 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | Diets high in grains can lead to a host of health problems such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, fatigue, and more. Going Against the Grain outlines the disadvantages and potential dangers of eating various types of grains and provides practical, realistic advice on implementing a plan to cut back or eliminate grains on a daily basis. This book also includes easy-to-follow grain-free recipes and helpful suggestions for dining out. |
Average Customer Rating:   Going Against the Grain I received this excellent book very promptly, and it was in superb condition at a price of under $10.00! I couldn't be more satisfied with the product and with your service. Informative "Going Against The Grain" is an interesting book. The thesis is that grains are causing many of the diseases of civilization and that humans - especially children should be eating far fewer than our current practice. Certainly avoiding grains should keep our carbohydrate consumption down which should reduce our Type 2 Diabetes epidemic. Ms. Smith makes a good case for avoiding grains altogether. But anyone who has any sort of digestive difficulties should definitely try an avoidance diet.
Furthermore, the author give the reader the names of the tests we should ask our doctors for. If one is having trouble with any part of the digestive system, this might help.
Although the book has few recipes, the ones it has sound great, and I can't wait to try them. Valid information just yet nothing new I was very excited to read this book, but unfortunately it didn't say anything that I hadn't already read online.
Whilst I agree that grains are for birds and not for people, the book was sometimes repetitive and I had to force myself through parts of it at times. I am sure the author is a great help to her patients, I just didn't feel the information was as groundbreaking as books such as The China Study which chronicle a lifetime of research or Eat To Live by Joel Fuhrman which gives a complete and drastic diet plan than has equally drastic results on sick patients.
Dropping grains and replacing them with hamburgers, oil, honey and meat based dishes is not a path to health especially as allergies are often caused by a candida overgrowth and intestinal flora damage which is just as sensitive to sugars and fats as gluten and wheat.
Smith also annoyed me by telling vegetarians that if they don't feel better straight away they should switch back to fish and chicken - in reality vegetarians simply need to stop eating sweets and grain products and switch to a whole food, plant based diet which provides all the fiber, protein and nutrients that they need.
She also urges vegetarians to load up on soy based products which is another huge allergen. If you have so many allergens in your diet - how will you know what's causing your problems?
Fish is so full of mercury it should be an occasional meal, not a staple. Chicken has just as much cholesterol as beef. Heart disease, not protein deficiency or celiac disease is the leading cause of death in the USA
Bottom line is plants need to be the staple whether you eat meat or not to provide the fiber required to aid digestion especially if you drop all grains.
My recommendation is for people who are truly committed to finding healthful eating to perhaps read Eat To Live instead, which has both meat eating and vegetarian menu options but it is a much clearer way to 'revitalize your health' than simply removing grains.
Smith isn't wrong about the grains, and I do feel bad writing a less than perfect review but I just didn't think the book was the most interesting or informative one I have found. Bad advice Um...........WHOLE grains do not cause obesity, REFINED grains do. WHOLE grains do not contribute to type II diabetes, REFINED flours and FAT do.
If you really want to "Revitalize Your Health", read books by:
Drs. Ornish, McDougal or Bernard, they have THOUSANDS of patients whom they have saved their lives and continue to do so through diet. A Wonderful Introduction to Grain Free Living The virtue of whole grains is the latest conventional wisdom from the food industry. In reality whole grains are not as wonderful as they seem. All gains and seeds contain a certain amount of phytic acid and it is concentrated in the bran. The phytic acid binds with the minerals in your food and conveys them out of your system.
Brown rice, for example, contains vastly more minerals than white rice when analyzed in a lab. But your body will actually absorb more minerals from the white rice. Now you could always soak and sprout your brown rice before cooking and the majority of the phytic acid would be neutralized leaving you with lots of usable minerals. But few are willing to go to such lengths.
Nutrition is much more complex than people think. My educated intuition tells me that the best bet is to eat primarily as our ancestors did in the thousands of generations during which man evolved. And they ate no grains to speak of, neither brown nor white nor whole nor processed.
Going Against the Grain is an excellent introduction to this important subject. It is a little bit dated and aimed towards the general public. But if it serves to pique your interest in the subject it has done it's job. |  |
Select button not working? 
