wingless13's review
3.0
Enjoyed learning for the first time about the topics introduced in this book. I wrote down a lot of the recipes to try and making gradual changes to my lifestyle. I'm following the author on social media and checked out his website.
This is an ongoing process, but up front the book has useful health information.
This is an ongoing process, but up front the book has useful health information.
fionak's review
3.0
The author explains the science more clearly than many other books on this subject but there's no new information here and if there were you wouldn't know since nothing is cited (apparently he'll kindly share his citations and tells you so at the end of every chapter but anybody with two brain cells to rub together knows that's not acceptable publishing behaviour and it makes me suspicious. Also the recipes sound terrible.)
tgestabrook's review
3.0
The writing style is a bit annoying, but this book is overall a pretty accessible summary of the latest discoveries about the gut microbiome. I particularly liked the refutation of elimination diets via the notion that we can train and improve our own microbiome just as we can every other part of our body.
The book makes a strong case for eating a large and diverse selection of vegetables, but the argument against eating meat and dairy felt a bit thin and glossed over - I'm drastically cutting meat consumption for a variety of other reasons, but I wasn't convinced by the arguments here. More elaboration would have been welcome.
The worst part of the book is the author's insistence that plant based eating will automatically result in weight loss. I'm sure a balanced microbiome makes it much easier to eat under your TDEE, but implying that weight change is anything other than calories in - calories out is discouraging at best and disingenuous at worst.
Lastly, the food plan seems like a pointless gimmick, but some of the recipes do seem pretty great.
The book makes a strong case for eating a large and diverse selection of vegetables, but the argument against eating meat and dairy felt a bit thin and glossed over - I'm drastically cutting meat consumption for a variety of other reasons, but I wasn't convinced by the arguments here. More elaboration would have been welcome.
The worst part of the book is the author's insistence that plant based eating will automatically result in weight loss. I'm sure a balanced microbiome makes it much easier to eat under your TDEE, but implying that weight change is anything other than calories in - calories out is discouraging at best and disingenuous at worst.
Lastly, the food plan seems like a pointless gimmick, but some of the recipes do seem pretty great.