Love Your Gut

Very thorough and explains the science in a way non-science majors can understand. When your own body is the only thing you know, it's hard to tell what is normal and what isn't. This book helps with that.

THANK YOU! This book is perfect. I have had so many GI issues all my life and this is such a useful book to be able to provide easy advice noways to help you gut.

Very helpful! I appreciate the information shared here as well as the science behind it. Even tho I’m not scientifically-minded, this all makes sense to me now!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Love Your Gut is a tutorial and lifestyle guide by Dr. Megan Rossi. Due out 2nd Feb 2021 from The Experiment, it's 320 pages and will be available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

There's been a lot of focus in the media the last few years on gastrointestinal research and the fascinating things we're learning about how our GI tract affects and informs our overall health. This book is an accessible, science based look at how to interpret our GI health and make improvements which can pay dividends in emotional health, well being, and everything from brain fuction, weight control, metabolic function, immune system, hormonal balances and more.

The author has an easy to understand style of writing and although she does discuss some of the bio-science and physiology involved, I don't imagine it'll be beyond the scope of the average layperson. The book has a lot of charts and quizzes to fill out to analyze the reader's current gut biome and general gut health as well as a lot of suggestions for improvement.

The second part of the book contains a number of recipes to help improve the reader's diet and hopefully support and increase gut biome diversity and health. The recipes are arranged thematically: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts as well as a capsule survey of fermented foods (including a good beginner-usable recipe for kimchi, one of my absolute favorite things in the world). The recipes have ingredients listed bullet style in the sidebar. Ingredient measures are given in American standard with metric measures in parentheses (yay!), followed by step-by-step instructions. Tips and variations are included at the end of the recipes. Recipe ingredients are mostly easily found at any well stocked grocery store, but some (gochugaru Korean ground smoked pepper, kefir, and a few others) might require a specialist grocery or online purchase.

The photography is clear and attractively done. Tutorial photos are easy to follow. Serving suggestions and food styling are attractive and appropriate.

This is a very well written book full of solid information. It would make a superlative selection for readers looking for sensible science based diet and lifestyle information. The book and the writing are blissfully free of faddish outlandish pseudoscience.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

Love Your Gut: Supercharge Your Digestive Health and Transform Your Well-Being from the Inside Out by Dr. Megan Rossi
Publisher: The Experiment
Genre: Cooking, Food & Wine | Health, Mind & Body
Release Date: February 2, 2021

Love Your Gut is a guide to improve your digestive health (hello gut microbiome!) by Dr. Megan Rossi.

I found this to be an interesting guide that offered a lot of suggestions for many digestive concerns. There were lots of useful tips and recipes. This was easy to understand and was filled with science based information.

I would definitely recommend this book if you are looking to improve your digestive health!

Publisher’s Note: Love Your Gut was previously published in the UK under the title Eat Yourself Healthy.

I'm so grateful to Megan Rossi, The Experiment, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

My gut no longer loves me. That’s why I sought out LOVE YOUR GUT by Megan Rossi, PhD, RD. She’s written a fab guide to heal your gut while boosting metabolism, immunity and mood. You’ll complete some interactive quizzes to suss out food intolerance, microbiome issues, and dietary problems. Then develop an action plan for treating bloating, constipation, IBS, heartburn, and more. You’ll also learn helpful strategies such as evidence-based dietary management, gut-focused yoga poses, enhanced sleep hygiene, and massage techniques that make a difference. Plus, there are 50 delicious recipes to show your gut some REAL loving. Tummy, I hereby promise to change. Please accept my apologies and give thanks to Dr. Rossi!

5 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 02 Feb 2021
#LoveYourGut #NetGalley

Thanks to the author, The Experiment, and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine.

A really good guide to "Loving your gut" from what could be causing upset to recipes to help promote more positive gut health. Lots of really cool facts that I learned and lots of great recipes to help support gut health!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

I am so looking forward to obtaining a physical copy as this was very helpful for me. As someone who has longtime gut issues, with frustrating food intolerances (soy and gluten), I learned so much. There is so much practical, well-researched advice, Dr. Rossi is a well-recognized dietitian and nutritionist, on your gut rather than the whole "Just take probiotics", which is important, but rather simple. Not only does this book have recipes, which I tried all and noticed a huge difference, but there are also physical strategies to learn (i.e. yoga movements for bowel). The moral is that HEALTH and HAPPINESS is the Number One Priority!
Big thanks to The Experiment and NetGalley for the ARC for an Honest Review.

I found more than I expected to here - information and history about the gut, informative quizzes and checklists, action plans, meal planning, and an overall interactive guide to following this prescribed diet. While I'm not sure I buy in 100% to this way of eating, I appreciate all the resources this book has to offer - and of course the recipes. While some are fussy, a lot seem delicious and I might be trying a few in the near future.

In Love Your Gut, registered dietician Megan Rossi provides a very simple explanation of how your gut and its microbiome work. She then offers guidance on identifying and treating various gut problems, such as constipation, bloating, acid reflux, IBS, and food intolerances. The book functions somewhat like a workbook, with numerous assessments, flow charts, and worksheets to help you design your own plan for improving your gut health. Because of these features, I think this book will work better as a paperback than an ebook.

I appreciated the chapters on sleep, stress, and exercise. Dr. Rossi includes a series of yoga exercises that I’ve found helpful, as well as suggestions for strengthening the pelvic floor and giving yourself an abdominal massage.

Almost a third of the book consists of high-fiber, plant-powered recipes that the author describes as offering flexibility for “intolerances, time limitations, space constraints, budgets, [and] cooking skills.” I tried a good sampling of the recipes and was happy with their flexibility, healthiness, and flavor. Some of the recipes looked very easy, and some were more challenging, but they did seem clearly written with helpful tips. All of the recipes feature a diversity of plant foods and can be made vegetarian; most could be made vegan. Many of the recipes include gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, or nightshades, but they are usually still workable with her suggested substitutions or omissions for those with allergies or intolerances.

The Quinoa Sushi Rolls were excellent and will become part of my regular recipe rotation. I was delighted by the recipe templates, such as Mix-and-Match Porridge, Mix-and-Match Sliders, and Good Gut Bowls, that offer different choices for each category of ingredients. This is a great way to use up leftovers, and if you’re feeding a group, it allows each person to customize their meal. Recipes such as Fermented Overnight Oats and Microwave Popcorn are easy to assemble and offer a choice of toppings.

Most of the recipes include photographs on a separate page, but I was disappointed that the book doesn’t include nutritional data. Some recipes include ingredients that may be unfamiliar and difficult to find, such as freekeh, banana flour, and gelatin sheets, but most recipes can be made with more widely available ingredients. Some recipes require a food processor. The recipes were originally written for publication in the UK, and measurements aren’t always easy to accommodate in the USA without a food scale; as an example, I wasn’t sure how to measure 5 ounces (150 grams) of sweet potato, or 1.5 ounces (40 grams) of oats.

The book also includes information about and recipes for fermenting and sprouting.

If you’re looking for healthy new recipes to add more variety to your diet, this is worth trying. Although much of this content will likely be review if you’ve read much on the subject, this is a good book if you’re experiencing unpleasant gut symptoms and want an individualized plan for improving your gut health. You might still need to work with a gastroenterologist and/or a dietician, but this is a good place to start. I also recommend The Bloated Belly Whisperer by Tamara Duker Freuman.

I was provided an unproofed ARC through NetGalley that I volunteered to review.

I absolutely loved this book! The microbiome is incredibly important for good health - I am always looking to learn more about this fascinating part of our body. Dr. Rossi is gifted in teaching us in an easy-to-understand manner. I found this book to be incredibly comprehensive in reviewing the microbiome, digestion and diet interventions with an added bonus of recipes. I highly recommend this book!

Thank you, The Experiment and NetGalley, for a digital ARC!