A nutrition class in college sparked my interest in healthy eating. While the text book was informative, it was hard to navigate as a regular kitchen resource, so I kept my eyes open. Unfortunately the majority of nutrition books are fad or diet oriented, and I just wanted something to tell me the cold, hard facts.
I picked this book up at Costco over a year ago and have since recommended it to all of my friends who cook. The author George Mateljan started the organic brand Health Valley and is now dedicated full-time to his foundation of the same name as this book. His goal is to find the best way to preserve the most vitamins and best digestibility of every food. Much of the information can be found on their website, but the book is a must-have for every health-conscious kitchen!
Things to love: This book is intuitively organized by food group and then by individual food. Each individual food is organized in the same manner, making it easy to follow and use as a quick reference on the fly. Each food section has the following subsections: nutritional content, background, best way to store, best way to prepare, healthiest way of cooking, Q&A, health benefits & potential effects, and recipes. The nutritional content for each food is more detailed than I’ve seen anywhere else, and the recipes consistently taste great. In addition, there are several indices to aid in referencing foods by allergen, type of nutrient, medical condition, and a few others. The book’s introductory chapters also give an overview of basic nutrition for those who are unfamiliar. I recommend “flipping” through the book on the Amazon site.
Less than perfect: Because the book’s goal is to give the healthiest way of cooking everything, you won’t be able to cook most of your food the way you’ve been taught. For example, frying veggies is BAD. So be prepared to either embrace healthy, organic indoctrination or become comfortable ignoring that nutritional conscience you’ve been trying so hard to develop. Furthermore, because George believes that an optimal amount of nutrients are absorbed with the aid of some particular combinations of foods, many of the recommended dishes take on a Mediterranean flavor. I like this, but not everyone is a Mediterranean fan. Fortunately, he makes other suggestions as well. Lastly, the book is a giant paperback. I anticipate some duct tape surgery for my copy in the near future.
Final Analysis: This is an essential reference book for every kitchen. The format and depth of information on each food has encouraged me to branch out and try cooking new foods as well as explore new methods of cooking common foods. I frequently use this book “just to know” what George recommends or to find out what types of foods I should be eating for particular ailments. This is well worth the $26 on Amazon.
Posted by: Lynnette
