I signed up for Blogging for Books a while back (which is a super cool way to get to read books for free, as long as you review them on your blog) and chose The Skinny Gut Diet as my first selection. It has since taken me FOR-EVER and two days to get around to writing this review. The reason: the book (at least the first quarter of it) was dullsville.
I want to say right out the gate that I found the author (Brenda Watson) very knowledgable. It’s just that I wasn’t connecting with the material. And because I wasn’t connecting with it, it took me a long time to actually finish reading it. That said, it may just be a case of I’ve heard it all before and not really anything too bad about this book itself. For anyone familiar with gluten or any other food intolerance or who has tried any of the Paleo diets available out there, you’ve already been gut health talked to death. We all know: sugar bad, fat good, carbs bad, non-starchy veggies good. And Watson pairs this with good advice about healthful snacking to keep cravings at bay (haven’t we all heard about the 6 to 8 little meals a day to jumpstart your metabolism?)
But the big problem with all these diets is that they are so hard to maintain long-term, especially with a family and on a budget. The cost of supplements alone will kill ya! (To which some will say, “Learn to make fermented foods at home.” To which I will answer, you try raising a little, preparing three meals a day, running your own business, writing two blogs and just fitting in enough sleep, water and exercise and see if you wanna futz with pickling your own cabbage — which is horrible for IBS, btw.) Anyway, I digress.
The point is, like my dad (and the old testament) used to say, “There’s nothing new under the sun.”
OVERALL RATING: *** (3 out 5 stars) Though it’s filled with good information about gut bacteria and resetting your metabolism and biochemistry by healing your gut health using probiotics, supplements, and a low carb lifestyle (repeated ad infinitum), I was just left with the feeling of — So? What else is new? But if you’ve never heard about gut health affecting your health or weight, then this would be a good book for a beginner to start their indoctrination with.
