eat more whole foods and cannot due to circumstances beyond their control ... it offers great advice for making HOW you eat count more than WHAT you eat!

Beth Eckhaus
Holistic Health and Nutrition Counselor
Integrative Family Medicine Center
[...]

bh
This book is a way of looking at all aspects of life, not only diet. As a matter of fact it has no menus or recipes in it. I rarely read books twice, but this one is worthy of a second read. A small book with big life-lessons.

Discusses the relationships between eating fast & without intention and common maladies of western society - obeity & overweight, diabetes, etc. Has step by step suggestions for changing the way you eat to be more in tune with a healthy body.

As a health counselor, I needed a book that would jump start my clients into the wonderful world of awareness. The Slow Down Diet is my dream come true. It awakens as it soothes, it motivates as it guides. The Slow Down Diet explains how to live life to its fullest, and not just through food. It doesn't judge or ridicule those who have lost their way. Instead, it gently picks up the lost and hopeless and inspires them to make the changes necessary for lasting health, vitality and peace.

"Food nourishes the body but flowers nourish the soul." ~ Ancient Proverb

Eva-Marie Lind presents an introduction to the world of aromatherapy which will be appreciated by anyone new to using essential oils. She explains the basics of using essential oils and then explores the history and properties of 19 essential oils. The classification of the essential oils explains how they are earthy, mossy or spicy. There is also a detailed look at characteristics like patchouli is dry or ylang ylang is heavy.

If you ever wondered about the price of rose oil you may be surprised to learn that it takes 2,000 rose petals to make one drop of essential oil. Eva-Marie Lind also helps to explain why some perfumes evaporate so quickly and others radiate from the skin throughout the day. She also gives reasons why you may prefer lemon oil from Italy and lavender from Provence, France. Throughout the book she gives recipes for facial massage oil, toner, room spray, shower gel, bath oil, bath salts and massage oil.

Some of the essential oils you may want on hand include: Eucalyptus, lemon, mandarin, peppermint, rosemary, tea tree, chamomile, clary sage, geranium, lavender, cedarwood, jasmine, sandalwood, vanilla, vetiver, ylang ylang, yuzu, linden blossom, lime, oakmoss, sweet orange, violet leaf, grapefruit, cardamom, patchouli, vanilla, sandalwood, ginger, geranium, champaca, neroli, rose attar, grapefruit, geranium, nutmeg, basil and marjoram.

One thing I disagreed with was the use of essential oils on wooden surfaces. I've used a variety of oils on wooden furniture and found that it not only enhanced the wood, it also removed some damage from heat.

If you love using essential oils you may want to try products by "LUSH." One of my favorite products is American Cream Conditioner by LUSH.

~The Rebecca Review

As a novice reader to any aromatherapy journal or book, I found this particular book very enlightening and easy to absorb. I would highly recommend this as a gift for those who have any interest in exploring aromatherapy.

I have a huge collection of aromatherapy and perfume books. This book has the most beautiful photographs and charming verse. It is poetic yet is very educational and useful. The descriptions of scent classifications and characteristics are very helpful. Aromatiques would make a wonderful gift.

Sensual is the key phrase here!Everything about this book is a visual delight. But let's not judge this book solely by its cover or gorgeous photograpy-let's get to the heart of the subject. Aromatherapy is a lot more than sniffing lavender oil and proclaiming yourself a practitioner. Eva is generous with information not only about the sensual beauty of the essences, but very importantly, about the dangers. Face it, these are potent chemicals, or they would not be so effective. Eva's thoroughness allows the uninitiated to dive into these heavenly scents with confidence and success.More experienced aromatherapists will appreciate the inspiring blend suggestions and the review of a few (how did that happen?)forgotten facts from aromatherapy school.

I am collector of aromatherapy and natural perfumery books, as well as a teacher of beginning natural perfumery. I highly recommend this book.
In fact I just recommended it to a class I taught a month ago, along with Mandy Aftels, Essence and Alchemy. One finds a bit of
misinformation in Aromatherapy books, especially about safety and
individual use of specific oils. Eva-Marie's book is very well
researched and not a provider of mis-information.Eva-Marie writes
eloquently, poetically, and refreshingly clearly about aromatherapy.
As a perfumer, I find her blends delicious to smell. I also like to buy books from known and respected members of the aromatherapy community and Eva-Marie is well respected. A romantic , aromatic journey. I highly recommend this book.

I have ample reason to be concerned about my health largely because of four ex-wives and the crazyness currently going on in my house between my bulldog (Colonel) and my current wife's annoying tabby (Bobo!). It doesn't help that I'm a beerswilling carnivore and largely a lazy couchloaf. Also complicating matters is the undeniable fact that my brooding spouse is a horrible cook and routinely serves beef-oriented t.v. dinners or worse (greaseburgers from the local fast food joint).

That's where this handy tome comes in. One of the girls from the bar I've been seeing on the sly has been trying to get me to start incorporating more vegetables in our relationship (in addition to the meat) and suggested several books (not this one) to help me get started. While those books had some value, this book really told me what I needed to know about the nutritional values of various vegetarian diets and how to make up for the nutirtion I would be losing by giving up meat.

It's very informative, well-written, easy to understand, but somewhat short on recipes. As I've mentioned, Bessie isn't a very good cook--even when she has cook-by-numbers recipes (which basically means, even if this book had recipes it wouldn't be of much value to her) and that's too bad. Nevertheless, this is a very informative book and has surprisingly convinced me that it is possible to maintain nutrition while maintaining an all-vegie diet. Unfortunately, the recipes in this book (and those I found in several others) have failed to convince me that any of these vegie diets taste any better than the leaves and grass in my backyard.

As a result, I've scrapped the vegetarian route, started cooking for myself, stopped worrying about my health, and I'm staying away from the girls at the bar.

This is an excellent book. I decided to become vegetarian a few years ago both for health and ethical reasons and this one one of the first books I bought - its remained the one I turn to over and over again - especially when friends or relatives questions how healthy a vegetarian diet is and I need to educate them. Some of the most fascinating parts of this book talk about the history of the current meat-based diet and how the government pushed it and helped market meats of all sorts to get people to buy more (to help farmers out). Also though there is great info on how much protien a person actually needs and where you can get it from - its actually pretty easy to get all the protien you need over the course of a day. Since becoming vegetarian (really almost vegan except for the eggs I get from a lady down the street who really takes wonderful care of her chickens) I've never felt better. My husband has even voluntarily made the switch as well (spurred on by a few episodes of food poisoning at the local sandwich shop). Vegetarian is the way to go and this book will give you ALL the info you need to get rolling and keep others quiet when they criticize. Bon sante and Bon appetit!

This book is an excellent resource for beginning vegetarians who are dealing with a lot of new questions -- will this diet be adequate for me nutritionally? do I need to take supplements? what will I tell mom (hee hee)? This book tries to answer all the big questions, and does so quite admirably. It does have a few recipes at the back, which are not bad, but certainly, this is not a cookbook per se. For those looking for a ton of recipes instead of advice, I'd be more likely to recommend The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook (by Diana Shaw), a wonderful book full of tips, tricks, ingredients, glossaries, and 600 low fat recipes, many of which are adaptations of old favourites. Getting both these books would be an excellent beginning to any new vegetarian's bookshelf.

I thought this book was very thorough, yet easy to follow. Every recipe I've made has been very delicious. I was a vegetarian for 6 years before I became pregnant and began to eat meat for fear I wouldn't get enough protein my babe needed. I wish I had this book then, as the authors lay out precisely what you need for nourishment. My son and I now have a great reference so we can be healthy lacto-ovo vegetarians, and possibly convert my husband as well!

Easy to read and a good book to use as a jump-off point for more specific readings catering to your individual vegetarian interests.