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A review by theresaalan41
The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in "Healthy" Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain by Steven R. Gundry
5.0
“Plants are both our bane and our salvation.”
There is a lot of really interesting information in this book. I’ve been a vegetarian for a long time, and I’m exactly the kind of vegetarian he describes in this book: I think I’m eating healthy because I eat fruits and vegetables and lots of beans and whole grains. Apparently, according to this, most of what I have in my freezer and cupboards is all wrong for making my gut bugs happy.
One of the many surprising things I learned was that because we can eat basically any fruit all year long instead of when certain foods are in season, our body is constantly thinking it has to store up fat for winter. Once you get through the first six weeks of this program, you’re allowed to eat a little fruit, but you should think of it like dessert. He essentially asks that you hate him for the three days of a really challenging diet to correct the problems in your gut, and continue to hate for the first two weeks of the program, and by six weeks it will become a habit and you’ll feel better, sleep better, shed weight, and your skin will look better, too.
I already knew that cow’s milk was designed specifically to make calves as fat as possible as quickly as possible. I also knew that all the steroids and anti-biotics that are put into the feed of cows and chickens is something that, when humans eat the animals, they’re also eating the drugs the animals consumed. I thought as a vegetarian, I was safe from that, but I didn’t take into consideration that the farmers feed animals corns and grains to fatten them up even though cows should eat grass and chickens should be eating bugs and natural seeds, and to force animals to eat foods their bodies don’t want, that’s part of the reason the farmers have to inject them with a lot of drugs. I didn’t think about eating grains myself as a way to fatten myself up.
I’d encourage you to read this book from beginning to end before you go on any major trips to the grocery store, because if your kitchen is anything like mine, you probably have most of the wrong stuff. I’d also encourage you to download this book electronically so you have the “Do” foods and the “Avoid” foods right on your phone for when you’re at the grocery store.
I mentioned to an acquaintance that I was reading this book, and he said he’d also read it and lost 39 pounds. That’s pretty inspiring when you know someone personally that’s had success.
Dr. Gundry explains why some diets seem to work temporarily. An ex-boyfriend of mine was always on the paleo diet trying to lose weight. (It’s super fun when a vegetarian and a paleo-adherent date). We’re still friends, and I saw recently on social media he’s heavier than ever and has been diagnosed with diabetes.
In America, when you go to the doctor, she’ll ask you if you smoke and how much you drink, but other than that, she doesn’t ask about the foods you eat or what non-alcoholic beverages you consume. In my twenties I was having stomach problems, and, without asking me how much water I drank or what foods I ate, she diagnosed me with IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I kept reading books on health and nutrition and figured out on my own that I didn’t have IBS, I had I-don’t-eat-enough vegetables (fiber) and drink-enough-water syndrome.
Gundry points out that, in America, we spend $8300 a year on health care and only $2200 on food. In Japan, they spend $3300 and $3200 on health care and food, respectively. !
His warnings about several over-the-counter and prescription drugs were terrifying.
Dr. Gundry himself used to be overweight despite a rigorous workout schedule and eating mostly vegetarian with small amounts of fish and chicken. He also used to drink eight Diet Cokes a day, and he explains how the sweetness in a Diet Coke was tricking his brain and making it upset that it wasn’t getting actual sugar, so it kept telling him to go back for more sweetness, i.e. more calories that would anger the good gut bacteria and make the bad gut bacteria throw a party.
Even after reading the book, I don’t completely understand all the stuff about the gut bacteria, brain function, Omega-3 and Omega 6s, but I did understand how we raise crops in this country heavily doused in Roundup. I’ve watched documentaries about corporate farming in this country and the evil, evil Monsanto that owns way too many members of congress. Even the USDA is largely comprised of lobbyists for big business, which is why we had years of “Milk, it does a body good,” advertising despite the fact that a large percentage of indigenous Americans and black folks can’t digest cow’s milk, and even plenty of white folks have trouble with it. Soy milk has other issues. The almond milk I drink has sugar in it, so I need to make some changes there, too.
He doesn’t talk much about alcohol other than to say don’t drink more than a glass of wine, but he also lets us drink coffee and tea, and I feel like I can deal with any plan that enables me to drink coffee.
I don’t have underlying health issues like many of his success-story patients with autoimmune diseases or diabetes and so on, but yes, I’d like to lose weight and not be lethargic and naturally fight low moods, so I’ll give this a shot. I’ve only tried two recipes so far. I’m a terrible cook and one was edible and tasted exactly as healthy as it is; the other was inedible.
There is a lot of really interesting information in this book. I’ve been a vegetarian for a long time, and I’m exactly the kind of vegetarian he describes in this book: I think I’m eating healthy because I eat fruits and vegetables and lots of beans and whole grains. Apparently, according to this, most of what I have in my freezer and cupboards is all wrong for making my gut bugs happy.
One of the many surprising things I learned was that because we can eat basically any fruit all year long instead of when certain foods are in season, our body is constantly thinking it has to store up fat for winter. Once you get through the first six weeks of this program, you’re allowed to eat a little fruit, but you should think of it like dessert. He essentially asks that you hate him for the three days of a really challenging diet to correct the problems in your gut, and continue to hate for the first two weeks of the program, and by six weeks it will become a habit and you’ll feel better, sleep better, shed weight, and your skin will look better, too.
I already knew that cow’s milk was designed specifically to make calves as fat as possible as quickly as possible. I also knew that all the steroids and anti-biotics that are put into the feed of cows and chickens is something that, when humans eat the animals, they’re also eating the drugs the animals consumed. I thought as a vegetarian, I was safe from that, but I didn’t take into consideration that the farmers feed animals corns and grains to fatten them up even though cows should eat grass and chickens should be eating bugs and natural seeds, and to force animals to eat foods their bodies don’t want, that’s part of the reason the farmers have to inject them with a lot of drugs. I didn’t think about eating grains myself as a way to fatten myself up.
I’d encourage you to read this book from beginning to end before you go on any major trips to the grocery store, because if your kitchen is anything like mine, you probably have most of the wrong stuff. I’d also encourage you to download this book electronically so you have the “Do” foods and the “Avoid” foods right on your phone for when you’re at the grocery store.
I mentioned to an acquaintance that I was reading this book, and he said he’d also read it and lost 39 pounds. That’s pretty inspiring when you know someone personally that’s had success.
Dr. Gundry explains why some diets seem to work temporarily. An ex-boyfriend of mine was always on the paleo diet trying to lose weight. (It’s super fun when a vegetarian and a paleo-adherent date). We’re still friends, and I saw recently on social media he’s heavier than ever and has been diagnosed with diabetes.
In America, when you go to the doctor, she’ll ask you if you smoke and how much you drink, but other than that, she doesn’t ask about the foods you eat or what non-alcoholic beverages you consume. In my twenties I was having stomach problems, and, without asking me how much water I drank or what foods I ate, she diagnosed me with IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I kept reading books on health and nutrition and figured out on my own that I didn’t have IBS, I had I-don’t-eat-enough vegetables (fiber) and drink-enough-water syndrome.
Gundry points out that, in America, we spend $8300 a year on health care and only $2200 on food. In Japan, they spend $3300 and $3200 on health care and food, respectively. !
His warnings about several over-the-counter and prescription drugs were terrifying.
Dr. Gundry himself used to be overweight despite a rigorous workout schedule and eating mostly vegetarian with small amounts of fish and chicken. He also used to drink eight Diet Cokes a day, and he explains how the sweetness in a Diet Coke was tricking his brain and making it upset that it wasn’t getting actual sugar, so it kept telling him to go back for more sweetness, i.e. more calories that would anger the good gut bacteria and make the bad gut bacteria throw a party.
Even after reading the book, I don’t completely understand all the stuff about the gut bacteria, brain function, Omega-3 and Omega 6s, but I did understand how we raise crops in this country heavily doused in Roundup. I’ve watched documentaries about corporate farming in this country and the evil, evil Monsanto that owns way too many members of congress. Even the USDA is largely comprised of lobbyists for big business, which is why we had years of “Milk, it does a body good,” advertising despite the fact that a large percentage of indigenous Americans and black folks can’t digest cow’s milk, and even plenty of white folks have trouble with it. Soy milk has other issues. The almond milk I drink has sugar in it, so I need to make some changes there, too.
He doesn’t talk much about alcohol other than to say don’t drink more than a glass of wine, but he also lets us drink coffee and tea, and I feel like I can deal with any plan that enables me to drink coffee.
I don’t have underlying health issues like many of his success-story patients with autoimmune diseases or diabetes and so on, but yes, I’d like to lose weight and not be lethargic and naturally fight low moods, so I’ll give this a shot. I’ve only tried two recipes so far. I’m a terrible cook and one was edible and tasted exactly as healthy as it is; the other was inedible.