1	Escape Mexico City provides an intimate look into the art of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. read more...
2	Spice Two Latino chefs claim today’s spotlight: Jose Garces and Juan José Cuevas. read more...
3	Driver’s Seat Russ Heaps evaluates two convertibles that provide dreamy summer drives. read more...
4	Tech Talk A look at the latest gadgets for athletes. read more...
5	Style Mother’s Day gifts with a Latina flair. read more...
6	Salud Understanding The Hot Latin Diet. read more...

Salud

Battling the BULGE

A new diet book combines favorite Latino foods with slimming secrets.

By Idy Fernandez

Forget no-carb or high-protein diets, The Hot Latin Diet: The Fast Track Plan to a Bombshell Body promises to help you shed the pounds while you feast on quinoa risotto and churrasco.
Written by Dr. Manny Alvarez, a Fox News’ senior medical correspondent and contributing editor to People en Español, the book, set to hit stores this month, combines what Alvarez calls “seven Latin power foods” with recipes, nutrition and body-mass index guides, and some fitness tips to make those God-given curves sleek and toned.
“In my practice I saw how obesity is becoming an epidemic problem,” says Alvarez, a women’s health specialist who has been practicing medicine for more than 25 years. So he penned the book with board-certified nutritionist Kena Custage. “I wanted to show the Anglo world all the wonderful nutritional things that Latino cooking has to offer.”
The diet plan starts with a two-week period in which readers are to change their food habits and reduce portions with the help of shopping lists that detail what to remove from the fridge and what to fill the pantry with. Alvarez recommends “super foods” such as cilantro, garlic, tomatilloes and avocados.
“Fad diets or fasting diets don’t work. You need to create a metabolic revolution utilizing good food,” says Alvarez, who was born in Cuba but raised in New York. “We need to use the [principles] our grandparents taught us and apply them to this country.”
In addition to getting the help of a nutritionist, Alvarez sought assistance from several renowned chefs, including Michelle Bernstein of Michy’s and Daisy Martinez of the public television show Daisy Cooks! to develop recipes like “huevos campesinos” or the “quinoa risotto primavera” that feature the power foods. The Peruvian whole-grain, quinoa, for example has been heralded in recent medical journals as a “super food” because it has zero gluten and high protein value.
“We utilize super foods like cilantro, hot peppers, garlic and all the things that make Latino cooking unique, and then with medical knowledge, I added the scientific fact to showcase and explain the science behind the diet,” says Alvarez, whose last book in Spanish, Lista de Salud (Health List) chronicled the diseases readers should watch for at each stage of his or her life.
“We tell you how to calculate everything, and included so many tables that are specific in regards to calories, antioxidants and how to calculate your body-mass index,” Alvarez says of the more recent book.
But it’s not just the food, Alvarez says. Dieters must change their sedentary lifestyles and make a long-term commitment to live a healthy life by watching portion size and adding exercise to their daily routine. Then the weight will come off, he says.
“I want the Anglo and general readers to really feel empowered by the Latino culture,” says Alvarez. “Change your life and spread the word, pay it forward, if you learn how to live and to stay healthy ... Become an example.”