Peter Taylor has made a valiant attempt to write a motivational book and inspire readers to get into shape. Educated in East Africa and the United Kingdom, Taylor taught English and physical education and subsequently embarked on a career as an alternative health practitioner. While his education and intent are respectable, Taylor doesn’t possess the necessary credentials to write Overtired? Overweight? The Solution, making this booklet challenging to follow, riddled with errors and filled with outdated statistics.
The author says his counsel is “based on fact,” yet there are no scientific references to support his philosophies. He makes broad claims about specific foods, blaming them for the global obesity epidemic. For example, he chastises pasta, milk and couscous when, in fact, these are acceptable and healthy sources of energy for the body and are not the crux of the problem.
The author also claims that eggs, cheese, fish and tea make our cells more acidic without any valid scientific support, casting considerable doubt on anything he writes. “The more vegetables you eat, the more energy you will manufacture,” states Taylor, but energy, technically, is a function of calories, and vegetables are low in energy and calories.
Statistics from as far back as 1979 punctuate the text, as do spelling mistakes and words from Old English. To the American consumer, the book will have even less relevance, since recommended “diet foods” include such items as courgette, a British term for a zucchini, and weights are given in metrics.
To assume that a “solution” to weight loss and ill health can be found in a mere 68 pages is the first mistake a reader will make in picking up this book. More accurate, timely, applicable and safe diet and health advice should be sought elsewhere.
Also available as an ebook.
