Eat for Heat by Matt Stone

Eat for Heat Reviews

• 
  Angie S

  After years of vegan/raw food eating, my body fell apart. Depression, anxiety, and that "baby fat" around my middle became more intense. The feeling of fight-or-flight stress was constant and I couldn't sleep at night.
  
  Insert Eat for Heat.
  
  I don't think that Matt wrote this book for people with the desire to learn how to be healthier, rather he wrote it for people who are obsessive about their healthy eating habits. Taking the opposite extreme, Matt explains that there is a "happy medium" to be found in the world of health.
  
  My diet has changed. I am eating foods to warm my body and that gallon of water I used to carry with me has disappeared. My intensive exercise routines have calmed down and I am sleeping. Holy crap I am sleeping at night. Anxiety and depression are fading into memories.
  
  Granted, I still have "baby fat" to loose, but I am beginning to feel mentally and emotionally healthy - and friends, it has been a loooong time since I have felt good inside my head. This book has been empowering, healing, and oh-so-helpful. Five stars!!
• 
  Karla

  Holds some thought-provoking ideas particularly in the area of water consumption. I have noticed a difference myself when I workout and "overdrink" water as prescribed by the "eight 8 oz. glasses" per day rule. My body temp plummets and I feel weird. Adding both salt and potassium into the mix helps. Relying on "cold" foods such as fruits, vegetables, and the like to maintain an ideal body actually hurts your efforts since they lower your body temp and thus your metabolism. To counter this effect, adding in meats, coconut oil, and chocolate actually RAISES your metabolism since your body heat multiplies.
  
  The book becomes a little repetitive after a while though. Good research and science backs up the message. Worth the read.
• 
  Julie

  The Matt Stone philosophy: your overall health is to a large extent determined by your metabolic health. With a high, healthy metabolism, you'll have a higher body temperature, more regular periods, better sleep, clearer skin, more stable mood, more balanced hormonal regulation, etc. He argues that you can influence your metabolism by changing the way you eat: more calories, more carbs, more salt, more saturated fat, and less fluids -- all in blatant contradiction to the USDA's dietary recommendations, the recent paleo fad, and just about any diet guru you can find. Basically, he wants people to STOP DIETING because the binge-restrict cycle messes with metabolic health. He frequently cites Broda Barnes, a long-practicing (now deceased) primary care doctor with the lowest known rate of heart disease in his patients -- just 4 patients, in his entire career -- and whose methods were based on fostering a healthy metabolism through diet.
  
  3 stars because I love the ideas here. -2 stars because I'd really like him to cite some of the studies he talks about, and the writing is kind of unpolished. The writing is more polished in Diet Recovery 2, which is basically a major expansion of this book, although he's similarly "bro-y" in both.
• 
  Mark

  In Eat for Heat, Matt Stone has unearthed some very important concepts regarding hydration that I've never even heard of before reading it. In fact, that information is so fundamental that I think it's really step one for anybody looking to get healthy. Changing the amount of liquids that I consume and other nutrition information in Eat for Heat have put me on the fast track to metabolic health.
• 
  Barb Lawrence

  
  
  I found this interesting. I'm surprised so many people have responded negatively to the author's writing style. I found his writing witty, conversational, and refreshing. The content made sense also--I never understood why people can't seem to go five minutes without sipping on water. I think it's weird too.
• 
  Lisa

  There may be some validity to Mr Stone's theories, but I can't get behind a diet that supports pizza and ice cream as weight loss mechanism or to boost body heat. I could have swallowed this better if he had made his recommendations on a whole food diet instead of processed crap.
• 
  Samantha

  This book is ridiculously straight forward. It could have been a five page persuasive essay and not lost anything. Here, let me condense it into a short paragraph for you: Listen to your body. Don't drink too much water; if you're cold, don't drink more water, try eating something moderately dense. Don't act like salt is anthrax. Eat food when you're hungry and don't starve yourself.
  
  Beyond that, I understand that it's self published but holy fuck. Editing. And I'm not even talking spelling and punctuation--there are just entire cutesy sections that serve no purpose other than to be cute and waste the reader's time. It's great that you like 80s movies, Matt Stone. I like 80s movies too. But you know what? You weren't writing a book about why you like 80s movies and why your audience should too. Keep your shit topical, yo.
  
  
• 
  Angie Libert

  I did not receive any new insights while reading this book, although it was refreshing to have an author encourage people to stop drinking so much water, eat more salt and exercise less.
  
  Here are some quotes:
  
  "The fundamental truth is that maintaining a high level of cellular energy production with a high metabolic rate and moderate levels of stress hormone exposure is the most useful and far-reaching health asset of them all." I totally agree!
  
  "Every system of the body is influenced by the tug-of-war between energy and stress"
  
  "Do NOT drink when you are NOT thirsty" The book is full of obviously statement such as this, which is what makes this a book a refreshing read.
  
  "Any time you pee clear, have a particularly strong urge to urinate that strikes you suddenly, urinate several times in rapid succession, or pee an abnormally large amount--eat a salty carbohydrate-rich snack or meal as soon as possible." Because the body is showing signs of over hydration. I love that he is encouraging people to listen to their body.
  
  "Anti-stress S's - sugar, starch, salt and saturated fat." Yep!
  
  "If you exercise too hard, too long, or too frequently it can indeed have a net-diluting effect on your system as a whole." Thank you Matt Stone for saying this.
• 
  Erin

  I read this one as an audiobook, and while I like self-deprecating humor and sarcasm as much (or more) than the next guy, I found it to be a little off-putting in this book. I wanted to take it serious, I really did, but it made it hard for me to look at it with anything less than a "he's got to be sh*tting me look." So, I gave it three sad little katamari stars because of that and because it was so short. Once I reread it, I may reroll this katamari and see if the king is happy with it. Sadly, no one, or very few of you, will get my katamari reference. And just like the king and his high katamari standards...this book kind of effed with my head. Mind eff or no, hopefully a reread will help this book make a little more sense to me. It's dumbed down enough but it destroys the very foundation of life as we know it and it's hard to process that stuff.
  
  
• 
  Ryan Burgett

  This book was disappointing in many ways. I understand what Matt Stone is saying about the importance of well-concentrated blood, but I have to disagree in so many ways with the advice he gives on how to get there. I took a few important tools away from this book which I have already benefited from. Using what I learned in this book I have tweaked my diet and now have much better sustained energy during the day and also get more deep and satisfying sleep at night. But it feels like what I learned could have been put into a simple blog post without all the extra the bizarre health advice (drink Pepsi over water...what???). It was overall an interesting and useful yet disappointing book.
• 
  Laura

  Second Time Around
  
  I'm seeing things that weren't clear to me the first time.
  This book is highly practical and is intended to get one thinking about the cues received from one's own body. The first time I read it, I got some things to think about. The second time I could see connections between things I'm doing (or not doing) and results in my body.
  I appreciate that Stone doesn't claim a one-size-fits-all approach, but encourages the reader to start learning his/her own body and it's cues; especially as those will, and do, change as circumstances change.
• 
  Aneliya Petrunova

  (на български по-долу)
  
  I was intrigued by this book - and by Matt Stone's views, especially about water intake. And since I have been questioning what I learned about health and nutrition by years of low carbing, I decided to give the book a chance.
  
  I find Matt Stone's style in this book quite reader-friendly (and I definitely don't mind his jokes, quite the contrary). As for the information itself, it is well presented and there's really not much to it, you don't have a lot to remember:
  1) most people need to drink less and eat more, especially the four S's: starch, sugar, salt and saturated fat
  2) most people need to get more calories
  3) most people need more food and less water in the morning and less food and more water in the evening.
  
  With that being said, the author repeatedly emphasizes that you should ultimately be guided by your own body, for example your urine color (which should be yellow) and how you feel (if your hands and feet are warm etc.).
  
  I gave the book 4 stars because there are too few references.
  
  Having read the book, I am definitely willing to experiment and see if I really need to drink less and eat more starch/sugar/salt/saturated fat. And I am looking forward to reading more books by Matt Stone.
  
  ***
  
  Бях заинтригувана от тази книга - и от схващанията на Мат Стоун, особено за приема на вода. И тъй като поставям под въпрос всичко, което съм научила за здравето и храненето от годините нисковъглехидратно хранене, реших да дам шанс на книгата.
  
  Намирам стила на Мат Стоун в тази книга доста приятен (и със сигурност не ми пречат шегите му, точно обратното). Що се отнася до самата информация, добре представена е и наистина не е кой знае какво философия, няма много за помнене:
  1) повечето хора трябва да пият по-малко и да ядат повече, особено четирите S: starch (скорбяла), sugar (захар), salt (сол) и saturated fat (наситени мазнини);
  2) повечето хора трябва да приемат повече калории;
  3) повечето хора имат нужда от повече храна и по-малко вода сутрин и от по-малко храна и повече вода вечер.
  
  Въпреки това авторът многократно подчертава, че всеки трябва да се ръководи от тялото си, например от цвета на урината (който трябва да е жълт) и как се чувства (дали ръцете и ходилата са топли и т.н.).
  
  Дадох 4 звезди, защото не са посочени достатъчно източници.
  
  След като прочетох книгата, със сигурност съм склонна да експериментирам и да видя дали наистина трябва да пия по-малко и да консумирам повече скорбяла/захар/сол/наситени мазнини. И нямам търпение да прочета още книги от Мат Стоун.
• 
  Alykhan Gulamali

  Fun fact: I bought this book before I realized that Matt Stone is Buck Flogging, one of my favorite writers on internet business.
• 
  Lydia

  I was skeptical of this books claims, but I have followed some of the recommendations, and I feel better. I used to be cold all the time, had freezing hands and fee, and was peeing every 5 minutes and started to suffer from a bit of orthorexia ( an eating disorder which he mentions in the book). After this, I worked on letting myself stop analyzing the food I ate as 'good' or 'bad', and stopped drinking so much water and tea. It was weird at first, but I now that I've been doing this for a bit, its much easier. I have much clearer signals of thirst, versus thinking when I OUGHT to hydrate. I also am just eating more in general, and try to make sure I eat within an hour or two or waking up.
  
  He mentioned that as really important in the book, and I can attest to that from my experience. When I eat or have something in the morning with calories, I have more energy and have more of an appetite as the day goes on, and enjoy my food more. I have gained some muscle since then, and I feel like I've barely tried, which for me is huge. I am naturally very thin and lean, and putting on muscle has always been difficult. So while I was very skeptical, my body seems to be happier so I think that Matt is on to something. I didn't think he was an asshole, and I thought his no nonsense, bs/fluff was refreshing, and the snark was all in good humor, and harmless.
• 
  Polina

  Quick and easy read, some interesting observations, but without any scientific studies prescribing a controversial method of something as important as daily water intake seemed a bit dubious to me. Still I have experience some of the observations the author makes and have to admit it was great to have someone provide me with excuse for drinking less than the recommended 2L of water daily. But since I frequently find myself suffering from dehydration already, I think I should have read a book that encourages, rather than discourages, my water drinking.
• 
  Daniel Fleisher

  After reading this book on a plane ride I thought two things: 1) I felt fortunate it was a free download from Amazon 2) I was curious if the author wrote this as a practical joke. Although a few studies were linked to assertions from the author, most of his claims were preceded by qualifiers stating that he was not an expert or that this was his experience.
  
  I would not spend even the little time it took to flip through this pamphlet on Eat for Heat - I would love to have that time back.
• 
  Ronda Hruby

  This ebook gives the author's view that drinking lots of Fluids may actually trigger cold hands and feet. Food warms the entire body including hands and feet. I'm 'testing' that view now, and he just might be on to something.
  
  Its really just a theory without research, so i'm giving only two stars.
• 
  Rebekka Steg

  Some interesting thoughts and ideas, but not very well supported. I have absolutely no problem with "bad" language, but I don't like it when authors talk down to the reader. While the author makes it clear that he is not a doctor or a scientist, I would have liked to see more scientific backing and explanations for his statements.
• 
  Brad Belschner

  These are the most valuable insights on human health that I have yet encountered. Bar none.
  
  Personally I find Matt Stone's writing style engaging and amusing, but others might find it off-putting. Nevertheless, regardless of what you might think of his writing style, Matt Stone's content is very important here.
• 
  Jennifer

  This was a waste of time.
  There is more opinion than sound science. The facts that are presented have no citations. He spends most of the book using frat boy style "bro" talk, that makes you look up from reading to be certain you haven't walked into the boys locker room at the high school by mistake.
• 
  Maria Miaoulis

  This book definitely goes against some established "rules" in the health/nutrition/weight management fields such as not drinking a lot of water and keeping a sugar/salt mixture on hand. I'm curious as to why more people aren't talking about this, if in fact the approaches are supported by research.
• 
  Maranda Carvell

  A couple of interesting concepts, but horribly written and not nearly enough material to fill a book. Could easily have been a blog post.