Anti-Inflammatory Eating Made Easy: 75 Recipes with Meal Plans for Beginners (Improve Digestion, Boost Immunity, Relieve Pain) (Anti-inflammatory Michelle Babb) Paperback – Illustrated, November 25, 2014

Learning about inflammation - how it happens, things that can bring it on, and its effect on overall health - was eye-opening and made a lot of sense. After absorbing the information and thinking about it for a few days, my husband and I decided to embark on the 21-cleanse diet, which is explained thoroughly in the book. Menu plans and shopping lists are provided, which was incredibly helpful, especially for just getting started. On my first read through the recipes, I was a little concerned about being able to find the ingredients, some of which I had never heard of (e.g., coconut aminos). However, after taking some time to look through various aisles at my local supermarkets, I realized that some of these ingredients have been on these shelves all along, I just never had used them before. During my first two days of the cleanse I made 11 recipes out of the book. They were all fabulous! Having a decent food processor is a must. Some of my favorites - homemade granola, nutty truffles, roasted vegetables with wild rice. Using the recipes in the book is a great way to learn about different foods that may be unfamiliar, experiment with some new cooking techniques and begin to eat in a more healthy way. I've given the book to several friends who are dealing with inflammatory diseases like Hashimoto's and they have really found the book informative and useful. I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking to expand their palate and improve their health.

Michelle, nailed it with this very helpful book. I have an inflammatory condition that food will help manage and reverse.

Overall, this is an informative and very helpful book, indeed life changing.The sample menus and shopping list including pantry supplies are useful.The index is not always user friendly because not all recipes by title are listed. Sometimes, they are at the front of a chapter based on category of dish. You have to guess at the category, and find the dish which is sometimes in the index, and sometimes in the chapter itself. It t is usually straightforward but not always, for example, "Nutty Coconut Energy Truffles" are in the "Healthy Snack" section, but I view them more as a dessert.The recommendation to use agave nectar is now controversial. I wrote to the author about this issue, and she responded that her sugar addicted patients find agave helpful, but that I could substitute honey or maple syrup. Some people on the internet claim however that agave contributed to increasing belly fat. On the other hand, with this kind of eating, I seem to crave sugar less and am happy eating a crisp apple with or without almond butter, one of the snacks on the 21-day nutritional cleanse.The recipes do not offer calorie counts per serving and other specific nutritional information. Although the author deliberately does not focus on calories as part of anti-inflammatory eating, it is something that some people need to be aware of.I mark the date and give a grade to all the recipes tried, and if one gets below an A grade, I rarely make the dish again. The following are the grades I have given so far:*Mango Muesli with Brazil Nut Topping = A for ingredients, C for method of preparation (see additional comment below)Berry Green Power Smoothie = D This is easy enough to fix since there are many tasty kale smoothie recipes available on the internet.Creamy Avocado Spinach Dip A-Artichoke and Basil Tapenade = C (does not have an appetizing color either)Nutty Coconut Energy Truffles = A+Mediterranean White Bean Soup = A+Wild Rice and Roasted Vegetables = AToasted Pecan Quinoa Burgers = A+ for taste, but D for forming into patties. Ingredients didn't hold together. Used as a hamburger substitute, I pressed the crumble onto the hamburger buns.Hazelnut -Encrusted Halibut with Dipping Sauce = A (Halibut was hard to find in December and very expensive. Will go to Costco.)Mixed Berry Walnut Crumble = A (contains about a half cup of agave nectar for 10 servings).*Update on "Mango Muesli with Brazil Nut Topping"The author prefers the texture of soaked oats to that of cooked porridge, but I prefer cooked oatmeal. After finding the original recipe unappetizing, I used the same ingredients with cooked oatmeal and heated coconut milk, adding 2 T of flax seed meal, a little raw honey, and omitting the Brazil nuts for now. The results were delicious.Update 01/15/16 on "Vaniila Wafer Pudding" This did not taste good. It could have been the bulk macadamia nuts themselves because they were tasteless. The texture of the pudding was gritty, probably from the Chia seeds. The color of the pudding looked like sardines mixed with mayonnaise, not very appetizing.

This cookbook on anti-inflammatory eating is so useful and exactly what I needed to get me started quickly on an anti-inflammatory diet. The author really knows her stuff. Her writing is clear, concise, and the introduction isn't too long and involved but instead provides enough information to get you started on this diet quickly. The tables showing what the best foods to eat are, plus those foods that are bad to eat, are so helpful and clear. Also, the recipes and diet plan are so helpful and tasty. I was able to start an anti-inflammatory diet within days of receiving the cookbook as I had most of the food items already on hand. I highly recommend this book!

Great find! Loads of olive oil, herbs, and lemon juice make for some super flavorful and yet relatively simple recipes. I received this book less than a month ago and have followed the overall eating plan of veggies, fruit, nuts, and fish, and I feel great. It has decreased the swelling and pain of arthritis, and I've lost weight, even with eating all of that fat in the oils and nuts. It's GOOD fat. There's nothing too weird in this book that you can't find in your local megamart or online, and it's easy to alter the recipes to fit what you have (ie, no mushroom broth so use vegetable broth). The focus is on veggies, but there are recipes for meat eaters too. Highly recommend!

This is a powerful book for anyone with systemic inflammation -which is pretty much everyone to some degree. Whether you are trying to reverse a diagnosed inflammatory condition, wanting to pursue a 21-Day Cleanse or simply wanting to educate yourself about the body's inflammatory process and food choices to help manage it –this book belongs in your library. The book features 75 flavorful recipes, enticing full-color photos, multiple food plan options and Michelle's skillful translation of nutritional science. The result is a very accessible and empowering framework for better health. As per the title, Michelle truly does make anti-inflammatory eating easy. Thumbs up!