The Good Fat Cookbook

As an an avid devotee of food information I wasn't sure when I received this book as a gift. But it came from a respected source, so I sat down to read in earnest. I read it with Udo's book on fats and oils next to me and checked all her claims. Wow! I threw away my canola oil and bought some coconut oil. I bought some bacon for my husband who couldn't believe it this morning when I served it to him. For a couple of years I have been narrowing down my "food wisdom" to two words, "Pure Food". She verified my thinking. I've long vanquished hydrogenated oils from my cupboard but canola was a real surprise. Read it.

Never really ever dieting before in my life and wanting to lose a few pounds after my first baby, I turned to a diet program which relied on eating low carb and low fat without it being explained why these were the things that I was no longer eating except for this is what makes you fat. I constantly felt deprived from foods even if I did not want it and it was because I knew I could not have it and I ended up eating completly non-satisfying, low-fat,processed foods(with a list of ingredients twice as long asthe nutrition facts full of 10 syllable words). I think everything needs to be read with a weary eye and taken in moderation, and I say this becasue I do not believe now that I know butter is a good fat I will go out and eat it on my steak, but I will use a small amount of butter or olive oil in my cooking instead of cooking spray or Canola oil. I am not going to be a nut on absolutely cutting out everything processed (I am a working mom of a toddler on a budget), but I will significantly cut down on processed, pre-packaged, and low-fat foods and just focus on eating more 'whole' foods and incorperating healthier and more organic foods into my family's diet. I feel this book educates one about fats in general and about our low-fat obssesed dieting in this nation that is not working; the book makes you think, but I don't feel it is a guide, it is too opinionated.

For years I have been trying to learn about nutrition. I've always thought that there was more to it than just eating "low-fat." A nutritionist at my college's health center simply handed me a copy of the old food pyramid. I was frusterated that I'd never learn the real details for myself. But I finally FOUND IT! THANK YOU Fran McCullough for knowing that not all of us are just mindless cattle!! Thank you for realizing that some of us are interested in more than just being told to "eat your veggies" or given a bunch of low-fat recipes! After reading this book, I feel EMPOWERED to make healthy food decisions for myself, with or without a recipe! I UNDERSTAND now what I should be putting into my body, specifically. There aren't a LOT of recipes in this book, but there are just enough to get me started. Now I have the knowledge to create my own recipes as well as the ability to decide whether the recipes in other cookbooks are really good for me or not!! There are a lot of diet cookbooks out there that have recipes that aren't really good for you, but just prey on people who want to lose weight and just want to be told what to do. Now I won't be duped ever again. This book is a MUST for every human being on earth. It's not just about being thin...it's about being HEALTHY!

As much diet discussion guide as cookbook, McCullough's ("The Low-Carb Cookbook") newest presents the latest scientific thinking on fats - processed hydrogenated, versus natural animal and vegetable, saturated and unsaturated, trans fats and butter and lard and vegetable oils. And not only does she make it comprehensible, she's even witty. She talks about why Americans are fatter than ever, why it's good for us to eat things we like (as long as they're not "reduced-fat anything," frozen dinners and processed foods). There's advice on supplements, discussions of pollution contaminants, like mercury in fish, reviews of ingredients from canned fish to dairy products and oils from avocado to safflower.Recipes - the second part of the book - offer 100 dishes, breakfast through dessert, from Coconut Waffles to Moroccan Red Pepper Soup, Smoked Trout Salad with Grapefruit and Avocado, Smoothies, Tuna Burgers and Buffalo Chili. A clear, concise, accessible and in-depth introduction to low-carb, good-fat nutrition thinking.

Fran McCullough has for the past few years been an advocate of low carbohydrate eating and has produced a number of superb low carb cookbooks. This time she takes on fats and has written a splendidly researched, extremely thorough and highly-readable book on the virtues of good fats and the evils of hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats. This book is sure to ruffle a lot of feathers because is turns the so called "Food Pyramid" into rubble. This book is a top notch overview of the history of fat and how it got such a bum rap.I highly recommend this book to readers who are interested in the science of nutrition. I do wish though that there were more recipes in the book but the information presented in it more than makes up for that!