If you are what you eat...
Written: Feb 11 '02 (Updated Jan 02 '08)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: An invaluable reference guide to foods, thorough and easy to use.
Cons: Not a cover-to-cover read.
The Bottom Line: This book can give you the information to modify/create and follow a personalized diet for almost any purpose. I recommend it.
|
|
|
| lyagushka's Full Review: The Wellness Encyclopedia Of Food And Nutrition Bo... |
This book sits on my cookbook shelf next to my favorite cookbooks. The Encyclopedia is not a cookbook in itself, though it does have recipes scattered here and there throughout its pages. Rather, it is a comprehensive nutritional index of all types of basic (i.e. unprepared) foods.
I've never sat down and read this book cover to cover and I doubt that anyone would want to. But I've reached for it countless times to look something up, say the vitamin content of swiss chard and then found myself happily flipping through the pages, comparing and contrasting profiles on different foods.
The Encyclopedia is very well organized and easy to use. It is divided into 9 chapters, plus appendices and an index. The chapter headings are as follows: Nutrition Basics, Vegetables, Fruits, Exotic Fruits & Vegetables, Grains and Grain Products, Legumes Nuts & Seeds, Meat & Poultry, Fish & Shellfish, and finally Dairy & Eggs. It has 512 pages.
The first chapter deals with the elements that make up the foods we eat in great detail, but in everyday language. Human metabolism is discussed as well as common diseases with dietary causes. The functions of each vitamin and mineral are also explained. Finally there are helpful charts showing recommended daily dietary allowances for infants, children, males, females, pregnant women and lactating women. These human categories are even further subdivided according to weight and height.
Within each chapter individual foods are discussed in depth. For each food item there is a boxed and colored summary of its nutritional qualities. This summary includes a caloric count, a breakdown for protein, carbohydrate, dietary fiber, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, as well figures for the key nutrients contained in each food with a percentage USRDA for both men and women. A standard weight is used throughout each section, which makes comparisons very easy. For example, in the grains section, the summaries are all based on a 3.5 ounce cooked portion. The encyclopedia also provides dry volumetric measurements that will produce the 3.5 ounce cooked portions. Also, most chapters have colored charts which allow the reader to quickly and easily compare various attributes of different foods. So the grains chapter has 2 charts dealing with rice; one comparing caloric values and mineral contents of different varieties of rice, the other showing the cooking times, yield and necessary liquid to cook 1/2 cup of different rice varieties.
The fruit and vegetable chapters are especially detailed. There is a useful chart comparing the vitamin contents of different leafy greens - quite a lot of variation. And the fruit section is comprehensive enough to show the huge nutritional distinctions between Fuyu and Hachiya persimmons. This is certainly a cut above the 18-page, spiral bound diet plan food guides that tell you that a piece of bread has 100 calories. The level and quality of information is what you would expect of a university nutrition textbook.
But I don't mean to make this book sound overly technical. It is very accessible, with color pictures, and non-technical discussions of buying, storing and preparation of basic foods. The tone of the book is quite healthy though. Since the encyclopedia was written and published by the University of California at Berkeley Wellness Letter staff, a hyper-healthy, low-fat approach to diet is stressed here. These are the guidelines that all the experts say we should be following, but that no one does. And I'm no exception. But the book has helped me to think about the dietary choices that I make and has definitely contributed to some general changes I've made in my eating habits.
The meat and fish chapters have just as much detailed information and as many useful charts for comparison as the other chapters. Even things like goose and game are covered as well as an amazing variety of fish and shellfish. These chapters also devote more space to food safety and sanitation, as these items are more dangerous when spoiled. Guidelines for purchasing and storing are provided.
The appendices deal with healthy cooking methods (grilling, poaching, baking, etc.), fats and oils, and herbs and spices. This last appendix describes the seasonings, their botanical origins, nutritional content if any, and makes suggestions about how to use them.
This book is a real treasure trove of information, especially for those who are interested in making any sort of modification to their diet. Although there is no specific diet plan advocated, this book would be a huge help to anyone with diabetes, heart disease, anemia, high cholesterol or simply a few extra pounds. It really gives you the information you need to make your own informed decisions about what you're eating, and what changes you might want to make in your diet. The information here could be used as easily to construct a low-cholesterol diet as a high-protein or high-iron diet. Anyone studying nutrition should also have this book.
I can also recommend these cookbooks:
• Indian Cooking - an excellent cookbook by Jaffrey for beginner cooks, includes many meat dishes
• World Vegetarian - suitable for slightly more experienced cooks & essential for vegetarians
• Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone - Deborah Madison's compendium of vegetarian cookery - great dessert section
• Cooking with Pomiane - a deliciously nostalgic review of culinary history, narrated by a great wit
• The Boulevard Cookbook - sumptuous recipes from San Francisco's favorite restaurant
• Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America - accessible and delicious recipes for nibbles or a hearty meal
• The New Best Recipe - 1000 canonical recipes, perfected
• The Bread Baker's Apprentice - superlative, expert instruction for mastering yeasted breads
• Baking With Julia - Julia Child's award-winning "bakebook", covers all type of baked goods
• Dim Sum - a thorough introduction to these tasty Chinese morsels
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.