Customer Reviews

New Whole Foods Encyclopedia

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well, Ok not quite but almost! A few months ago my teenage daugher and I were diagnosed with numerous food allergies and told to follow a rotation diet. A life long vegetarian, it was an almost overwhelming to be told I could no longer eat soy, eggs, pinto beans, kidney beans, avocados, etc. And my daughter is not allowed any legumes as well (nor sugar either).
Clearly the protein was going to be a challenge (we really dislike flesh foods of any kind) but then I read the guidelines for the rotation diet itself and quickly discovered the extreme limits of my food knowledge! Sure I had heard of (but never cooked) quinoa and flax but amaranth and yautia? Not. And even if I could find where to purchase these items, how would I prepare them?
Both our weight and our attitude dropped signficantly in the first few weeks. Then we "modified" the guidelines and found ourselves physically sick again. Luckily for us, my husband purchased this book on a trip to Dallas. While I was skeptical about it's holding my interest as an actual "read through", I found it quite engrossing from almost the first page.
Not only do I now know what to do with the foods on a rotation diet list (knowing that yautia is similar to potatoes means I can now make a favorite soup that otherwise I would have passed over) but because the index is brilliantly organized I can easily look up say "warming foods" and adjust my internal thermostat rather than the whole house which made my husband doubly glad he had bought it! The same for high BP, colds, cancer, you name it.
And I can relax about the protein issue as well knowing which foods on "our list" are highest in protein instead of just choosing those foods with which I might have previously been most familiar. I bought a copy for my mom for her birthday and she can't put it down either!
If you are really interested in preparing a variety of healthy foods no matter what your current state of health might be, do yourself a favor and buy this book. It might not save your life but it will certainly liven up your meals no matter what kind of diet you follow!

I just love Wood's new book-I always get so much out of anything she writes...I couldn't ask for a better treat than to have such a goldmine of information all neatly organized and easy to reference as with The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia. I love the little boxes with various stories, and recipes,etc, that she included. These really fill the book out, making it such an enjoyable read...a new treasure with every page turned. In the past I have used Paul Pitchford's 'Healing with Whole Foods,' (also great) in much the same way I do this new book--referencing it everyday with every meal, but find Rebecca's book to be so wonderfully concise, and more easily referenced. Anyone looking to expand their horizons, and cultivate genuine awareness about their lifestyle/ eating habits should own this book.

This book is a great reference to foods and current dietary practices. Being a proponent of Weston Price's research on diet, I was pleased to find that the informationin this book is very much in line with that information.

The book is laid out in alphabetical order, listing each food discussed, and describing how to choose and use it in one's diet. I was quite pleased with how comprehensive and wide ranging the information was. The cover states that it includes information on Ayurveda, Western nutrition, and tradidtional Chinese medicine, and the book lives up to that promise very well.

I have grown tired of all the fad diets and cookbooks that are perpetrated by various economic interests, and this book is a breath of fresh air. My only complaints are the near total lack of information about animal foods (which the book does not even pretend to include, so that is okay), and the "incomplete" information on soy. I have serious issues with the soy industry and some of the goings on therein, and personally avoid soy products of any kind like the plague. The soy industry has been behind campaigns of disinformation about healthy oils like coconut, and I do not trust any information that comes from those quarters. Much of what is circulated in vegetarian circles about the history of soy use in the Orient is distorted. Yes, it was in the Yellow Emperor's book as one of the 5 sacred grains, but it was never eaten as a food by humans until it could be made safe by fermentation, and then seldom in amounts greater than a couple tablespoons a day as flavoring (until the influence of the modern soy industry, that is). It was used as a rotation crop to fix nitrogen in the soil until fermentation was discovered. That is a part of the history that seems to get lost in the telling.

Wood does have caveats against certain soy products, thank goodness, and her blindness to the dark side of soy is the only complaint I have about the entire book. The rest, including the use of coconut oil and butter, seems to me to be right on the mark. I wholeheartedly recommend this book as an additional reference to Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions," and Ron Schmid's "Traditional Foods Are Your Best Medicine." It is a very good reference to the vegetable, grain, and fruit foods available.

I would like to take off 1/3 of a star for the soy stuff, but feel that the rest of the book is so good as to merit an overall 5.

This is an excellent book for learning more about produce and other whole foods. She even includes some not so healthy foods and justifies her reasoning for them to be advised against. The book has useful information on how to find, select, store, and prepare food items and how they can impact the body. She includes Ayurveda and Oriental nutritional comments for most foods. Also, in the begining she has a short section on the basics to one of the best ways of eating up to date.

This book is an amazing reference for those with background knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine theory and diagnosis because it provides you with complimentary dietary plans for any of the syndromes. Additionally, it provides a lot of modern and scientific information on modern eating habits, food and water quality, and the various lifestyle choices involving diet that may affect one's health from a holistic medicine perspective. Each page I read made me continually impressed with the depth of knowledge and research the authors present. This book should be on the shelf of every holistic health practitioner who wants to create a positive nutritional impact on the lives on their clients.

That said, there are two downsides I would like to comment on:

1) The benefits of this book can only be maximized with a solid understanding of TCM theory, such as yin-yang and five elements theory. The authors give you a primer on these topics but in my opinion the subject matter can be too abstract for a beginner to understand without outside help, and so the remainder of the book's content may be lost on the reader. This is not a book that breaks down foods into vitamin and mineral types, which I feel some readers may expect to find when they buy it; rather, it looks at foods based on their yin/yang profile, interactions with the Zangfu according to TCM theory, and their temperature profile.

2) The authors place unusual emphasis on vegetarianism. I do tend to agree that reducing meat in one's diet can lead to a healthier outcome in lifestyle, but this is not universally true of all patients. TCM theory does not necessarily advocate eliminating meat for all people, and for example, for many individuals with blood deficiency, INCREASING animal protein intake can be an important factor in restoring balance to the body. The authors acknowledge the unique makeup of each individual and the need to custom tailor dietary plans for each person, but at the same time, they downplay the beneficial role that meat can play in health by referring to it as a last resort, or they willfully suggest that meat is bad for you.

There is evidence in other dietary philosophies, such as the Blood Type Diet, that suggests certain constitution types may be predisposed to needing to ingest high quality animal protein more regularly, whereas other types may not need it at all. For those that need it, vegetable protein is often not an adequate substitute for the long-term. It's important to factor in the individual needs of patients before considering whether or not it's a good idea to recommend excluding meat.

In short, expect to find some bias against meat eating in this.

Other than those two issues, I love this book!

An excellent reference for those who enjoy cooking a lot at home. Though not a cookbook, it's very valuable if you're just starting to learn to cook for yourself, or for moderately experienced home chefs who want to branch out into unfamiliar territory. I've learned a great deal about storage and handling of foods I was afraid to buy before reading this book. Also, I particularly like the details regarding the nutritional benefits of every food item. For those who want learn the nutritional benefits of foods beyond garlic and olive oil, this book is for you as well.

This is a tremendous resource for anyone interested in the nutritional properties of their food choices and the effect they can have on health. Highly recommend it.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in developing intense knowledge of the who, what, where, when, why, and hows of whole foods - healthy foods!

This is an excellent reference for any cook who wants to know more about whole foods, including grains, vegetables, fruits, etc. Rebecca is a very kind, warm person, and her personality shines through in this book.

The contents include both Western scientific knowledge about the proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals contained in foods, as well as their properties from an Eastern perspective, including Ayurvedic and Chinese Traditional Medicince. Rebecca draws from all of these traditions to present the wonders of whole foods. You may buy it as a reference but I guarantee you will browse just for the pleasure of it!

Any book by Rebecca becomes a food bible for me. I trust her research, her training, her life experiences and her instincts about food. This Encyclopedia helps me cut through the marketing hype around natural foods. Besides being so informative, it's a darned interesting read as well! Friendly, charming and reminiscent of all things good, wholesome and healing. My young son and I love her old-time recipes for such things as tree sap gum and acorn meal. This book is a trustworthy guide to making food choices. It belongs on anyone's shelf of tried and true natural health classics.