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The Personalized Diet: The Pioneering Program to Lose Weight and Prevent Disease

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A paradigm-shifting diet book that explains why one-size-fits-all diets don't work and helps readers customize their diet to lose weight and improve health.

There are certain things we take as universal truths when it comes to dieting and kale is good; ice cream is bad. Until now. When Drs. Segal and Elinav published their groundbreaking research on personalized nutrition, it created a media frenzy. They had proved that individuals react differently to the same foods-a food that might be healthy for one person is unhealthy for another. In one stroke, they made all universal diet programs obsolete. The Personalized Diet helps readers understand the fascinating science behind their work, gives them the tools to create an individualized diet and lifestyle plan (based on their reactions to favorite foods) and puts them on the path to losing weight, feeling good, and preventing disease by eating in the way that's right for them.

368 pages, Hardcover

Published December 26, 2017

127 people are currently reading
938 people want to read

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Eran Segal

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5 stars
86 (38%)
4 stars
93 (41%)
3 stars
36 (16%)
2 stars
8 (3%)
1 star
2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
Profile Image for Charis.
4 reviews
December 6, 2018
There are a few points I have learn from the book.
1. the normal blood glucose level only needs appropriately 1 teaspoon of sugar to function healthy. therefore, we don’t actually need that much sugar in our diet.

2. Fats and water will not cause blood glucose level to raises. However, carbs, food that are high in sodium will cause fluctuation in blood glucose level. in addition, food that are high in fiber will cause an initial raise of glucose level, but stabilize afterwards, which gives us sense of fullness.
(But some carbs from whole plant based food are healthy=eat more)

3. Avoid food that fluctuate our blood glucose level. Refined(Junk) food such as cake, cookies, chocolate, bread, white rice, to name but just a few, contains refined sugar, white flour which spikes our blood glucose level dramatically. Insulin level will rise (thus stimulates liver&blood cell store excess glucose as fat) to bring down blood glucose level. Due to the low glucose level brought by insulin, we feel hungry again. Therefore we eat more and more to feel fulfill.

3. Customize your own diet. you should find the diet/food which suits you. Different people adjust to different diet. For me, I become ravenous after bananas but half an apple makes me full. Apple stabilize my blood glucose level, while bananas fluctuate it. (I would still eat bananas, but in moderation)

Ketogenic, vegan, paleo, raw vegan, plant based diet...are mostly healthy in many ways because most of them advocate eating of whole, natural foods that comes from the nature. As long as we avoid fast food/refined food, any diet wouldn't do your body much harm(just nourish Ur body with healthier options)
Profile Image for Aimee Williams.
46 reviews1 follower
May 12, 2018
Great premise, limited execution

I have high hopes for this book. The premise makes perfect sense to me and I am trying my hardest to follow the guidelines the authors set out for testing my blood sugar in conjunction with every meal I eat. I am seeing some interesting correlations, and for that reason, I am glad I read the book. But, there is very little practical advice in this book that is of use. Their associated tracking app is useless, so I cannot avail myself of their promised "scores" re: what foods are good and bad for my personal blood sugar levels (many of the foods I regularly consume are not found in their database and just adding my blood sugar levels and meal times alone doesn't give me any needed info). The authors offer very little in terms of advice re: lowering blood sugar levels other than what is already published (i.e. walk after meals, lose weight). This book is a great explanation of why they perfored their study and explanation of some of their results, but really is not a comprehensive guide to their recommendations for how to incorporate a personalized diet into my lifestyle. Were they to expand the last few chapters of the book or offer some sort of online coaching or implementation program, this diet plan would be more easily adopted by people who are not their study subjects.
Profile Image for Neha.
153 reviews
March 24, 2023
[Audiobook] interesting and thought provoking! But also, as my opinions for most non fiction go, a long marketing of the authors' work.
Profile Image for Tina.
276 reviews
February 8, 2018
I'm rather dubious about the impact of this study on personal nutrition. I'm curious if it has been successfully replicated since the original study in 2015? If this research is correct, then I don't see how we can really know what to eat or not without testing our glucose levels after every meal throughout our entire lives. It seems like the individual factors (genetics, lifestyle, digestive microbiome) combine with other changing variables (age, anxiety levels, sleep etc) would make this very difficult to utilize.

To this study's credit, it was published in "Cell," a peer-reviewed scientific journal, you can read it here: http://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S00...

Ultimately, I'm skeptical. I found this book's writing to be a little too repetitive and sensationalist to be taken any more seriously than just another "trend" in dieting.
193 reviews1 follower
March 11, 2019
'The Personalized Diet' is a quick, well-organized, to-the-point read about some revolutionary findings in the world of human nutrition. These findings are backed up by prominent research in top-tier peer reviewed journals, and while the claims are radical and will require additional validation to be confirmed, they are as fascinating as they are provocative.

The authors lay out a clear explanation for how it might be possible that everyone has gotten diet wrong, and they explain how the average person can take steps to determine what their own ideal diet should be.

Strongly recommended for people who eat food.
Profile Image for Chris.
78 reviews
July 20, 2018
5 stars because of the value in the creative critical thinking that underpins this approach. I hope this revolutionizes many facets of healthcare.

With that said, I found the over-written "testimonials" off-putting. I am told that, compared with most mass market health books, they were fresh and authentic.

So for those of you new to such books (like me), don't let the greasy feelings prevent you from reading this book - there's some pretty profound material here.

Very much looking forward for where this work goes next.
Profile Image for Benji.
349 reviews75 followers
August 11, 2019
'A generic, universal approach to nutrition simply cannot work. Food responses are highly personal and beyond any one measure. Diets that will maintain healthy blood glucose levels must therefore be personally tailored. The current nutritional paradigm, which searches for that one best diet, is inherently flawed. The best diet for all people does not exist. Our response to food is personal, so our dietary advice must also be personal.'
50 reviews
March 17, 2019
Interesting relationship between blood sugar and health and weight

I thought they made a good argument and had science to back their claim that blood sugar spikes contribute to health problems and weight gain.
Profile Image for Ernst Hafen.
56 reviews7 followers
February 20, 2020
One of the first books that describes a modern scientific approach to nutrition and come up with surprising results and easily testable personal responses to different food based on blood glucose monitoring.
Profile Image for David.
780 reviews15 followers
February 11, 2023
The information in this book is important and needs to be disseminated widely.

There is no best diet for humans because each one of us is unique. In particular, our response to food is dependent on our genes and our microbiome.

The authors provide a protocol to find out how our body responds to different foods based on whether it spikes our blood glucose level.

I didn't give this book 5 stars because the link in the book to the app to help track this is dead. Despite this, I have managed to find the app but it's pretty much useless since it doesn't work properly.

It's a shame that after the authors published this book, they decided to no longer support their stated goal of helping people find the diet best suited for them.
Profile Image for Elaine.
611 reviews64 followers
October 18, 2021
This is a very helpful book. The premise is to use a blood sugar meter to discover which foods work for your system. I discovered doing this that I am insulin resistant and possibly pre-diabetic. The book references an app that doesn't exist, so that's annoying, plus there's little extra information out there. Those things are annoying, but the overall message about figuring out which foods are best for you personally is so helpful. I ended up getting a Freestyle Libre through my doctor that monitors my blood sugar and is so much easier than pricking my finger all the time. I wish the authors would update this book and release the app. Otherwise a great book!
142 reviews
July 26, 2018
The book was written by to PHDs, one of them MD. Some information was correct but main idea of tailoring diet according to postprandial blood glucose level is dubious. Atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease are multifactorial. This book oversimplified the problem. Just another example of researchers with a fixation idea based on their research project
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
18 reviews
September 15, 2022
Yup, I see it now.
We are all different, how we digest food is individual too.
Well written accessible science book.

your gut biome needs you to care for it so it can care for you. And your guy biome differs to mine so we can't have the same diet and expect the same results.

Fascinating.
Profile Image for Danielle.
304 reviews
June 20, 2023
The first half covers a lot of basics, and there's a lot of detail about how they did their experiments. It's certainly interesting to read as a piece of science, and this info should be spread far and wide, but don't pick this up looking for actual eating advice.
170 reviews
August 19, 2018
Interesting enough for me to buy and test a blood sugar kit! Hasn't changed my life (or weight!) yet.
Profile Image for David.
149 reviews1 follower
May 12, 2020
The book boils down to test your blood sugar, that simple
Profile Image for Jane.
291 reviews
hibernating
October 4, 2024
Hibernating because I lend it to someone who needs it more than I do at the moment.
Profile Image for Emi Gómez Rodríguez.
278 reviews29 followers
March 12, 2019
¿De verdad existiese la dieta perfecta?

En este libro de la dieta personalizada, nos da unas pautas para que cada persona pueda descubrir lo que le va bien y lo que no.
Quizá la clave de los fracasos con las dietas de adelgazamiento radique en que cada individuo asimila la ingesta de alimentos de forma diferente.
Por eso los doctores Elinav y Segal del instituto Weizmann de Ciencias, de Israel, nos proponen un nuevo método individualizado.
Consiguiendo con la dieta personalizada, que adelgacemos de una manera individual y saludable ajustada a nuestra necesidades. Todo ello gracias a sus investigaciones.
El doctor Eran Elinav se planteó hacer una investigación motivado por su afán de conseguir a través de la dieta un mayor rendimiento en el deporte.
Principalmente encontró contradicciones con algunos macronutrientes como son: los Azúcares, los Almidones y la Fibra.
Al coincidir en sus teorías con el doctor Eran Segal decidieron investigar conjuntamente en la nutrición personalizada.
Llegando a la conclusión de como la glucosa se comporta en nuestro organismo a través de los alimentos que ingerimos.
¿Y si te dijéramos que todo lo que creías saber de nutrición, alimentación saludable y dietas para bajar peso probablemente esté equivocado? ¿Y si te dijéramos que a nosotros, a pesar de ser científicos que estudian información nutricional, también nos han timado?
He de reconocer que me ha picado la curiosidad, y cuanto más leía más interesante me parecía su propuesta.
Si esperáis encontrar en este libro una tabla de alimentos o recetas, estáis muy equivocad@s, ya que lo que encontrareis entre sus páginas es un libro científico.
Donde te irán desvelando todo el proceso de investigación.
Como lo plantean y la teoría que ponen en práctica, debo reconocer que es muy original.
Quizás sean capaces dar con esa fórmula para las personas con sobrepeso, que han probado infinidad de dietas sin resultados a largo plazo, poder de una vez por todas conseguirlo de una manera eficaz y saludable.
La dieta personalizada de los doctores Elinav y Segal se concentra especialmente en:
- La diferencia individual de la flora microbiana.
- La influencia de los alimentos en la glucemia.
El estudio realizado por Elinav y Segan, se hizo en personas sanas. La mitad de ellas con sobrepeso.
Se siguieron sus parámetros de glucosas ininterrumpidamente durante una semana.
Se estudió también el microbioma de cada participante y sus respuestas.
Aquí seremos nosotros los que deberemos hacer el trabajo, midiendo nuestros niveles de glucosa.
Por lo cual seremos nosotros los que tengamos que personalizar nuestra dieta.
Lo que más me ha gustado de este libro, es que para ellos no existe la dieta milagro. Ya que cada persona es un mundo y lo que a una persona le va genial a otra no le ira bien.
¿Era posible que el enfoque de la dieta universal estuviera equivocado? Al analizar la respuesta de la glucosa en la sangre de voluntarios a distintos alimentos, los autores no sólo descubrieron que el microbioma de cada individuo era determinante en si algo podía o no ser saludable para esa persona, sino que esa información podía ser utilizada para realizar diferentes modificaciones en la dieta o el estilo de vida que condujeran a una mayor pérdida de peso, más energía y una salud óptima. Ahora han traducido esos principios científicos probados en una guía fundamentada y accesible con la cual aprenderás:
- Los mitos más comunes sobre la alimentación sana.
- A detectar de manera exacta qué alimentos dificultan tu pérdida de peso.
- Cómo diseñar tu propia dieta personalizada.
En definitiva la dieta personalizada es el resultado de una investigación muy rigurosa. Donde se ha descubierto que medir el azúcar en la sangre es la clave para encontrar la mejor dieta individualizada para cada persona.
Como no tengo nada que perder y a pesar de ser bastante escéptica voy a probar a medir mi glucosa y así poder crear mi propia dieta personalizada, a ver si de una vez por todas consigo perder esos quilos demás que me sobran y no volverlos a recuperar nunca más.
Un libro recomendable, el cual toda persona debería leer, para conocer más su cuerpo y la alimentación que necesita.

La dieta personalizada (Colección Vital): El nuevo paradigma nutricional para diseñar un plan de salud a tu medida Eran Segal
Profile Image for Carlos Tamés mosiño.
1 review2 followers
December 31, 2017
Excelente libro sobre lo ultimo en nutricion

Al igual que el autor durante años he practicado deporte, empezando con la motivación de bajar de peso. Conforme paso el tiempo mi carga deportiva incrementó de pequeñas carreras a pie a completar triatlones competitivos (natacion, bici, carrera) y de la misma forma mi hambre cada ves era mayor y mi peso subiendo cada vez mas de manera inexplicable tuve que adentrarme en este mundo de la lectura sobre nutrición, probar varias dietas y finalmente encontrar respuestas a esto, este libro me da las bases para empezar a medir mi comportamiento y respuesta al azúcar de una manera antes no pensada, esta muy bien explicado como funciona todo y es amena la lectura al igual que emocionante. Espero descubrir pronto cual es la dieta personalizada para mi y experimentar que pasa con mi bienestar. Totalmente recomendable
Profile Image for Lorena Gómez Carrasco.
55 reviews8 followers
February 20, 2019
No existe una dieta genérica que funcione bien para todo el mundo. Gracias al descubrimiento científico más innovador de la década en materia de nutrición, podrás personificar tu dieta, perderás peso y llevarás una alimentación saludable.
¡Olvídate de las dietas de una vez por todas! Es hora de que adoptes la mejor estrategia nutricional para ti, única para tu cuerpo, tus preferencias y tu estilo de vida.
11 reviews
January 28, 2018
Clearly moving forward

Exactly as prof Tim Noakes has said, what you eat is personal, and this research concurs, offering practical approach to understanding personal dietary requirement.highly recommended
Profile Image for Cezi.
3 reviews
October 5, 2018
Amazing

This book is amazing if you are looking for a more scientific approach to diate. I an so looking forward to trying the method. As i was reading i already had a lost of healthy foods in my diet that i think are problematic for my body.
3 reviews
April 21, 2021
Fascinating book that approaches diet as a science and not a fad. Definitely could’ve trimmed the earlier sections. The initial chapters as relevant as they are, seem to reiterate the same points. The last few sections are pretty valuable.

Great scientists. Reasonable storytellers.
Profile Image for Alice Shack.
60 reviews1 follower
July 15, 2023
A really interesting topic which has shifted the way I think about food. Unfortunately I've not found the personal benefits of the described methods (yet) as I've not seen the same kinds of results. But we shall see.
2 reviews
July 11, 2019
There’s some startling research on the microbiome and glucose that will blow your mind. Started tracking my glucose and finding some surprising results with certain foods I believed were decent.
657 reviews4 followers
September 29, 2019
If you want to know what food will not spike your blood sugar levels, this is your personal guide to what to eat.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews

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