Member Reviews
A different type of cookbook that will help you heal from the inside. Has many different guides and recipes with useful information on detox, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and also meal plans. The author also has meal plans which are very informative and useful.
Carolyn Williams' 'Meals That Heal' is a very well-researched and meticulous cook book that made me truly consider what I put in my body and just how my body responds. We all know when we've eaten something that doesn't quite sit right, but I had never dug further into the details of why and how to prevent it. Williams' book looks stunning and makes for a great education.
3 out of 5
**OMG! I cannot believe that these reviews haven't been done! I am so sorry they are so late!!!**
This is both cookbook and lifestyle guide for people looking to control any number of health issues through diet, from headaches to arthritis. The author posits that eating certain foods, including omega-3 rich fish, green tea, leafy greens, etc., will reduce inflammation and improve overall health. Includes plenty of practical advice for eating out, stocking staples, and shopping for ingredients. This is not a cookbook for the casual reader who wants to page through glossy pictures--photography is few and far between--but will be a useful and practical guide for people looking for health advice.
I received an arc for this title from NetGalley for an honest review. Meals that help with inflammatory diseases have been requested at my library a lot lately so I am thrilled to see a new title. This is an easy to use cookbook that will go out often.
Meals that Heal is a recipe book that includes over 100 quick and easy, everyday, anti-inflammatory recipes that can be made in 30 minutes or less! After an introduction which explains that this book is not a substitution for seeking medical advice, there are also many tips and guides on how to improve your diet and lifestyle including foods to avoid.
The author also sets out some Simple Staples, which are items that can be prepared ahead of time and kept on hand to make eating well easier.
This book reads much more like a plan for eating better than a cookbook. Highly recommended!
*I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Easy to follow recipes that actually turn out as good as they look. I found myself utilizing this book more than once when planning menus for the week.
MEALS THAT HEAL by Carolyn Williams is a fun, recently published cookbook from Simon & Schuster's new imprint, Tiller Press. MEALS THAT HEAL contains helpful nutritional background and "100+ Everyday Anti-Inflammatory Recipes in 30 Minutes or Less." A registered dietitian and culinary nutrition expert, Williams is further described as "known for her ability to simplify the concept of healthy eating." This text absolutely illustrates that skill. First, Williams provides a basic explanation of "good" and "bad" inflammation, using a chart to explain what it is, the causes, immune response, signs, and health impact. Certainly some readers will already be familiar with her list of 8 top recommended foods (leafy greens, olive oil, berries, cruciferous vegetables, green tea, gut health promoters and nuts/seeds), but Williams adds detailed examples, portion suggestions and also then emphasizes "assessing where you are" in order to best utilize her recipes.
Williams goes on to suggest a set of refrigerator and pantry staples for recipes like Black Bean and Spinach Quesadillas, Avocado Chicken Salad, and One Pan Steak with Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans. Appetizing, and relatively quick and easy to make, with few specialized ingredients! The numerous colorful pictures and nutrition information contribute to the quality and appeal of this cookbook. Chapter headings are pretty standard: Breakfast (with a chart on Breakfast Bowl Ideas); Lunch (plenty of salads and an emphasis on un-sandwich choices); Poultry/Meat; Fish and Shellfish (with a buyer's guide); Meatless Mains; Sides; and Snacks and Drinks. Recipes generally include a color photo and nutritional data, plus an icon for being vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and/or dairy free. The final section provides "Menus for Healing" so readers can begin to develop a plan which is more focused on heart health, brain health (on a related note, there is a just-released study highlighted by NBC News and others regarding lifestyle behaviors and their impact on Alzheimer's), pain relief and so forth. Although some other charts (e.g., foods to avoid or greatly limit) were blurry and harder to read in the digital preview, I am excited to see the print version of MEALS THAT HEAL which will be on our shelves soon. Cooking and nutrition classes will find much to explore.
Link in Live post:
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/aging/can-alzheimer-s-be-stopped-five-lifestyle-behaviors-are-key-n1029441
This was a very well written cookbook. I found the layout to flow well and the recipes were easy to understand and follow along to. I look forward to trying some of them out for my family.
Meals that Heal is not so much of a cookbook as it is a reference guide on inflammation- this not only includes recipes but also directions and all kinds of information on how to get rid of it. One thing I found different in this book that at first I though was bad was the fact that each photo looked the same. That is not the case but the changes are minimal. Basically this book can be used to make your own meal customizable to you. You can basically choose the ingredients and mix everything together in your bowl to cook. Adding seasonings, sauces, etc personalize the recipes for individuality. I particularly like the section called, "Rethinking your dinner plate" This shows photos of some of the meals that are capable to make but also shows how you can cater each recipe with sauces and spices to create something new.
This book has helpful information but may become a little old after review since it basically doesn't tell you what to cook but gives you suggestions on how to create your own "healthy meals" .
In this book, there is a definition of inflammation and the diseases of inflammation. There is a recommendation of which types of foods to increase and which foods to decrease. Generally, avoid processed foods, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives. Limit the amount of fatty proteins, increase green leafy vegetables, increase fruit, etc. Included are a variety of recipes designed to meet these goals. The book recommends a week long detox before utilizing the recommendations. It provides suggested menu items for the detox. There are several to choose from. I found this book to be highly relevant to me as I have fibromyalgia which is an autoimmune disorder. I may have difficulty limiting red meat, but I will be adding more of the recommended fish. Anyone with inflammation and chronic pain should check out this book.
Thank you Tiller Press and Netgalley for a copy of Meals That Heal by Carolyn Williams for review. Publishing June 25/19.
I really liked how adaptable this cookbook was! Basic, easy to find ingredients for the most part but my favourite parts were the guides. She had basic ways to build things like a breakfast bowl with plenty of suggestions for each layer so you could adapt it to your tastes, budget and diet so easily and also mix it up a lot. You could easily make a different bowl every morning for example if you wanted just by mixing up her basic recipe and changing the ingredients. Love these books to be able to learn how to adapt recipes to my family’s tastes and even to tailor each to our individual diets or needs!
This is a great reference for anyone who experiences some type of chronic pain. This book helps explain foods relationship to inflammation and your gut health. Love how the recipes show I’d they are Vegan, Gluten free or dairy free. Also big plus...pictures!
Meals that Heal is massively insightful and helpful, I often suffer from inflammatory pain and hope this book will help lead me to a new, painless life.
The most interesting thing was the knowledge it has imparted on me, the recipes are great for ideas, but the description and theory will mean that I can go on to adapt it to my own life and explore more recipes on my own once I get the hang of it!
The author of this cookbook presents a wealth of information on inflammation, how the body responds when it is inflamed and what foods to eat to combat this. The beginning of the book is filled with diagrams to help the reader understand.
I love how she made easy-t0-read charts of the best food choices and added so many yummy recipes to make. Curing the body's tendency to be inflamed is a delightful course with this guide and cookbook.
This was geared more toward people looking to change their entire eating plan.
I was just looking for some tasty recipes that wouldn't increase my joint pain.
There were a few recipes we will start incorporating into our weekly meal plan (like that delicious granola recipe).
I started with the kindle version and had to quickly change to the Adobe since the kindle version is not formatted correctly and didn't include any of the recipes.
The book isn't due out till June 25th and I am hoping this get sorted before then.
Thank you NetGalley and Tiller Press for my DRC.
I enjoyed this cookbook! I liked the way that the author described the ways in which certain meals can cause things like inflammation and eczema. The meals were simple and I have enjoyed making some of the recipes.
This was the exact type of cookbook I was looking for. After dealing with inflammation in my joints, I wanted a book to help me use food as healing medicine. This book did the trick. It is well researched as well as divded into particular groupings to deal with healing. Very thankful that a cookbook like this will soon be available!
It was good attempt to write this book but it felt a bit short for me with recipes and length. I juat wished these was more hands on in this book. I wanted more unique recipes that use simple ingredients. This book only had few of these.
I received a kind of sample of MEALS THAT HEAL, not in the usual format and somewhat erratic across the pages, but I'll comment on what I could discern. After reading the beginning I felt as though I had actually learnt some useful information about the reasons why we suffer certain ills and many of them seem to be caused either because we're eating the wrong foods, or too much of some and not enough of the other. I had read previously that inflammation within the body can cause problems and it was very helpful to have it explained more fully. I can't comment on the graphics or photographs because they were either not complete or not there at all, but there were recipes that looked delicious and that I will certainly follow.
My thanks to Carolyn Williams, Tiller Press and Net Galley.