The Abascal Way by Kathy Abascal (2011-08-10)

I usually have some kind of rheumatoid arthritis after a viral infection and that cripples me for a few days, but after 24 hours of starting the Abascal diet I really got recovered, at least I'm not taking anti-inflammatory pills anymore. I had to do adjustments because it is really difficult to avoid eating bread or anything from wheat or corn. So far 2 weeks into the diet and still holding.

Love the book & have lost weight even though it wasn't the reason that I purchased it. I need a diet for inflammation in my knee that has been sore with a bit of swelling every time I train for triathlons.Sense I have been on the life changing diet(& I do mean change especially if you are a carob eater like I was)I have lost 10 lbs & the swelling is now down 80% just in 1 week, that makes me feel great.Now all I have to do is incorporate it into a life style...

PS: I was happy about the shipping part, I wanted it shipped in two days & got it in 2 weeks same price,will not order through the same source next time..

I followed the book word for word for three weeks and had good results. I have both oesto and Rhuemitioid arthritis - found out I do very well without dairy, and veggies that cause inflammation. (The book has a list )
Now I am feeling better and adding a few things back in to test.
Really easy read and the 2nd volume is all recipes!!

I followed the book word for word for three weeks and had good results. I have both oesto and Rhuemitioid arthritis - found out I do very well without dairy, and veggies that cause inflammation. (The book has a list )
Now I am feeling better and adding a few things back in to test.
Really easy read and the 2nd volume is all recipes!!

I am trying to get my inflammation through out my body under control. This book is okay and is probably helpful if you are young and just starting to have problems. But it give similar advice in other books. The recipes are good, but it is a lot of work.

This is Vol. 2 -- the cookbook. Only. None of the information about the diet is in this book, it is just recipes. I wish the seller had noted it such, although the cover doesn't indicate this either. I wish I hadn't bought it, I wanted the information about the diet. Now I need to go find Vol. 1.

Time consuming to follow, but well worth it. Only advise that did not work for me was 'eat as much as you want'. I couldn't loose the weight I wanted if I did that, I still had to watch my intake., But that is just me, I know of other people that lost a bunch and ate as much as they wanted as long as it was on the list for the first three weeks.

Here is a book that explains why inflammation is critical to quiet so we can have good health. It also provides a plan for achieving good health. It is written in a straightforward way (it could use a good editor, however) that inspired me to begin the Abascal Way. I feel better, much better, sleep better and have lost weight.
The impact of the book is like dropping a stone in the water; it ripples out in a gentle way.

I bought this book on the recommendation of a doctor, but was disappointed in the tone. I was expecting a serious book, but it felt like a celebrity diet book. I prefer my nutrition books to cite research.

The Abascal Way, otherwise known as the TQI diet, is not really a diet; rather, it's a way of eating for life.

It has simple rules for eating a whole-foods-based healthy diet. No gimmicks or short-cuts.

What's great about the book is that it gives you the science behind the diet. It explains the "why" as well as the "how". It gives you the knowledge to decide for yourself whether the latest fad diet or "health-foods" are actually healthy or harmful.

My husband and I took Kathy's class, and have been following the diet for 3 months now, and it's great! We finally feel like we know what healthy eating is supposed to be. We have both lost weight, sleep better, and feel more alert. Very remarkable, yet typical results for people following this diet.

This book really does cover everything you need to do the diet yourself, including a companion recipe book. Converting to this way of eating can be very difficult at first. It's so different from how we Americans typically eat. If you need a little extra motivation to convert to this way of eating, consider taking the class, which Kathy offers in person in Seattle or online.

Preparing whole foods does take some extra time; something I was worried about as a working mom of 2. However, we have been able to find some simple-to-prepare, yet healthy recipes that we can get on the table in under 20-30 minutes, that our kids will actually eat.

Eating this way is one of the best gifts you can give yourself and your family. Take the leap!

Our whole family has read, reread, and implemented most of the suggestions for food and nutrition contained in The Abascal Way, To Quiet Inflammation. We have also extensively used the companion cookbook. The Abascal Way is well-written, pithy and to the point, and very easy for everyone in our household to follow, even our autistic sons. The basic concept of the book, which is to alter one's outlook on food as currently consumed in the United States and elsewhere so as to reduce all indices of inflammation, is revolutionary (or was... now, a lot of health gurus and nutritionists have followed Kathy's lead). Like all good revolutions, Kathy's is based on simple yet universal truths, and therefore is life-changing.

My wife had developed multiple myeloma, only discovered after it had bored a huge hole in her sacrum. Radiation, chemotherapy, and a stem cell transplant were largely ineffective at stopping the cancer's progress. Now we're not claiming, nor does Kathy claim, that her diet is a whole-sale cure for anything in particular, much less "incurable" cancer, but since sticking strictly to the Abascal diet for years now, my wife's myeloma has gone into remission, and stayed there. More definitively in terms of the health benefits of the diet and the philosophy behind it, my wife is active, energetic, working out, seeing incremental improvements in the functioning of her immune system (which was completely wiped out by the stem cell transplant and has yet to recover), doing yoga, meditation, guided imagery, and other health-supporting activities. She had been so depressed over family tragedies and then her cancer, that she was eating "badly," i.e., a typical North American diet. Once she read and got "hooked" on the simple ideas and recommendations of the Abascal Way, her outlook and attitude towards life have improved dramatically. Always an issue for members of our family, her weight and general appearance have gotten beautifully better.

Our adult daughter who lives on the other side of the continent from us has been vegan and a healthy cooker and eater for years. We didn't think there was much we could teach her about nutrition and health, but out of enthusiasm we sent her a copy of the book and cookbook. She got back to us immediately, gushing about how the Abascal Way neatly summarizes most of what she had learned over years of hit and miss experience, and about how it brings additional, useful insight to her own eating.

Our autistic sons have also had aspects of their diets changed due to the Abascal Way. As anyone with an Aspergers Syndrome child can tell you, they are obsessed with their particular ways of eating and what they will and won't eat. We have been unable to persuade them to drink the Abascal Kool-Aid, so to speak. (Bad joke!) But, they have stretched their willingness to try different, less inflammatory ways of eating than ever before, and the results are remarkable. Our 27 year old, who is more severely autistic but works as a bagger at a grocery store chain, used to continually have troubling interactions with his supervisors, fellow workers, parents, siblings, and folks at his creative arts program for those with disabilities. Much of it came from his being somewhat dyspeptic in attitude. Once we got him eating the Abascal Way about half the time or less, his attitude has relaxed, he is much less rigid, and his perseverations are not so intense. Our 17 year old is a gifted student, taking all accelerated and Advanced Placement courses, and under severe academic strain. His sociability and social skills have been delayed significantly. He actually picked up the Abascal Way book, and the cookbook especially, and got excited about trying the new recipes. They are SO simple, easy to follow, and incredibly delicious! Our younger son has not shown significant improvement in his social interactions, but he is far less anxious about school and life's transitions, which used to terrify him. In the past, we had tried other diets with special vitamin and other regimens that were complex to implement, expensive, and ineffective; both sons would literally spit out the nutrition, and could not be persuaded to swallow it!

I, like my sons, have a hard time following any kind of regimen that is new and unfamiliar. When my wife picked up steam and went whole hog on the Abascal Way, I followed along at a distance, but trailed off out of not yet believing in it. Because at that time my wife was the primary cook in our home, I benefited from much of the regimen without having bought into it, but I went on typical binges of "normal," i.e. normally awful, North American diet-based foods. The end result was that I became diabetic, which was a terrible wake-up call. I got serious about reading the Abascal Way book and cookbook along with my wife and son, and since then have followed it about two-thirds of the time. (Still sluggish about anything new!) Despite my not following it completely, my diabetes numbers have become virtually normal, my previously troubling mental health issues have significantly subsided, I have lost more than fifty pounds, and I have been able to reduce the fifteen medications I had been on to now around six or seven. I beat myself up from time to time over not going all the Way, but I remember in my wiser mind that the Good should not be sacrificed in my quest for the Perfect. The moral is, even if you can't completely follow the philosophy and diet set forth in the Abascal Way, for whatever period of time, there are immediate benefits to even a partial adherence to its recommendations.

One last comment: I am now the principal cook in our household, the specter of which used to terrify me. What I love about the Abascal Way's recipes is that they rarely have more than six or seven ingredients, and the number of steps to a delicious meal are either negligible or easy for a simpleton like myself to follow. This is good stuff, folks! Get the book!

I suppose if you followed the program it would be OK. I ordered the books because a friend had tried it and liked it. I did not find it to my liking. I gave the books to a friend. Perhaps she will like them.