Review: Food Pharmacy: A Guide to Gut Bacteria, Anti-Inflammatory Foods, and Eating for Health

Food Pharmacy: A Guide to Gut Bacteria, Anti-Inflammatory Foods, and Eating for Health by Lina Nertby Aurell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received a Digital Review Copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

This is such a quirky book that I have been stumped by rating it. Was it a 4-star book because of the odd dialogues or a 5-star book because of its solid and current information about gut flora, prebiotics, and inflammation? But, the yummy cold potato recipe... Okay, honestly, that one tipped the rating. These Irish genes don't allow for me to abandon potatoes which, as it turns out, are a source of an important prebiotic, resistant starch. Other topics include glycation of protein from cooking at high temperatures* and natural anti-inflammatory foods.

Beyond the cold potato recipe, so important because of its resistant starch, this is a book filled with wise information about healthy eating and trying to minimize inflammation through diet. As many of my readers know, I have celiac disease, an autoimmune disease in which exposure to gluten significantly damages the small intestine, and can cause chronic inflammation, malabsorption, and dysbiosis that impacts your entire digestive tract. Many celiacs suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, as well. Even without an autoimmune disease, your whole GI tract can be unhappy when you have the wrong bacterial microbiome and that unhappiness can cause inflammation, and make you more prone to metabolic syndrome or diabetes type 2.

This book explains in layman's terms how and why to eat better. It's a good starting point for anyone with a New Year's resolution to change the way they eat.

*And on this point, you might want to check out my review of Sous Vide At Home.

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