Review of "Busy Mom's Guide to Family Nutrition" by Paul C. Reisser, M.D.

I just finished reading a great book called “Busy Mom’s Guide to Family Nutrition” by Paul C. Reisser, M.D., published by Tyndale House. It’s the kind of book that can be read in one of several ways:

1. As a reference guide–just look up a certain chapter that you need information about

2. As a homeschooling book–to teach your kids about nutrition

3. To read it straight through and learn all kinds of things!

I read straight through it this time, but will certainly get it out again in the future as a reference guide and homeschooling book. It was a fairly quick read, even for 186 pages. I really did learn quite a lot. I like that the book is written from a Christian medical doctor’s perspective. He gives a very balanced approach in explaining some of the latest trends, such as juice detox cleansing, Atkins/South Beach/Zone diets, and raw food diets.

The book starts out with expaining “nutritional basics” such as the different types of fats and sugars, glycemic index, and which and how much of vitamins and minerals we need. He give lots of information about making healthy food choices and how to help overweight adults and children/teenagers lose weight.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

“Among the young, soft drinks–what some critics call ‘liquid candy’–are a major source of these calories. A typical 12-ounce canned soft drink contains the equivalent of about 10 teaspoons of sugar, yielding 140 calories.”

“Very important parenting tip: Don’t encourage or exhort kids to eat when they’re not hungry, and don’t threaten to punish them for not cleaning their plates.”

And where to get additional help for losing weight? Look to God: “. . . realizing that we are powerless to manage the addition (whatever it is), and that we must turn the reins of our lives over to God daily in order to do so.”

I’ve been helping my “fast” eaters to try to eat more slowly. I learned that it takes at least 15 minutes for your body to start “feeling” full, so if you eat quickly you might be ingesting far more calories than you really need!

I would definitely recommend this book to any busy parent who is concerned about nutrition in their home. It will answer just about every question you have about the best foods to eat and how to manage weight loss that may be needed in your family!

Paul Reisser, M.D., is a family physician with three decades of experience in primary care medicine. A member of Focus on the Family’s Physicians Resource Council, he served as lead author of the Complete Guide to Family Health, Nutrition, and Fitness and the bestselling Complete Guide to Baby and Child Care.

You can find “Busy Mom’s Guide to Family Nutrition” at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com.