3 out of 5 stars.
I would like to thank Jessica Kingsley Publishers for a free ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an open and honest review.
An interesting book, but sadly not one that could provide me with a heck of a lot of information or food ideas that I’ve not already gotten from elsewhere. Plus, yet another book on special diets that fails to consider allium intolerance. The bane of my family’s existence and a food intolerance very rarely considered or mentioned in such books.
Okay, so maybe I am being a little harsh on the book. It is indeed jam packed full of some really in-depth and detailed information about nutrition, the importance of different types of foods and the minerals and nutrients they give. But, having studied nutrition and from being “a bit of a foodie” there really wasn’t much new to me in this book. I also felt it wasn’t really much of a beginner’s book as it wasn’t in layman’s terms, so to speak. I feel you need to have some level of nutritional knowledge already – or at least a desire to jump in at the deep end – to actually get through reading this book.
I will say I did like how it didn’t give blanket statements and avoided the whole “all autistic children should….” type scenarios. I was thankful that the book kept a level and neutral tone and made suggestions that in some cases such things have helped SOME children with ASD, but it might not be for all of them. To me, that gave the book a heck of a lot of integrity for being so honest. It is just spelling out the importance of nutrition, some of the dilemmas faced when trying to feed a child with ASD and some suggested things to try.
Although I didn’t get a heck of a lot out of this book for myself, I did try and give it a higher rating as I honestly feel it could be of use to others on a similar journey to my own. But, for me, it was more a ‘yup, been there, done that and already wearing the t-shirt’ type book.
And, although I gained some inspiration from SOME of the recipes… good old allium intolerance got in the road of me truly being able to work a recipe directly from the book. Won’t someone think of the allium intolerance! 😉
Would I recommend this book to others? Possibly. Though most of the people I know in a similar boat to me already follow ‘Quirky Jo’ and similar and this book therefore doesn’t offer new information or recipe ideas. It might be a good one for people to borrow from the library just for a bit of a refresher though.
Would I buy this book for myself? Probably not. Doubles up on too much stuff I already know or can gather from information already at hand.
In Summary – an interesting and educational book, but one more suited for those new to nutrition and wanting to learn. I can see if helping some families wanting to get more into whole foods and healthier foods… but those already following such a path (like myself) might not get a lot out of this book.
Until next time,
Janis. XXOO
Janis's Journal 