Giada’s Feel Good Food: My Healthy Recipes and Secrets (Clarkson Potter 2013) may very well be the most honest cookbook by a Food Network host.

Why?

Because author Giada De Laurentiis address exactly what her audience is most curious about: her looks, her style, her figure, her skin:

The number one question I’m asked by fans of my television show and cookbooks is, “How do you stay so trim?” This book is my answer. It’s a personal look into how to keep my body and my mind in a happy and healthy balance! (p. 9)

She puts these things center stage – this is a cookbook cum diet book cum skin and body tips book. She doesn’t pretend that the reason most people watch her on FN is what she looks like. This is a multi-purpose cookbook, since the recipes list nutritional information and is also labeled for vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, and dairy free – that’s handy if different members of your family or friends are on one kind of special diet or another.

The book starts with a monthly meal guide with five meals – Giada believes in snacking and smaller meals, plenty of whole grains, minimal red meat, and agave syrup instead of white sugar. It’s a handy guide not to get bored with the same old. If you follow her guide, the first morning you’ll be having Breakfast Bulgur Wheat with Poached Mixed Berries (p. 26) that is drizzled with olive oil. My Morning Routine (p. 28) includes drinking plenty of water, yoga, drenching her skin in ice water all before breakfast starts. Then for lunch, Sweet Potatoes with Creamy Tofu-Lime Vinaigrette (p. 78) that includes maple syrup in the dressing for added sweetness. You can read all about Giada’s Makeup Basics (p. 92) – she prefers lip gloss over lipstick because it is more moisturizing. Grab Avocado Hummus and Crispy Pita Chips (p. 140) for lunch made with cannellini beans and arugula, followed by Grilled Chicken Cutlets with Fresh Apple-Mango Chutney (p. 213) for dinner. You can read all about Giada’s hair (p. 194), hair coloring, moisturizing with olive oil, and a plug for Clairol’s Natural Instincts. For Dessert, indulge with Giada and have a few Chocolate Cranberry Treats (p. 235) – brown rice, cranberries, plenty of butter, and chocolate in a kind of healthier Rice Crispies Treat.

Reading Giada’s Feel Good Food is like curling up with magazine articles on her celebrity life style – only she wrote the article this time.

Does she reveal everything?

If you are a fan, pick up the book and find out.