Matt Madeiro’s new e-book,Roots, is launching today! I had the chance to look it over a ways back, and even though the launch was delayed two or three separate times, I can definitely say that Matt took the time to do this e-book correctly.
As always, before we begin I’d like to take a second also and point you to my review guidelines. Full disclosure is very important to me, and I want you to know where I stand.
On with the review!
Overview
Those of you who follow Matt Madeiro know that he’s an advocate of the Paleo diet (although he doesn’t like the term “diet!”) – a diet that draws its inspiration from the eating patterns of our ancestors (hence the name!).
“Roots” is what you’d get if you took Paleo to the next level, i.e. “so how do I live a more Paleo life, not just with my diet? How would did my ancestors really live in today’s world?”
Or as Matt puts it, Roots is a book for “the modern-day caveperson”.
Organization
The organization of Roots seems a bit odd at first, because it’s broken down based on the rooms in a house.
But when you look at the sections (Kitchen, Bedroom, Bathroom, The Yard, and my favorite (title wise), “The ____ Room”), it starts to gel together.
The kitchen is where we put food into our bodies. The bathroom is where we clean and otherwise care for our bodies. The bedroom is where we get rest for our bodies, and the yard is where we exercise and play.
Odd as it may seem to begin with, it really does make a lot of sense.
The Positive
The emphasis of Roots is on sharing a journey. Throughout the ebook, you’ll see Matt sharing his experiences, not just lecturing you about how you should do things.
“The Kitchen” has a nice discussion of Paleo/Primal (surprise!), but it also talks about hunger, intermittent fasting, and a number of overarching diet & nutrition recommendations to put you on the right track.
“The Bedroom” focuses on our quality of sleep including setting a realistic bedtime, the evils of alarm clocks, and a handful of tricks you can use to help your body go to sleep (and wake up!) properly and naturally.
“The Bathroom” explores our daily cleaning routines, specifically our relationship with soap and shampoo. I suspect the tips in this section may be the least-heeded advice in this book, but they’re definitely worth reading!
“The Yard” and “The ____ Room” focus on exercise, play, and the modern sedentary lifestyle – along with several helpful tips for improving your mood and managing (or even reversing) our modern lifestyle’s effects on your health.
Each section contains a good balance of scientific research, practical analysis, and action steps that you can take to improve your life.
The Negative
I’m hard-pressed to find anything about the ebook I don’t like. Normally this is where I can gripe at least a little about the formatting or some other trivial component….but Matt knocked that out of the park too.
If you’re already doing Paleo, limiting your exposure to the chemicals and such in shampoo and soap, waking up without an alarm clock, and incorporating simple exercise into your lifestyle (all things covered in Roots), then a good portion of Roots will be familiar to you.
That being said, I’m betting that even if you’re doing all of the above, you’ll still find several nuggets of value in this book.
Matt really did his homework on this one.
In Summary
Most e-books have a niche that they target – Roots is definitely aimed at people that are trying to live a more healthy, natural lifestyle. There’s no question of that.
But Roots deals with topics that are so basic, so core to our existence (food, sleep, hygiene), that I really think there’s something in here for everybody.
Matt is pricing Roots at $14.99 for the next two days, with the price to go up to (and stay at) $19.99 after that.
Truck on over to Three New Leaves and check it out!