Breaking the Food Seduction: The Hidden Reasons Behind Food Cravings---And 7 Steps to End Them Naturally

The goal of Dr. Barnard is to steer everyone toward a vegan diet. If that is not your intention, best not to pick up this book. The changes are far-reaching, and radically different than the SAD (Standard American Diet). I tried being a lacto-ovo vegetarian off and on throughout my life. The thought of giving up cheese was just too much to imagine. Additionally, having a husband whose first words about a meal were "where's the meat" made vegetarian life difficult. But if you experience a health crisis (cancer, high cholesterol, high blood pressure) it is amazing how quickly you can moderate your behavior. My husband and I have been vegan for approximately 5 weeks now. We have never felt better in our lives. If you are holding on to meat, cheese and milk but don't feel good, this book will improve your health. Dr. Barnard also explains why it is so difficult to give up sugar, chocolate, cheese and meat. Apparently these items contain various addicting compounds. If someone had tried to tell me this 6 months ago I would have thought they were crazy. Now that I have adopted a vegan lifestyle I can say that my health has improved so much is such a short period of time that it is almost miraculous. Also, it is important to note that after 2 weeks my cravings for sugar, chocolate, cheese and meat are all but gone. In the last 5 weeks my husband and I have seen dramatic improvements in our health. We have both each lost 12 pounds without being hungry or exercising more. My husband has decreased his total cholesterol from 177 to 113 (this happened in 24 days). He has been taken off this high blood pressure medication. I have not had a sinus headache in 5 weeks. Prior to becoming a vegan I had chronic sinusitis. My skin has a youthful glow (amazing for 43 year old woman). I also sleep better at night, and wake up more well rested. If you don't feel as good as you did in your 20's and are willing to make a radical lifestyle change, I believe that this book will improve your health. I have also reviewed other books that advocate a vegan lifestyle if you are interested. Check out "Eat to Live" and "Stop the Inflammation Now". I highly recommend this book for anyone that wants to improve their health. Try it for a month; what do you have to lose? It is a small investment in time and money that could result in a dramatic improvement in the quality of your life. Update: 4 August 2006 My husband and I are still following a mostly vegan (95%) lifestyle. It is amazing how simple it is once you decide it is just the way that you are going to live. We both continue to feel fabulous. My husband, at 52, is back to the weight he was when he graduated high school. He is even considering beginning to exercise. We have both lost over 20 pounds in a little under 4 months. I continue to highly recommend this book if you are looking to make a lifestyle change for health reasons.

One of the other reviews trashes Dr. Barnard's research. In fact, Dr. Barnard has excellent credentials, from George Washington University, where he is an adjunct professor. He has also done studies with faculty at Georgetown. A partial list of his scientific publications can be found on his website: http://www.nealbarnard.org/pubs.htm

I have been eating cheese and meat for many years now, but have been wanting to stop for health reasons, not to mention ethical ones. This smartly-written book not only helped me understand how these foods chemically affect my brain, but it gave me the tools to help me change the way I eat and really helped me take back my diet and ultimately my life!