Coffee is Good for You

February 15, 2012

Every new nutritional study seems to contradict the one before it. Fifty years ago, margarine was going to save us all from heart attacks caused by saturated fat. Today, we know that margarine is a transfat, which is even worse. Oat bran is healthy--or is it? Health journalist Davis (editor in chief, everwell.com; The Healthy Skeptic) takes on this morass of conflicting information in his latest book. He takes a leaf out of the Tampa Bay Times by listing a wide variety of common nutrition beliefs and rating them on a "truth-o-meter." Is locally grown produce more healthful? The data are inconclusive. Should bagged salad still be washed? Yes. Are irradiated foods unhealthy? Nope. Davis also describes different types of nutritional studies and explains which are the most reliable and why. VERDICT This nifty little handbook will appeal to a broad audience. Recommended.--Susan B. Hagloch, formerly with Tuscarawas Cty. P.L., New Philadelphia, OH

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2011
Anyone who's been a faithful follower of nutritional advice from the media or the endless glut of diet books published every year has probably found the information as maddening as it is useful. When margarine was first introduced, it was hailed as a healthy substitute for the saturated fats tainting ordinary butter. Now margarine is vilified for its heavy dose of trans fats. Over the decades many such dietary flip-flops from good to bad to good again, regarding everything from eggs to carbohydrates, have left the average consumer flailing in confusion. Thankfully, Davis, an award-winning health journalist, sorts it all out for us in this slender, handy guide to health and diet claims. Whether it's aspartame, high-fructose corn syrup, or gluten, Davis relies on only the best evidence to separate fact from half-truth and fiction. Readers looking for more nuanced scientific depth here might come away disappointed, but Davis includes a wealth of reliable references, and ends with Ten Tips for Deciphering Diet and Nutrition Claims, a chapter worth the price of the book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)