★★★★★ 4
Best diet/health book I have ever read
Format: Kindle
For scientifically-minded laypeople, this is an excellent read. I altered my diet because of this book. Using a bit of intuition, it seems much more logical that nature attempts to achieve balance with respect to macro nutrients and vitamins/minerals. I loved Mr. Jaminet's explanation of the relationship of vitamin A,D, and K. I do have about a thousand questions for the author (Paul Jaminet), such as his lower protein recommendations (this differs greatly from a typical gym rat's recommendation of 1 gram of protein per pound of body mass). The book recommends more protein for the athlete, but not at the levels recommended elsewhere (high protein diets). I think Mr. Jaminet and others that are recommending a smaller ratio of protein to fat/carbs are ahead of the game. I find my diet in desperate need of more insoluble fiber, although this book does not treat fiber as being extremely important and advises against too much fiber. I use PGX daily fiber once per day and it had made a big difference for me. All in all, there are 3 big aspects that I would like Mr. Jaminet to weigh in on in future books or other publications. First, please expand more on repairing the health of your gut and the good bacteria that live there. What is the absolute quickest way to optimize gut flora and, subsequently, keep inflammation at a minimum? I understand Mr. Jaminet's stance on legumes, but it seems very contradictory to common sense. From the surface, not eating any legumes would raise my BS flag. Overall, if the answer is "don't eat legumes because you can get all the benefits from other foods and, therefore, better safe than sorry", then this should be considered a dubious argument (I am not saying that this is the argument in the book). To be fair, the book has much more detailed reasons to steer clear of legumes, but I am still a little on the fence about it. Lastly, PHD refers to the Shangri-la diet and using MCT or Coconut oil to suppress appetite, but I would LOVE a detailed scientific explanation of what the body's "setpoint" really is. From my clinical trials (on myself!), this is a huge factor. My body seems to want to be at a set weight and even body fat percentage and it takes quite a bit of effort to lower or raise that setpoint. This applies to the PHD because assertions are made with respect to the body's need for a certain quantity of protein and carbs. How does the setpoint interact with those processes?
PROS:
* Clearly, Mr. Jaminet or his editors took a technical writing course. This book is written using the active voice and uses a conversational tone. Extremely easy to read! It is simple, direct, clear, and concise.
CONS:
* This book cites clinical studies as evidence to buttress certain assertions. This is not a problem if you factor in what the study was trying to measure and external variables that would greatly affect the conclusions. Here is an example of clinical studies that are almost worthless (at least from drawing a single conclusion): Patient group A ate such and such and patient group B ate such and such over a 20 year period. The death rate was 11% higher in patient group A, therefore eating what they ate "may" have been the cause of the higher death rate. Drawing conclusions from such a study is really difficult, I think. I am no scientist, but even I can see that these sorts of studies should be used as a starting point for more investigation and not as the final word on a subject.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2013
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