"Think and Eat Yourself Smart" Book Review

Oh for the means and energy to do all you know you ought to do. The "Little House on the Prairie" lifestyle is such a romantic notion. Wouldn't it be lovely to raise your own chickens and grow your own vegetables? How delightful it would be to have children who, with a grateful gleam in their eyes, say, "Oh Mom! Thank you so much for this delicious vegetable stir fry you made for us!"

Sigh.

I KNOW our diet leaves much to be desired. I hate every sip of pop my family drinks. I makes me cringe to see them scope the measly minimum required helping of peas instead of gobbling up the two or three green varieties laid out before them on the table. But when do I fight and when do I give in?

It would be nothing short of hypocrisy to pretend that my own diet is pristine. Krispy Kreme donuts are my kryptonite. A few years ago, I did the "Whole 30". This is where for a minimum of 30 days, you eat nothing but vegetables, some fruit and lean meat. Zero cheating! Not even so much as a drop of bbq sauce. Then at the end of those 30 days you start reintroducing other foods. The reason I did it was to try and find out what was giving me digestion and inflammation issues.  The "Whole 30" serve its purpose; the offending foods became known. And what were they? A number of vegetables. Go figure. Goodbye onions, red, green and yellow peppers, tomatoes and celery. I will miss you but you caused me physical grief. (though you made my food delicious)

Given this bit of background, it makes me feel tired all over when someone, with the science to back it, says, "You must eat more vegetables and less everything else." In theory, yes - I wholeheartedly agree. In reality, it's hard to cook a variety of healthy dishes when so many of the ingredients you'd normally think of as vegetable staples are on my 'I can't eat that' list.

The author, Dr. Caroline Leaf, is a very decorated scientist and I believe everything she wrote. Plus, the notes at the back of the book referencing different scientific studies and publishings is 73 pages long. 73 pages! This points to a great/not so great aspect of "Think and Eat Yourself Smart". The great part is that Dr. Leaf backs up every point she makes and explains the science with science-y words. The not so great part  is that Dr. Leaf backs up every point she makes and explains the science with science-y words. About 1/3 of the way in I started reading the opening sentences of each paragraph instead of the entire paragraph.

  On the other hand, "Think and Eat Yourself Smart" has renewed my sense of necessity when it comes to my role as grocery buyer and cook. And I can say that since reading it my fridge is much more colorful. I'm still putting sugar in my coffee and  and intend to eat the bacon, mmm bacon, in my freezer but overall, Dr. Leaf as caused me to re-evaluate the family diet.

I may not plant an apple tree or raise a cow but Dr. Leaf has convinced me to stop and question my outlook on food and slowly make changes to what goes into family's mouths.

Because I've read books on this topic before, I wasn't surprised by much of what Dr. Leaf presented. If, however, you haven't read a recent book on the often under-talked about necessity for an overhaul in your eating patterns, I would recommend Dr. Leaf's book. We do need to make changes - even if it's just one little one at a time.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.