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Whats the best "healthy diet" book out there?

Bansaw

Senior Member
Messages
521
Whats the best healthy diet book out there that leads to a healthy, restored gut ?
I'm looking for a book choc full of good tasting recipes.

Is "Body Ecology " diet book a good one?
(Or is there an online resource which is helpful? I am after low carb, low sugar, healing recipe ideas.)
 
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HowToEscape?

Senior Member
Messages
626
My 2c, from personal experience and comparing ideas from various people, is that there is no one correct diet and thus no special diet book. One eats differently when sick than when well, and if your ancestors were in the North Pole for the last 1000 years you'll need a different diet than if they were from the Carribean. The field is mostly about selling books, supplements etc and it is useless for being healthy.

IMHO, you can equal the diet advice from any book by approximating the Greek Great-Grandparent diet:

Imagine your great-grandparents were Greek or Italian, loved life and had an intact family.
Then eat what they would have, at regular times as they would have, in no rush ("don't wolf down your food!") with usually good company, in the amounts they would have (food was expensive then) but cut in half bc we don't get water from a hand-pumped well and so on.

Everything else will end up being included. Gut bacteria follow the food you eat, not supplements: ditch the ice cream and have more vegetables, then more desirable bacteria will result. Same for dozens of other issues. But of course there's no sales of miracle pills, consultations etc etc on the Italian Grandparent Diet.
 

Tired of being sick

Senior Member
Messages
565
Location
Western PA USA
Probably, the best diet for CFS/ME is right here..

Everyone is different even though we share the same disease..

So you could search right here on what diet is best for the members..

Then experiment to curtail a diet plan of your own
 
Messages
763
Location
Israel
I think a naturopath or conventional dietician is better than a book.

We all have different problems with our gut.
I stopped cows dairy, and moved to sheep and goat, then I found a book that helped me:
"Breaking the Vicious Cycle" about the SCD specific carbohydrate diet. -only has some recipes and is meant for chrohns desease, but I found it useful.

Others might like "Nourishing Traditions"
Others might prefer the Paleo diet and the books about that.
(Paleo doesn't suit me but we are all different.)
I suggest you have a look at those and see which suits you. They each advocate a completely different diet.
 
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IreneF

Senior Member
Messages
1,552
Location
San Francisco
I just saw a presentation from the school of nutrition at Tufts University. Basically the "bad" foods are sugars, refined starches, and processed meats. Everything else seems to be either neutral--not good or bad--or good for you.

I'm not sure what would be a "healing diet" because I don't know what's wrong with your gut. If you are lactose-intolerant, obviously you would avoid dairy. However, fermented foods are usually beneficial. My favorites are kefir and natto.

The best advice seems to be eat lots of different kinds of foods. If you read nutrition information, leafy greens give you the most bang for the buck--low in calories and high in essential nutrients. Fish is good, too, as long as you don't eat fish that's high in mercury.
 

JAM

Jill
Messages
421
My advice would be to follow Michael Pollan's advice. Once you get within his very simple guidelines you will have to experiment with which foods are helpful and which are harmful for you at any given time. He is not a nutritionist or dietician, and doesn't talk much about personal health. He comes more from a social and environmental justice point of view. Keep in mind that personal health is a part of that, but he is definitely thinking of a global system. I think it is a constant practice of attention for us as individuals with health issues, but Mr. Pollan's books are a good place to start. The simplest is "How to Eat" My favorite is "Omnivore's Dilemma" . All can be found here http://michaelpollan.com/books/ and most are available on ebook and at most libraries. He has also written a lot of shorter articles and has a lot of videos on youtube if it is easier for you to digest information that way.

I would also suggest experimenting with raw and fermented foods. I've found that small amounts of both are good for me, but it is easy to cross into too much.

I've studied nutrition from every angle and don't recommend any one diet for anyone, just that you know where your food comes from and how it was produced, transported and processed, and that you listen to your body. If you have questions about anything specific I'd be happy to try and answer it for you. Good luck!