The F-Factor Diet: Discover the Secret to Permanent Weight Loss

""The absence of fiber in American's diets is a major risk factor for weight gain." ~ pg. 5

Tanya Zuckerbrot is a board-certified dietitian with a master's degree in nutrition and food studies. She has an answer for everything and that answer is FIBER. This book is not just about losing weight it is also good for anyone struggling with diabetes or high blood pressure.

If you love to eat out, then there is a special section on making the best food choices while at a Greek, Indian, Italian and Mexican restaurant. If you love to cook, one third of the book is recipes. You may want to try:

Strawberry Yogurt Shake
Tandoori Chicken
Classic Steak House Filet Mignon
Grilled Fruit Kebabs
Moroccan Lentil Soup
Turkey Chili

For recipes with pasta, the author uses multigrain versions. When making Macaroni and Cheese you get five grams of fiber per serving. Raspberries, dried figs, dried apricots, blueberries and pears also have a lot of fiber. So when you think "fiber" don't automatically think "dry hard to swallow cereal." This book is filled with delicious ideas.

Through reading this book you can find out how many calories you should be consuming in a day to lose weight or to maintain weight. You may also start thinking differently about salads as they don't have as much fiber as I originally thought they did. It is more what you add to the lettuce that counts, for example adding beans and red bell peppers helps with the fiber content. It was surprising to learn that you'd need to eat eight apples to get the recommended amount of fiber in one day. Of course that is not something you want to do but shows how much fiber is lacking in the daily diet of most Americans. This book also explains why it is a bad idea to skip meals.

The best way to use this book is to type up a basic menu for one day in one of three columns. I'd suggest the one recommended in Make the Connection: Ten Steps to a Better Body and a Better Life. Put his suggestions in the second column and then put in all the variations for the diet in the third column. This way you can see what you are eating for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks (put those words in the first column so every item has a row of its own). For instance if you look at the breakfast section you will see fruit as an option. Type out all the fruit options that are high in fiber in the third column. As you read through the book make a note of anything that looks good and is high in fiber. This really helped me to figure out what I wanted to eat for a day and makes shopping much easier.

~The Rebecca Review
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~ Written on 2008-07-10

"I thought this book would be just what I was looking for, to add high fiber recipes to our meal planning, boy was I wrong. We sampled a few of the recipes and found them to be high in fiber, but low in taste. I think the author has some sort of distaste for spices. The best, or worst, example of this is the Pasta Bolognese. It was a runny, flavorless offering. Four cups of various liquids and only a teaspoon of oregano, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper......what's with that? This recipe, like the others we tried, required quite a bit of "doctoring" just to make them edible. The part that made no sense to me, was that the addition of a few spices improved the taste considerable, yet, it did not compromise the fiber content or the goal of the recipe. It is this reviewers opinion that Ms. Zuckerbrot's concept is sound, but her recipes are terrible! "
~ Written on 2008-06-30

"I have read through this book and think there are good points and bad points. First of all, the bad. I think that this book is highly misleading. She states a lot of times in the beginning that it is not a low carb diet and she will not be taking away your carbs, but in the first stage, she takes away almost 100% of your carbs, leaving you with only high fiber cereal, very specific crackers that are very high fiber w/o carbs and a single piece of fruit. In addition, she does not let you have yogurt or milk the first phase. Like all the other low carb diets, you are allowed as much meat and veggies as you want. Additionally, if you remain on this diet the rest of your life, you are forever counting and limiting your carbs to a total of 75 a day. Granted that is a lot more than some low carb diets, but still, a limit nonetheless.

Also I was very disappointed in her fiber suggestions. You'd think that since this book is about fiber, she would tell you all about how to get it in your diet. She does not. She dedicates a few pages in the beginning with a limited list of the fibers in various foods. In the recipe section, you would expect her to have loads of recipes with extremely high fiber counts. There are not. Most of the recipes have only 5 g of fiber or less per serving. There are lots of other cookbooks out there about healthy eating that have a lot more fiber in them than she gives you. Finally, the only way you actually get fiber on her diet is to eat high fiber cereal. She says she wants you eating 30-35 g of fiber a day. She starts off saying most people get 9-11 g a day. Here's her breakdown. At some point in the day, have a serving of the high fiber cereal: 13 g of fiber. Have up to 8 of her high fiber crackers that have 3 g in each cracker. Let's say you are moderate and have 4 crackers a day: 12 g of fiber. That totals 25 g of fiber. Minus that from the higher number you are supposed to have each day (35 g) and you are left w/ 10 g of fiber to get from your diet, which is exactly what you were getting before starting this "diet". She could have summed up the book in a few sentences: Eat high fiber cereal for breakfast and 2 or 3x a day have a high fiber cracker or 2 and you'll get the fiber you need. She really never goes into detail on how to get more fiber through whole foods in your diet.

The one good thing about this book is the recipes. They look fantastic! There are a lot of veggies in almost every recipe and they are very unique-I haven't really seen these ideas before. So for me, the book was worth it for the recipes but for the actual "diet" it's basically a complete scam."
~ Written on 2008-04-06

"I was looking for a book about nutrition when I stumbled upon the F-Factor. This book by any means is not a "diet" book, but simply put it is for a very healthy life style. I read it from cover to cover and follow it daily. I have not felt this good in years. I am a 50 year old male with a very active lifestyle. This book has changed my diet habits for the better and not to mention the health benifits that are going on internally as well as looking better on the exterior. I love the way the author combines diet with nutrition tips. Best money I have spent in years. Awesome."
~ Written on 2008-04-06

"Although I haven't finished the book yet, I have found what I've read so far to be very informative. "
~ Written on 2007-10-01