Eating Well for Optimum Health: The Essential Guide to Bringing Health and Pleasure Back to Eating Paperback – March 6, 2001

This book was published in 2000 but most of the advice is still very relevant 12 years later. Dr. Weil takes a sensible approach to diet and exercise and explains how to navigate your local grocery store and how to eat when you go to restaurants. He provides recipes and ideas for meals that will give you pleasure and health.In a world where many doctors are still uneducated about nutrition it is always refreshing to read one of Dr. Weil's books. This book shows that he has extensively researched healthy eating. He starts by explaining macronutrients and micronutrients. He does get a bit scientific at some points but if you enjoyed biology class you will fully understand all the concepts.I also appreciated his section on the glycemic index as I'm finally starting to take that seriously. I now find myself telling people to eat sweet potatoes instead of baked potatoes. I was shocked to learn that parsnips are worse than pretty much any vegetable you can think of. This book also explains that honey is not much better than sugar and that whole wheat bread is not really any better than white bread. You will seriously think about not eating very much bread after reading this book. But Dr. Weil is not against all carbohydrates as you will also see from some of his recipes.This book has a great section on various diets people promote. Dr. Weil gives the good and bad qualities of each diet and then explains which diet is best. He seems more in favor of the Mediterranean diet for the most part. I also liked his chapter on the worst possible diet you could ever eat. It really educated me on what I should avoid.There were many parts of the book that explained things I'd wondered about. Like in one section the raw foods diet is explained. I didn't realize that alfalfa sprouts had toxins in them. Dr. Weil explains how cooking destroys the toxins, making vegetables safe to eat. He also explains why grass-fed beef is a much better choice. The only thing I really questioned was his advice about coconut oil. Since now we know it is very healthy and good for the brain. So if you've been reading up on the current nutritional advice of the moment then you'll know you should be adding coconut oil and coconut milk to your diet. Tonight I made a lovely curry with coconut milk that was delicious.I must say that reading a Dr. Weil book is always intellectually satisfying and very comforting. You get the sense that Dr. Weil really cares about his readers and wants them to enjoy themselves as well. You can't go wrong with this excellent book on nutrition. It explains the basics and even teaches you how to read labels so you make the best choices at the grocery store.~The Rebecca Review

Weil's text discusses in detail the most popular diets including low- fat and the ubiquitous low-carb diet. Weil's advice combines sound scientific evidence with an appreciation for eating. Diets of the world such as Asian, Japanese, Mediteranean are also discussed in detail. Each component of diet, fats, proteins and carbs are discussed in enlightening ways. Did you know that peanuts have a mold commonly growing on them known to be carcinogenic? What are the benefits of soy? What's so bad about margarine, in fact, Weil provides a fascinating history of margarine, that's sure to open your eyes. He even gives a profile for the worst diet in the world. Recipes are included that I found helpful especially in the dessert section, because many of his desserts use olive oil. Probably part of the reason I found Weil's advice so easy to swallow is because I like the Mediteranean diet and I enjoy soy and fish and olive oil regularly. If you want to know the "skinny" on the latest diet crazes, what's healthy and what's not, this is a good book to read. It is a myth dispeller. Highly recommended. Oh yes, and there is a section on weight less, if that's your goal.

The first part of this book deals with the science of human nutrition. It's well organized and very detailed. (At some points I felt I needed to take notes!) However, if the science starts to blur together, he summarizes with specific recommendations (which you can then go back and look up the reasons for if someone challenges you on it). The author addresses various diet trends, including Atkins and Ornish (he's not crazy about either, but presents a well-rounded argument) and various food pyramids, including the FDA, Vegan, and Mediterranean Food pyramid.Finally, after talking about what everyone else does, he gives you his specific recommendation in an Appendix. Well, sort of. His opinions are pretty clear throughout the book, so the Appendix doesn't have any surprises in it. He comes out strongly in favor of organic food, and also addresses the idea that food needs to be pleasurable as well as healthy, which is refreshing.There's also a big chunk of recipes (which I haven't tried), as well as a section that includes somewhat generalized dietary recommendations for specific ailments.

Good book with lots of new info for me. I think it is well written and clearly owns the difference between Andrew's opinions and research evidence. It is also clear about the areas of nutrition that are not yet fully defined

Just beginning to delve into reading this and looking forward to reading more. Like the mindset and layout of the book.

....if you want to be healthy! Everything in this book is clear and thoroughly set out and gives a sense of taking one's health into one's own hands

good as expected , so good I ordered it twice

A really well researched and written book. Demystifies everything you ever wanted to know about diets. I have since looked up Dr Weil on youtube and he is truly a brilliant mind.