Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Dr Clare Bailey and Justin Pattison, Simon & Schuster, $35.00.
It’s a revealing admission: this book was conceived during the early months of the pandemic to make it as “easy as possible for people to eat healthily and lose weight, if they wanted to”.
Having been a GP for more than three decades, Dr Bailey has seen a lot of change, with one of the most striking being a dramatic increase in the average patient’s waist size, as well as a doubling in rates of type 2 diabetes.
“Most people are aware of the link between waist size and the risk of chronic diseases, like heart disease, cancer and diabetes, but it has taken the arrival of Covid 19 to inject a new sense of urgency.”
Relying more on food from our store cupboards and freezers, Clare got to thinking: “what could make food prep easier on busy days than knowing that you can create healthy, tasty meals from the ingredients you’ve already got at your fingertips?”
She then worked out what moderately low-calorie, low-carb, Mediterranean-style meals from existing stores. Many of us want to stay well and are looking to lose the lockdown weight gain.
All of the dishes in this book are based on the Mediterranean style of eating, now proven to revolutionise your health, and many can be thrown together from freezer or store-cupboard staples.
With everything from salads and wraps to winter stews and curries, The Fast 800 Easy will help you rustle up delicious, nutritious meals in minutes – ‘food that tastes so good you won’t feel the low calorie count’. Almost one-third of the book is recipes, illustrated with beautifully photographed food dishes!
Dr Bailey is the wife of Dr Michael Mosley, author, television journalist, producer and presenter, credited with popularising the 5:2 diet. His foreword notes: The Fast 800 Easy has simple, tasty and super-healthy recipes designed to help you lose weight, fast. The Fast 800 approach involves safe, rapid weight loss and is based on many years of scientific research. It represents a new and “effective way to help people lose weight and keep it off, fast and safely”.
