As someone who has recently adapted to a primarily plant-based diet, I was eager to read another book from Dr. Neal Barnard and consume another layer of knowledge from his research.

The book focuses on Appetite-Taming Foods, Calorie-Trapping Foods, and Calorie-Burning Foods. Participants in Barnard’s research studies provide credible testimony of how these play out for the person looking for help in their dietary journey.

The chapter on the Best Foods for Powering your Weight Loss provides a roadmap for how to get started. Six categories of fruits and vegetables, along with adding in cinnamon, hot peppers, and ginger can boost both flavor and beneficial results. Pasta, potatoes, and rice are welcomed as partners in dietary fiber, something we don’t get enough of.

My favorite chapter was chapter 3: Foods that are Less Healthful than you’d Think. Some deeper thoughts come into play here on what we consume and how it may affect us. If weight loss is the goal, the foods discussed here can help shift assumptions we have about certain foods. It challenged my mindset on: “What benefit am I getting from what I consume?”

The book is interesting to read, packed with practical information, and easy to implement changes to your diet. I highly recommend this book and any other books by Dr. Barnard.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley. I received an advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review.

If you're looking for a way to jumpstart a more wholesome and enjoyable way of eating, The Power Foods Diet by Neal Barnard is a great place to start. Dr. Barnard's approach is refreshing; focusing on the power of nutrient-rich ingredients to elevate your health, not on restrictive calorie counting.

The book sheds light on the science behind "power foods" – these aren't just buzzwords, but rather everyday ingredients with the potential to boost your well-being. From managing appetite to burning calories, Dr. Barnard explains how these power players can contribute to a healthier you.

But this book goes beyond theory including recipes to help you utilize the information laid out for you. The quick stir-fry and neatloaf I've tried so far were both easy to prepare and delicious.

The Power Foods Diet isn't about deprivation, it's about empowerment. It equips you with knowledge and provides practical tools to make informed choices about what you put on your plate.

I'm particularly excited to explore incorporating more of these power foods into my everyday meals. This book feels like a sustainable path to a healthier and more vibrant me, and I can't wait to see what other delicious discoveries await!

This is an excellent book for anyone looking to improve their diet. The first part of the book explains the science of foods; why certain foods are healthier than others, what to add to your diet and what to delete from your diet. It is written in easy to understand layman terms. The focus is on weight loss but the principals of eating can apply to everyone. Suggestions are given for what to choose when eating out or traveling and meal plan examples are included along with a tasty, easy to fix large selection of recipes that I am looking forward to trying out. If you don't want a long read of research relating to diet and lifestyle but instead just want some good basic information along with recipes that help you onto a healthy lifestyle, this is a great place to start. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced e-copy of this book.

The author presents new research into weight loss focusing on three key areas: foods that tame hunger, foods that burn calories, and foods that prevent calories from being turned into fat. At its heart, it is a plant based, whole food way of eating that not only ensures weight loss but is easy to follow: there is no hunger or starving, and this is a change anyone can make permanently to ensure the weight (and health issues) never return. This is not a vegan cookbook per se - the focus here is on health and not ethics or animal rights.

The book has a short introduction that goes over the foods you want to concentrate on to ease hunger/cravings, help the weight come off faster, and increase your metabolism. Some are little tweaks and others mean a lifestyle change away from fats and animal products (which are inherently fatty). You would choose to eat more e.g., blueberries, greens, whole grains and beans. This means foods like french toast, chili, pastas, potato dishes, tacos, burritos, dals, curries - and of course soups and salads.

The book includes meal plan suggestions as well as a large selection of recipes for foods that many will find familiar and tasty. Although some will consider a plant forward type of lifestyle change as having to give up too much of what they love, in reality this approach is about replacing the bad with the good but also going beyond the same boring meals (e.g., meat with a vegetable side). Ironically, judging from the recipes here, people will be eating a wider variety of foods but with the benefit of losing weight and reversing chronic diseases. So it is more about adding to what is eaten rather than taking away.

The recipes are cleanly laid out. There are no photographs or images. Serving size is provided and breakdowns of calories, protein, carbs, sugar, fat, calories from fat, saturated fat, fiber and sodium are provided. Directions are not numbered and in somewhat clunky formatting. Because of the lack of photos and the clunky formatting, I did knock of star off the rating.

In all, this really is the book to end lifelong battles with weight and health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, and many auto immune disorders. The recipes are easy to make and I enjoyed eating the food. Because there is no calorie counting or small portion sizes (plant based eating is inherently low calorie, so you eat a lot without gaining weight) it is easy to feel satisfied and never feel deprived.

The book is friendly to those testing the waters around plant based eating - many recipes are slight variations or tweaks on what they are already eating anyway. No recipe is hard to make or takes hours. Most recipes are friendly toward freezing/making extra portions so there is always a 'fast meal' available. In all, very pleased with the book. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

As one of the most prominent members of the WFPB movement, Dr. Barnard is the person to read for anyone interested in learning more about veganism, health and good nutrition. I particularly enjoyed the sample menus and the many delicious-looking recipes that make up a significant portion of this book.

Dr. Neal Barnard is one of the whole food, plant-based doctors I follow through social media, podcasts, and books he has authored. This book on health and weight loss is a great guide for beginners. I love the emphasis on whole foods and the research backing it that Dr. Barnard has included. He also incorporated several real-life success vignettes as well. These stories make this lifestyle change feel both manageable and achievable. There are a lot of pretty simple recipes included, too. The only thing I didn't like was that several fairly processed foods were given the green light. I imagine this was because it's a book aimed at beginners, and Dr. Barnard didn't want it to seem overwhelming. Also, any steps towards a more whole food, plant-based diet are impactful.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing, Balance, and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy of this book.

Dr. Barnard's book is a good addition to the category of diet related books of Dr. Gregor, Dr. Furman, Dr. McDougall, and Dr. Esselstyn. Dr. Barnard discusses ways that specific foods one eats can help you loose weight without taking the popular diet drugs available now. He goes into detail about how certain foods will help one loose weight in easy understandable language. He footnotes all of the studies he mentions. Dr. Barnard explains how very familiar store bought ready prepared food can fit into his take on diet. He wants to hook people into loosing weight without taking medication and this book does the trick. He includes several yummy recipes in the back of the book.

The Power Foods Diet is a well-researched guide to nutrition awareness. The text is easy to read, much of the material is more of a refresher and a reminder for me on the importance of moderation and awareness of what I eat. I liked Barnard’s perspective of Drugs and Money, essentially if you have the proper nutrition drugs may not be necessary. And most definitely, will be trying some of the recipes provided. I recommend this book for anyone interested in being more mindful of their nutrition.

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Grand Central Publishing, Balance, and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this book. This deeply researched book goes into detailed explanation of what Power Foods are and how they help us. However, much of it is common sense. There are recipes at the end of the book which are relatively straightforward and could be a great start for someone who is starting on their journey to healthy lifestyle.