Nourishing Traditions - A Cookbook Review

Nourishing Traditions - A Cookbook Review
Nourishing Traditions:The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats.
by Sally Fallon, with Mary Enig, Ph.D. (revised 2nd Edition, 2001)
I have been reading about this book on the internet for sometime and was intrigued by the assertion of the author that the popular rubric of what constitutes a healthy diet is seriously flawed. So I sent away to Amazon and received my copy of this cookbook in the mail this week.
Nourishing Traditions is much more than just a cookbook, it is also an encyclopedic, nutritional reference. The introduction to the cookbook is over 70 pages long and contains 188 scholarly references, many of them related to studies conducted in the area of health and nutrition. This cookbook may revolutionize the way you think about food and change your eating habits radically.
Ms Fallon challenges the current wisdom about the value of a low fat diet. She describes why polyunsaturated fats are bad for us, and cites studies supporting her assertion. A diet rich in pasture raised meat, unpasteurized whole milk and cheese, butter and cream and eggs is optimal in her view. This is to be accompanied by fermented fruits and vegetables. She encourages people to stick with all natural foods and natural methods of food preparation to retain all important enzymes. Possibly the most controversial recommendation in Nourishing Traditions is that high cholesterol diets and saturated fats actually protect the heart.
The author states that most of the food available to us is so highly processed and filled with additives as to be either lacking in nutritional value or actually dangerous. For example, Ms Fallon notes that: whole grains that have been processed by high heat and pressure to produce puffed wheat, oats and rice are actually quite toxic and have caused rapid death in test animals. The cookbook has a guide to healthy food selection and, if followed carefully, it would require a major dietary shift for most people.
The recipes in the Nourishing Traditions cookbook are well laid out and most of them are fairly easy to prepare. The more labor intensive aspects of this suggested diet will be the preparation of the beef, fish, and poultry stocks; fermented fruits and vegetables (a key element in this diet); and cultured dairy products.
Each recipe page has a side bar with interesting facts and research about food and nutrition; as well as examples of food and preparation methods from other cultures. For instance, did you know that coconut oil and whole coconut products such as coconut milk are the best source of lauric acid which boosts the immune system and protects us against viruses and intestinal pathogens.
The Nourishing Traditions cookbook also provides source information for some of the recommended, difficult to get, products, although most of them have to be purchased by mail order which could prove quite expensive. The cookbook has a section called: Limited-Time, Limited-Budget Guidelines to help cooks maximize their food dollar and save time while following her recommendations.
Ms Fallon wrote the following in her introduction which resonated with me and I am sure with others who have become interested in her philosophy of healthy eating.
The challenge to every individual is to determine the diet that is right for him and to implement that diet in a way that does not divorce him from the company of fellow human beings at mealtimes. Each person's ideal diet is usually discovered through a combination of study, observation and intuition....To make us healthy, our food must taste good; it must be digestible, and it must be eaten in peace.
Pat Lockhart is the author and publisher of the website: SuperCookbooks.com, a comprehensive cookbook resource. It includes a cookbook directory featuring a selection of the best cookbooks in a wide number of categories. There is also resource information about how to create your own cookbook; a weekly featured recipe; articles and cookbook reviews; and links to free e-cookbook websites. Currently, we are collecting recipes for an exciting project: The Valley Cookbook which will feature healthy recipes from food produced locally in the Okanagan region of BC, Canada. We welcome submissions to this and other cookbooks. Visit our website at: http://www.supercookbooks.com