The Healthy Indian Diet

This book provides a good synthesis of all the available epidemiological and clinical data on diet and health. The takeaways probably won't surprise you. The bottom line? Eating a diet heavy in fruits and veggies, and low in starches and sugars is healthy. However, the book offered a more detailed, physiological explanation for why certain foods promote health or inflammation/diabetes than I've seen in other mainstream books. That's important because epidemiological data is notoriously tricky to evaluate, and showing that there are some clear physiological and chemical reasons for the trends seen in large trials is enlightening.While the scientific background is accessible and interesting,the book's unique contribution is its thesis that the staples of traditional Indian diets are healthy. At the back, the book provides a few dozen recipes for some of the classic Indian dishes. What's impressive is that all parts of India are represented; I was especially happy to see a recipe from Bengal, which hardly ever makes it into mainstream recipe books. The healthier twist on some of the less nutritious favorites is also really useful--I can't say I'm ever going to give up dosa, even if it's glycemic load is high--but I am definitely willing to cook healthier dosa without compromising taste.

I have found this book very educational. We are vegeterian and been looking for sources that which oil and which food are good for us. My question is that there are alot debate about non-GMO & GMO, and organic food? I haven't read anywhere talking about this topic unless i have missed. If we are eating GMO food and following this healthy diet then we are not getting all nutrients? They are filled with all dieases.What are your opinions about cold pressed non-GMO Canola oil? I have read many comments in whole Food website and they are aganist this oil. Please help.

I am so excited that there is finally a book on healthy Indian diets. Really, Indian food is so much more than chicken tikka. :-) Dr. Raj Patel elegantly intersperses his medical expertise while telling the tale of Indian food and spices. There are times when the medical explanations are overwhelming, but Dr. Patel does a great job of summarizing each section in laymen terms at the end. I also greatly enjoyed the anecdotes he interspersed to make a complicated subject more interesting.It was fascinating, and a little scary, to learn how our modern diet of unrefined grains and processed foods is impacting our health and causing a chronic disease epidemic. The recommended traditional Indian diet is similar to the Mediterranean diet in that it focuses on a colorful assortment of vegetables and also includes lean meat/fish (depending on the region). The book also highlights the benefits of different spices, oils, etc. which makes it a very practical guide. There are several healthy recipes at the end though it's really easy to Google Indian recipes these days and adjust them yourself (e.g. use yogurt instead of cream when making palak paneer).I'd recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Indian food and/or someone trying to understand the cause behind today's chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, etc.). Somebody should send Dr. Oz a copy - it's the type of book he'd surely approve of!

This book is wonderful and I recommend it to anyone who loves Indian foods.It has a lot of healthful information.I was so facanatied with this book, when I started reading it it was hard to put it down.

Bought this on kindle. Very well written,has good references . I liked the section on chronic diseases where the author gives a detailed analysis of food impact on diseases.the recipes are not that great. buy this book for understanding how to approach the Indian diet not for recipes.

This book is a great read for those that love food yet attempt to maintain good health! The author's detailed research and knowledge was consistently depicted when explaining how different foods can prevent and reduce the risk of disease and increase health, advice definitely worth passing on to my parents. The book explains how fruits, veggies, nuts, spices, whole grains, oils, and even ghee can be a part of the healthy Indian diet! I am inspired to start cooking again!

the author is stating south india as south asia and india as asia which talks about his educational backgound. Don't buy this not worth.

This book helps you realize how much more you can get out of your regular Indian diet. I have order a few as gifts too.

Its a good book on explaining what we are doing wrong like from choosing olive oil to cook and which oil is good. Author has busted some myth around indian diet which is good and its backed with research. However some more receipes would be cherry on top.

Seem to be good will try since I have now lots of collection of cooking books purchased from Amazon site.