The Best Natural Foods on the Market Today: A Yuppie's Guide to Hippie Food

"The Best Natural Foods on the Market Today," by Greg Hottinger, is a necessary read for anyone interested in maintaining or improving their health. The author, well-credentialed as a registered dietitian and the nutritionist for the Duke University Center for Integrative Medicine, has written a book chuck full of valuable well-researched information about the best natural food products available today. Although containing information about natural meat and dairy products, vegetarians (including vegans) will find it very much worth their while, since a major focus is on plant-based foods. An additional attractive feature of note is the recipes at the end of each chapter (e.g., the one for "The Smoothie Royale," on p. 47, may be the best smoothie recipe I have run across). This is definitely the kind of book which makes one happy to know is the first of a series. I very much look forward to its sequel!

I love and truly appreciate this very clever book because it has vital information that covers the most important basics to health: choosing foods, with lists of products that are easily available on the market, additives, genetically engineered foods, hormones and antibiotics, food allergies & allergies in general, a clear explaination of 'good' & 'bad' fats, easy yummy recipes & more. I particularly like the 'hippie wisdom' sidenotes ;) It seems that the average person today has an incredibly busy lifestyle and most health food books are too rigid and have recipes with ingredients that most people would not know where to find or have the time to prepare such foods. This is a GREAT book for everyone because it lays it all out plainly & offers real solutions. Plus it has tons of coupons for many great foods avaible in your local grocery store. It is very 'friendly' & fun, almost familiar in the way it's written- it made me feel excited about treating my body well, not overwhlemed and daunted. I highly recommend it to anyone! Especially to those who are just begining their journey towards a more healthy Life. This a GREAT place to start that will cover extremely important topics.

The thing that distinguishes this book from the millions of "eat well" books on the market is how easy it is to apply this information to my real life. The book lists dozens of REAL brand name foods that I find in my local supermarket. No other book I've found does that. It tells me about the companies behind the foods, and what makes the foods better (or worse) than other brands. It's like a consumer reports for healthy eating. So now when I go to the grocery store, I know exactly what to put into my shopping cart. And I feel more confident putting it into my body. HIGHLY recommended.

This book changed my life. It's true that I have had a latent desire to eat better for some time. But this author's honest treatment and evaluation of everyday foods (like chicken, eggs, milk, bread, juice, cereal, ...), and the ways and side-effects of food which is mass produced for maximum yield and shelf life, have convinced me of serious health risks that I can avoid by eating smarter. While there are many natural food books, this one scores big points for it's easy readability and layout. For an average guy like me, the largest section is dedicated to individual everyday foods, their associated issues, and well researched and balanced coverage of each food item's natural food suppliers -- so I know exactly what to buy (there are even neat recipes and coupons for us nubies). I liked this book mostly because it made it as easy as possible for me to transition my eating habits to better ones. But I also liked learning many things of which I had no idea. For example, did you know that dairy cows have been bred to produce 6 to 8 gallons of milk per day! compared with 1.5 gallons one-hundred years ago? And to be more competitive, 15% of these cows are injected with potentially harmful hormones to gain an additional gallon per day? Or that the typical American dairy cow lives only 18 months, slaughtered after its milk production wanes; while organic farmers have dairy cows averaging 5 years or more? This book is filled with useful facts like these that leave no doubt about the benefits and drawbacks of mass produced and processed foods versus natural foods. The good news is that I didn't need to make a radical change to my diet. With this book, I've been able to change it one item (or meal) at a time. My thanks to the author.

Mr. Hottinger's book is a great contemporary guide to the best natural food on the market today. It also provides thoughtful insight into the relationship between what we eat and our well being. After reading The Best Natural Foods on the Market Today: A Yuppie's Guide to Hippie Food, I came away convinced that the additional expense of producing, selling and buying organic food is repaid many times over in the added benefits these actions make to our own health and the health of the planet.