Eat, Drink, & Be Merry: America's Doctor Tells You Why the Health Experts are Wrong - Hardcover

Edell, Dean; Schrieberg, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060191554 ISBN 13: 9780060191559

Publisher: Harper, 1999

Synopsis

"Help me, Dr. Dean! I want to be healthy, but I just don't know where to turn for advice."

No wonder. How often have you felt whipsawed by the experts, confused by conflicting advice, or torn with guilt over what you eat, drink, think? Prepare yourself for a shock: You can relax, enjoy life, and still be healthy.

This is a different kind of health book by a different kind of doctor. Dr. Dean Edell, a former surgeon whose radio call-in show is heard by millions of listeners every day, sifts through the outrageous health claims flooding the media. He takes on the health gurus who urge you to abandon much of what you enjoy in life and make you worry needlessly. He frankly discusses sex and drugs, evaluates alternative medical practices, and pleads with our germ-phobic society to just calm down. He also gives you the scoop on what really goes on inside hospitals and inside the minds of doctors.

Chill out. Dr. Dean is going to change the way you think. You can eat certain fat-laden foods and be healthy. You can exercise far less than you thought and in ways you never imagined. You can enjoy sex and even some mood-altering substances in moderation, and do a world of good for your body and mind.

Dr. Dean's radio audience has heard him condemn the very media that keep him in business. In the book and on the air, Edell exposes the sloppy, irresponsible, and dangerous health reporting that is the daily fodder of newspapers, talk shows, and TV news segments. Scare stories and miracle cures make news, responsible follow-ups do not. From the headlines, you'd think that rare diseases like mad cow and ebola are lurking in every hamburger or on every toilet seat. Read the chapter on germs to learn why our abuse of antibiotics poses a far greater threat to our health. In other chapters you'll discover the link between chronic fatigue syndrome and environmental illness, and find out why you should relax and enjoy that glass of wine with dinner.

Dr. Dean's experience within the medical establishment, in the alternative medicine community, and in the media give him a unique vantage point from which to evaluate breaking medical news. He offers a critical perspective that cannot be matched by anyone else today, either in the media or in medicine.

Dr. Dean tells you what has been scientifically proved and what has not. Most important, he gives you the tools you need to make good personal health decisions about the next crop of health gurus and the next medical "breakthroughs." He teaches you to rely on common sense and a critical eye, and to trust yourself and your judgment, based always on what is scientifically sound.

Seasoned, frank, funny, and compassionate, Dr. Dean is an iconoclast who takes on the medical establishment, the health-and-fitness industry, and the media with equal gusto. In Eat, Drink, and Be Merry he offers you the truth about healthy living. Be forewarned: Some of your most cherished beliefs about health may fall by the wayside.

Did You Know That . . .

• People who crave ice chips may have a nutritional deficiency?

• An octogenarian in China disclosed his secret of longevity: a diet that includes rats?

• Saturated fat may reduce the risk of stroke?

• Some canned and frozen foods can be more nutritious than fresh?

• Dementia appears to be less common among those who eat more fish?

• You can lose weight by fidgeting, chewing on a pencil, or drinking coffee?

• Exercising in polluted air is worse for your lungs than not exercising at all?

• Playing an instrument is not only good for your mental health, it burns 160 calories an hour?

• Certain snake oils may have actual therapeutic potential?

• Research shows that aloe vera slows healing of wounds?

• Sex can cure headaches?

• The aromas of pumpkin pie and lavender can be erotic stimulants?

• It can make a difference what gender your doctor is?

• Studies show that people often postpone dying until after holidays?

About this title

Review

Whether you buy one health book a year or dozens, this book may well zoom to the top of your list. Fans of America's favorite radio doctor will delight in picking up the latest health facts delivered in Edell's typically irreverent and witty style. Go to the head of the class or become the hit of the party when you retell Dr. Dean Edell's stories of inaccurate media frenzies or dispense facts that challenge society's assumptions about overweight people, or even, gulp, the value of exercise for longevity. You'll also learn Edell's story of his journey from disillusioned medical student to hippie dropout to respected and entertaining media MD.

"One day you are told that eating rutabaga is the true path to everlasting health, and the next day you hear that rutabaga will rot your brain." Edell teaches you how to sort out information such as this. Want to lose weight? Follow the "Dr. Dean Shut Your Mouth Diet": Eat what you want, but less of it. Hate treadmills? Garden or walk in the park. Besides amassing scientifically supported facts about all varieties of health topics, Edell's book has a serious mission--to teach you to demand proof before you swallow a health fad, put yourself on a trendy diet, take your illness to the nearest alternative guru, or get spooked by media-induced or Internet-spread health scares.

Edell's main theme, as the title implies, is to enjoy life and not let the health cops control all your lifestyle choices--especially when they're usually wrong. --Joan Price

About the Author

Dean Edell, M.D., probably has the largest medical practice in the United States -- his hugely popular radio and television broadcasts are heard by more than ten million fans every week. A graduate of Cornell University Medical College and the author of the national best-seller Eat, Drink, and Be Merry, he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0060191554
• ISBN 13: 9780060191559
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368