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Eat Your Vitamins: Your Guide to Using Natural Foods to Get the Vitamins, Minerals, and Nutrients Your Body Needs

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The A-to-Z guide to essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, so you can ditch synthetic supplements and promote health naturally with nourishing foods.

Vitamins and minerals are the building blocks of good health. But the heavily processed foods that are so common in today’s modern diet are stripped of these nutrients, leaving many people nutrient deficient despite meeting (or exceeding) their daily calorie needs. The accepted solution is to take supplements created in a lab, but the dosage and interactions can be confusing, and supplements are loosely regulated and not always foolproof, especially since our bodies are designed to receive nutrients from natural, whole foods.

Eat Your Vitamins features fifty key vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients essential to your health. You will find clear definitions of each nutrient along with the role it plays in the body, how it is best consumed and absorbed, recommended daily doses, and detailed lists of foods and natural sources that contain the vitamin along with a recipe for a nutrient-rich meal. Ditch the synthetic supplements and make the right choice about how to properly feed and fuel your body.

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 21, 2020

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Mascha Davis

2 books1 follower

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5 stars
53 (56%)
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23 (24%)
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11 (11%)
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4 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
Profile Image for Alicia Bayer.
Author 10 books251 followers
November 19, 2019
What a missed opportunity. I was so excited to review this book, as I've been compiling this information on my own for myself and my family for years. The first time I read about the importance of selenium and that one brazil nut gave you your RDA of it, I was determined to just look up our needs and the best food sources and find ways to work them into our daily diets rather than have us all take synthetic, expensive and less healthy vitamins. It sounds much easier than it is, especially as needs are different for males and females at all different ages and food sources vary widely. So I was thrilled at the premise of this book, that it would give you the information about what nutrients you needed and how to get them through food.

So why did this miss the boat for me? First off, it leaves out a ton of information I find important. For instance, I didn't see any information about the fact that most of our grains are already fortified with synthetic versions of many vitamins. White flour, rice, corn and other grains have many vitamins added to them, like it or not. Some of these may be problematic like folic acid, which has been linked to cancer in several studies (and a much higher death rate to cancer if you are taking supplementation versus cancer patients who are not taking folic acid). In addition, many people (as many as 40% of the US population) have a common genetic mutation known as MTHFR that means we cannot process folic acid and create folate, making us much more vulnerable to deficiency. While the author does mention that synthetic folic acid has been linked to cancer and that too much has negative health effects, she doesn't go into any of the rest of this at all. For those who want to consume folate as food and avoid synthetic folic acid, it's important to also know to avoid processed foods like white flour, corn meal, etc. that make up the vast majority of many diets -- these are used to make commercial bread, pasta, cereal, rice, tortilla chips, you name it. I am not a nutritionist and can not go into the subject properly here, but this author is and I'm so disappointed that this kind of information is completely omitted.

In addition, the book is just dull. It's written entirely in black, white and blue, and then written in a very textbook way. There are no illustrations, photos, nothing to break it up. It's written like an encyclopedia. I am a nutrition nerd so I actually read it, but few people are going to want to slog through something written like a car manual to get the important information about getting all of the nutrients they need and why each one matters.

There are one or two recipes after each nutrient to tell you a good way to get that nutrient, but there's another huge failing there. The nutritional information for the recipes doesn't include the nutrient listed. WTH? If you've just convinced me that I need more magnesium in my diet and then you offer up a smoothie recipe to give me magnesium, why on earth will you not tell me how much magnesium is in it? Isn't that the point of this book? Yes, I can get out a calculator and piece of paper and look up how much magnesium is in two tablespoons of sunflower seeds (the information on the previous page is for a half cup, so I then need to find out how many tablespoons in a half cup) and then look to see what other ingredients may have magnesium and then do the math... but I shouldn't have to. The recipe for magnesium should tell me how much magnesium is in it. (Incidentally, magnesium is really important and while it can be hard to get all you need via diet it is well absorbed through the skin and epsom salt baths are great for upping you or your kids' intake.) Besides all this, the recipes often don't even give you an appreciable amount of the nutrient for your daily needs, making it seem hopeless to actually get enough of everything you need through diet.

There are no sample meal plans provided, which also surprised me. I kind of expected to see some lists of daily meals and snacks that would meet the RDA of an adult or child, showing that the reader can actually get all of her/his dietary needs met through a healthy diet. There's nothing of this sort at all.

I had many more issues with this book (regarding her advice about fluoride, vitamin D and DHA, to name three more), but those are the biggest. All in all, it was just such a disappointment. I will continue to compile my own lists.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.
Profile Image for Dale Fox.
1 review1 follower
January 30, 2020
I'll be honest, the title got me. I love the idea of ditching a cabinet full of vitamins and the corresponding uncertainty and anxiety that accompanies taking a handful of pills every day. Are these the right ones? The right brands? Do they even have what they claim to have in them? What was really compelling about this book is the premise that all those pills are completely unnecessary. It's all available in our food. When you say it out loud, it seems silly that we ever went down the whole pill path. Of course, they're unnecessary. We have evolved over millions of years to get everything we need from our food.

The book does a great job of explaining how that works, what we need and where to get it. It's really that simple. But the idea is giant. Kudos to the author for shining much-needed light on the most important thing of all: our health, and how easy it is to achieve with natural delicious food!
1 review
January 7, 2020
What an excellent guide for improving your nutrition. This has been the book I've been waiting for. It provides all the information on how to get your vitamins through your daily diet, alongside with useful recipes.

I can't really comprehend the criticism in some of the earlier reviews. Certainly, it would be nice to have some illustrations, but then again, I was eager to find insights to improve my diet, not to look at some beautiful pictures.

What particularly helped me were the explanations on side effects. I've long been trying to get as many nutrients as possible without paying much attention to the impact of excessive intake. Eat Your Vitamins provides useful recommendations on how to avoid taking unnecessarily huge amounts of certain vitamins.

Overall, I'd recommend having this as a standard book for getting your vitamin intake right, without only relying on supplements.
1 review
January 7, 2020
This book is amazing! I am impressed by the details and the depth of information. I have learned so much from reading this. I like how each chapter gives you specific foods that are a good source of each nutrient and the recipes are a great bonus - I didn't expect to find them in a book about vitamins! This will definitely become a resource for me to go back to whenever I need reliable information to share with clients and friends.
1 review
January 7, 2020
This was a great read. I loved how it focuses on holistic nutrition and provides you with evidence-based information. It also has recipes for each chapter and lists the amount of each nutrient in foods which was so good to know! It definitely changed my outlook on foods and nutrients. I would recommend this to anybody interested in optimizing their health or just learning more about the foods we eat every day.
Profile Image for Manny.
2 reviews
January 7, 2020
Excellent, thoroughly researched and well written overview of every single vitamin, mineral and nutrient. I've been making a conscious decision to eat healthier better and have been looking for scientific and proven facts, this book very much fit the bill. The author did a nice job of taking the latest research and distilling it into easy to understand, bite sized (no pun) data.
Profile Image for Bookgyrl.
1,348 reviews23 followers
November 13, 2019
I got an advance copy of this book via Netgalley. What to say about an A-Z guide? The cover looks great and there is indeed a very comprehensive list of vitamins et al and what they can do for your body. It is not reading material as such but a handy book for looking things up.

Profile Image for Evan.
151 reviews15 followers
March 6, 2020
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this book to read and review.

Eat Your Vitamins is an A - Z guide of the nutrients people need and where to get them. Davis includes the benefits of each nutrient, the symptoms of deficiency, recommended daily intake and some recipes. In addition to the amount of the featured nutrient, the recipes also include information you might find on a standard nutrition label (such as sodium, fiber, carbs, etc) even though these nutrients all explained individually as well. Where possible, Davis mentions both vegan and non-vegan sources of the vitamins, and specifies when vegans should consider supplementation.

My biggest takeaway from Eat Your Vitamins is that it's remarkably easy to get full servings of each vitamin and mineral without any special pills. Unless you have certain digestive issues or allergies or dietary considerations that prevent you from eating certain categories of food, simply eating a variety of fruits and veggies throughout the week should be enough to keep you healthy. In theory, you can get all the vitamins you need from one or two plant-based meals per day (this depends on the specific plants and the serving size, of course). Diet Culture has us believing that pill bottles are better than what God and mother nature gave us. It's time to change that.

I'm knocking off one star because the book was a little dry, but I suppose that's because it's meant to be a straight-forward guide more than a "fun read."
1 review
February 17, 2020
As a dietitian, this book is extremely useful as a reference tool. I love the addition of recipes to go with each nutrient, which makes this book super user-friendly! I would highly recommend this book to both health professionals and clients alike!
1 review
February 1, 2020
I pretty much swore off elective, unregulated supplements years ago in favor of getting what I need from food. So this book falls squarely into my wheelhouse and that of anyone else who has reached the same conclusions.

The information is broken down simply and organized logically, from vitamin A to vitamin Z (sleep), giving each nutrient its own dedicated showcase. So you get a brief, succinct snapshot of each one, what it does and how to get it in real food, capped by a recipe that emphasizes that nutrient.

This is the kind of book you keep handy as a dietary dictionary and guide to not only healthy eating as a vague concept, but as one that’s fully customizable for individual needs. It’s empowering, and it costs less than a bottle of vitamins.
1 review
February 6, 2020
Excellent resource! This book is practical, easy to understand and composed very well. I high recommend if you want to get a better understanding of nutrition.
Profile Image for Nancy Farrell .
2 reviews
February 1, 2020
Put the Vitamin Bottle Down and Pick Up this Book Today!
Easy to use reference for use in the personal or professional kitchen. Mascha’s book promotes eating real food for the best nutrient bio-availability and absorption rate. Health information is neatly complied within the pages of this compact book. I love her tips on the “Best Way to Consume” a nutrient along with a list of “Natural Food Sources,” and I can’t wait to try some of the recipes she has listed with each nutrient entry. This book is an easy-to-carry game changer! -Farrell Dietitian Services
Profile Image for John M.
2 reviews
January 8, 2020
This is the only book I have been able to find that is comprehensive but isn’t also a textbook. I found it full of interesting facts and useful information about each vitamin, mineral and nutrient out there. It's very approachable and easy to understand for the lay person.

I’m not a dietitian or nutritionist or even a food nerd. I just like to arm myself with info. The nice thing is the book is designed in chapters so you can easily look up a particular vitamin or mineral easily. The recipes at the end of every single nutrient and vitamin section are relatively easy and great ways to incorporate the info in my diet. And there is a good variety of recipes as well. They are all straightforward and don't require you to be a chef. The avocado chocolate mouse is creative and delicious, for example, but only took 10 minutes to prepare! 

I also liked how the author included ‘Vitamin Z’ for sleep at the end of the book. Of course, you can eat healthy but if you don’t get enough sleep, you don’t get the full benefit of the nutrients you are eating.

You can tell the author put a lot of research and thought into this book and it's well written, laid out and full of recent updates. I feel like I have some clarity now amidst all of the conflicting nutrition information out there. It’s a great resource and I highly recommend.

My only ding on the book would be I wish there was more personalized stories and anecdotes about vitamins and minerals but otherwise a great resource for those who want to arm themselves with solid information about nutrition.
Profile Image for Malina Malkani.
Author 2 books3 followers
January 13, 2020
Excellent and impactful guide toward healthier eating with a food-first approach. Love how the author condenses a vast and deep topic into essential, need-to-know info while artfully dispelling common nutrition myths and misconceptions about food and nutrition.

Not only does Davis break down the complicated world of vitamins and minerals into comprehensible chapters, she also includes her own original, delicious-sounding recipes at each chapter end that bring the science of each nutrient right to your table, listing the nutrition information for each recipe as well as the amount of the nutrient in question that the recipe provides.
2 reviews2 followers
January 15, 2020
This is a wonderful book, readable, informative, full of great ideas, well researched. We all need this kind of guide to stay healthy through whole and natural foods. A cancer survivor, I changed my diet completely to natural, plant based food hoping for a healing of cells and renewal of energy after chemo. It is amazing what eating real nutrients can do to your life. Thank you, Mascha!
1 review2 followers
January 14, 2020
I found this book to be extremely enlightening and helpful. Author really knows her stuff and I was impressed by the breath of knowledge and detail in the book. Good read for sure for anyone wanting to be healthier in 2020!
1 review1 follower
January 22, 2020
I absolutely love this book! It's definitely a resource I will keep handy and share with clients!
1 review
April 27, 2020
I purchased this book in hopes to find easy recipes to eat healthier without needing to eat all the vitamin supplements my dad drops off for me. My typical meals are fast food and leftovers, and I realize I need to do a better job with getting my vitamins. Most importantly, I wanted easy recipes to make and learn about what vitamins I'm consuming (and how beneficial they are to me).

I found this book to be an information book with lots of information that I didn't know about related to health and the benefits of the different types of vitamins out there (including ones I have never heard of). The recipes are relatively easy, and the food wasn't bad. I haven't gone through all the recipes yet, but as the quarantining continues on during this unprecedented time, I'm sure I will get through a lot of recipes over the next few weeks.

I definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about healthy eating, the benefits of vitamins, and some terrific tasting and easy recipes. Another plus...the book is very affordable!
1 review
October 4, 2020
I never knew how much I needed this brilliant book!

If one good thing has come out of 2020, it's that I now cook so much more than I ever have before. But now that I have more control over what I eat, I want to ensure that I consume not only delicious food, but also food that is super healthy. While searching for books that provide healthy recipes as well as quality nutritional information, I came across Eat Your Vitamins and I am so happy I did. This book is an incredibly useful guide to nutrition (which I definitely needed), and the recipes have made eating healthy become a simple routine. My favorite recipe so far is the Golden Immunity Soup! It's so tasty and easy to make.

If you are someone who wants to not only sustain a healthy diet, but also improve your understanding of how food drives our health, then you need buy this book today. You will get so much out of it and appreciate food on an entirely new level.
1 review1 follower
May 15, 2020
What a great book! I was always an advocate of food first approach and this book really shows the simplicity of it. We can actually get all our vitamins from real foods and avoid supplements altogether. This knowledge is essential for long-term health and wellbeing. All the recipes are simple and delicious. Mmm.. that brazil nuts pesto sauce, it was delightful when paired with freshly made lentils pasta! I am looking forward to trying new exciting recipes!
All in all, I enjoyed every part of the book and will highly recommend it to my friends.
5 reviews
April 14, 2020
It's so great to have a book like this written by a registered dietitian nutrition expert. Davis so thoroughly reviews each and every nutrient and focuses on how you can get it through FOOD and a balanced diet. This should be mandatory reading in health classes for students. The book is full of good ideas, balanced suggestions and tables that make it easy to read through or use as a reference. Highly suggest this book - it's so well done!
1 review
Read
May 16, 2020
I loved finally getting my hands on this book. The format of the book was very easy to follow along and navigate. Mascha's "food-first" approach really resonated with me. I learned so much and can't wait to apply it into my life and share with my loved ones. Def a good read and highly recommended!!!!
1 review
October 1, 2020
As a dietitian, this is the perfect reference tool for digestible info. I had no idea recipes were featured after each nutrient, which makes this book an easy way to incorporate important nutrients into any diet! I would highly recommend this book to both health/wellness professionals, Interns and clients alike! It's the perfect pocket size handbook.
104 reviews
October 12, 2021
Everyone should read this book! Nutrients and vitamins from A to Z are described along with their role in the body, benefits, side effects and precautions, signs of deficiency, how much we need, and how best to consume through FOODS! There are some simple recipes as well. It’s a great little reference book to keep on the shelf and apply to your life!
Profile Image for Debra.
646 reviews6 followers
February 19, 2020
Very informative. This book was extremely helpful in determining the vitamins that will benefit each individual person. I loved getting the list of foods you can get the vitamins from and the recipes.

I received this galley from NetGalley.
1 review1 follower
May 4, 2020
A beautiful simply written book with a huge insight into natural health improvement, common sense and real world knowledge. The best Nutrition book on the market. You can tell alot of love, time and research went into it and it shows in just how much Mascha gives to it
1 review
May 6, 2020
Great book to reference and educate yourself on how vitamins and minerals play a role in your body. She breaks down every vitamin into easy to read terms plus recipes to go with it and foods to obtain optimal vitamin intake through Whole Foods. Great book to have around.
1 review
October 2, 2020
Love the organization of the book by vitamin. Easy to read, gained a wealth of information on nutrient rich produce and yummy recipes to boot! Bought for my mom, friends and they love it! Good gift idea, fun healthy way to share the knowledge!
1 review1 follower
October 10, 2020
As a health and fitness professional I appreciate this book so much! There’s so much information about vitamins out there and can be misconstrued. Mascha puts everything you need in one beautifully written book!
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