Be Your Own Nutritionist: Rethink Your Relationship With Food by George Cooper is published in paperback by Short Books, priced £12.99. Available now.
Nutritionist George Cooper runs a busy acupuncture clinic in Bristol. In this, his first book, he claims to offer a "radical" approach to taking charge of your own digestive health.
"Forget everything you knew about healthy eating," instructs Cooper. It sounds a worryingly familiar phrase attached to faddy 'new' diets but, instead, Cooper gives the reader a history lesson.
He extols the virtues of the forgotten Victorian diet, where home-cooked, hearty food reigned before white flour became Westerners' downfall into diabetes and obesity.
Cooper repeatedly highlights the five most important factors when considering our food intake - emotion, climate, digestive function and food flavour and type - and translates the plan into easily prepared British dishes - all served hot.
Cutting out sugar and sweeteners and eating varied sweet-and-sour-flavoured meals isn't particularly 'radical', yet the encouragement to take control of your diet feels positive and recipes to the rear of the book will help get you started.
While Cooper's focus is on aiding digestion rather than a weight-loss plan, the book is by no means a comprehensive guide, but Cooper's aim is to re-educate, not spoon-feed.
7/10
(Review by Angela Johnson)
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