Eating Well for Optimum Health: The Essential Guide to Food, Diet, and Nutrition

I usually have to force myself to read nutritional type books, but I found this book to be quite different. The approach taken by the author is a very rational one, and it makes a lot of sense over the course of a lifetime. There are no short term diet or health solutions presented, but rather the focus is on healthy, enjoyable eating as a way of life. The author strongly emphasizes that healthy eating does not need to be a miserable experience; but that it can and should be pleasurable. A wealth of information about food is provided in the book, including the best and worst diets in the world. In several chapters the components of food and nutrition are broken down and explained. There is a section of the book that contains 85 recipes, and another section that answers specific questions about food and nutrition. Much of the information given is scientific in nature, but I found all of the chapters to be very informative and interesting. I greatly appreciated the sense of compassion and humor that Dr. Weil brings to his book. This is a very well written book, and I recommend it to everyone.

I was fascinated to realize that there are so many MIS-understandings we (collectively speaking) have had-- about nutrition, until now.In his book, Dr. Weil indicated that table sugar, is not as "bad" as we tend to think, as the results from the Glycemic list show that there are worse things (such as white flour).FAT is another issue which Dr Weil makes quite clear, as it has its place in our diets, both in terms of taste, as well as the Omega 3's (or 6's). This book is NOT about "the basics", as it is much more involved. Actually, given the current media "fights" between both diet "extremes" (e.g. Pritikin (no fat) and Atkins (lots of it), THERE ARE NO BASICS, rather an acceptance of various beliefs about what is best for our health.I am grateful for Dr Weil's book, as it is comforting to know that meat is not always the "ememy", nor are carbohydrates always the enemy either. I think he does an excellent job explaining how the various carbohydrates affect us in different ways.I have read many, many diet and nutrition books. I appreciate whatever information I gained from them, yet with Dr Weil's book, I feel a greater level of CONFIDENCE in what he has to say, as he goes into the scientific detail (some of which I get, some I don't).

With certainty, compassion and humour Dr.Weil addresses management for the intake of our food - whether eating at home or in restaurants. I've taken the highlighter to it and have the recipes copied on the counter for ready and easy use. They sound delicious enough to eat the menu! The coverage of micronutrients made the book a must have reference for myself and my family.