Review of Hawaii Diet (Hardcover)

I've experimented with Dr. Ornish's plan, Dr. Atkins' plan, and with vegetarianism; I am NOT running Ornish down, but I gotta admit I DO like tuna fish now and again (by the way, the tuna fish I buy is not only dirt-cheap but is actually totally devoid of fat; and even regular canned-in-water tuna is incredibly low in fat).So Ornish's plan is not something I could strictly adhere to.Dr. Atkins' Diet led me gain body fat and weight; I dropped that like a hot brick.Vegetarianism is cool but it got to be a hassle with my family.Then....I chanced upon THIS book (and in fact got this book from my brother for Christmas).
Dr. Shintani is sort of like Dr. Deepak Chopra:He combines the best of Western medicine with the best of the ancient medicine of his own culture (in Chopra's case, that's Ayurvedic medicine; in Shintani's, of course, it's the wisdom and medicines of ancient Hawaii, before we Westerners screwed things up for them).And he explains -- without bashing, or badmouthing, or distorting facts to make them fit what he wants -- how in fact his diet plan can work.
Simply put, we all know that if you don't eat too many calories you either will not gain weight or in fact you'll LOSE weight.Ah, but how do you do that without feeling deprived?Basically by eating whole, unprocessed, natural foods which not only are low in fat and high in nutrients, but are high in satiety value (you'd have to eat a whole heck of a lot of them to get anywhere NEAR 2000 calories, plus a serving of them would fill you up so you feel satisfied and won't feel like eating more anyway).He suggests things like poi, taro, whole grains, non-dairy and non-meat sources of protein and calcium, and very low-fat foods.BUT he allows for various exceptions:For instance, you can use egg whites or skim milk if you like, or eat tuna and other low-fat meats and fish.He includes a Hawaii/Pacific diet, a Hawaii/mainstream American diet, and a Hawaii/Meditteranean diet so that you DO have choices and variations.
I would have given this book 5 stars, but for one little thing:Some of the recipes call for things that quite frankly we don't see too much of here on the East Coast (my produce store, what with its wonderful choices of apples, pears, cabbage, tomatoes, etc., just refuses to stock breadfruit!phooey!).So, you might not find the recipe section extremely useful, although many of the recipes, such as his low-fat oatmeal, are easy to make and really good too.Other than for that one little qualm I've got, it's a great book.At the very least, check it out:You'll learn a lot from this guy.



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