I have tried a few of their recipes and they were easy to follow. I have thyroid issues so some of the book helped me with my leaky gut. I will say I did not follow the plan because I didn’t think I would stick with it. Thank you to NetGalley and Callisto Media/Rockridge Press for the E-ARC. This is my own opinion.

Rockridge Press and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The 4-Week Gut Health Plan: 75 Recipes to Help Restore Your Gut. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

The 4-Week Gut Health plan is designed to help readers bring their digestive systems back to good health and to ease the symptoms of a variety of gut dysfunctions, including IBS, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Stress, lifestyle choices, and environmental issues can put up roadblocks for gut microbiome and lead to dietary problems. The author does a good job in the introduction of explaining the biology and physiology of the problem areas, symptoms of digestive dysfunction, diagnostic tools, and sidebar questions for healthcare professionals.

Section two explains the 4-week gut health plan, including dietary information, meal plans, and shopping lists. The preparation tips are especially helpful, as some of the recipes are very involved and time consuming.

Part three includes 75 recipes, which are separated into logical sections like: Breakfast & Smoothies; Soups, Salads & Sandwiches; Meatless Dishes; Fish & Seafood; and Desserts. There are also helpful tables that teach readers what to eat, what to skip, and the reasons behind these choices. The recipes include flavorful and well balanced offerings, tempting the taste buds with flavor combinations like Coconut Bacon Waffles, Pumpkin Pie Smoothies, Zoodles with Lemon Garlic Shrimp, and Hummus Vegetable Sandwich.

There are positives and negatives to The 4-Week Gut Health plan. This book is a generalization for gut health issues and not one size fits all. The author has jumped on the gluten-free bandwagon, but items such as whole wheat, when not an item that causes intestinal distress, is very healthy. I wish that the author had provided alternatives to those who cannot eat dairy, whether it be an intolerance or an allergy. Many people with gut health issues have intestinal distress due to certain dairy items and it would have been nice for substitutions to be listed. Overall, there are some good recipes here, but not enough for me to want to have a physical copy of the cookbook for my overburdened shelves.

There is a ton of good information in this book, in an easy to understand format. Having a stomach or digestive issue can become very overwhelming between information overload and various "rules" of what to eat or not eat. She breaks it down into simple, easy to understand guidelines. I also love that she gives you tips for how to manage in restaurants, vacation, complete with recipe ideas and a 4 week meal plan.

I was given a copy of this book for review. Being a person who suffers from frequent stomach problems I was interesting in finding out more about gut health. This book talks about the many different stomach issues that many people suffer from and possible causes, the common side effects of stomach issues and some lesser known issues that I found very interesting. This book incorporates a 4 week plan along with recipes, although as the author mentions it takes longer to fully heal certain stomach issues. Unfortunately for me I found only a few of the recipes appealing and know I would not stick with this plan. Many of the recipes incorporate coconut oil or coconuts and I don’t like those. In general many of the recipes were unappealing but for some people they may be just the thing they love. So disappointed that this book was not to my liking but I did liked reading the information obtained.

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.

The 4-Week Gut Health Plan is a recipe and workbook which addresses various digestive issues which affect a huge number of people. Released 30th July 2019 (ebook version released 16th July) from Rockridge, it's 263 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats. Author Kitty Martone is a holistic health practitioner and blogger.

The human body is incredibly complex. Under ideal circumstances, it maintains a healthy balance without much interaction as long as it receives the nutrients and conditions which it needs. Unfortunately, environmental stressors such as pollution, unhealthy lifestyle (smoking, lack of exercise, etc), and stress can wreak havoc on the digestive system and the 'good guy' bacteria which keep everything functioning. This book aims to help readers identify problems, correct imbalances, and heal the damage caused by those imbalances.

The book follows a logical format. The introduction covers some very basic layman accessible biology and physiology, symptoms of digestive dysfunction, and some definitions, as well as sidebars with questions to ask your healthcare professional, and available diagnostic tools.

The second section explains the 4 week action plan along with dietary info, meal plans, shopping lists and the like. The second half of section 2 covers the plan beyond 4 weeks.

Section three offers specific recipes listed by category: breakfast & smoothies, soups salads & sandwiches, meatless dishes, poultry, beef pork & lamb, fish & seafood, desserts, and staples condiments & dressings. The recipes use (mostly) easily sourced ingredients and sensible portion sizes.

There are included links and materials lists for further investigation as well as a bibliography, metric conversion table and other info.

It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a well written and appealing book. The information presented is factually accurate but some of the conclusions she makes are not necessarily fully supported by current peer-reviewed research (for example, there's no compelling research suggesting that -everyone- should cut gluten out of their diets - it's not going to -hurt- but doing so in an attempt to improve one's health doesn't necessarily follow; unless of course a diagnosis to gluten sensitivity or celiac disease has been made). There are some other suggestions and links which are also not compellingly supported by current medical research (for example special diets for the mitigation of autism). The author is a holistic healer and herbalist and as such, much of the slant of the book is toward alternative healthcare and healing.

The recipes, whilst appealing and nutritionally sound, require a lot of preparation. I would recommend it without reservation for people who are either really committed to improving their gut biome or for foodies who already enjoy cooking and find working in the kitchen relaxing.

Four stars

I have to say I learned some new info in this one. There's quite a bit of recipes that lists recipe tips and storage suggestions. I'm eager to try some out!

I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The author makes you aware of how bacteria helps you digest food, make vitamins, produce hormones and how diseases are manifested through eating the wrong foods. The author gives you a short list of questions to ask your doctor in order to help you understand how antibiotics affect your health and see if he/she can check for gut issues.
“THE GUT AND PSYCHOLOGY SYNDROME (GAPS) DIET is a therapeutic diet designed to heal leaky gut syndrome, reduce inflammation, and even treat certain neurological conditions. The plan removes refined carbohydrates and foods that are difficult to digest and swaps in foods rich in probiotics and nutrients to help give your gut health an upgrade.”
You are given lists of vegetables, fruits, meats, grains,dairies and spices to eat anytime, in moderation, and to eat rarely or not at all.
You are also given shopping lists, meal prep ideas, and weekly recipe suggestions to make it easy to shop for and prepare these meals.
The recipes are not monotonous- you will find breakfast recipes for blueberry smoothies that contain coconut milk, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds and coconut milk, a pumpkin pie smoothie with pumpkin spice and yogurt, and even coconut bacon waffles with coconut, tapioca flour, bacon, eggs and honey.
There are entrees such as sweet potato chicken pie, slow- cooker beef bourguignon with with stew meat, mushrooms, potatoes and bone broth, and Halibut Fish Taco Bowl with Lemon-Cilantro Cream Sauce.
There are even desserts such as Cultured Blueberry-Coconut Pudding, and cowboy cookies with chocolate chips, oats, cinnamon and bananas.
You will also find teas, dressings, and probiotic recipes such as kefir and sauerkraut.
The author also explains how some of the ingredients in these recipes help your gut health and she gives the calorie count too!

A very easy to understand how to make your gut healthy in 4 weeks or less book. The foods you can eat to maintain a healthy gut is foods I love. I enjoyed the weekly shopping lists and tips on what not to keep in the kitchen, too. Once I seen the recipes made with the foods, they had me at Hummus vegetable sandwich and Pumpkin spice smoothie. Both very delicious, easy to make and all ingredients I had on hand.

Thank you @netgalley and @callistomediainc for the free e-arc for review! This book is out July 30.

I was intrigued by the title of this book. It has 3 sections. The first part talks about the importance of gut health not jut for those with digestive issues but for overall body health .The author talks about how to use a food diary. Part Two is the 4 week meal plan. This section also includes shopping lists and how to prep for success by getting your kitchen and pantry in shape. The last section includes 75 recipes. There are recipes for breakfast, soups, salads, meats, fish, vegetarian and desserts. The author has also includes staples such as salad dressings and bone broth. There are several digestive teas.

I was happy to see the variety of recipes and that nutrition information is included. I was able to try out one recipe, the Avo,Ghee & Radish Toast. It was tasty and the directions were easy to follow. Each section of the book has a color photo. I appreciated the information on gut health including links. I would have liked a section on go to snacks. Also more information on eating out when work and social commitments require it would be helpful. Overall I found this to be a helpful book and I plan to purchase a hard copy for easy reference. I look forward to trying the recipes for Lemon Chicken and Roasted Baby Broccoli with Pine Nuts and Zoodles with Lemon Garlic Shrimp.
5 stars
NOTE: This title did not appear on Goodreads. Amazon won't let me leave a review until the book is published. I will update with a link when I do that. I will also be posting my review to Instagram closer to publication. Thank you.

Written for the average person, the book begins with an explanation of why folks should be concerned about their gut and how it relates to all aspects of health. It goes on to provide a realistic four week plan for starting down the path toward better health, and provides several recipes for the reader. One helpful aspect is the tools for tricky situations....for example, when you find yourself in a situation where the food doesn't meet your gut's needs (such as parties), it offers words to use to tactfully explain why you're abstaining.

I didn't really learn anything new here but others might.. It was ok but mostly common sense. If this books help some to get healthy, thats great