The Beauty Chef Gut Guide: With 90+ Delicious Recipes and Weekly Meal Plans

The author (Carla Oates) has extensive experience writing for wellness magazines. She is very good at creating content and that’s reflected in all the recipes in this book. They are accurate and easy to follow so your food will come out as expected. Her other book (Beauty Chef Cookbook) is more for entertaining and special occasion cooking. If you’re hesitant to get this gut guide like I was because you’re worried that the recipes are recycled content - they are completely different books. The content is different and the recipes are simpler. Very easy to achieve with basic ingredients. Unless you live in a small town or rural area, you should be able to find everything at Krogers, Whole Foods, etc. I wouldn’t recommend this book to complete beginners or people who don’t have food sensitivities because it might be too much work. Stage 1 is also very restrictive. If you’ve been following wellness trends for awhile and you’re sick of the same online-influencer recipes that come out like slop - you’ll probably like this book. It is somewhat of an acquired taste. Her recipes are similar in style to Amy Chaplin’s Whole Food Everyday Cooking but they’re more refined. Both authors are Australian and Amy’s book gives readers more customization but I find it impractical to use every day. One thing I don’t like about the book is lack of support for CICO (no calories or nutritional information. The author supports intuitive eating, but it’s just annoying. You will have to weigh everything yourself and input it into your calorie tracker as a custom recipe. Which is why if you don’t really like this type of diet, it’s not worth the hassle. Her recipes are generally low-calorie because it’s a lot of vegetables. Also her basic buckwheat pasta recipe that should be a staple - I don’t think it’s worth making. It doesn’t freeze well and it’s too time consuming even though it’s simple. I also made it with a pasta maker attachment on my juicer, which already did some of the work for me. 100% buckwheat noodles that aren’t from China will be a little expensive to source if you start at stage 1, but it’s only short-term. There’s a lot of healthy pasta options but most include resistant starch (which isn’t introduced until Stage 3/4 of the book). If you’re a huge pasta fan, this might be difficult to stick with. I prefer her charcoal flatbread recipe for Stage 1. Lastly, I actually don’t enjoy cooking at all. It’s just something I know I need to do for my own health. This gut guide is the only food I’ve ever prepared that I prefer over eating out (fast food, fine dining, anything). I’ve also become a pretty picky eater over the years which makes it difficult for me to find food that I think is delicious but also doesn’t make me feel like crap afterwards. I look forward to cooking for myself now and this book was probably the best investment ever. I’m slowly cooking my way through it and planning to master the basics before I go 100% with the meal plans, this way it’s less overwhelming and I know where to buy everything and how much time to set aside. There are supplement suggestions (Beauty Chef Powders) but they’re optional and just used in the smoothie recipes.

First I’d like to compliment the sellers for the nearly brand new condition of the book. You never know what to expect sometimes when buying used. The book is high quality and the images of the prepared recipes are sublime. The author and photographer are masters of presentation. The Good: This book will teach the reader a lot about the science behind different foods and the vitamins and minerals they contain. The first few dozen pages are dedicated to explaining common and uncommon vitamins, minerals, amino acids etc. and what foods contain them. It explains what they are and what areas of physical wellness each addresses; from gut flora to healthy, radiant skin. Additionally, each recipe has similar descriptions for key ingredients within the dish. There’s also sections on fermentation and sterilization plus other topics. I haven’t tried many of the recipes yet (see “the bad” below) but the couple of sides I have made are tasty and really bring something different and unusual (in a good way) to the overall meal. The Bad: This book is not for beginners. Many of the recipes are somewhat complex and many of the ingredients aren’t likely to be in your kitchen. Also, some of the ingredients are pricey. Overall: This cookbook is worth it if you’re experienced in several methods of food preparation and have an above average food budget. You certainly will be giving your body much needed nutrients and nourishment. Perfect to impress guests with high quality healthy dishes that taste great. If you’re a bit more timid in the kitchen like me, it’s still worth it for what you can learn from introduction section; before the recipes start. Plus it’s just plain pretty! :-)

This book is broken down in 4 stages. Each stage is about 2 weeks depending on your body. Carla gives menu suggestions though I feel following your instinct and making the dishes at your own pace during the given stage is more personalized— that said, I do appreciate the menu and followed it the first week because I felt a little timid. The first 60 pages are dense reading for a cookbook. Do not skip them. She and her team have put so much thought, organization and knowledge into these pages and all of her information can be fact checked in the back with citations of various reputable institutions. This introduction really served as an entrance course into what is going on in my body. I became enthusiastic extremely quickly about every page and every topic. So much so, that I could not stop sharing what I was learning. My best friend bought the book as well and we began our journey on a buddy- system (highly recommend dragging someone else into your chaos, so that you can share findings!) with a big amazon order of all things buckwheat, arrowroot and etc. I am celebrating day 51, and am in the final week of stage 4. And while I am reaping the benefits of beauty that Carla promises, I sought her book out for the anti- inflammatory approach due to medical reasons. I feel incredible. I feel vibrant. Carla delivers on every level and will tell you why you are consuming all of the parsley in all the land those first two weeks. This brings me to my next point. Whatever you do, commit. Do not walk away. The first stage was difficult for me. I believe my sugar, gluten and caffeine cravings made me one grumpy gal that first week, but I begrudgingly stayed the course until I began to feel changes and the habit of preparing every single thing I consume (down to a togarashi chip) became an act of pleasure. My diet is normally more vegetarian- vegan forward but I had to make a change. This cookbook offers some substitutions, however; you will quickly be sneaking Beef Bone Broth into your smoothies and the meat recipes are approachable for someone who had to learn to prepare it for the first time in my life (at 35!!!). I have so much love and respect for Carla, even though I’ve called her crazy a few times in the process — like, when I worry about a recipe and it still somehow comes out beautiful and ready to fuel, cleanse or heal you. I am forever hopeful, thanks to Carla.

I love everything about this book: Wonderful knowledge of the the author, beautiful research of nutrition and health care providers great benefits to the all of us

Excellent book full of interesting content and recipes.

I haven’t used the book yet, but it’s in a very good condition and delivered on time.

This book provides some really interesting and informative information on gut health, and the recipes are simple to follow and delicious. It has really impacted the way I have been eating and looking after health.

Lovely book with loads of great information and recipes.