Good Carb, Bad Carb for a Healthy Lifestyle
Author: Wynnie Chan

Not at all health books are created equal.  And not all nutrition books can equal the 150 pages of diet improvement advice, nutritional facts and step-by-step recipes put together by Wynnie Chan in her book “Good Carb, Bad Carb for a Healthy Lifestyle”.  Chan’s work is a user-friendly reference for anyone interested in learning about carbohydrates, and the role that they play in daily diet.  Chan also discusses fiber, eating out, special diets, and fad diets.

This review focuses on two broad aspects of the book: coverage and presentation.

Coverage

The book begins by focusing on carbohydrates: what they are, where they come from, and the simple and complex carbohydrates found in food.  What many of us we have forgotten about the nutrition wisdom we first learned in school is compensated for by the book’s refresher’s course on carbohydrates.  For example, in the section “What Are Carbohydrates?”, Chan writes that in order for the brain, nervous system, muscles, and red blood cells to function properly, they must receive their consistent supply of carbohydrates (usually in the form of glucose).  Each gram of carbohydrate provides the body with four calories of energy, and can be stored in the body as glycogen, specifically in the muscles and liver.  This glycogen acts as the “reserve” tank when our bodies need a steady supply of glucose, which our diets are sometimes not able to provide.

With such fundamentals easily and elegantly laid out, Chan discusses the simple and complex carbohydrates in food.  She follows this by looking at fiber, and reminds us that it’s the body’s natural “cleansing nutrient.”  The more fiber we eat, the “quicker the transit time” for foods to exit through the colon. 

Health Series: Good Carb, Bad Carb for a Healthy Lifestyle (Health)

Yet the wisdom of Chan’s book isn’t that it conveniently summarizes, or observes, basic nutrition.  Chan warns about consuming too much fiber, citing the experience of an 80-year old woman who was advised that a high-fiber diet might help her hemorrhoids.  The patient began eating unusually high amounts of bran muffins, rye bread, and whole wheat spaghetti.  The problem, however, was that this patient wasn’t drinking enough water, because she did not particularly like going to the restroom often.  Unfortunately, this patient ended up in the emergency room.  The doctors found that her intestine had been blocked by fiber balls or phytobezoars, which had to be surgically removed.  This was caused by her consuming fiber at double the recommended amount - 30 grams a day, aggravated by a lack of fluids.

Chan’s section on eating out is also quite helpful.  Rather than repeating the somewhat tiresome mantra that restaurant eating is often calorie-loading, Chan takes the subject one step further by mentioning a variety of cuisines – Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, French – as well as family restaurants and steakhouses – and what each of them represents in terms of healthy eating.  Brilliantly, for certain cuisines, Chan provides tips on asking the chef for substitutes.

Chan further discusses special diets, and explains that not all people can efficiently use carbohydrates.  This is because they suffer from conditions like diabetes, lactose intolerance, and hypoglycemia.  Helpfully, Chan notes alternatives for people experiencing such ailments.

Finally, a book on nutrition would not be complete without recipes, and Chan provides a generous sampling of these, complete with nutrition tables.

Presentation

About 95% of the book’s glossy pages have “did you know that” boxed texts and tips.  The topics are not replete with scientific or medical terminology, which could throw a reader off (or just bore them).  Chan’s graphic layout is excellent, and doesn’t overshadow text.  One thing about this book is its visual appeal, and the use of neutral colors to separate tips from main text. 

The only drawback here is that Chan’s credentials are nowhere to be found, so readers don’t know what kind of background dictates her writing.  For example, we don’t know whether she’s in the nutrition or health science field.  However, we see this as a publisher’s oversight and not an author’s, and so this detail is easily overshadowed by the strength and credibility of the book itself.  It’s accessible, informative, wise, and important to read.  Highly recommended.