Nourish by Katie Farrell

According to Katie Farrell, Nourish is not just another diet or health book. Instead, Nourish shares how readers can pursue better health from three different aspects: spirit, soul and body.

Nourish is written by someone who has been there. Farrell shares her own personal story about how she overcame her food struggles with God's help. Her writing shows how how she looks to God for guidance as she writes on page 174, "Instead of thinking about ways to give in to my sinful cravings and desires, I now long to honor God with my body and worship Him with everything I do, think, and say. By no means does this mean that I am perfect or have everything together; in fact, the very reason I am writing this book is that I understand the struggle!" Each chapter offers a part of Farrell's story along with helpful information to improve your own health. At the end of each chapter, she shares a Scripture, reflection questions, prayer and a recipe. Some of the recipes included in the book are: Baked Oatmeal Singles, Taco Chicken Quinoa Bowls, and Cheesy Chicken and Green Chili Lasagna. At the back of the book, Farrell includes two appendixes. One is a chart of "lies versus truth" to help readers change their negative thinking into positive thinking from God's word. Then the second appendix includes scripture-based prayers to help readers turn to God and live a life for Him.

One of the aspects I especially like about Nourish is how Farrell continually points the reader back to the Scriptures. She encourages readers to read their Bible daily and to pray. Farrell also encourages readers to read Scripture and turn verses into prayers for each day. This book leaves me hungering for time alone with my God and spending time searching the Scriptures for what He has to say to me. I did know a lot of the health information already that Farrell shared in this book. But I so appreciated her heart for God, her down-to-earth "me too" approach and honesty in sharing her story. It was truly an encouraging an uplifting book. Nourish would be especially good for someone who also is recovering from an eating disorder or a younger Christian woman looking for inspiration to make a healthy life change. My one small complaint is that I wish the book had an index of the page numbers for the recipes to find them quickly.

While this is the first book that I have read from Farrell, she is also the author of the Dashing Dish Cookbook and a devotional book also designed to help readers get healthier. She is a registered nurse and blogs about health on the Dashing Dish.

I received Nourish from FaithWords/Hachette Book Group. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for the book.