Belly Fat Effect: The Real Secret About How Your Diet, Intestinal Health, and Gut Bacteria Help You Burn Fat

The book is painful to read. Not because it is too technical, but rather because it lacks a good editor. Seems to bounce around from topic to topic citing lots of studies but doesn't have a coherent flow of ideas. Reminds me of the research papers we wrote in middle school where we just copied a bunch of quotes from the encyclopedia. The editor seemed to realize this and added a "key takeaways" section at the end of each chapter. Probably better off just reading those.Only 175 pages of content. The rest is footnotes.Kinda disappointed because I really enjoyed "grain brain" and that author wrote the forward to this book.

This is a wonderful book. It represents a massive amount of work and research, and I congratulate and thank the author. I give it 5 stars, but I think it has a few shortcomings as I mention below.I am someone who benefited from much of the same recommendations in the book. Without initially being technically obese, I lost 6 inches on my waist. Every marker of health has improved. My autoimmune diseases and inflammation problems are gone. Predictive markers of disease are not only improved but are very good. My blood sugar is under control for the first time in decades.I did not have the benefit of this book when I put together my diet. I read the studies myself. But for me, reading the studies was like reading the pages of a novel in random order. Seeing how everything fits together was near impossible. I often thought about writing everything out and organizing it, but now there is no need. I've got this book. And the story is even more amazing than I knew. I learned a lot from this book, and some areas I want to explore more. All the references I need are fully listed in the book. Like one reviewer, I wish they were linked in the Kindle edition, but I'll live. In fact, I just bought the paperback to make life easier for me.Here's the main shortcoming of the book in my opinion: it is not a book I'd recommend to someone who is not already fully committed to the idea that it all starts with making the gut microbiota healthy. I've had friends and family who have watched my transformation, and they want to understand how it works. But they won't make the initial commitment to read the one or two studies I send them, much less a whole book of this level. It's a graduate level text, while they are looking for easy reading that puts the picture together but in a simple way with clearly delineated recommendations. This is not a book I can give to them for their purposes. I wish it were because I want everyone to know how to change their health.Like I said, I had to put my own diet together because this book did not exist. As such, I feel the diet recommendations are perhaps the weakest part of the book. I agree with every recommendation, but it's a first step in my opinion. In particular, I agree with the idea that inulin is perhaps the most important fiber for feeding the gut. But there are lots of other fibers too, and they have different effects. Some effects specific to certain illnesses that, in my experience, go beyond what inulin alone does. And I view fiber supplementation as necessary to augment the low fiber content of today's cultivated vegetables - but the plants should come first, the supplements second.I love this book for what it accomplishes. I bought two copies for myself. I'd love to read a sequel aimed at a broader audience. Maybe one that incorporates the experiences of formerly sick people like myself.

This book has a few interesting ideas, mostly concerning the role of gut health in obesity (along with inflammation, diabetes, heart disease, and other issues). The author proposes some alternate and very technical theories on health and obesity, and I would really like to see those reviewed and explored further.However, the book is poorly written. It is constantly bogged down with detailed chemistry and biology that I can't imagine most readers will need. I found myself skimming and potentially losing information. The chapters appear to be loosely grouped expanded blog entries, proposing an idea, delving into a study, and making some kind of recommendation.While it's true there is a tired formula in health books (describe current medical understanding of a problem, turn that understanding on its head with a new theory, dive into the details of why this theory is correct, then detail how the reader can implement this new theory), frankly that would have been more helpful. There are bits and pieces of advice sprinkled throughout the book, and the author did make an attempt to consolidate towards the end, but it feels tacked on and incomplete.For instance, nearly the entire book is spent describing how the Western Diet causes inflammation, upsets the balance of the gut bacteria, and leads to a whole host of health issues. But there is about one page of recommended foods at the end. If you want to change the way we eat, you need to give us something to think about and do. I'm going to have to research and compile information myself if I want to follow this theory.Another problem is a number of contradictions. The author is critical of calories in vs calories out early on, but then states that it's obviously true later in the book. He criticizes fructose early on, but recommends eating unlimited amounts of fruits later in the book. He recommends eating a large breakfast in the morning, yet recommends 24-hour fasts. He recommends a high-protein, high-carbohydrate breakfast, but then says breakfast is the best time to eat fats.Before reading this book, my understanding of gut bacteria was that it could be aided by yogurt and fermented milk that contained live probiotics. I searched the entire book and there barely any reference to yogurt or dairy. I'm assuming the author doesn't want us to eat it then?There's also a massive list of food that causes histamine reactions which includes pretty much everything you could possibly eat, which the author then immediately says contains a lot of healthy foods that he recommends eating. Makes no sense.Frankly, I've seen a lot better execution on free blogs. Dr Kurt Harris' Archevore blog detailed nearly all of this information in a much better way before it disappeared. The Perfect Health Diet has similarities but with far more practical applications and uniformity.Perhaps someone can pick up some of the pieces and ideas and run with them. I'll certainly try and research more down this road, because there appears to be a lot of truth and new approaches to the issue of obesity. But this isn't a one-stop shop and isn't going to be much good for your average person who's looking to lose weight and feel better.

It is extremely hard to read and pretty repetitive. I would prefer to just go over a subject a single time in depth. I have lost over 50 pound since using the book as a major part of my diet. I did completely disregard the part about not calorie counting though. That part is just plain silly. Meticulous planning and documentation is always a good idea if you really want to succeed at anything. It was key in helping me with my inflammations though.

dense read, packed with scientific data, but very little info on solutions and nothing new here at all. Author seems to be saying you should spend half your life in the gym and the other half chasing down fairly esoteric supplements which are really only of interest to weight trainers, not to those wishing to lose weight. I am slowly, painfully coming to the conclusion that I'll have to go on the Atkins diet - which hurts because I'm a vegetarian, but apparently after a few months when balance is restored I can go back to living on veg.

This book is extremely informative. It could be produced in a much more simple form, without all the research detail. However, if you want to be convinced that the conclusions are evidence based, then this is the book for you. (Nearly half the book is a list of references!) I have yet to fully test the impact of the ideas on my waistline, but I'm sufficiently convinced to give a a go!

Still forcing myself to read it & I’m so bored I’m losing the will to live.

5*

Really great read - very insightful. Some pretty involved chemistry delivered in simplistic terms. Everything referenced by scientific studies.