“Simple Food for Busy Families: The Whole Life Nutrition Approach” Book Review

What Is It
“Simple Food for Busy Families: The Whole Life Nutrition Approach” is a full-color, full-size book about the whole foods nutritional approach. Written by Jeannette Bessinger and Tracee Yablon-Brenner, this book brings information about whole foods, how the Standard American Diet may be hurting you and your child, and information about nutrition and ingredients. Including quick tips for preparing whole food meals on a family that’s short on time, this book focuses on how to bring the whole foods nutritional approach to you and your family. This book primarily focuses on how to switch to a whole food diet and why it’s good for you, but it does include some recipes for cooking as well.

This book includes 244 pages. Again, there are lots of full-color pictures and design elements in those pages, so don’t consider it a huge, daunting task. It’s pretty simple to read this book in your spare time. To give you an idea of what to expect from this book, here’s the basic Table of Contents:
Part 1: Whole Life Nutrition
1. The Big American Picture
2. The SAD Eater versus the Natural Eater
3. What We Eat: Food Quality
4. More about What We Eat: Nutrient Balance
5. Seasonality: Eating in Harmony with Nature
6. How Much We Eat: Food Quantity
7. When and Where We Eat: Daily Routine
8. Putting It All Together: Whole Life Nutrition for Your Family

Part 2: Everyday Cooking: Keeping It Real
9. Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen
10. The Spice Rack
11. Vegetable Basics: The Missing Link
12. Grains and Beans: Filling Fiber
13. Mix and Match: Making the Meals
14. Mix and Match: Snacks and Sweet Treats

My Opinion
I enjoyed reading this book. I was a bit afraid that the book would be in black and white and just tend to drone on a bit, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the book made the idea of the whole food eating approach both seem manageable and completely logical. Plus, the full-color pictures and the well-organized book made it easy to read on the go or just split into more manageable sections for fitting into your lifestyle.

One of the things I loved most about “Simple Food for Busy Families: The Whole Life Nutrition Approach” was how the author took the time to explain everything. She didn’t talk down to the reader, but she did let you know why, logically, the whole food approach makes a lot more sense for your family and how, even if you’re busy, it’s worth the time to learn how to put this nutritional lifestyle into your home. She identifies exactly how the SAD (Standard American Diet) is affecting you and your family as well as some of the ways changing your diet will help your family. Of course, this book is very much slanted towards the whole food approach, but the approach doesn’t sound manical or un-do-able. It sounds like a normal approach that most people could start in their own homes.

How did this book work for me? Well, it worked surprisingly well. I don’t kid myself and assume that I’m going to only eat food covered under “whole food”. I don’t have the time, and the idea of some processed food sounds pretty darn delicious. However, the book really explained to me how too much processed food – especially as the majority of your diet – is absolutely awful for you. And knowing that information makes a huge difference. For example, I wanted something “apple” the other day. Normally I’d go to the nearest gas station and pick up some sort of dried apples or applesauce. Instead, remembering what I’d read, I went to the grocery store and got a fresh apple from produce instead. I think the important thing to remember about this book is that it gives you all the information to start – including recipes and information on how the Standard American Diet is harming you. But it’s up to you how much you want to implement the ideas, and even just by switching out 50% of your processed food to some whole food, you can make a difference. And even if you’re just willing to make a small change, this book explains, very well, exactly how to make that change and why it’s a good idea.

Pros
“Simple Food for Busy Families: The Whole Life Nutrition Approach” book is simple to read, gives you a great idea of how switching to Whole Food is important, and it just enjoyable. The full-color pictures partnered with the well-organized categories and chapters make it a cinch to read if you’re short on time.

Cons
The book obviously has a bias, but as you’re probably picking up this book wanting that bias, it works out fine.

Recommended
Whether you have a full family or just have yourself, learning more about the Whole Foods approach doesn’t hurt. Making informed choices is part of being an adult, and this book gives you the tools you need to make an informed choice about whole foods versus processed foods and how to fit into your life.

Buy It
You can purchase “Simple Food for Busy Families: The Whole Life Nutrition Approach” straight from Amazon; and it’s extremely affordable!