Showing posts with label book reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book reviews. Show all posts
6/6/10
Nourishing Traditions
Yesterday, I purchased my very own, brand spankin' new copy of Nourishing Traditions, and I just wanted to share with you all how excited I am to begin reading it and implementing the recipes from it. I didn't even want to wait to order a used copy online (which would have ended up to only be about $3 cheaper, so I am glad I didn't) since I was doing my meal planning yesterday and wanted to have those resources available to me as I planned out the coming weeks meals!
For those of you who haven't heard of Nourishing Traditions, it is written by Sally Fallon, who is the founding president of the Weston A Price Foundation which works towards disseminating the research of Dr Weston Price, who traveled the world studying isolated, primitive cultures and their diets. Dr Price concluded from his research that health issues that plagued industrialized societies of the time (this was in the 1930s) like dental problems, tooth cavities, degenerative diseases, muscle fatigue, and allergies were not found in cultures that were sustained by indigenous diets. Though it sounded as though the members of those societies were somehow immune to these problems, Dr Price also found that when a "westernized" diet (including refined sugar, refined flours, and processed foods) was introduced into their culture, within one generation they began to suffer from the same illnesses as those industrialized nations.
So back to Nourishing Traditions - as I tried to explain to my husband, who did not understand why I was so unbelievably excited to have found it in the bookstore (this was the third time I have looked in a local bookstore, and the first time I've been able to get my hands on a copy) Nourishing Traditions is basically the hand book for all things related to the "real food" movement and how to get started on making those important changes in your life. I have only read the introduction so far, and I am already inspired to stretch myself a little more and make more changes. I seriously can't wait to really get into the meat of the book, and I will definitely let you know my review of it once I'm done!
Have you read Nourishing Traditions or has it guided you in your food transformation journey? I would love to hear your thoughts about it. Also on that note, is anyone here a member of their local Weston A Price Foundation chapter? I recently got in touch with mine, and although their event this weekend didn't work out for me scheduling wise, I am excited to participate in upcoming events!
5/10/10
Master Your Metabolism Review
The first part of the book starts out by describing all of the ways in which environmental toxins destroy our metabolism and make us fat. The idea is that it is not only the foods that we are eating, but also the pesticides in our lawns, chemicals in our houses (for a chance at winning some great Seventh Generation products, go on over and enter!), beauty products that we use, etc. that are affecting the levels of toxins in our bodies. She goes over all the individual hormones in our bodies, and likens your body to an orchestra - when it all works together, everything is in tune and running smoothly. However when one hormone gets out of whack, all the other ones are thrown off too as they try to make up for the problems that the one is causing. She goes pretty in depth about the hormones, which isn't my particular area of interest, although I do suppose it is relevant to the lifestyle changes.
The second and third parts of the book go into more detail in the changes that you can make and how you can go ahead and start fixing your completely messed up metabolism. I did feel like a lot of the book was written for people with thyroid problems or problems like PCOS, but there are some good ideas for the rest of us as well. I think my biggest complaint was that it was repetitive and very in depth about the specific nutritionist, hormones, micronutrients, etc. It was pretty extreme for the average person, I think that it could have been summed up in a chapter or a podcast, and didn't really need close to 300 pages to explain it all.
Basically the breakdown of the points that she made are:
1) Go organic. All the time. If that isn't reasonable (which it isn't for most), then do it as much as you can, particularly with dairy, meat, and produce.
2) Choose real foods instead of "franko-foods." Your body doesn't know how to process things like Twinkies, and it makes your metabolism all crazy.
3) Everything in moderation - you don't have to give up sweets completely, but opt for healthier, less chemical ridden foods like Newman's Own peanut butter cups instead of Reese's
4) Cut out plastics - they contain things like BPA, phthalates, etc which can interact with your body mechanisms and do bad things (reduce fertility, increase risk of cancers).
5) Reduce pharmaceuticals - we take way too many over the counter medicines, and we get them in seemingly benign places such as our drinking water. This doesn't mean to go out and buy bottled water (see #4 - cut out plastics), but rather to do things like install a reverse osmosis filter, which isn't really practical for many of us.
6) Work out - you still need to work out to maintain a healthy body. Getting your metabolism in check will just make it easier to work out less and still stay slim.
7) Relax a little! As a nation we are overworked and overstressed. Find ways to relax - get a massage, take a vacation, play with your kids, whatever makes you feel good.
I guess overall the book was just different than other "green living" books. Unlike something like Real Food or The Omnivore's Dilemma, this book is a lot more detailed on the biology of it all. Like I said before, there is a long section about your hormones and all that they do in your body, and another long section about all the micronutrients that you should be getting in your diet. I don't feel like the book helps you to eat more intuitively or holistically, but rather it breaks it down into such small details that it feels like you are never going to be able to remember all the information, nor would you be able to make changes that would really make a difference. Likewise with the chapter about beauty products and the toxins in them - it is basically just a list of all the toxins and the products you can find them in, but it gets rather overwhelming because it seems like they are everywhere and there is really no way around it. She does say at the beginning of that chapter to make small changes and anything that you remove will help, but overall the book was very list like, and got rather dry because of it.
Overall, I think the book was interesting, but I wouldn't really recommend it because I think it could be rather discouraging to someone who is just starting out and trying to make small changes or baby steps towards a healthier way of living.
4/13/10
The Help
I recently finished reading The Help, a novel by Kathryn Stockett. I wanted to take the time to write a review on it, since I, your stand in librarian, would highly recommend it. It is currently #2 on the New York Times Best Seller list, and has been on the list for the past 53 weeks.
The Help is a story of 1960's Mississippi and the thick racial tensions that filled the era. It is told by the main character, Skeeter Phelan, a white woman who has just finished up her last year at Ole Miss and returned home to Jackson to live with her parents. All of her friends had dropped out of Ole Miss to get married, so she returns to a world of couples, babies, and "country club" life. Skeeter decides along the way that she wants to make her big break by writing a book detailing what it is like to be a black woman working as the domestic help in white peoples' houses, and she wants to do it from the help's perspectives. She recruits her friends' help to tell her the stories of the families they have worked for, and the rest unfolds from there.
As a child of the South, I think it is always important to learn about the history that surrounds you, good, bad, or ugly. The Help does a fine job of doing just that - telling a well rounded story that is poignant, thought provoking, and important.
Click on the book to be directed to it's page on Amazon
4/7/10
Book Review: The Omnivore's Dilemma
I first must give my disclaimer here, that I am obsessed with Michael Pollan. Not only does he write about the food industry, something about which I am passionate, but he does it in a non-textbook like way. He's entertaining, while also conveying important details about the subject matter.
That being said, I loved The Omnivore's Dilemma. Basically throughout the book, Pollan decides to follow the lifeline of four different meals, starting with a McDonald's meal, going through two different types of organic meals, and ending with a "hunter/gatherer" kind of situation where he forages for his own meals. Obviously each of these meals has its drawbacks (some more than others...ahem McDonald's), but he describes in detail the processes through which each meal goes to plop down on our tables at night.
Far and away the most important concept that I took from the book was the idea of industrial organics. I am a big fan of organics myself, and try my best to eat as wholly and nutritiously as I can afford. Pollan makes a strong case, however, that industrial organics are far more similar to their industrial counterparts and far removed from the original hippy idea of saving the world through organic farming. To me, this was a mind blowing concept, because the very idea of organic (and the packaging and advertising of organic manufacturers) conjure up the notion of a small, family farm in middle America producing food similar to my grandmother's garden in her backyard. This often could not be further from the truth, and Pollan does a thorough job of exploring this case.
By the very nature of the fact that Pollan is writing a book about the subject, you can correctly surmise that he is not a supporter of the industrial processed foods that restaurants such as McDonald's produce. However, he does raise some very interesting and thought provoking questions about what our alternatives are, and where we went wrong in coming to the place we are today with the food industry. All in all, Pollan's book was thought provoking and informative. I wouldn't say that it covers all the bases of the problems with the industrial processing of foods, but it does a good job of giving a general overview to someone who is just beginning to dip their toes into the subject matter.
If you would like to read the first chapter of The Omnivore's Dilemma for free, head on over to Michael Pollan's page. The chapter is located underneath the description of the book.
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