The Real Meal Revolution

by Tim Noakes, Sally-Ann Creed, Jonno Proudfoot

A scientist, a nutritionist, and two chef-athletes - the crack squad behind Real Meal revolution have walked or in some cases run the hard yards through the gauntlets of nutritional science and self-experimentation. The revelatory stance and the mouth-watering recipes in this book is the result of their experience combined with overwhelming scientific evidence.

Part myth-busting scientific thriller, part mouth-watering cookbook.

* More energy
* Less (or no) cravings
* No hunger
* Weight loss
* Much better health in every aspect
* Better blood glucose and insulin readings
* Enhanced athletic performance
* Increased mental focus
* Better sleeping habits

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Nutrition, Cooking, Cookbooks, Food, Lifestyle

295 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2013

About the author

Timothy David Noakes is a South African professor of exercise and sports science at the University of Cape Town. He has run more than 70 marathons and ultramarathons, and is the author of the running book Lore of Running.

Reviews

[Adri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not the no1 bestseller in SA without reason. It really is fantastic and my lifestyle bible from now on. Based on the Banting lifestyle principles I lost 7kg in two weeks, never felt hungry, and loving every bite of food! A winner for sure. Read it, it may save your life!

[Ninja Neko · Rating 1 out of 5]

Of all the health theories I've read in cookbooks this year, Banting is the silliest so far. "Cut down carbs" and "not all fat is evil" - okay, I'm on board with that, and I've seen this rehashed in lots of books by now. But Banting takes it further: Stuff yourself with more fat (if you feel a bit queasy the advise is to drink warm water with lemon until you're used to it) and stop eating fruit ("fruit is evil sugar and carbs!") - this is just plain ridiculous. There is a large chapter at the end of the book explaining the foundations of the theory, something with how humanity survived ice age in South Africa which shaped the human's diet FOREVER so we should eat like we did then. And there's a chapter at the beginning of the cookbook laying down all the rules, but even these were confusing. No dried beans, but add green beans to salads - watch out for diary, but cheese is okay because it's fat - etc etc. Way too vague and adjustable to your situation, kinda like a horoscope.

Still, the purpose of a cookbook is recipes and even if the theory is bonkers those recipes might be good no? (like Hemsley and Hemsley turned out for me). Well, no. Apart from "recipes" for cauliflower rice and "zoodles" (zucchini noodles) mostly these are standard simple recipes, but with carbs removed and extra fat added. Oh, and Xylitol because that's "allowed" (but watch out because it's fatal to dogs).

I'm underwhelmed by the recipes and baffled by the theories, I hope to forget this book soon. And celebrate by having fruit for breakfast every day. Hard to understand why this is such a hype in South Africa.

[Rachelle Seymore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book links up very closely with the Wheat Belly which I had read some time ago and confirmed many issues that I have with the food that we eat today. Cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer, osteoporosis and a magnitude of other ailments are plaguing those around me, which urged me to investigate the causes. I also have issues with wheat, but never realized before what caused my discomfort. This book is fabulous and since I've started 'Banting' I am feeling much better. It's a worthwhile read for those who are concerned about life today and that which we put into our mouths.

[Carien Bresler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goes against everything we have been taught our entire lives but makes sense.

[Tebogo Mowandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is simply amazing and set a totally different pace for a lifestyle change. i am thoroughly enjoying it and i can't put it down.

i started the lifestyle change some 4 weeks ago and started feeling much better, not feeling hungry and i started sleeping better. its an absolute must-have for everyone.

[Meghan · Rating 1 out of 5]

read this three years ago and people are commenting on this review now in 2018, so i have removed the review as i don't remember anything from this book to answer comments and don't care to debate which diets are best, if you believe in this book and it helps you live a healthier life that's cool.

[Mike Hewitson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book. This makes sense of lots of the hype going on, and nicely ties paleo diet approaches in. Very good reading, and recipes look good as well. Will be trying some this weekend.

[Misha Gericke · Rating 5 out of 5]

The recipes look divine and I like how there are real suggestions that help to break the carb habit in the beginning.

[Luquee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought finding advice on how to better fuel for running, instead I rather read the manifesto to a hyper-inflammatory diet. I hate that book and recommand to avoid it.

Update on 2017-11-18: don't read me wrong, I'm not a pro HCLF diet. My point is why replacing an extreme diet by its opposite extreme. I believe in a balanced middle ground approach, one that promotes health over all. I don't think excess is healthy, no matter the direction.

[Johan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting, but too much propaganda. (left out the recipes).

[Ceanlia Vermeulen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This diet & book not only changed my life... It saved it from a slow death!

[Wouter Zwemmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessant boek voor geïnformeerde lezers over gezonde voeding van sportarts en hoogleraar fysieke inspanning en sportwetenschappen Tim Noakes, voedingsdeskundige (diëtiste? Blijft vaag waardoor ik denk dat ze niet universitair is opgeleid) en kok Jonno Proudfood. Alle drie zijn ook soort van ervaringsdeskundige in ofwel extreme sportlrestaties of overkomen van nare ziekte. Het boek is wel vooral geschikt voor geïnformeerde lezers, omdat je waarschijnlijk het beste sommige adviezen kunt opvolgen en andere maar deels, af en toe of niet.

De auteurs betogen dat de wereld verkeerd eet (waarbij ik denk dat ze vooral het rijke geïndustrialiseerde deel van de wereld bedoelen). Als herkomst van onze verkeerde eetgewoonten analyseren zij:
- Landbouw: granen zijn eenvoudig en in grote hoeveelheden te verbouwen.
- USA-overheidsrichtlijn ‘Dietary goal for Americans’ tegen obesitas uit 1977. Deze richtlijn propageert een high carb low fat (hclf) dieet.
- Genetisch gemodificeerd voedsel en de voedselindustrie. Hierdoor veel meer suikers in bewerkt eten dan goed voor ons is.

Eiwitten, vetten en koolhydraten
Het boek deelt onze voeding in grofweg drie deelgebieden in: eiwitten, vetten en koolhydraten. Koolhydraten hebben we niet nodig voor overleven, zijn alleen brandstof; vetten en eiwitten zijn nodig voor het opbouwen, ontwikkelen en onderhouden van fysieke structuren, naast voor energie. Alle koolhydraten die we eten moeten we gelijk verbranden anders slaan we ze op. Veel koolhydraten eten kan leiden tot insulineresistentie waardoor je er structureel teveel van eet, wat weer leidt tot obesitas. Veel bewerkt voedsel gebaseerd op granen bevatten weinig voedingstoffen en juist veel zout en suiker; je krijgt er geen verzadigd gevoel van waardoor je er steeds van blijft eten. Eiwitten en vetten daarentegen zijn juist rijk aan voedingsstoffen en geven wel een verzadigd gevoel.

Echt eten
Wat mij erg aanspreekt is dat dit boek pleit voor écht eten, en tegen bewerkte (in het boek: geraffineerd) voedingsmiddelen in de supermarkt. Ook loopt dit boek te hoop tegen de verslaving van velen aan suiker, wat ook een goed punt is. Het boek beweert dat écht, ongeraffineerd, plantgebaseerd eten niet een dieet is, maar een verandering van levenswijze naar eten dat veel lekkerder is dan geraffineerd nep-eten; ik ben het daarmee eens. Volgens het boek heeft het lichaam ongeveer twee weken nodig om zich aan te passen, daarna verdwijnen hongergevoel en snackbehoefte.

Geen dieet?
Het boek claimt geen dieet te zijn. Geeft het eigen voedingsadvies wel een naam: banting. Het wijst andere diëten af, en schrijft vervolgens gedetailleerd voor wat je wel en niet mag eten… vind ik eerlijk gezegd niet sterk.

Kort gezegd komt banting neer op:
- Wel: dierlijke eiwitten, verzadigde dierlijke vetten (boter, spekvet), olijf- en kokosolie, harde kazen, zuivel, noten en beperkt zaden, veel groenten vooral van boven de grond, bessen. Alles volvet (nb niet toegevoegd, neem ik aan, zoals griekse yoghurt met toegevoegde room).
- Niet: granen en suiker. Helemaal niet. Geen enkele. Ook niet: bewerkt en voorverpakt eten. Geen rijst en peulvruchten. Geen soja, want genetisch gemodificeerd (sojasaus mag wel); soja wordt beschreven als giftig non-voedsel waaraan talloze poblemen kleven - dat laatste klopt wel (vooral in relatie tot veeteelt, gebruik van land-, chemicaliën en water) maar giftig non-voedsel?

Groenten
Volgens Noakes et al. zijn groenten voldoende voor “(…) vrijwel alle koolhydraten die bij banting toegestaan zijn.” Hmm geen dieet, huh?? Maar goed, ze hebben gelijk dat groenten reuze goed zijn. Leuk inzicht over groente: “Er zit een ingebouwde rem op: niemand raakt aan dit soort groenten verslaaf of eet er te veel van.” Groenten die boven de grond groeien, hebben het laagste gehalte aan koolhydraten, vandaar het advies om die vooral te eten.

Eerst goed, dan pas minder eten
Het boek raadt aan om eerst beter te gaan eten voordat je minder gaat eten. Kijk, dat spreekt mij aan. Als je je eerst aanwent om de samenstelling van je voeding te verbeteren, dan is de kans op het jojo-effect kleiner. Het advies om meer mindful en langzamer te eten vind ik ook zinvol.

Kritiek op de oorlog tegen koolhydraten
Het boek leest als één grote oorlogsverklaring tegen koolhydraten. Volgens de auteurs roepen die een insulinereactie op en werkt insuline bevorderend voor ontstekingen en vetopslag. Wetenschappers buitelen over elkaar of dit wel zo werkt, of wel precies zoals dit boek suggereert. Zo is er onderzoek waaruit blijkt dat mensen met veel insuline evenveel aankomen als mensen met weinig insuline. De vraag lijkt te zijn of het insulinesysteem de veroorzaker is van obesitas of dat het gedrag van dat systeem een symptoom is van andere factoren die leiden tot obesitas. Een actuele wetenschappelijke manier om hierover te denken is dat het brein de regie voert over de energiebalans (vetmassa = energie in -/- energie uit) en het insulinesysteem, en dat we dus steeds beter het brein moeten begrijpen om beter om te gaan met obesitas, inclusief verslaving.

Volgens het bantingdieet mag je geen granen en geen koolhydraatrijke voeding eten zoals aardappelen en rijst. Hoe moet dat dan met de werelddelen waar vormen van brood, aardappelen en rijst het hoofdbestanddeel van het voedsel vormen? In veel landen waar dat zo is, zijn de meeste mensen overigens slank, dus hoe moeten we dan het verbod op brood en rijst zien in het licht van lichaamsgewicht?

Banting doet alle suikers in de ban, inclusief allerlei fruit wat om andere redenen wel degelijk gezond voedsel is, vitaminen en vezels bijvoorbeeld. Dit lijkt te komen doordat banting zich op één criterium lijkt te richten: lichaamsgewicht. Daarmee laadt het wat mij betreft de verdenking van een dieet op zich, inclusief de eenzijdigheid die veel diëten kenmerkt.

En nog iets: “Als je vegetariër bent en toch mee wilt doen met banting is dat wel heel lastig.” Ook argumenten als duurzaamheid laat banting links liggen, want alleen al om die reden eet ik al jaaaaren geen vlees meer. Het echte leven is complex en niet te reduceren tot 1 criterium als lichaamsgewicht. Banting gaat aan die complexiteit voorbij.

In het register van gebruikte literatuur vind ik helaas geen auteurs of studies die andere resultaten laten zien dan de onderbouwing van het banting-dieet…

[Alex Linschoten · Rating 3 out of 5]

The informal language used turned me off to the book, a little. I suspect it'll be edited before a non-South African version of the book is released. Otherwise, a lot of great recipe suggestions. Also, found the structure a bit counter-intuitive (with some of the context/scientific background spread all over the book where it would have been better all in one place).

[Coleen Cloete · Rating 4 out of 5]

A complete mind shift is needed to get society to buy into a lifestyle changes required and recommended in this book.

Some interesting research, findings and conclusions drawn in this book on the food industry and how it brainwashed society into believing what should be healthy or not.

[Fern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Banting has revolutionized my life! I have never felt this good or been as slim since before I got married. I recently started running and can feel a massive improvement in my times after ditching high carb meals that make you lethargic. I recommend this book to everyone.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains an excellent introduction to the real food revolution taking place around the world and, in the appendix, a full, up-to-minute explanation of the nutritional science underlying the revolution. In between it provides full-page recipes, with colour photographs. Superb.

[Bernice Jooste]

What an excellent book describes everything in plain and simple understandable language

[Lie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leuk informatief.
Recepten nog proberen..

[Lagobond · Rating 2 out of 5]

Scroll to the bottom for my recipe reviews.

I picked this up as a cookbook, not as a scientific treatise. We are experienced cooks, so normally I tend to skim (and mostly ignore) the non-recipe parts of a cookbook that deal with the reasoning behind the recipe selection, and topics like how to equip a kitchen and set up food storage. However, since roughly 30% of this 300-page publication pretends to be a nutritional/medical/scientific work, I did end up reading the whole thing -- including what the authors consider...

THE "SCIENCE"

... and it's a mess. Lots of random factoids sprinkled throughout, a fair amount of repetition, and many gaps in the information presented. For example, the section on vegetables in the intro has a few general, and generic, statements that look like they were copied off a bunch of keto blogs. For good measure, the authors mixed in some cursory specific information on just a few select veggies and veggie groups: leafy greens/cruciferous vegetables, broccoli/brassica, carrots, tomatoes, garlic, and onions. Forget about the rest of edible vegetation! It's all very unstructured and pop-sciency.

Most annoying for me: the ubiquitous term "Banting" is not formally introduced/explained until page 260. I have the UK edition of the book, so I have to assume that this word is better known in the UK, South Africa, etc. but I don't think it's too much to ask for the authors to give an introductory definition of the concepts and terminology on which their book is based.

There's lots of opinion presented as fact, and odd non-scientific statements such as this one:

[...] all creatures on planet earth must eat the foods for which they are designed; this design depends on the nature of their creation or evolution, according to your preference.

Sorry, no, preference doesn't play into this at all, and "creation" is not a scientific concept. Different species weren't designed to eat certain things; quite the opposite: they have adapted to a specific diet that was available to them. More importantly: humans (as well as some other species) have adapted to eat an incredible variety of diets, depending on their living space and what foods are available there. This book presents the koala, panda, polar bear, giraffe, and lion (animals with a highly selective diet) as evidence that all humans should only eat one way, which is straight-up nonsense. All that said... it is obvious that humans will not thrive on a diet of pasta, candy, and cake. So without further ado,

LET'S READ THE RECIPES!

... each of which is presented with a full-page color photo. They are, almost to a one, absolutely mouth-watering and gorgeous; the kind of food photography that makes me wish I could reach into the page and grab a mouthful. The book's thick, large pages also make it quite pleasing to browse. I made a list of recipes to try, and astonishingly, I jotted down 44 out of 90 recipes. [Edit: I later narrowed down the list significantly. See below.] I skipped most of the pretend carbs, a few spicy things, and some of the seafood and greasier vegetable sides. I definitely was excited to dive in and start cooking!

Speaking of greasy: a few of the recipes are trying too hard to add MOAR FAT, and this is especially the case in the Sides and Salads section. A high-fat diet does not need cover every single food with bacon, cream cheese, and nuts; we do not need to drown every vegetable in oil, butter, and cream. I'm lookin' at you, Courgette and Garlic Gratin and Sage and Blue Cheese Roasted Squash! There's much pleasure to be had in a crisp, crunchy, juicy salad to brighten and balance out a meal. That said, overall I was quite happy with the selection of dishes presented here. There really is a bit of everything: a broad variety of meats, veggies and other ingredients; varying techniques, flavor profiles, textures, and cuisines.

The recipes look quite straight-forward, making you think that it is going to be easy to get from reading the instructions to having the dish on the table. Reasonable ingredient lists, and the kind of cooking instructions you'd get while looking over your uncle's shoulder while he's doing his thing with the grill. Now therein lies the kicker: for experienced cooks who can improvise, these recipes might be no-headache projects. If you're a beginner or a very cautious cook, you will frequently be confused or frustrated by the lackadaisical instructions, incorrect cooking times (especially if you don't have ideal cooking equipment!), missing temperature notations, etc.

My favorite recipe from an entertainment perspective is the Benchmark Omelette:

Get out of bed and run to the stove.
Turn the grill on your oven onto high (so it has time to warm up while you get your other bits together) and place one rack as close to the heating element as possible.
Once you've made your coffee, get your eggs together and grate your cheese.
Put a small omelette-sized pan onto a fairly high heat.
In a small bowl, mix the eggs, salt and pepper with a fork.

You get the idea: fun to read, but what's "fairly high heat?" The omelette did not make our recipe list, by the way.

Sadly, after trying a fair number of the recipes, I have to say that many of the dishes in this book feel untested and the editor seems to have been asleep or high. There are lots of concoctions here that just plain don't work out at all. Also, some of the recipes are written quite poorly. For example the Lamb Kofta with Tzatziki has us preparing the kofta and then quickly cooking them. Unfortunately it isn't until after this step that we are told to make the tzatziki, which has a prep time of 90+ minutes! Good thing I read the entire recipe the day before. So my tzatziki is currently in the fridge, waiting for the kofta to be made tomorrow. Similarly, the Beef And Cauli-Mash Cottage Pie asks cooks to preheat the oven, cook things on the stove for 45 minutes or so, and then place the dish under the grill/broiler for 15 minutes. So why did I preheat the oven and keep it running for almost an hour, if I was just going to use the broiler anyway?

As a source of nutritional information, this oeuvre gets 1-2 stars. As a cookbook, it gets 2 stars (for a total of 2), both because of the sloppy recipe writing and because of the actual food that the authors made us eat:

RECIPE REVIEWS

The keepers have their names in bold print:

Black Mushroom Baked in Walnut Butter with Clotted Cream sounds far more delicious than it is. The garlic cloves were a silly gimmick: the garlic doesn't cook through, so my first two mushrooms came out of the oven with a large, half-raw clove in the center, which is not my idea of a good time. For my other two mushrooms I mixed minced garlic into the walnut-butter, which turned out better, but still didn't make for a memorable dish. Maybe if you really like semi-rubbery baked mushroom caps? I'd rather sauté some mixed mushrooms in butter until they are delicious and tender. I should add that since it is not sold where we live, we had to make the clotted cream from scratch. This is not a lot of effort, but it does require a day of planning ahead, and many hours in the oven.

Courgette and Garlic Gratin looked good coming out of the oven, but was watery and bland.

Smoked Mackerel with Avocado and Lemon was pretty flavorless also. This is the kind of recipe where the ingredients do nothing to enhance each other: it really was just a bunch of ingredients placed onto a plate.

'Blitz Ritz' Or Ripe Avocado, Cream Cheese and Anchovies was a little better: here at least there was some interplay between the ingredients. While I drizzled tabasco sauce and lemon onto my spoonfuls of cream cheese-and-anchovy-topped avocado (and mentally steeled myself for each bite), I felt a bit like I was eating oysters: a blend of "ooh this is exhilarating" and "wtf am I doing." But it didn't actually make me gag, which is more than I can say for

Herring, Cucumber and Fennel Salad With A Mustard And Cream Cheese Dressing. Now this was just all sorts of wrong... I was ok with the tomatoes + pickled herring + dressing part. It's kind of refreshing on a hot day, as long as you don't think about the fact that there are several more rolled-up herrings left in the jar. But the fresh cucumber flavor didn't go with the acidity of the herring and tomatoes at all. And all that acid and bite left my stomach feeling vaguely unsettled. Worst of all: because the pickling juices ran out of the herring as I ate the salad, I ended up with a bunch of arugula and floppy sliced cucumber in a thin, runny pickle-juice-dressing soup, which would not coat any of the salad ingredients. Oh and the arugula flavor is just awful in this. Absolutely not an enjoyable meal.

Creamy Butter Chicken Curry was ok, but not memorable. We will not make this again. We prepared it as written, except that none of the three specialty stores we tried had fresh curry leaves for sale, so we had to omit those.

We first tried the Lasagne with the cream cheese + egg + psyllium husk "pasta," which works quite well in this particular dish, but would be too mushy to use as regular pasta. The issue with the "pasta" is that it has a weird grittiness to it, which I've since learned is a thing with psyllium husk. It feels like chewing sand... it doesn't happen with every bite, but enough to be noticeable -- and disturbing enough that I never want to experience it again. So we made the lasagna again with eggplant (sliced and baked on convection prior to assembly, so as to prevent the dish from getting too soupy). Unlike most of the other recipes in this book, this one left us with a lot of dirty dishes. But what a finger-licking delicious meal, wow. The eggplant took on a custardy texture that played very well with the other ingredients, our place smelled like the most incredible Italian restaurant, and we are hooked on this dish for life.

Rubbed Leg of Lamb with Chimichurri: the flavor was decent, though not amazing. We added a side of roasted Brussels sprouts, which worked well. Sadly the meat was quite gristly, which is of course why one would normally slow-cook a leg of lamb. I found it fascinating that the recipe intro mentions Argentina's world-famous slow-cooked lamb (Osado), but then leaves us with a shoulder-shrugging "but this recipe is much quicker." Umm, why? You really shouldn't have fixed what wasn't broken, guys. We won't be making this dish again. The chimichurri was declared too parsley-heavy by one of us, and wonderfully refreshing by the other.

Green Curry Pork Stir-Fry was so-so, but very light on the veggies. We tried it again with more of the veggies, but decided this recipe was not worth pursuing further. The broth is decent, but the dish overall is nothing special.

Smoky Belly Ribs with Red Slaw : Finally, we have an unequivocal winner! This is tasty. We left out the xylitol, and used regular ribs instead of belly ribs, which we couldn't get anywhere. Also, the red onion in the slaw was quite aggressive, so we will mince it in the future instead of slicing, in order to more evenly distribute the onion bits.

Braised Short Rib was okay to eat, but not worth the effort to make. We have a much better short rib recipe already which is super easy to prepare.

Carpaccio with Parmesan and Capers was incredibly good. A quick and filling-yet-light dish for a hot day. We made one small change by deglazing the pan with white wine and then adding this reduction to the dressing.

Chicken and Coconut Broth ... wow! I was starting to think about giving the book away and then we tried this Tom Kha recipe. Now I've never been to Thailand and I have no idea how authentic this is, but I've eaten a fair amount of Tom Kha in the US and this recipe is up there among the best of them. A well-rounded flavor profile, everything is just right. (No this does not need to have sugar added -- the tomatoes and lime juice do the trick just fine.) YUM!

Ponzu Duck Salad with Cucumber Noodles was delicious and refreshing, but left us quite hungry for the day. On a second test run we tried adding avocado to make this more filling, but no dice. Good flavors though.

Lime and Sumac Rump Skewers were tasty if tough to chew. Also, the onions were semi-raw. I ended up re-using the onions the next day, and they added some good flavor to a different dish. Overall the skewers weren't bad, but no better than any other bbq meat skewer. However, the Roasted Courgette Hummus we ate as a side was incredibly delicious. It has a satisfying consistency and smokey flavor, reminiscent of a good baba ghanoush. A great replacement for regular chickpea hummus, which is one of very few carby foods I do miss since we switched to low-carb. This one is a keeper!

Eggs Baconnaise was another positive surprise. This dish is cartoonishly rich in fat (8 eggs, 400g butter, and 250g bacon for 2 people!). But honestly, the baconnaise (hollandaise plus bacon fat and mustard) is to die for. There was way too much of it, so while we are definitely keeping this recipe, we're going to halve the baconnaise in the future. Also the "eggplant rostis" are a ton of work. Personally I didn't think they added that much to our enjoyment of the dish, so I will just use some sliced baked eggplant in the future; YMMV.

Lamb Blanquette: indeed, as the cookbook will tell you, it is "pretty good," but disappointingly it is far from "the quickest stew one could make." Whatever time I had saved up-front by not browning the meat was instead added at the end, when I had to reduce the sauce (and not just once, but in two separate steps!). For a stew this was quite fussy, requiring two cooking pots and a strainer. It would have been way easier to brown and then stew the meat in just the one pot. Also, I like parsley but it did not go with this dish at all. I was glad I did not add it to the entire dish before serving. (The crème fraîche however is divine here and I would not omit it.) Overall, this dish oscillated between delicious and "please make it stop." So it did not make it into our recipe collection.

Beef and Lime Broth is a solid comfort food. Not an ecstatic dish I will be telling all my friends about, but a very satisfying simple meal. It was easy to prepare and healthy, with plenty of veggies in a flavorful hot broth. We ate it as a main dish with a few pieces of steak added, as per the recipe suggestion.

Not-Butter Chicken is a tongue-in-cheek name for delectable chicken legs bathed in a sauce of wine, cream, and, yes, butter... infused with onion, thyme, garlic, and mushrooms. Hard to go wrong with this flavor combination! We made this for Thanksgiving, and it is indeed a festive dish worthy of a place in the family recipe collection. We made a few small changes, such as sautéing the mushrooms first, reducing the butter by a third, cooking everything in a Dutch oven, and not straining the sauce. (The recipe requires far too many dishes as written.) My other complaints: the list of ingredients includes salt & pepper, but there's no mention of s&p in the cooking instructions. Obviously you'll want to salt & pepper your chicken legs before adding them to the pan! And (my personal pet peeve) this recipe wants us to put a nice crispy browned skin on the chicken, only to then pour sauce over it and put the whole thing back in the oven. I see so many recipes wasting a lovely crisped chicken skin by soaking it in sauce... it makes me sad! We ate ours as a little snack, drizzled with a bit of the buttery sauce, before reducing the sauce and reheating the chicken legs. The finished dish was finger-licking good. A heads-up: don't be fooled by the listed cooking time. This will take about 3-4 hours start to finish. We served Brussels sprouts as a side the first time around, and a simple butter lettuce salad the second time, both of which went well with the chicken.

Beef And Cauli-Mash Cottage Pie seemed quite promising, but the meat sauce is not good enough for a keeper. Too much Worcestershire sauce, a little too much liquid, not enough salt, not enough depth of flavor. I accidentally omitted the basil, but I can't imagine that would have solved the problem, because it really doesn't go with the British Isle flavor profile. I also added half a pound of grated gouda to the cauli-mash topping (half mixed in, half sprinkled on top) and we quite like that part. Will need to figure out how to fix the filling.

So far, we have found EIGHT recipes (out of 21 tested) which were delicious -- some of them with some changes -- and which we will definitely make again. The best thing I can say for most of the other dishes we've tried is that they keep me from wanting to eat more -- both because of the high fat content and, well, because they just aren't tasty. Overall, while we are glad to have found a handful of keepers, I would not recommend this cookbook.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is it. After “Why We Sleep” this is probably the most important book I have ever read. I have also read The Big Fat Surprise, Lore of Nutrition and Sapiens. I was sceptical at first, but the amount of hard scientific evidence and plain simple common sense that these books pile up is just undeniable.I very highly recommend this book to anyone. Even if you are super healthy, you can learn a lot of stuff here that is sadly still “unconventional” wisdom but will most likely become the norm in the future.If you are obese of suffer from chronic diseases, especially diabetes, you really have nothing to lose. Read this book immediately, It'll only take you 2-3days to finish. I like the structure. It starts with a super fast introduction that gives just enough context so that you go “yeah, this makes sense I guess” - then it presents tons of recipes, most with nice pictures.AND THEN, if you are keen, it drops the science bomb on you, the whole deal, with complicated names, acronyms, charts, tables, conclusions. It is laid out in a very good way, so one chapter leads to the next - my understanding of what is going on in our bodies when we eat is greatly elevated now.I am on this “diet” for just four days now and I feel absolutely amazing. I can generally eat pretty much anything I want without getting fat, so for me the main gain is getting rid of that god damn brain-fog that haunts me seemingly all the time (and makes me crave coffee and tea in order to “wake up”) – gone now!

[Alistair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whilst an interesting book, at times the points it makes feel flippant. As a diet book it is useful with the food lists clearly articulated and the premise of the lifestyle clearly laid out. A great approach taken is the implementation of the diet, which is designed to be as easy to include in your life as possible, i.e. it isn't too hard to do meaning you can stick with it long term as opposed to being a short-term action.

One of the best parts of the book are the recipes. Even if you're not a fan of the diet, there are interesting recipes which taste amazing and have made me try new ingredients. In particular for me, the snacks are wonderful as they fill you up without craving another mouthful.

Overall, an interesting read based on an interesting premise. I, for one, enjoy a 'diet' book where one of the authors has tested it for himself, and he enjoys long distance running. Even if it is only for the recipes, this book is definitely worth it!

[Rufaro Zengeni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insights, too evangelical

The book has great insights into the harms of high carbohydrate low fat (HCLF) diets and the benefits of the opposite - low carbohydrate high fat (LCHF) diets. I found the book a bit overzealous in its pontification especially when it came to labeling many foods toxic without going into the evidence to support these claims. It makes a compelling case for the LCHF and I was sold, in spite of my skepticism of some of the assertions made. The recipes are also very creative and helpful as well as the references for further reading.

[Mercedes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Noakes is very good, and this book allows for a good understanding of his interpretation of what is going on with our health. The food classification was interesting and simple to understand. The recipes are very good, wide ranging and easy to follow. This complements the meal plans from Keto and fasting that I had previously found yet adding some broader flair which I appreciated. This is a book that one will keep dipping into over and over to get new recipe ideas.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

Excellent cookbook and then also Prof. Noakes' explanation of Banting (keto) as a way of eating for life was perfect. The science was clearly defined and the false claims were resoundingly debunked.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly interesting. Gives a number of very good recipes and explains the Low Carb High Fat diet in great detail. I will start adopting this diet very soon and will measure my results to understand whether I will feel better eating (way) less carb. To be recommended!

[Karen Cockerill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was reluctant to buy this one as we try to follow a lactose free diet but it's a favourite in cookbook club so I got it and have been delighted to find that it does not have loads of diary and/ or easy to find substitutes. A few great recipes, have order raising superkids 😊

[Yates Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it works, losing weight, good mood, lost rashes...

The actual text could be better, its a bit flashy and lacking detail, and some contradictions. The science is solid, the ideas are very stimulating. Recipes are a bit too wild, I take them and simplify...

[Ingrid Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of the LCHF movement...hopefully others will adopt a more critical approach and question what mainstream allied health/health practitioners have sprouted for decades. Time for more critcal thinkers to look at this as the way forward to addressing the Western Worlds obesity epidemic.

[kaitlyn dyer · Rating 1 out of 5]

this is the most frustrating book i think i’ve ever read...any book that suggests eliminating an entire macronutrient is just .... stupid in my opinion. i appreciate they have science to back it up, but i will never support a book that suggests eating bacon is better than eating fruit.

[Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking, intriguing, we are so much more complex than we realise.
Apparently it has recipes but I was more interested in Prof/Dr Tim Noakes revolutionary idea that carbs esp white carbs are the devil's work.