How Food Works

 

About the book

Is red wine good for your heart? Will caffeine raise your blood pressure? How Food Works gives you answers to these and several more questions by investigating claims surrounding a variety of foods and examining them from a biological standpoint. Discover nutritional facts about the food you eat, learn the benefits of superfoods and antioxidants, and go behind-the-scenes of modern food production.

Packed with infographics and colorful images, the book delves into the science behind ways of eating including gluten-free and veganism, as well as the benefits of different diets from around the world. Turn the pages to understand why food intolerances occur, what actually makes food organic, how important sell-by dates really are, and how much salt you should really be eating. 

Readers will also learn about the social and economic implications of food choices, such as eating disorders and fair-trade businesses. 

Indispensable and accessible to young and old, How Food Works is the perfect health and dietary companion.

My Thoughts

This book is packed with interesting information related to food.  Let's admit it sometimes it is hard to follow nutrition and dietary recommendation.   Written by 

The book is divided into 6 sections:  Food Fundamentals, Storing and Cooking, Types of Food, Drinks, Diets, as well as Food and Environment.

Food Fundamentals: In this section, you will learn about the basics of nutrition, how hunger works, flavor, smell and taste, nutrients and much more.

Storing and Cooking: This section presents all you need to know about preservation from storing and freezing, fermentation, how food is processed, additives and how to cook food.

Types of Food: This section presents all the types of food that can be eaten and prepared.

Drinks: This section concentrates on all the different type of drinks that can accompany our meals.

Diets: Diets, what are they?  How many are there? What are the differences between them? You questions are answered in this section.

Food and Environment: How does food affect our environment is explained in this portion of the book.

The text is easy to understand.  The book contains numerous illustrations and graphs to help the visualization of what you read as well as understand the differences between different techniques of cooking and how food affect your body.

If you are interested in learning more about food, this book is one to explore.

The book is available at your favorite bookstore.

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for allowing me to promote their books. I was not monetarily compensated for this post . Please note that the post was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Nutrition for Life

Nutrition for Life – The no-fad, no-nonsense approach to eating well and reaching your healthy weight
By Lisa Hark and Darwin Deen
Published at DK Canada

About the book

The complete guide to healthy eating, including advice for using food as medicine and real-life examples of how improved nutrition can remedy health problems, this book is an authoritative reference tool that's perfect for families.

• Unique design presents nutritional theory and practical applications side-by-side
• Over 500 full-color photographs and charts that analyze every aspect of what you eat
• Uses real case studies to illustrate every aspect of nutritional health

My Thoughts

2013 arrived slowly in our family as we had to deal with sickness over the Christmas vacation…  On New Year’s Eve, my husband and oldest son drove through the state of New York and back in order to pick up a comic collection.  Needless to say, when they arrived at home later that day, they were tired and we all went to sleep.    However, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t decided to try something new or get healthier in 2013.  

I will admit that I am overweight and I am pleased to say that this week (after postponing it since the beginning of January), I have decided to become more active at home.  Winter is difficult…  Back in the fall, my husband and I had taken the habit to go walk every day for about 30 minutes.   When the cold temperatures came…. well it got put on the backburner.   So in order to get back in shape and while waiting for the warmer days to come, I have decided to get back on the Wii Fit.   A couple of years ago, I have lost quite a bit of weight with Weight Watchers and the Wii Fit.  So I thought I could get back at it and be careful at my calories intake during the day.   With the help of an app and the Wii Fit, I have done three days of exercises and healthy eating.   But I don’t want to stop there.    I want to learn more about eating well and making wise choices.

So when I go approached in promoting the DK Start Something New Boutique, I quickly selected four books to promote.  One of these book is the Nutrition for Life.  Before I share my thoughts about book, let me present you the table of contents:

• Assess your health and lifestyle – nutrition-energy balance, look at your lifestyle, check your physical health, assess your shape and weight, do you need to change? and making changes.
• Food for life – why we need food, the need for fats, good fats/bad fats, reducing saturated fat, proteins for growth, carbohydrates for energy, facts about fiber, what are vitamins, phytochemicals, what are minerals.
• Elements of a healthy diet – making the best dietary choices, dietary guidelines, wholesome grains, vegetables for health, fruits for health, benefits of dairy, healthy protein sources, legumes, seeds, nuts, eggs, fluids, vegetarian and eating away from home.
• Eating for the time of your life – when our needs change, children, growth, baby, toddlers, preschool children, school-age children, adolescents, adulthood, pregnancy, motherhood, menopause, athletes. middle-to-later years.
• The truth about weight control – why weight control is important, looking at diet plans, extra help with weight loss, your personal diet plan, regular exercises and weight loss, children and weight management, when you need to gain weight.
• Food as medicine – improving health through diet, cardiovascular disease and nutrition, respiratory disorders, digestive disorders, disorders of the urinary system, bone and joint disorders, diabetes, food allergies and intolerances, migraine headache, cancer, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, dietary supplements.
• The food you buy – nutrition and modern food preparation, how food is preserved, smart shopping, how to store food, preserving food at home, food preparations and cooking, food hygiene.
• Food analysis – what is in the food you eat?

I find this book packed with useful information that could help anyone no matter at what stage of life they are.   There are some sections that doesn’t touch our family anymore – pregnancy, baby food, and toddlers – but still I can gain much in reading the book.  One of the first section I have read was the menopause one because even if I am in my early 40s I have been in menopause for almost 3 years now.   However, my bones are healthy and I have turned toward a natural way of dealing with the effects of menopause and to this day I do not have to use hormones.   I also explore the diet directory and read about some of them.  In this section you will learn more about the diets out there and how it claims to work and the regimen impose to the followers.  You will also get a paragraph explaining to you if the diet is healthy (and indirectly if it will work…).   Personally, I have a positive experience with Weight Watchers and know that one of the reasons I gain some weight or stayed on a plateau is because I stopped calculating the point.  So using an app for the calories help to determine if I am eating my daily quota and not more.

As I write this review, I am still reading some part of the book in order to absorb as much information on the subject.    I am planning to change some eating habits of mine in 2013 and discover new flavors as well.   One of the food I want to try this year is the fig as I have never had any before.   I also want to continue to try out new recipes (that’s another review I promise!  *grin*) with my family.  And moving is a big one on my list.   I have already started with the Wii Fit and plan to include more activities in my day-to-day life with the kids.

Do you sense you want to try something new in 2013?   Are you wondering what you can accomplish this year?   Why not explore the DK Start Something New Boutique and select one of their titles.   Click on the icon below to access this special page.

If you want to learn more about nutrition, I strongly suggest that you check you the Nutrition for Life.   You won’t be disappointed.

Nutrition for Life is available at your favourite bookstore, even amazon.ca and amazon.com.

     

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for sending me the above mentioned product for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Busy Mom’s Guide to Family Nutrition

Busy Mom’s Guide to Family Nutrition
Published at Tyndale

About the book

With almost everything you need to know to care for your family available on the Internet or at the library these days, how do you sort through the wealth of information available? How do you narrow down your web search? And how many pages are in that reference guide? It can be overwhelming to look for specific information. Relax—we have the cure for the common search. The information you need is at your fingertips in the practical and easy-to-use “Busy Mom’s Guide” series.

Using a question-and-answer format, Busy Mom’s Guide to Family Nutrition provides bite-sized pieces of information, including nutritional basics, the skinny on fats, interpreting food labels, exploring popular diet plans, and much more. Improve your family’s health quotient with the quick reference material found inside, and enjoy your healthy family!

Some content previously published in the Complete Guide’s Family Health, Nutrition, and Fitness.

My Thoughts

How do I get my family to eat healthy food?

Which weight loss plan is right for me?

How do I help my overweight child?

How do I cut through the hype about health & nutrition?

These are all interesting questions that are listed on the cover of the book.    And every mom should worry about these because essentially it is important to teach your kids to make healthy choices so that when they are alone they will continue to make such choices.   But how can you find answers that you can trust to your questions especially from a Christian perspective?   That’s why this book has been published.   Essentially, this book will provide answers to your questions, guidance on how to select healthy food for your family and improve your family’s health on the long run.  This book is divided into sick chapters which will guide you in making sensible choices for your family.

Chapter 1 will introduce you to the nutritional basics.  It covers everything from the sugars, fats and proteins to the more complicated information like enzymes and explanation of lactose intolerance.  Chapter 2 will give you guidance on how to make healthy food choices for every member of your family.  In this chapter, you will read about the importance of eating together as a family as well as learn quite a bit about what is healthy and what’s not.  Chapter 3 will highlights the importance of vitamins and minerals while chapter 4 will concentrate it’s information on the weight problem and how to put a strategy in place to help you control it. Chapter 5 will provide information on the various diets, medications and surgery to help control the weight problem. Finally chapter 6 will guide you in how to help your child or teenager who might be overweight.   It is a well known fact that being overweight can affect the spirit of a person.  Helping a child or a teenager to feel confident even though he/she might be overweight is important I find.   This book will provide you tips and tricks on how to encourage your child to exercise and eat healthy.

I find this book talks about such an important topic that I consider that every family should own a copy.     However, while reading the book and searching information on specific subjects that would interest me more, I realized that this book was essentially a short version of the information found in the Complete Guide to Family Health, Nutrition and Fitness which I had purchased last year in a clearance bin at a store in town.    So since I have the large book in hand, I decided to compare the text of this book to the other one.   And it is compatible – to the point that if you already own the Complete Guide to Family Health, Nutrition and Fitness I don’t think I would suggest that you purchase the Busy Mom’s Guide to Family Nutrition unless you really desire to tuck it in your purse and carry it around with you.   On the other hand, if you are curious in knowing more about family nutrition, the Busy Mom’s Guide to Family Nutrition is the perfect book for you.    You can trust the information you will find in it because it is an official book from the Focus on the Family Physicians Resource Council in the U.S.A.  

The Busy Mom’s Guide to Family Nutrition is available at your favorite bookstore, even amazon.ca.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book for review purposes from Tyndale. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.