Review: Needs Editing & a Bit More Research
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 25, 2014
This short volume of information might be good for a beginner who knows absolutely nothing about the Paleo diet/lifestyle. But for someone who lives with a husband who's both gluten sensitive and lactose intolerant, there wasn't anything here that really reinvented the wheel for me.One of my biggest complaints was that a lot of sentences seemed to be missing words. While you could easily mentally fill in the blanks, the fact that they were absent threw me a few times. Also, I disagree with the author's claim that you can simply eat like this and get the body you want, no gym time needed. Especially since this book is meant to cater to athletes, you'd think there'd be a bit more focus on how it can help improve your performance.Most people who talk about Paleo will tell you that it's all or nothing. The author is probably a follower of the 80/20 rule, which means that you allow yourself some "cheat" foods not allowed in the general scheme of things. Typically, you'd have no refined grains (especially wheat based or rice), no refined sugars, no legumes (beans, lentils, peas), and no dairy. However, in the Protein section, the author mentions rice, beans, and dairy as healthy ways to obtain protein. Cream of Wheat (Wheat! A big no-no because of the gluten!) isn't a good source of iron if you're trying to avoid grains altogether.The author also doesn't mention the highly talked about (and contended by outsiders) issue of consuming HEALTHY fats while sticking to the Paleo diet. Animal fats (preferably grass-fed, free-range, GMO, antibiotic free), the fat found in avocado, coconut oil, and a variety of other unprocessed fats are actually good for you, and essential to healthy bodily function.My other biggest issue: the paltry offering of recipes. I know this is just a short little book to get folks started, but 11 recipes in total, which don't even really give you quantities, just ingredients for the most part, seems way too small. Also, tomato usage is suggested in a few recipes. If you're an all-or-nothing Paleo follower, you know that anything from the Nightshade family isn't supposed to be consumed.In conclusion, not a bad idea, but I think some steps could have been taken to make this a much better How-To manual for athletes wanting to up their game.