Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This new offering from Rip Esselstyn and Engine 2 is a winner. It is a Kitchen Keeper! My Beef With Meat packs a mega-load of extremely well researched recent nutritional information into 36 very short chapters that dispel many myths and misconceptions about nutrition and health. Rip has no political axe to grind, rather his entire focus is on presenting the latest scientific validated research and facts in an accessible manner to help the reader take charge of his/her own health. Despite its cheeky attitude, My Beef With Meat is definitely not another fad diet book, but an important book that will contribute much to health and palate. This is a book appropriate both for newbies and veterans of whole food plant-based diets. It's written for the American public: for those who are young, old, sick, healthy or just average meat-eating joes and janes. It is a terrific and informative introduction for those considering making a change to their diet to lose weight and improve their health as well as a valuable way for those who have embraced this diet-style to know what to say when friends and family inevitably lob questions and criticism in their direction. Even after nearly 2 years eating a whole food, plant-based "plant-strong" diet, and delving into the many excellent offerings in this field, I learned new information. Rip writes in a fun, engaging, non-threatening style with chapters covering such topics as "Animal Protein is Dead Wrong", "The Mediterranean Myth", "Plants Are Bone-Strong", "Plants Perk Up Your Pecker", "Oil is the New Snake Oil", "Carbs Are King!", "Eat Plants. Lose Weight. Feel Great", and "Be Done with Dumb Diets." I particularly appreciated the chapter on why eating plant-based is beneficial for high level athletes, "Plant-Strong: The Athlete's X-Factor". Rip brings his own stellar credentials and first hand experiences as as a long-time plant eating firefighter and top professional athlete to the task as well as drawing on the research and expertise of many of the leaders in this field. Rip is a former fire-fighter who in his work detailed in his first book The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter's 28-Day Save-Your-Life Plan that Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the Pounds spent more time responding to health-related medical emergencies brought on by obesity, heart disease, diabetes etc. than to fires. He is also a former top tier professional triathlete and experienced personally positive changes in his athletic performance when he shifted to a plant-based diet. Son to Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn (Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure Forks Over Knives] Rip also saw first hand the profoundly positive effect of plant-based diets in his father's heart patients. Among the experts in this field that Rip has drawn upon and worked closely with in getting the message out that there is a solution to the American health care crisis are T. Colin Campbell (The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted And the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, And Long-term Health and Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition, Dr. John McDougall The Starch Solution: Eat the Foods You Love, Regain Your Health, and Lose the Weight for Good!, nutritionist Jeff Novick, and psychologist Dr. Doug Lisle. Now for the recipe section in My Beef With Meat: The 140 new plant-strong recipes in My Beef With Meat are easy and delicious without needing to track down exotic ingredients. They use whole plant foods with no added oils, or salt, a bare minimum of sweeteners. I can personally vouch for the quality and deliciousness of these recipes because I recently attended a Farms2Forks 3-day immersion weekend put on by Rip and the folks at Engine 2 and Forks Over Knives. The hosting Hyatt hotel served our group of over 300 guests abundant buffets that followed the criteria of this lifestyle and served quite a number of the recipes from My Beef With Meat--definitely a first for the chef and kitchen staff used to cooking up eggs, steaks, and pastries for business conferences. Instead we ate such things as Black Bean and Sweet Potato Quesadillas, Dr. Seuss Stacked Polenta, Kale Ceviche Salad served with OMG Walnut Sauce, and Damn Good Cookies for dessert. As you can tell, this book puts the fun back into eating. Rip's sister, Jane Esselstyn, who was in charge of this section of the book also demonstrated a number of the recipes during the weekend. My Beef With Meat makes a great gift book for your friends, family, and work colleagues who want to take charge of their own health, or express genuine interest or skepticism in why you turn down hamburgers at the BBQ, eschew olive oil and ice cream in favor of a plain baked potato topped with veggies, fresh fruit and the Date Nut Chocolate Pie you made from this book and brought for dessert. After having spent a decade counting calories, points, and portion sizes with little permanent effect on my weight nor change in my underlying health, eating a whole food plant based diet for the last two years has opened up an entire world of delicious, nutritious, health-giving abundance. I've been able to throw those former constricting metrics out the window, lose 40 lbs. and stop numerous medications. Thanks to the very simple change of giving up all animal products and oil in favor of the style of eating advocated by Rip in My Beef With Meat and increasing numbers of scientists medical and nutritional experts (Yes! You can do it! I don't miss steak, cheese, ice cream, or doughnuts--my palate changed in about 28 days to prefer the taste of vegetables, fruits, whole starches and grains, and legumes), I now maintain a newly slim weight and vibrant health. My Beef With Meat is a five-star winner, a Kitchen Keeper, a great addition to anyone's nutrition and cookbook library.