My favorite diet book

I've read more than my fair share of diet books, and I make fun of most of them.  So you won't find a lot of book reviews on the blog because I don't want to be mean in public.

There is one book I can recommend without reservation.  Despite the really cheesy title (Magic Foods... really?), it's a wonderful compilation of research reports that promote moderation and practical eating.

Again -cheesy title.  Don't judge the book by it's cover!  :)

"Magic Foods: Simple Changes You Can Make to Supercharge Your Energy, Lose Weight and Live Longer"

compiled and edited by Readers Digest.

I've bought two copies of it, and need to buy a third.  The last people I lent it out to won't give it back.  What makes this book so great?


"Magic Foods" is organized into three sections:  diet overview, listing of especially nutritious foods, and recipes.  I love to cook, but frankly I've never even looked at the recipes.  The value of the book is in the first two sections.

Diet Overview.
"Magic Foods" essentially promotes a practical diet intentionally focused on low glycemic index foods.  But, unlike the South Beach Diet and other trendy glycemic index diets. "Magic Foods" doesn't tell you to cut out huge swatches of food.  It just tells you to educate yourself, and then make your own choices.

The diet overview section is written for those who are at risk for Type II diabetes, or who have been recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.   Furthermore, the focus is not so much on weight loss as it is on long term health.  As such, I believe it has very valuable things to teach all of us about what we eat.

It is this book that helped clarify for me that not all carbs (carbohydrates) are created equal.  Some white carbs (white flour, short-grain white rice, white potatoes) are "read" by your body just like white sugar.  So, when you eat them, it doesn't matter if they taste sweet or not, your body processes them just like they were made of white sugar.  And how does your body process large amounts of white sugar?  It dumps huge amounts of insulin in your system to deal with it.  Do that over and over every day, and your body starts to get damaged.

Magic Foods" also focuses on glycemic load even more than glycemic index.  For more on that, see this Wikipedia article.  As I understand it, glycemic index (GI) is a measurement of the carbs in a food that affect blood sugar levels; glycemic load (GL) is the measurement of how a food actually affects the body's blood sugar levels.  GI ratings don't use commonly-consumed portion sizes, and GL does.

Confused?  Get the book.  It makes the whole concept of GL very easy to understand.

Listing of Low to Moderate Glycemic Load Foods
What I really like about this section is that it lists so many different fruits, veggies, and protiens that you can't NOT find something good to eat when referring to it.  Even my husband, Mr. Carnivore, can find some favorites.

Plus, it devotes at least a page to each food, listing multiple studies about what this food does for our bodies.  Granted, if you track down the studies, some are better than others.  Still, the studies are cited for every claim it makes.  Now, how often do you get that in a diet book, that you CAN track down the study if you want to?

I love that about this book.  I use it as an ingredient reference for this reason.  The diet world is filled with general, poorly substantiated claims (heck, I've made a few on my own site!)  It is wonderful to have a reference book on your kitchen shelf that backs up what it says, and tries really hard to be as accurate as possible.

Interested?  Look for it in your favorite book bookstore or on your favorite bookseller website.  You can pick up a new edition for less than $30, and a used older edition (still great info) for less than $10.  Pick it up.  It could be one of the best investments you've even made for your health.