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Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future by David Wolfe
Book Summary InformationAuthor: David Wolfe Edition: Paperback Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published) Published: 2009-04-28 ISBN: 1556437765 Number of pages: 352 Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Book Reviews of Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the FutureBook Review: Packed with Information & Great Recipes Summary: 5 Stars
David Wolfe has lived up to his reputation as an encyclopedia of nutritional facts with his new book on superfoods.
Why superfoods? The rationale is that the soil, as my own raw food book points out, is vastly depleted of minerals. If you cling to your cooked ways, adding superfoods can bring a huge boost to your health. But even if you eat 100% raw organic, you could have mineral deficiencies (and minerals are more important than vitamins). Quite simply, these foods make for tasty and nutrient-dense treats. I have recently begun combining a raw food diet with calorie restriction for longer life. I view the superfoods as essential because the fewer calories we consume, the more nutritious they need to be. Why take dead vitamin pills when you can get more bioavailable nutrition from these enzyme-rich foods?
David presents what he considers the top 10 superfoods, and these are not your every day superfoods. I have a whole shelf dedicated to superfood books, and most authors list items such as wild salmon, pumpkins, blueberries, broccoli and kale. The exotic ones chosen by David include the illegal-to-grow here (hemp seed), the unheard of (marine phytoplankton), the foreign (maca) and the controversial (raw cacao). But as David says in the intro, "Our nutrition potential has finally caught up to our technology," meaning that we now can learn about and import foods from virtually anywhere in the world.
Each chapter, featuring a different super food, includes a section on history, facts and legends of the food; benefits; what to look for (how to determine if the food is high quality); how to use the food, and recipes for the food. There are also great colored photos and boxes with tidbits of information.
The last chapter includes "honorable mentions" of 7 other superfoods that didn't make the top ten, so the book really educates you about 17 great foods. The appendices provide detailed nutritional composition of the foods as well as scientific studies proving their superiority.
I congratulate David on his fine research. Even though I have a master's degree in Chinese herbs, I was delighted to learn a few tidbits on goji berries that were new for me.
Warning: do not read this book if you are fasting. Like most people who have eaten raw for several years, I have outgrown the recipe phase and don't do much raw gourmet food, eating more simply. But I have to admit my mouth was watering over several of these recipes and I just might make some, such as the "White Goddess Chocolate" and "Maca Vanilla Ice Cream."
Summary of Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the FutureSuperfoods are vibrant, nutritionally dense foods that have recently become widely available and which offer tremendous dietary and healing potential. In this lively, illustrated overview, well-known raw-foods guru David Wolfe profiles delicious and incredibly nutritious plant products such as goji berries, hempseed, cacao beans (raw chocolate), maca, spirulina, bee products, and a host of others. As powerful sources of clean protein, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants, good fats and oils, essential fatty and amino acids, and other nutrients, they represent a uniquely promising piece of the nutritional puzzle. Each superfood is described in detail, accompanied by easy and delicious recipes. This accessible guide presents persuasive arguments, based on sound science, for the pivotal role of superfoods in promoting nutritional excellence, health and well-being, beauty enhancement, sustainable agriculture, and the transformation of diet, lifestyle, and planet.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Book Description Superfoods are vibrant, nutritionally dense foods that have recently become widely available and which offer tremendous dietary and healing potential. In this lively, illustrated overview, well-known raw-foods guru David Wolfe profiles delicious and incredibly nutritious plant products such as goji berries, hempseed, cacao beans (raw chocolate), maca, spirulina, bee products, and a host of others. As powerful sources of clean protein, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants, good fats and oils, essential fatty and amino acids, and other nutrients, they represent a uniquely promising piece of the nutritional puzzle. Each superfood is described in detail, accompanied by easy and delicious recipes. This accessible guide presents persuasive arguments, based on sound science, for the pivotal role of superfoods in promoting nutritional excellence, health and well-being, beauty enhancement, sustainable agriculture, and the transformation of diet, lifestyle, and planet.
A Q&A with David Wolfe Question: What are superfoods? David Wolfe: Superfoods are the greatest foods identified by the greatest civilizations in the history of the world. They are foods that have a whole array of tricks under their sleeve. They are extremely easy to use and agree with a lot of different body types and metabolisms. Question: What contributions are you making in the world? What are you here to share with us? David Wolfe: My goal is to make raw foods, superfoods, superherbs, and the best chocolate ever an option for everyone on the planet. I want to make becoming healthy simpler, easier, and more fun than ever before. Question: Tell us about the goji berry. What is in it? How about the cacao bean? What is in cacao? Isn?t this the food that we make chocolate out of? David Wolfe: The goji berry is a complete protein source with extraordinary levels of antioxidants, levels of carotenes (according to studies, the more carotenes you eat, the longer you live) which have been shown to be present in primates. The goji berry is easy to eat for people of all ages. It also assists with the digestion of other food. It is considered the number one medicinal herb in Chinese medicine--which has a 5,000 year history of about 8,000 herbs. It improves our ability to secrete HGH naturally and it the only food known to do so. Cacao has a higher concentration of magnesium, chromium, iron, and antioxidants than any food in the world. Cacao is also exceedingly rich in copper, zinc, and manganese. Cacao contains fat-soluble forms of all of these minerals, which is unusual. Research has proven this food is associated with longevity. The cacao bean is chocolate, chocolate is cacao--you cannot have chocolate without cacao. Basically, chocolate is a nut butter made out of cacao beans. Chocolate contains PEAs, chemicals associated with falling in love, anandamide, the bliss chemical, and theobromine, which improves our cardiovascular health. Contrary to some opinions, cacao is very low in caffeine.
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