Reviews

In this edifying and accessible book, the authors offer a Buddhist perspective on weight control and well-being. Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Cheung present the Four Noble Truths as a new frame of reference for dealing with obesity: being overweight is suffering; you can identify the roots of your weight problem; reaching a healthy weight is possible; you can follow a mindful path to a healthy weight. To seal the deal of weight loss the authors share "A Mission Statement for Healthy Weight and Well-Being."

Next comes a mindfulness exercise from Thich Nhat Hanh on eating an apple so that we are truly present with it and aware of its connection with the natural world and our own life. They go on to examine the impact of the senses on our weight, our habits of eating and physical activity. This is followed by an emphasis on mindfulness as a tool that can be very helpful in assessing the challenges and obstacles that face us when we try to change our habit energies...

— Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

SAVOR rises above the cacophony of nutrition and weight loss books by shedding light on the how of eating and living, and not just focusing on the what. It presents a fusion of Buddhist principles of mindfulness with up-to-date nutrition science, brought to you by authors who are world leaders in their respective fields. This welcome approach can open one's heart, mind, and taste buds to truly appreciate the central roles that food, nutrition and physical activity play in our individual lives and in our paradoxically fast-paced yet sedentary society. While the focus is on achieving and maintaining a healthful weight, these principles can be applied to other areas, to cultivate a more thoughtful and joyful appreciation for the foods we eat and the activities we do. This is truly a book to savor.

— Lawrence H. Kushi, Sc.D.
Associate Director for Etiology & Prevention Research
Kaiser Permanente

A very practical guide on how to incorporate mindful eating into a mindful living plan which will benefit the mind as well as general health and the waistline. The book examines the effects of unmindful consumption and food production on the delicate eco-systems of our planet and how we can change habitual patterns.

Women's Health Magazine

Successful long-term weight loss is 10% knowing the right facts and 90% having the right state of mind.  Even the best diet in the world will ultimately fall short, without the ability to look deeply within, set goals consistent with our greatest good, and live consciously. Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheung, in Savor, have brought us a profoundly beautiful and powerful guide to mindful eating and living. I plan to savor this book regularly, and recommend it to everyone who eats. 

— David S. Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D.
Director of the Optimal Weight for Life (OWL) Program, Children’s Hospital Boston and author, Ending the Food Fight: Guide your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World.

As a primary care physician, many of the patients I care for are struggling with their weight and have poor nutrition.  Taking the time to savor food and eat mindfully is often low on patients' agendas.  SAVOR provides a toolkit (to help patients to overcome this hurdle,) and for health care professionals to guide their patients along the path towards improved health.  Beyond mindful eating, Hanh and Cheung provide the reader with a mindful living plan (to  develop and maintain general well-being.)  SAVOR is well-referenced and provides great resources for further study including books, community resources, websites.  I highly recommend SAVOR to lay public and professionals alike.

— Helen Delichatsios, MD, SM
Assistant Professor, Nutrition Educator, Primary Care Physician
Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital

This book is beautifully written, compassionate, and innovative, and is one of the most original and important advances to nutrition and weight control I have seen in years.

— Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D.
Director
Rudd Center of Food Policy & Obesity, Yale University

With chapters like “Are you really savoring your apple? An apple meditation,” “Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life” (HarperOne, 2010, $25.99 hardcover, 304 pp.) is not your average healthy-eating guide. A hybrid of Buddhism and nutrition, “Savor” blends the Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings with research done by Dr. Lilian Cheung, the director of health promotion and communication at the Harvard School of Public Health’s Department of Nutrition. Divided into three sections, “A Buddhist Perspective on Weight Control,” “Mindful Action Plans,” and “Individual and Collective Effort,” the book introduces Buddhist ideology before delving into specific healthy living tools, including exercises for untying external (and internal) knots, a ten-week sample mindful-eating plan- even a breakdown of fats. ‘Savor’ may have us rethinking every bite, but maybe that’s just what we need.

Tricycle Magazine

Authored by an eminent spiritual leader and a renowned nutritionist, this work infuses science into wisdom and wisdom into science. It is a practical guide to eating mindfully and points the way to attain a healthier weight and a more satisfying life.

— Harvey V. Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D.
President
Institute of Medicine

The past 40 years of nutritional science has provided us with solid evidence on healthy foods to eat.  It is now time we moved beyond the “what” to eat. We need to learn and embrace “how” to eat. Savor offers insight, comfort and tools to address the suffering many people experience when trying to achieve a healthy weight and a healthy life. Hanh and Cheung are masterful in communicating the concepts of nourishing our bodies and our hearts. They offer practical steps of how to adopt the practice of mindfulness and integrate it into our daily lives.

Part 1 offers a new way of examining issues around weight and lifestyle. It moves from the traditional recommendations and guidelines for food and exercise and replaces them with concepts of improving weight and health through the journey of a mindfulness living plan.  The guided tour of Savor focuses on enhancing the awareness of body, feelings, and mind and how they are intimately related to changing eating and physical activity habits.

Part II describes how to eat mindfully each day along with providing practical strategies of incorporating movement into our lives. This section offers readers the guidance to create personalized goals and concrete ways to achieve success.

Part III explores the interconnectedness of the world we live in. It describes how for us to eat healthfully and stay physically active we need support from the people and places around us. It reminds us that we can be a change agent for a healthier world today and for future generations.

Savor is a book that teaches us to cherish each moment. It illustrates how living a mindful life can bring joy, meaning and peace to us all.     

— Kathy McManus, M.S., R.D., L.D.N.
Director of Nutrition
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

So essential to healthy eating is a healthy perspective that Zen Buddhist master and prolific author Nhat Hanh joins forces with nutritionist Cheung for a truly holistic approach. The duo pairs the latest nutritional information with the age-old Buddhist practice of mindfulness—that is, of being “fully aware of all that is going on within ourselves and all that is happening around us”—to draw attention to what and how we eat. Guidance is offered for recognizing what “barriers—physical, psychological, cultural, and environmental”—prevent us from controlling our weight, and readers are encouraged to savor food in order to fully nourish both the body and the mind. To that end, Nhat Hanh provides guided meditations on everything from eating an apple to coping with stressful situations, along with advice on food selection and preparation, staying active, and avoiding self-criticism. Complete with a discussion of why healthy eating is also good for the environment, this is a uniquely insightful and positive program for wellness; a book of tested wisdom; practical action; and intellectual, emotional, and spiritual nutriments.

— Donna Seaman
Booklist Advanced Reviews

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