Michel Montignac ha transformado con sus libros los hábitos alimentarios de los españoles, y su figura sigue sin tener parangón en todo el mundo. Convencido de la necesidad de mantener una alimentación equilibrada para conservar una buena salud física y psicológica, Comer, adelgazar y no volver a engordar es su gran contribución a favor de la racionalización de nuestra dieta en una sociedad cada vez más compleja, en la que los rígidos horarios de trabajo y una alimentación mala y deficiente repercuten en nuestra salud y nuestro rendimiento.
5 stars for his method, but 3 stars for this book. I prefer the original version of his book "Dine out and lose weight" which is no longer in print. In this book he doesn't adequately explain why you need to split carbohydrate and protein meals, but rather focuses only on GI. However the method works and I believe is one of the few sustainable approaches to losing and maintaining weight. It encourages healthy eating habits and you don't have to completely give up starchy carbs, you just have to select carefully amongst low-lowish GI carbs and select with what you eat them. He also makes suggestions for eating out, how to compensate for when you cannot follow the method strictly etc. a much more realistic approach. I would recommend the method and therefore you need to read the book regardless of its rating.
This book says that it's not that because you are overweight, you become insulin resistant, it's because you are insulin resistant that you become overweight. This is a very interesting theory and can be easily tested by applying the suggestions of a low glycemic diet.
Otherwise, it's an odd book. It was translated from French to English by someone who was not completely proficient in English so there are all sorts of odd expressions and idioms. That doesn't take away from the book - it's amusing and makes you feel like the author himself is talking. You can almost hear the French accent.
Some food it talks about are not typically found in the U.S. - duck fat, frog legs, etc. He does not understand vegetarianism or vegnism at all. There is a passing reference saying that being vegetarian for ethical reasons is ok as long as you eat dairy and eggs to get your missing nutrients. Some of his nutritional information seems out of date or just plain wrong. He refers to an amino acid, cysteine, saying it can only be found in animal sources when in fact there are many plant sources for it.
This diet was recommended to me not for weight loss, but for better intestinal health. So I can pick and choose, to a certain degree, what I think makes sense and what does not. For example, I love the tip on eating fruits 15 minutes before meals or on their own for better digestion. However, I'm not going to outlaw all butter and sugar from my life. I will strive to avoid refined grains, but I won't worry unnecessarily about a croissant every few weeks.
On the positive side, if you do need to lose weight, I'll bet this diet would work,you wouldn't need to go hungry, and these days most of his recommended foods are easily available in the U.S.
Read this with a laaaarge grain of salt. Some tips DO apply, ithe lifestyle suggested does not impose too many constraints and leaves room to indulge in certain sweet tooth reveries.
Similar to any balanced Mediterranean style diet, this book recommends whole grains and plenty of fresh vegetables. The principles make sense. I will be starting this diet soon to see if it works for me. My nutrition has been really poor since starting graduate school.
This classic was one of the first to successfully argue (correctly) that taking control of your food ingredients also meant taking control of your health and weight.
A must-read simply for the treasure-trove of tips to improve the spectrum of foods while reducing calories or health stressors.