By Shari Dagg

Elizabeth Somer has hit a home run with Eat Your Way To Happiness.  While in large part she is preaching to the choir where I am concerned, I took away many jewels of knowledge.  If you think that you know all about a nutritional diet, you might still find a few morsels to help you go to an even higher level of healthful living.

The format of this book is very user friendly.  Having gone through an extensive Masters Degree program, I appreciate the memory/attention-grabber boxes included in each chapter.  Each chapter begins with a “Promise” box which highlights the successes that one can expect if they follow the basic guidelines included in the chapter.  Additionally, there is a box entitled “Natural High” in each chapter that relates how the subject can be used in a way that makes our bodies purrrrr.  Finally, each chapter ends with a synopsis of the chapter’s information that will help to ensure individual success.

For those of us who like data, this author is very thorough with presenting research and information to back up her claims for the subject matter in each chapter.  She is also a master at using analogies to help us understand some of the more hard-to-understand concepts that she introduces.  For instance, in Chapter 1 (Eat Real 75% of the time), she has inserted one of her data boxes to direct us to resources for finding real food.  She also provides a comparison of 4 food pyramids that reflect how these distinct groups use real food to ensure ultimate healthy eating.

The fact that she addresses how to use fast food and quick meals to achieve success is huge.  We all know how difficult it can be to prepare and eat a healthy meal.  In Chapter 2 she gives us a quick taste of  “The 1-Minute Breakfast.”  The fact is, we can eat  to fulfill our hunger and to also take us through the morning with more energy and thinking power.  I don’t know about anyone else, but this is a bonus for me.

My favorite chapter had to be Chapter 9, "Indulge in the Right Vices."  I love to eat and in particular I love chocolate.  She gets down to the nitty gritty of how to choose your chocolate and offers information that you won’t want to miss. 

Overall, Somer's book offers everything from eating the right foods to start your day, to eating foods that will help you sleep better.  There is nothing in the book that will break the pocket book or require inordinate numbers of hours in the kitchen.  She even talks about the dreaded “exercise,” which simply requires that we move more.  There are many personal stories included in Eat Your Way To Happiness (Harlequin/ Nov 2009), which make this an interesting and fast-moving read.  I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in health and longevity.