The Mediterranean Prescription: Meal Plans and Recipes to Help You Stay Slim and Healthy for the Rest of Your Life

I've had the book for 3 weeks, and every single recipe I've made has been fantastic. I've always hated to cook in the past, because every time I tried to make something, the results just didn't seem worth the time and effort. I actually look forward to cooking now. I feel like I finally learned how to cook food that I actually want to eat!It was also very difficult for me to cook because I'm what is known as a pescetarian. I don't eat red meat or poultry, but I still eat fish and dairy. There aren't a lot of cookbooks out there for pescatarians, but this book is great because the majority of the recipes are for veggies, beans and fish/shellfish. Perfect! There are also some poultry and red meat recipes as well. My husband loves the Balsamic Chicken.The diet is basically a lot of fish, veggies and beans. The only fat is olive oil, no butter or vegetable oils. There's only a minimal amount of bread/pasta, and whole grains are encouraged. No sweets, but lots of fresh fruit. It seems like a very heart-healthy diet. It's also a great diet for anyone with IBS, I notice my symptoms have diminished greatly since being on it.As far as the recipes, the tuna salad using olive oil and vinegar instead of mayo is a revelation, and I don't think I could ever go back to the mayo version again. I made the Shrimp Oreganata, along with the Baked Eggplant and Zucchini for my mom when she was visiting. She's always been an excellent cook, and she said it was the best meal she'd had in a really long time, and raved about it the whole week she was here. I made a lot of meals from the book while she was here, and she liked everything so much, I bought her a copy.I haven't lost any weight yet, but I haven't strictly adhered to the diet, either. I guess you can say I skipped the first two weeks strict part of the diet and went straight into the maintenance phase. But even if I never lose a single pound, I'm still very happy I bought this book. The recipes are simple, wholesome, healthy, and most importantly, delicious.

I discovered this book on Amazon last June when I was searching for a similar title. I read the reviews, bought it, read it, and adopted the recommended diet. The purpose of the diet is not only to lose weight, but also to sustain good health and avoid chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. The book has an excellent explanation of the effect of diet on health status.I lost 10+ pounds in two weeks--even though I cheated several times. After the initial two week program, I went on the less stringent maintenance recommendations which expanded the diet to include unlimited fruit and Greek yogurt. I lost several more pounds and now fluctuate over a 2-4 pound range while enjoying healthy and happy eating. I started at 136 lbs and now range in the low 120s. I am over 5' 6" and over 55 years old. As someone with hypertension and water retention issues, this diet is perfect for me. Clearly some of what I lost was water weight and it needed to go. I do not miss the extra carbohydrates, beef, or dairy. On this diet I enjoy a lot of Greek yogurt, cheese sprinkled on salads, and have not given up my favorite food, chocolate.I believe the recommended breakfast of one piece of whole grain bread with egg beaters or egg whites and veggies sets your metabolism for the rest of the day so that you can eat well and maintain weight loss. I tried and enjoyed one recipe from the book, but have found plenty to eat without making other recipes--yet. If you dine out 5+ times a week or cannot give up bread, potatoes, pasta, and rice, this diet is not for you. The book does include some pasta recipes, so you don't have to completely eliminate it, but be prepared to cut back. I wish you much success with this healthy diet.

My husband and I had this book years ago early in our marriage (2010). We enjoyed it then and lost weight and felt better cooking with its recommendations. I still remember the chicken cacciatore recipe from this book as one of the best I've ever had. Then we got distracted, had kids, years and Keto diets intervened, etc...And now in 2024 we're back to this book. It's still fabulous and I feel like this is the way of eating that has staying power. A few points that made me take off a star:--The book is missing a bread recipe. The author waxes poetic about the fabulous bread they ate as a child, and recommends whole grains as a foundation of the diet, but there's no whole-grain bread recipes included. I just did a web search for "whole wheat focaccia" and found what I needed.--Most of the nutritional explanations seem to still be accurate, but a few things are outdated. One is the "calories in, calories out" logic being currently called into question by research. The real mechanisms are more complicated than that, but the diet itself still holds up.--I'm unsure about the two-week weight loss prescription. If you have a lot of weight to lose and years of restrictive eating to counteract, maybe it's better to go right to eating abundant vegetables and grains in a sustainable way *first.* Then if you're not losing weight you can make adjustments.I love the stories about the author's childhood because food is a way of life, and it's the stories that inspire me to create a healthy way of life for my family. I told my children that scientists studied the world and found a place where the people lived healthy long lives with less disease. And my daughter said, "I'm going to feed MY kids that diet!" There's no higher praise, and the food is so delicious it's been simple to get the kids on board. I would recommend this.

An excellent book! Well-rounded and full of lifestyle tips, as well as full of fun facts. Very easy to navigate the table of contents, and the meals described aren't difficult or time-consuming to prepare. As for the content itself, it's not terribly dry, and a lot of it I found easy to memorize and put into practice. If you are unfamiliar with cooking from scratch, you shouldn't have any difficulty with the recipes that are included.This is not a cookbook, however; while it does contain a pretty decent amount of recipes, if you're looking for a better selection, I personally recommend Vefa's Kitchen. That particular book is more Greek-oriented, but contains something like 700 recipes, and I've personally found all the ones I've tried to be delicious and easy to cook!

good book

i got this book from the library first and enjoyed it so much i needed it on my shelf always. great recipes in the back that are so easy and tasty. i would recommend this book to anyone!

I bought this book for receipe ideas and was disappointed in its scarsity of them. The dietary suggestions are interesting and would be easy to follow should one choose to do so if not aware of the benefits of the mediterranean style diet's advantages already. In short, it is a good book to get started on this topic but not "for those in the know".

The meals are good but being American the size of the meals are for a large family (8) servings. Also you have to translate some of the names of some of the ingredients. Thank goodness for google.