Table of Contents
Praise forThe Best Things You Can Eat:
Kudos to David Grotto! The Best Things You Can Eat is well-organized and loaded with food as medicine pearls. Your blueprint to good health is provided in this gem of a book.
Gerard E. Mullin MD, author of
The Inside Tract: Your Good Gut Guide to Great Digestive Health
Dave Grotto does it again! A master at making good nutrition easy to understand with a healthy serving of great foods and lots of fun.
Carolyn ONeil, MS, RD, coauthor of
The Dish on Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous!
Praise for101 Foods That Could Save Your Life:
An encyclopedia of foods with lifesaving benefits.
Chicago Tribune
For the millions of Americans tired of hearing about what not to eat, this book is a refreshing and enlightening guide to improving your health by adding delicious foods to your diet. Daves simple explanations for why these foods are potential life savers makes the book enjoyable to read, and the recipes bring the science to life on your plate.
Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, Nutrition Director, Prevention Magazine
Dave Grotto has written a book that is as fun and fascinating as it is practical. I heartily recommend 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life as a marvelous resource for anyone who cares about their health and loves food.
David Katz, MD, Yale University School of Medicine
and author of The Flavor-Full Diet
101 Foods That Could Save Your Life is a great book to have on the shelf.
Brian Wansink, PhD, Cornell University Food and
Brand Lab and author of Mindless Eating
As a dietitian and food lover, Id say this book should be opened in every kitchen.
Thomas Ayoob, EdD, RD, Department of Pediatrics,
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Praise for101 Optimal Life Foods:
You are holding a powerful book in your hands. David Grotto is one of the best authorities on health and nutrition in the United States today, and he has written a groundbreaking guide for you to live your ultimate, optimal life.
Montel Williams
This book gives you food for thought about ways to use food to aide digestion, decrease inflammation and even improve your mood. Dave Grottos simple nutritional solutions for common health conditions can easily become a part of your overall wellness routine.
Robert Kushner, M.D., Clinical Director of the
Northwestern Comprehensive Center on Obesity
and author of The Personality Type Diet
... Bonus for mid-life women: A great outline of what foods keep your skin looking youthful... Favorite part: The comprehensive index; find exactly what youre looking for in seconds!...
More magazine
The world needs more dietitians like Davidhe loves food and nutrition. Your copy of 101 Optimal Life Foods can be your best medicine.
John La Puma, MD, director, Santa Barbara Institute
for Medical Nutrition and Healthy Weight, and co-author
of ChefMDs Big Book of Culinary Medicine and The Real Age Diet
To my father and to my second mom, Sandy
Thank you for always being there!
Acknowledgments
I am eternally grateful to all mentioned here for their help, guidance, and support.
First, I wish to thank my amazing wife, Sharon, and our three lovely daughters, Chloe, Katie, and Madison, for their extreme patience during this process. I know what a sacrifice all of you made to allow me to complete thisI love you all so very, very much!
Thanks to my research assistants Kirsten Bohrnell; Erin Dubich, MS, RD; Brian Glasser Mayrsohn; Cristian Mendoza; and Sheila Seybolt, who helped make the book come to life.
To my book advisers Lisa Young, PhD, RD; Annette Maggi, MS, RD, LD, FADA; and Roberta Duyff, MS, RD, FADA, CFCS. I appreciate your guidance on how this information should be best presented.
To my expert contributors Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD; Jan Dowell, MS, MHS, RD, CSSD; Janet Brill, PhD, RD, LDN; Toby Smithson, RD, LDN; Karen Collins, MS, RD, CDN; and Toby Amidor, MS, RD. Thank you for so generously sharing your wisdom!
Special thanks to Roseann Rust, RD; Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD; Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD; Wendy Jo Peterson, MS, RD, CSSD; Joanne Lichten, PhD, RD; the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; Catherine Arnold, MS, EdD, RD, LDN, and the rest of the department of nutrition staff at Benedictine University; Bob True; Kirsten Straughan, MS, RD, LDN, and the staff of the Department of Nutrition Science at the University of IllinoisChicago; my publicist, Jenna Gilligan; editor Rene Sedliar; and everyone else involved in making this book come to life at Da Capo Lifelong Books; my literary agent, Rick Broadhead, and my speaking/ spokesperson agent, Beth Shepard.
To all of my friends, colleagues, and business associates for always supporting me and my work, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Foreword
By Lisa Lillien, a.k.a. Hungry Girl
For those of you who dont know me, I am better known as Hungry Girl, which is the name of my free daily email service dispensing tips, tricks, food finds, recipes and information about weight loss, dieting, making smarter food choices, and in general navigating eating in the real world. In addition to daily emails, I appear regularly on TV in my own show on Food Network & Cooking Channel and have a series of Hungry Girl books. I am also a TREMENDOUS fan of David Grotto. When I introduce myself, I often say, Im not a nutritionist, Im just hungry. But when I need the advice and expertise of a top Registered Dietitian, I know where to go.
I first met Dave at an airport in Frankfurt, on the way to Italy for a food conference of sorts. That actually sounds a lot more glamorous than it was, but the meeting was quite memorable. Within minutes of being introduced to Dave, he was photographing our shoes side by side because he was amused at the size difference of our feet. Yes, Dave is easily entertained... (and, as an aside, he does have enormous feet). I knew instantly that Dave and I would be friends. Good friends. He is warm and funny, genuine and entertaining, and one of the smartest, most knowledgeable people I have ever met. That combination of attributes also makes him unique in his field. Too often information about health and dieting and nutrition is presented in a way that is either too convoluted, too difficult to digest (a LITTLE pun intended) orif I am being honestjust too darn boring. Dave manages to always deliver his messages with humor and light-heartedness while always maintaining authority.
Shortly after I met Dave, a dear, lifelong friend of mine was diagnosed with adult onset diabetes. My friend didnt want to start taking pillshe wanted to combat the disease by losing weight and through better nutrition. When my friend asked me for help and advice, my first call was to Dave. He flew to Los Angeles and gave my friend a crash course in nutrition, took him grocery shopping, and made him feel better by showing him all the good things he could eat (as opposed to just creating a You Cant Have This Anymore list). Six months later, it was time for a new blood test. My friend and his doctor were shocked and thrilled by the amazing, positive resultsjust from eating the proper foods and losing weight. I credit Dave, along with the determination of my friend, with this great achievement.