Well, most of you know I am already a fan of Fuhrman so perhaps you won’t consider this an unbiased review.  In fact, I should probably call this an ‘endorsement’ rather than a ‘review’!  I have been talking non-stop about it with everyone I know, so I figure it is time for me to write something about it.

To be honest, I didn’t find too much new information.  The beginning of the book is almost a synopsis of ‘The China Study’ but scarier.  In ‘The China Study’ one feels hope that by eating healthier you can defeat all diseases, but in ‘Disease Proof’ one can feel doomed as so many diseases seem to be tied to childhood diet.  If this is your first time coming across this information, it could be quite depressing, but it demonstrates the importance of not taking lightly what we feed our children.

The real reason I like to endorse this book is because of the practical information on how to feed kids, and I think EVERYONE with children should read this!!  The most important message I walked away with is that we should seek to expose our children to as much healthy food as possible.  To do this, we should keep only healthy foods in our house – that means no sugars, white flours or processed food.  Once you have a house full of whole foods, you don’t need to stress about what the kids eat when they go into the kitchen to forage.  If you have no ‘off limits’ foods in your house, the kids aren’t tempted by ‘forbidden fruits’.  To further encourage healthy eating, most of what the child consumes should be this kind of home food.  Therefore, limit meals out and pack the kids’ lunches.  When you follow these steps, you don’t need to worry about the occasional ‘forbidden fruits’ that your children will be exposed to.  I also find this much less stressful than saying, ‘no more gummi bears’.  When my child gets the gummi bears at school or at the pharmacy, at least I know that 90% of what she eats is packed of nutrition.

This book also gives helpful information for eating during pregnancy, first foods for babies, dealing with teenagers and a 10 day  menu plan.  I haven’t ever followed any of Fuhrman’s menu plans completely because I find it hard to get all the foods at the same time (I think that we are more seasonally limited in our food selection here in Germany).

I must admit, I don’t really like all of his super healthy recipes.  I have had some amazing recipes (the Chocolate Date Pop-ems! in Eat for Health), but salads with banana salad dressing are a bit much.  It seems that he has put fruit in just about everything to sweeten it – apricots in the rice, apples in the tomato soup.  Some recipes sound so weird I am afraid to try them (peach lentil soup?!).  Also, he is not strictly vegan, so some of the recipes have meat or egg whites.  I am fine with that except that I find it easier not to have any animal products in the house and have that be one of the things the kids can have when we are out.  He also uses vegan cheeses occasionally which are hard to get here and I would rather stay away from.

So, in spite of the scary bits and so-so recipes, I still recommend this book because I believe the information in it is so important and helpful for parents.  Get your copy today!