Review of The Food & Mood Cookbook: Recipes for Eating Well and Feeling Your Best (Paperback)

This cookbook is one of the best I've come by for people who have average to above average cooking experience and who are looking for very tasty, healthy meals.Everything I've made from this book has come out excellent and the ingredients are common to most cooks' kitchens, so you don't have to search extensively for exotic spices, etc.With some slight modifications, I have been able to improve a number of these recipes based on my individual tastes.I'm particularly fond of the soups and find that they are extremely quick and easy to make.

Enjoy and eat well!

Product Description
From the author of Food & Mood, recipes for dishes that can boost energy, soothe depression, and control cravings

Following the publication of her groundbreaking book Food & Mood, Elizabeth Somer became one of the nation's leading experts on the link between diet and feelings. Now she applies her insights into nutrition, weight, and emotion to the kitchen in this practical guide to eating well.

The Food & Mood Cookbook contains more than two hundred delicious and easy recipes for entrées, salads, side dishes, breads, beverages, and desserts. The varied dishes include
- Thai wraps
- cold curried chicken salad with cranberries
- plum-glazed chicken on skewers
- Cajun shrimp-and-corn bisque
- linguini with fresh tomatoes, capers, and lemon
- creamy, low-fat fudge
- lemon bundt cake with raspberry filling

Each recipe is briefly introduced with information about how these foods can affect emotions and energy, and the book is full of helpful charts and tips. The first cookbook devoted to the relationship between food and mood, Somer's book will appeal to anyone interested in eating to feel better.


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Review of Nutrition for Women, Second Edition: How Eating Right Can Help You Look and Feel Your Best (Paperback)

I'd been a pizza-and-macaroni-vegetarian from age 16 to 21, then I went back to meat because I was so bored, I suppose.I discovered cooking a couple years later, and was experimenting with thai, meditteranean, and french food by 25.I baked bread, I bought brie, I tried new things.Then I had my nutrition revelation, and I've been learning ever since.

About 5 years ago, I was interested in homeopathic medicine--"it's like astrology for your body!" I said to anyone who would listen to me ramble.But then I started to think more practically--I'm not going to spend hundreds of dollars on homeopathic remedies for my every ailment and neurosis.I'm already eating food.What should I really be eating to give me every chance to be healthy?

This is the book I picked up.Following its recommendations, I tested my vitals--cholesterol, blood pressure, etc.I was just fine, really great, in fact--my total cholesterol was 171 and my HDL was much higher than my LDL.But I soldiered on, figuring that was because I was young (I was 28).

One thing I remember specifically is that I took Somer's advice and wrote down those of her recommendations I was planning to fulfill.I took a look at that list a little while ago, and I did most things (except eating two to three cups of dairy a day, about which, at the time I said, "I'll try, but I doubt it!").For example, I'm eating at least 6 servings of fruits and vegetables a day--at the time, I seriously thought it would be impossible.I vowed to eat half of my grains as whole grains--now I rarely eat refined white flour or rice at all, and certainly never cook them at home.There were several others, and I've incorporated them into my daily life since then, and I have to say, I'm proud.

I had my numbers checked for the first time since then just this week.My cholesterol has gone down *40 points* from 171 to 131 in five years.My HDL to LDL is 1.7 (drs figure it differently--my LDL to HDL is .5, and my Total C to HDL is 1.7).My cholesterol counselor called me a show-off and told me at least four times to keep eating exactly the way I was eating.

Dr. Somer, thank you so much.I had no idea how to be healthy--now I have no idea how to enjoy junk.I've been overhauled.

(I'm resolved now to get some more dairy in my diet!)



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