Radiant: Recipes to heal your skin from within (Hannah Sillitoe Books)

We are genuinely a health family and felt a bit of a fraud buying this book because some of the people featured and also on instragram really have suffered healthwise. We have flare ups but nothing in comparison. So why did I choose this book, I needed a bit more understanding of what's going into my body and I followed Hanna on instagram so was intrigued by the idea, plus 95% of ingredients from the recipes are available in your everyday supermarket and most are actually part of my shopping already. Eased ourselves into the change of eating as we had the book a while and tried a few different meals, treats etc. Now Day 5 into the 28 day plan. Daughter / Husband and myself trying this. Book easy to read with clear instructions which has made this a manageable change plus it's a good reference guide for instance the alkaline vs. acid chart. Book, recipes and the fact that my skin is clearer than ever plus an added bonus that I've lost over 8lb without exercise, my water content has improved and my fat content has declined all very much a plus! I'm hopeful that I have a positive cholesterol count at the next healthcheck too.

This book explains how to treat skin conditions in an easy to understand way. The recipes look delicious. It’s not just a vegetarian cookbook as someone has said. This is a genuinely helpful book for people with skin conditions which can have such a negative effect on your self confidence and mental health. I find it very inspiring and reinforces a basic understanding I already had but explains it in so much more detail. I have suffered from Acne most of my life and various other skin irritations that appear to flare up from nowhere. although I have acne at a much more manageable level due to my basic understanding, this book inspires me to do better. Thank you Hanna

I've bought two copies of this book - once recently for a friend - and it's the best of it's type. Its quite similar in advice to Healing Psoriasis: The Natural Alternative by John O. A. Pagano, but while that book's ideas are a bit hard to follow day in day out (I gave up out of frustration), Hannah has simplified things and created a wealth of tasty skin-safe recipes. Most recipes can be made form supermarket ingredients with a few more specialist items on the side. Before I started the program proper, I worked on a few things like radically reducing my rather high caffeine intake. I already liked 'healthy food' so had little junk to eliminate. Innovations for me were removing nightshades and all gluten and adding the supplements. As I got deeper into the program I noticed things like daily body brushing, salt baths and other seemingly peripheral things were actually very helpful in both promoting healing at at least improving the cosmetic looks of the skin. One thing I noticed, even from the first three weeks, is that my often pretty bad IBS symptoms (bloat, belly ache, passing mucous) just disappeared 90%. Perhaps the gluten free diet or eliminating nightshades and dairy early on? While nothing dramatic happened with my skin in the early weeks almost all itching went away and while their was no 'clearing' of psoriasis plaques they become much flatter, no longer 'angry' and raw or prone to unprovoked bleeding. I've now been following the advice for several months. It's a little disappointing I've seen little complete clearing but at least the plaques are flat, pinkish rather than red, with with just a powder of dry skin that's easy to moisturise. But it's enough of a difference to make continuing the program well worth it. Maybe after another few months more complete clearing may take place. I'm certainly moving in the right direction. In the Summer I can usually clear my plaques 90% if I can do a bit of sunbathing for a few days and expose my arms and legs with short sleeves. So this year I'm hoping by Radiant diet can keep the plaques away for longer (they usually gradually come straight back without sun exposure). 'Four stars' because this isn't a quick fix but a long journey to better health. But I'm grateful for no longer experiencing IBS and for having a much more manageable skin condition. I'll update this review with further progress if and when.

Brilliant book great for helping to clean your gut highly recommended

This book full of amazing information. It's strict for the 1st 3 days and after its alot easier. The meals are vegetarian however i did add chicken and beef to some of my meals. Once your skin alot better you can try and eat other foods and see what tiggers you have. It took me about 3 weeks before i finally started seeing results but i messaged the author through instagram because after a week i thought it was getting worse and she was so supportive and explain sometimes it happens its the virus leaving the body (i have guatte psoriasis from tonsillitis) 3 weeks later the 1st spots that appeared are starting to fade and are no long red the new spots are still red but smaller then last time i had a flare up but i know if i carry on they will fade too. A few years before i had a flare up it took 6 months of failed creams before i could be referred for UVB treatment (which did clear it) but this diet is miles better as there no need to travel to the hospital 3 times a week and most of the ingredients can be bought cheaply from aldi esp the coconut oil which is used for basically everything. I can not thank the author of this book enough for sharing this.

Anyone embarking on this journey needs to understand that this isn’t just a diet, it’s a whole new lifestyle and way of living. The book is beautifully presented and the recipes I tried were delicious but I didn’t complete the course. For me, the lifestyle simply wasn’t a viable, long term solution. I suffer with psoriasis and as far as I’m concerned a genuine cure is one that will curb my immune system’s enthusiasm and allow me to lead a normal life. This isn’t a genuine cure because it’s apparent aim is to remove absolutely anything that might provoke my immune system but it still doesn’t get to the heart of the problem. Psoriasis has cost me so so much in terms of quality of life but the thought of living like a Trappist monk for the rest of my life is no more appealing than a life living with psoriasis. Food and drink bring pleasure to my life and I really couldn’t stand the thought of giving up so much. Imagine this: 1. Never having a cup of tea or coffee again. 2. Never ordering a Chinese/Indian/pizza again. 3. Never having an alcoholic drink again. 4. Never having fish and chips at the seaside again. On and on the restrictions go. Life with psoriasis is hard but this regime is no easier or more pleasant. I don’t know if this diet reverses psoriasis because I gave up before the end of the first week. If it does work, it comes at too great a cost in terms of quality of life. Hanna, herself, concedes that this book is a huge commitment hence her second book ‘skin healing expert’ which takes a less extreme approach. I have already bought the second book and I will attempt to follow this one instead.

I’ve read lots of health books in the past and collected an equal amount of healthy recipe books - Radiant is by far the best of them all. Not only is Hanna’s story inspiring and her advice practical, the recipes in the book are mostly doable by the average Jane (like me) who isn’t particularly gifted in the kitchen area or has lots of time to spend there either. Another thing I also like is that practically all the recipes use ingredients that I’ve either heard of or can get from the shops fairly easily. This maybe down to Hanna being in the UK, like me, or it maybe because she’s not pretentious like some of the other raw food people. Either way, this is a great book. I’m looking forward to restarting this journey.

Helpful, encouraging. I haven’t had a fast, miracle cure of my psoriasis like some did (sadly mine is going to take longer). But I feel better on these foods and my skin is less itchy and less scaly. I absolutely love the sweet potato and coconut soup. Some of the recipes work well. Some are quite bland and I was disappointed. A bit of trial and error to find the gems. I am confused that some of the recipes contradict what Dr Pagano’s book advises... also many of the recipes are similar to Simply Ella. Hmm. The good thing is that there’s no nightshade foods in these recipes, though.