Published by: Hay House UK (8th March 2016)

 

ISBN: 978-1781805633

 

Source: Netgalley 

 

Rating: 4*

 

Description:

Eating healthy doesn't have to be complicated or confusing. But somewhere along the way, even the most health-conscious of us can become overwhelmed by the endless information and advice available to us, and feel tempted to give up. Eat Real Food takes things back to basics, and guides you to make simple but positive dietary choices that will increase your intake of Julie's 'Flexi Five' - the five healthy food groups that are most important for keeping your brain and body balanced and happy:

· Green leafy vegetables
· Whole grains
· Healthy fats
· Natural sweeteners
· Superfoods

Julie introduces you to the superheroes in each of these different food groups, shares the best ways to prepare them, explains their nutritional benefits, and then provides a variety of imaginative ways to include these foods in your diet every day, whether you're at home or on the go. As well as delicious recipes, Julie shares how you can improve your health and increase your happiness with meditation, affirmations, simple breathing exercises and gentle yoga poses. You can have boundless energy and glowing health, you just need to give your body the food and attention it craves and deserves. It really is that simple!

 

Review:

Julie Montagu's no-nonsense approach to whole food, plant-based eating is quite refreshing in this rather overcrowded market. It seems that everybody is on a cleanse, doing a detox, clean eating or whatever the latest buzz word is, and Julie just explains things in simple English. No gimmicks, no hard-selling. The only reason I haven't given this 5 stars is because if you've read other books of a similar nature or have plant-based cookbooks already, there's not really any new information to be gained here. Having said that, the inclusion of breathing exercises and yoga poses may provide additional interest for some. 

There aren't many recipes here, for those who were expecting a  complete cookbook; this is more a book of wellbeing, with a few recipes added. 

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley and this is my honest review. 

I eat fake food. I think that I am doing better at eating real food vs. fake food according to what this author considers real and fake food. I remember a while back, I was a garden virgin and was floored at how real garden food tasted. Seriously, I lived on Del Monte canned vegetables and hadn’t given any thought about how a pea or a green bean was grown. When a friend on Goodreads brought this book to my attention, I knew I had to read it. I live in the Midwest and I know that our beef is supposed to be good, but with all the different labels they are attaching to the packaging, what is good anymore? And eggs? People have chickens in their yards now, in the city! I am not ready for that but what’s with the brown eggs, free-range, grain-fed, grass-fed, etc.? Is there really a difference? Then there is cheese. I love cheese but cheese hates me, thanks to lactose intolerance. Not far from me, we have a dairy that makes cheese. Is this cheese better than the cheese in the store? What makes one cheese better than another? If I am going to be miserable, I want to be miserable with the good stuff. So, I hoped this book could help me.

 

The fact was this book help me just a bit. The author covered topics that I didn’t care about and he liked to repeat his topics a lot. I think the author likes Kobe Beef and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese a lot because these items were constantly written about over and over again. I know that I am not going to Italy to get my Parmesan cheese so this part was not helpful, I would love to go to Italy to grab some cheese but let’s be real now. To find a place that specializes in each type of cheese that I like and buy my cheese there? Well, I think a place that makes their own cheese is pretty specialized so this dairy that is close to me might fit the bill but they make different varieties. I also think Wisconsin (yes, you cheese heads) is a great place to get cheese but again, they make different varieties and I really like Shullsburg cheese (from Wisconsin) which I can buy in the store but again, they make different varieties. I don’t have the resources to travel and grab cheese from different places where they are specialized, I think I will stay with my current choices, they are fresh choices. The author covered topics like coffee, wine, champagne, olive oil and seafood. Topics that I was not interested in as they were not items I buy repeatedly. I did read most of these chapters though to see what the author had to say. He was showing us readers how sometimes fake food is slipped into life when we not looking. This novel became a buyer beware novel telling us to be mindful of wrong words, switched foods or food fillers in our food. So, I did learn that no product is safe on the market and that we all need to be vigilant and smart when making food choices.

100% Real: 100 Insanely Good Recipes for...

While some of it might be a little off the mark, most of this book makes a lot of sense. There are a number of writers pointing out at the moment that our food nowadays isn't as nutritious as it was a century ago, or even 20 years ago. Intensive farming and a dependence on chemical assistance is doing damage to the land and it's the land that's important. It's something that is going to become more and more important as a topic over the next few years, in my mind. I'm slowly starting to worry about my food and the effects it has on my health. This is an interesting pointer at some of the ways big business has harmed what should be a process they assist not control.