BEWARE: Not Credible Information

I'm not sure when this book was written, but it is based on incredibly outdated science. The author recommends diet plans that contradict the current literature and even contradicts her own statements! If you listen to this, definitely educate yourself and fact check everything she says. As an example, she does a good job explaining how processed fats and trans fats can cause a lot of free radical damage in the body and explains that the low fat dieting craze is absurd, however just moments ago she was recommending potatoes with MARGARINE and tries to suggest that vegetable oils like safflower, corn oil, soybean oil, canola oil, etc. are GOOD FOR YOU. Wow. If you look into how vegetable oils are processed and extracted, you will know that there are NO health benefits to eating or cooking with them. They cause the exact free radical damage she was just warning listeners against moments ago. Nonetheless she does have some solid information sprinkled in between, but you have to be so careful about what you believe. She doesn't provide any scientific information to back up her claims; no studies, no sources, no experiments, no mention of scientists.... The only thing she provides as evidence is "One time I saw someone with ____ deficiency" (anecdotal) or "I'm a professor at Rice University!" to try and assert some credibility. She's probably never done any research of her own, which is disheartening, especially because once you have read many articles/studies/textbooks on nutrition, you will find that she is just regurgitating information that is commonly spoken about, even if it's long since been determined a myth. It's clear she doesn't know what to believe when it comes to nutrition because she consistently states evidence that contradicts previous chapters but she labels everything as equally "right".

174 people found this helpful

Read Me ... The missing PDF guidebook is there!

Any additional comments?

It took me a long time to find the PDF that the author repeatedly refers to and some people said was available with your audible purchase. Note - you cannot find the PDF from your phone! The PDF is not in the phone app but it is on the actual Audible website (but you STILL cannot see this from the Internet on your phone!) However, you can find this via an iPad or computer. You have to go into the actual audible website on the Internet … Audible.com ... from your computer or from an iPad. When you log into your account, you will see a list of all of the books that you have on Audible. The PDF is listed beneath your book details on that page. I saved mine to iBooks so that I can view it when I want. Tip - to save to iBooks - quickly select the " view in iBooks" pop up in the top right corner of your screen when you first open the PDF and it will save the guidebook to iBooks on your iPad or Mac computer. Hope this helps you!

668 people found this helpful

YES, there IS a guidebook that comes with it (PDF)

Would you consider the audio edition of Nutrition Made Clear to be better than the print version?

(Other reviews are incorrect. A Course Guidebook IS available on Audible as a PDF, there is a guide for each chapter/lecture as well as supplemental material and references to many other sources.) I like being able to listen while in the car or on a walk, so I prefer just the audio most of the time. Some of the things in the guidebook enhance the lecture material, and it's great to review after listening to a lecture or to further knowledge on a particular subject. .

What other book might you compare Nutrition Made Clear to and why?

It's more like sitting in a college nutrition class than it is like reading a book.

Which character – as performed by Professor Roberta H. Anding – was your favorite?

N/A

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. The roughly 30 minute chapters are perfectly broken up to be able to listen to 1-2 per day.

Any additional comments?

Great source for learning basic, fundamental facts of nutrition without having to wade through sales of fad diets and magic pills.

170 people found this helpful

Lifesaving detailed information

This is an excellent course about nutrition. I already knew the basics of this topic, but I learned a lot that will help me improve my immunity and prevent disease - I even learned that I was eating something that was making me sick (sugar alcohols).

This course goes beyond the usual nutrition advice that you get in health books - "Just eat plant-based foods and exercise" - to give you in-depth knowledge of every aspect of nutrition science. It explores the basics of diet and excercise, but it also addresses vitamins and minerals, supplements, fads, real-world problems (like getting hungry at night), specific diseases (diabetes and celiac), the psychology of nutrition, genetics research, what is happening in your body with cells, molecules, and bacteria in different situations (such as dealing with high cholesterol levels), and how to incorporate small changes in your life to make a big difference.

There was some really interesting material about the history of nutrition legislation, but refreshingly, politics were left out of it. Not everything in the book is without bias, but at least, when a bias is presented, it is accomanied with researched evidence and analysis supporting it. For the most part, the course was put together with a minimal amount of judgementalism and fussiness.

I especially liked the frequently asked questions portion in the last chapter. I would recommend listening to that first, but the entire course is valuable, and that's rare for me to say about such a long course.

The narrator, Dr. Roberta Anding, does a good job, but her voice can become flat and repetitive in its intonation and rhythm. She doesn't really excite you about the topic, but she does a decent job of presenting the material. Essentially, she sounds like any ordinary doctor giving a lecture - scientific and methodical, but somewhat flat.

This was well worth a credit, and it's something that I will refer to when I need a refresher about nutrition. I can say that it actually improved my health. If I had to, I would purchase it all over again.

177 people found this helpful

Be wary of other Reviewers

Any additional comments?

Other reviewers have stated that the accompanying essential PDF was not included. I don't know if this is an issue that was present in the past and was resolved but I definitely have the accompanying PDF. I personally haven’t been able to find the accompanying PDFs in the audible phone application yet and have quite a few audio books that had them. That said if you go onto the website and browse your library the PDFs are underneath the title of your book.

179 people found this helpful

Outdated

Much the information presented here is good but much of it is outdated. Roberta seems like a nice lady and she's a good presenter, but I can't get past the fact that she recommends things like low-fat dairy, Ensure, and diet soda. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (who offer the Registered Dietician certification) is funded by corporations like Coca-Cola, Kellogg's, and National Dairy Council so it's easy to see why she recommends these products. If you want really up-to-date, good quality nutrition information, read "Whole" by T. Colin Campbell, PhD, or "How Not to Die" by Dr. Michael Gregor.

447 people found this helpful

Needs a side book

Any additional comments?

The information in the book is great, but Prof. Anding is mentioning the booknotes that come with the audio, and that booknotes, at least in this Audible version, don't exist.
I'd love to have those references, I hope Audible and TGC agree on some kind of downloadable material available for paying customers.
If you bought the book and agree with me, please agree with my review, that way it will have more chances to be read by someone with influence. Thank you.

961 people found this helpful

informative

This was very good. I feel so much more relaxed about nutrition now and no longer subject to what I read in magazine articles. And I thought I already knew a lot about nutrition before I read this.

I also disagree with reviews that said this was just a bunch of tables. I didn't notice that issue at all.

And I don't understand why people don't like the narrator. I thought she was pretty good.

Whenever I find a narrator dull, I turn the speed up to 1.25 and it usually takes care of the problem. But I thought this narrator was fine without any tinkering.

I finished this book quickly and looked forward to it.

38 people found this helpful

Great Information hope audible does more.

If you could sum up Nutrition Made Clear in three words, what would they be?

Made me think.

What did you like best about this story?

She gave references.

What about Professor Roberta H. Anding’s performance did you like?

She speaks well and knows her material. Made the course interesting with her stories.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When she spoke on about misinformation.

Any additional comments?

Would love to know how to get reference materials she spoke of.

114 people found this helpful

Good lecture series, needs extra book referred to

What did you like best about Nutrition Made Clear? What did you like least?

Well presented, factual.
missing tables and formulas referred to in lectures

Any additional comments?

Other lecture series have pdf files available for course outline and reference materials.

238 people found this helpful