Two Books With The Same Title: Eat More, Weigh Less

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Eat More, Weigh Less: It's every dieter's dream, the holy grail of the obese, and the most frustrating experience to realize it doesn't mean more burgers, shakes, and french fries. It's also the title of at least 2 different books on the subject of weight control, which I just happen to own both of, and will tell about here.

Book #1 is by Dean Ornish, and Book #2 is by Dr. Terry Shintani. They were both published in the 1990's, so they've been around awhile, but are still highly relevant and contain accurate information that has the potential to be life altering if lifestyles are changed as a result of reading them.

It should come as no surprise that the principles of eating more and weighing less as a result is going to involve lots of water-rich, fiber-rich food choices. The two approaches are very similar from that respect - where they differ is in the approaches to cooking that they take, and the target audiences they seek to influence.

Dr. Ornish uses chefs like Wolfgang Puck and has a lot of recipes that are geared towards an affluent and college educated market. Dr Shintani's books and videos are easier to read and understand, and are directed to a wider audience, including those of us who are less educated and have fewer discretionary dollars to spend on designer foods. While both are good books, they are absolutely aimed at different user groups, so use the one that fits YOUR lifestyle - the information is very much the same, only the recipes and the presentation styles are different.

Let's start with the Ornish book, since he's best known

This is the flagship of Dr. Ornish's books on the subject of weight loss and health. This is actually a revised edition - the one I have is older and has a different cover, however, the information is essentially the same.

Dr Ornish's point of view.  Eat More Weigh Less was on the New York Times bestseller list for 20 weeks

The list of medical professionals who endorse Dr. Ornish's work is so lengthy that it takes up several pages of the book. He begins by pointing out that he didn't start out to be a "diet doctor" but that it came about as a natural response as a result of his educational efforts on the subject of heart disease.

This is a book written in two parts - and part 1 is only 81 pages. Here is where he lays the groundwork: why we are overweight, what causes weight gain, how hard it is to change our eating habits, the difficulty of managing hunger, and why large changes are often easier to make than changes in small increments, especially when trying to change our tastes.

The (pardon this pun) MEAT of his book is in Part two, where he teaches how to shop and cook for this new very low-fat way of eating.

Dr. Ornish's plan is not vegan, as egg whites, gelatin, and non-fat milk are used, but it is very nutrient rich, high-fiber, and extremely low fat.

I can't honestly say that many of the recipes appealed to me, however, despite the fact that I bought the original and the recipes book that followed. There were many foods used that I just don't like or don't have access to, and I'm way more of an "intuitive" cook - I don't like to follow "measure this, add that in this amount" recipes, and I like to substitute things I like for things that I don't like. For example, I have never made his recipe "Stuffed Escarole Leaves with Marinated Chick Peas" despite having read it several times or "Mosaic of young vegetables in fresh herb gelee" which is on the opposite page. In fact, the whole truth is, while I enjoyed reading both of these books, I don't think I ever followed a single recipe in either book, because I'm just not that fancy of a cook most of the time. I did, however, learn enough from reading them that I have kept them both in my library, but for me they have been more of a jumping off point than a hard & fast rule.

Still, if you lean in the direction of fancy titles and like to make gourmet dishes, this would be an excellent book to have.

Dr. Shintani's Book - same title, different approach

Both doctors recommend a low fat, high fiber, vegetarian lifestyle

Dr. Shintani's credentials are no less impressive than those of Dr. Ornish, although his face hasn't been in the news nearly as much. Dr. Shintani's first degree was in nutrition and is from Harvard, and he also has a medical degree and a law degree from the University of Hawaii. He was also named a "Food Hero" from Eating Well magazine, and his program is actually featured in the Encyclopedia Britannica.

I liked Dr. Shintani's books better than the Ornish books despite the fact that they are both teaching essentially the same thing, because the Shintani books are directed at educating, so are easy to read, and there are pictures to help with the understanding.

I also like that there are more foods and recipes that I actually use in these books - instead of recipes like "Stuffed Escarole Leaves with Marinated Chick Peas" there are dishes with familiar titles like "potato and corn chowder" and "cream of broccoli soup" - real foods that ordinary home cooks are likely to make.

The tips are useful too - for example, tip# 47 is 3 secrets to robust gravies. There are tips about using Asian sauces, something he calls "Zing It" which tells you how to boost the flavor, and my personal favorite "Elipidate it" where he teaches you how to remove the fat from things you love to eat, like Pizza.

The best part of the education in this book is the part where he describes the EMI, or "Eat More Index" - which is a scale that represents the number of pounds of a food it would take to supply the average 2500 calories needed by the average active woman or average inactive man.

To really grasp this concept, take a look at corn, which falls at 6.5 on the EMI scale. If a person were to eat only corn for a day, he or she would have to eat 6.5 pounds of it to get the needed 2500 calories - that's about 30 ears of corn (no butter) and most people would be too full to eat a full 30 ears of corn in a day.

Potatoes have an EMI of 9.6, so if you ate nothing but potatoes, without butter or milk, it would take almost 10 lbs of potatoes to give you the needed 2500 calories.

But my favorite example of this is broccoli, which is the only food that everybody agrees is good for a diabetic: with an EMI of 17.1, it would take over 17 POUNDS of broccoli to get that 2500 calories.

If I had to pick only one health related book to recommend, it would be one of Dr. Shintani's books. I believe he has the best explanations, and the most useful cookbooks for the widest range of tastes and abilities.
This is the cornerstone of Dr. Shintani's many books and audios on the subject of healthy eating and weight control. It's an easy to understand book, and I think probably one of the best books on losing weight I've ever owned.


Below is the companion volume that goes with Dr. Shintani's Eat More, Weigh Less Diet.  It has some useful recipes that are more "normal" than the uber gourmet stuff listed in Dr. Ornish's book.  I've actually used recipes from here where all I ever did was read the Ornish version and make fun of some of the high falutin' ingredients and recipe titles.

If  you're interested in diet books, here are a few more to think about.  Lord knows there are enough of them! Please know, however, that I have not read nor can I truly endorse any of these - so remember to do your homework before you buy any of these books.