The Nantucket Diet by Sol Jacobs, M.D.
and Jane Conway Caspe
286 Pages, Hardcover with Nutritional
Information
2005 by Ballantine Books $23.95 US
Reviewed for Good Cooking by Andrea Silver,
December 2005
The Nantucket Diet by Sol Jacobs, M.D. and Jane
Conway Caspe is a book written to educate
individuals about how to live a healthy
lifestyle. From the book's beginning, Dr. Jacobs
makes it very clear that this diet is not just
another fad. He states that people who follow
many of today's popular diets which encourage
eating high protein foods and no carbohydrates
are less likely to keep off the weight that they
have lost. The Nantucket Diet touts the benefits
of whole-grain, high fiber carbohydrates,
choosing foods high in monounsaturated and
polyunsaturated fats, and daily exercise. The
diet also requires participants to eat one meal
a week that has no dietary guidelines. These
meals are called "Make Love to Life"
meals and are based on the idea that people
following this diet can "cheat" once a
week to satiate cravings for decadent and high
calorie foods.
To successfully follow this diet correctly,
participants must calculate their Total Energy
Expenditure (TEE), which is how many calories
one needs to maintain weight at their current
activity level. Once this number is established,
it is used throughout the three phases of the
diet: termination of weight gain (preventing
additional weight gain), weight loss and weight
maintenance. The book also includes meal plans
based on daily calorie intake, exercise
recommendations (some of which are examples of
walks and bike rides on Nantucket), recipes from
the authors and recipes from popular Nantucket
restaurants. All of the recipes include
nutritional analysis per serving.
Now exactly what this diet has to do with
Nantucket, I am not quite sure. The authors
mention the traditional ways in which people on
Nantucket used to live. They were fisherman
working hard and long hours at sea, ate fish
they caught that day and of course ate no
processed food. They also mention present day
Nantucket natives being "outdoorsy"
and full of life - walking on the beach, going
for bike rides and all the other things you
would typically see in a tourism commercial for
the island. But really, the message of this book
has little to do with Nantucket and everything
to do with changing the eating habits of
overweight Americans. I think their information
is valid and is certainly backed up by numerous
studies that are cited in the book; however, I
don't think Nantucket really needed to be the
backdrop for this message. Maybe the picture on
the cover of waving ocean grasses and a yacht in
the foreground attract some people, but what do
I know about marketing?
As far as the recipes are concerned, I tried a
couple and was pleased with the flavor of both
items. Most of the recipes in this book have
very easy instructions with few steps. I decided
to try recipes from the chapter titled
"Nantucket Old-Time Favorites". The
first recipe was the Nantucket Diet Bran
Muffins. The muffins were very easy to make,
used ingredients that I found at my local
supermarket and actually tasted quite good. The
3/4 cup of Splenda in the recipe threw me off a
little. Yes, I put Splenda in my occasional cup
of coffee or tea, but I never thought of it as
an item to bake with. In fact, when it hit the
bran and milk mixture, it sizzled like I was
conducting some sort of chemistry experiment. A
little odd and unnatural, but I proceeded with
the recipe. The end result was a pretty good
muffin that I ate the next morning with a cup of
tea--minus the Splenda. I had my fill for the
day. The other recipe I tried was the Family
Favorite Meatloaf. Now, this recipe uses two
packets of Sweet'n Low, which I really think
could have been left out if you felt funny about
putting artificial sweetener in your meatloaf.
Also, the mixture was a little wet when all the
ingredients were mixed together. I put my
meatloaf in a casserole dish and it did not
really keep its "meatloaf" shape. I
would suggest either adding a slice or two more
of the wheat bread, or put the mixture into a
loaf pan to keep the desired shape. The meatloaf
was very good and satisfied the craving for a
comfort food meal.
Overall, I think this book can be very helpful
for individuals who are seriously committed to
losing weight or people with other medical
issues such as Type 2 diabetes or heart
conditions. The book is informative and gives
the participant structure to follow the diet. If
you do not have these medical issues and are
just looking to add a cookbook with healthy
recipes to your collection, there are other
cookbooks out there that serve the same purpose.
Personally, I would rather use recipes that
don't have sugar substitutes, but these recipes
are not geared toward the average individual
watching their figure, but rather to people
following the entire diet plan. For what are
considered "diet" recipes, they tasted
good and were above adequate substitutes for the
real thing.
Nantucket Diet Bran Muffins
Serves 8
1 cup Kellogg's All-Bran Cereal with Extra
Fiber
1 cup skim milk
3/4 cup Splenda
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon No Salt (salt substitute)
Nonstick cooking spray
2 tablespoons Splenda for topping
Place cereal and milk in large bowl. Let sit for
3 minutes. Mix in all remaining ingredients.
Coat 8 muffin pan cups with nonstick cooking
spray. Fill each cup about two-thirds full. Bake
at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. When cool,
remove from pan. Place on plate. Sprinkle with
Splenda.
NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS PER SERVING
Calories 156
Fiber 6 g
Carbohydrates 21 g
Protein 5 g
Sugar 0 g
Calcium 136 mg
Total Fat 8.2 g
Vitamin A 248 I.U.
Saturated Fat 0.8 g
Vitamin C 2 mg
Cholesterol 27 mg
Folate 43 mcg
Sodium 181 mg
1 pound extra lean ground beef (91 %)
1 tablespoon chili sauce
Butter-flavored cooking spray
Mix all ingredients except ground beef and chili
sauce. Add the ground beef by hand. Spray
casserole or loaf pan with butter-flavored
cooking spray. Mold meat mixture into pan. Bake
at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Spread I
tablespoon chili sauce on top of meat loaf. Bake
10 minutes more.
NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS PER SERVING
Calories 197
Fiber 2 g
Carbohydrates 15 g
Protein 17g
Sugar 5 g
Calcium 91 mg
Total Fat 7.7 g
Vitamin A 1,507 I.U.
Saturated Fat 2.9 g
Vitamin C 3 mg
Cholesterol 77 mg
Folate 30 mcg
Sodium 220 mg
SOL JACOBS, M.D., practices endocrinology in the
greater Boston area. Dr. Jacobs is a fellow of
the American College of Endocrinology and a
faculty member of Tufts University School of
Medicine.
Jane Conway Caspe is a fashion model working and
living in the greater Boston area and on
Nantucket. She is a fourth-generation descendant
of one of the original settling families on the
island of Nantucket.
The Nantucket Diet by Sol Jacobs, M.D.
and Jane Conway Caspe
SOL JACOBS, M.D., practices endocrinology in the
greater Boston area. Dr. Jacobs is a fellow of
the American College of Endocrinology and a
faculty member of Tufts University School of
Medicine.
Jane Conway Caspe is a fashion model working and
living in the greater Boston area and on
Nantucket. She is a fourth-generation descendant
of one of the original settling families on the
island of Nantucket.