Book Nook: 'The Hot Belly Diet' review

THE HOT BELLY DIET: A 30-Day Ayurvedic Plan to Reset Your Metabolism, Lose Weight, and Restore Your Body's Natural Balance to Heal Itself, by Dr. Suhas G. Kshirsagar, with Kristin Loberg. Atria Books, 289 pp., $26.

Agni, writes Dr. Deepak Chopra in the foreword, is "the digestive fire, which supplies vitality to the whole mind-body system when it is burning brightly and efficiently." Hence, "The Hot Belly Diet."

Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar, a practitioner of Ayurveda -- "a consciousness-based approach to health," he writes" -- proposes eating specific foods and drinking hot liquids; fasting in between meals, "for the sensation of hunger is essential to weight loss and overall health"; making lunch the day's most important meal and clearing out "digestive sludge."

THE SCOOP Breakfast in the "Accelerate" phase is a "Superfood Smoothie." Lunch (and sometimes dinner) is khichadi, made of basmati rice or buckwheat, split mung beans, seeds, nuts, vegetables, herbs and spices. Dinner could be more khichadi, another smoothie or a vegetarian soup with a side of steamed veggies.

THE BOTTOM LINE Coffee addicts may miss their fix, but they may find the author's spiced green tea a worthy sub.