The Anti-Inflammation Diet and Recipe Book: Book Review

The Anti-Inflammation Diet and Recipe Book by Jessica Black - Find it on Amazon

I checked this book out from our local library recently and really enjoyed it. I liked the informational part of the book...not too in depth and not too sparse, either. The recipe section was great inspiration, even if you never use the specific recipes (although they do look good). It just gives you an idea of how you can modify foods and recipes to fit a new way of eating. The tips in the recipe section are great!

The author is a Naturopathic doctor in Oregon, and because of this she is not just trying to push medicine to help in anti-inflammatory living like so many books about inflammation that are written by medical doctors - she focuses on foods to eat and foods to avoid.

I was able to contact the author and ask a few questions. Here they are and the answers she gave:

Question:
"Tomatoes and potatoes are omitted in your diet plan, but what about peppers and eggplant that are also from the nightshade family [and also paprika (you explain on p 58 that it is part of the nightshade family)]? Is there a reason you chose to include these in your diet while omitting only tomatoes and potatoes? From my reading I have seen most folks say to avoid the entire nightshade family."

Answer:
"I only included eggplant and peppers as a way to not have the diet be too strict. This diet is a mere suggestion for "most" people but for most of my patients, I fine tune the diet for them. If someone was having arthritis problems, then I might have them avoid all nightshades. But for someone who seems to be fine with some foods and their main concern is hormone issues and depression, they may be able to eat nightshade vegetables."

Question:
"What are your thoughts on Grapeseed (not rapeseed) oil? I currently use this as my main oil for cooking or baking and haven't heard much about it compared to olive oil."

Answer:
"I love grapeseed oil - it is made from vitis vinifera. We use Vitis vinifera as a remedy and I know it is high in resveratrol which helps in cholesterol conversion. It is also high in many antioxidants including proanthocyanidins and also has linolenic acid. Also has a high smoke point so great for cooking with. I wrote this book a few years ago when I was not using grape seed oil."

Inflammation Nation: Book Review

Inflammation Nation by Floyd Chilton - Find it on Amazon

I was able to read/skim this book in about an hour. While there is some helpful information in it, the end result of the actual "diet" portion of the plan was nothing groundbreaking, in my opinion. I have been having autoimmune/inflammatory issues for over a year now and have done quite a bit of research and although his initial approach from the scientific side is different, the end result was really nothing new. I was all excited to see his amazing diet tips after reading about his research (which was interesting)...only to find out that I already eat within the parameters of his "breakthrough diet" and still have inflammatory issues.

Yes, more people need to watch what they eat. Yes, eat more healthy veggies. Yes, stay away from foods not made from whole grains. Yes, we need to stay away from high sugar foods. Unless you eat things like chitterlings, pork liver, beef brain, fried everything, white flour everything, cakes, cookies, and no veggies...and if you watch at all what you eat, you may be pretty close to his "breakthough diet" already.

I felt more like the book should have been about wild salmon versus farmed salmon since that seems to be the bulk of his main argument. I do think it is important to note the difference, but again...you can find that out on the internet.

There are a few important pieces of information I believe were pointed out in this book:
-All fish is not created equal. Some fish can cause serious pain and inflammation and some will help you. (You can see his findings about specific fish in a concise list in Chapter 15...pages 172-175.)
-Egg yolk can pose a serious inflammation risk.
-Do not take a GLA supplement without having EPA (in supplement or food form)...it can cause serious harm.

I did find it interesting that he includes some of the major inflammatory foods (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers, and citrus) on his "foods to eat often" lists. Personally, I have seen a direct link between these foods and my pain levels and therefore have decided to avoid them, as much as I love them. I would be curious to see more information on why he does not see these as inflammatory foods when they are some of the most common that will pop up in a Google search about inflammatory foods.

I recommend borrowing this book from your library. First, look at the indexes (unless you are very curious about scientific things) from page 165 through 175, maybe make a few lists of what to buy or avoid, and then take it right back to the library for someone else to borrow.

The Lupus Book: Book Review

The Lupus Book (4th Edition) by Daniel Wallace - Find it on Amazon

This book is very informative and helpful. I like that you can get into the technical side as much as you want with the wonderful information provided, or you can use this as a handy reference tool and a well put together overview of lupus. I have not been diagnosed with lupus, but for the past year have been going through some of the signs and symptoms and am just in "medical limbo" until I can get a specific diagnosis. Since lupus is one of the diseases my symptoms and blood work are pointing toward, I asked my library to purchase this book and borrowed it from there. If I do get diagnosed with lupus, I plan to buy this book as it is very informative and definitely worth owning.

I like that this is written by a doctor who cares for lupus patients and not only used medical research but his own knowledge from his personal practice experience. It can get very technical...but you can also easily skim those technical sections. The writer not only discusses things that are common in lupus, but also specific problems that may arise down the road, and I think this is a great reference point for anyone with lupus who may find their disease progressing in one of those directions.

This is a very well done and up to date book. Excellent reference.