Catherine Saxelby’s Complete Food and Nutrition Companion {book review}2

Posted on August 15, 2012 by ChristieReviews

Sometimes you meet people and you just ‘click’. That’s what happened when I met Catherine Saxelby (read about our funny first meeting here, scroll to the last paragraph).

She’s just one of those people who are instantly likeable because they’re so honest, generous and extremely knowledgable in their field.

As a reader of this blog you know that I am very health conscious and I love to know the nitty gritty of every little thing about food. How it fuels our body (protein, carbs etc), exactly why it’s good for us (vitamin content etc), how foods can be combined with other foods for maximum health – and most of all, how to make raw ingredients taste delicious without losing any of the good stuff. As in, nutrients.

That’s why I loooove meeting nutritionists. I pick their brains until they politely move on to speak to someone else. But not Catherine. She always lets me go on and on and seems to genuinely enjoy it!

Helping busy women eat right, lose weight and boost energy!

Above is Catherine’s personal mantra, which I absolutely love! It speaks directly to all my nutritional needs and I bet it does for many of you too.

Why I love the book

  • It’s beautifully set out with neat sections and handy green pull out boxes with helpful information, quick recipes, tables with statistics and Catherine’s ‘My Take’ observations. See picture above for an example – I have taken a photo of this pull out box on my phone so that I can refer to it while I am out and about – thanks Catherine!
  • It’s categorised in alphabetical order, just like an encyclopaedia. If a term is explained elsewhere under a different name then page references are given. For example under ‘O’ for ‘Overweight’ it says see also ‘Obesity’ and ‘Weight loss’. This is great if you can’t think of the exact name for what you are looking for or want to read more on related topics.
  • It’s printed on thick matte paper with simple, yet striking photography. Some of the best of which are everyday scenes such as squeezing lemons (see page 24).
  • There all types of topics covered, and not just the usual suspects like GI, trans fats and portion sizes (although they’re all in there too). Some of the topics that were interesting and relevant to me were: toddler food, mindful eating, energy foods (natural ones) and the large section on tea, as I’m a real fan.

I’m looking forward to having this companion on hand when Poppy asks me a curly nutrition question, because although I can easily ‘Google it’, it’s nice to flick through a beautiful book by someone you have personally met – and there’s no spam ads to contend with!

Congrats Catherine, your book is wonderful.

For those of you who would like to buy it, it is available now through good bookshops and online via Catherine’s website for $45. Click here to go through and buy it.

Christie x

Fig & Cherry received a copy of the book with compliments of Hardie Grant.

  • http://www.themumsdiet.com Seana Smith

    Hi Christie, I just saw that book on Catherine’s website on Monday and thought it looks terrific. Must read your blog about meeting her. I can very much relate to your words on meeting nutritionists, I’ve really loved hearing some talk and love to chatter and ask questions. Maybe I’ve missed my vocation??!!

    • http://www.figandcherry.com Christie

      Hi Seana, yes I know from meeting you that you like a good chit chat ;) Now we know what to talk about next time!

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