Wellness Nutrition Counter - Hardcover

Margen M.D., Sheldon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0929661389 ISBN 13: 9780929661384

Publisher: Random House, Inc., 1998

Synopsis

Most guides to nutrients in foods are overly technical or look at only a few key nutrients. The Wellness Nutrition Counter is different in that it's both easy to use and comprehensive. You'll find complete nutritional information for over 6,000 foods, including brand name products. Plus, there's a chapter describing vitamins and minerals - what they do, how much you need, and what happens when you get too little, or too much - and listing the leading sources of each nutrient. The book is clearly organized and contains a comprehensive index, so you'll be able to quickly locate what you're looking for.

About this title

About the Author

Sheldon Margen, M.D., is Professor Emeritus of Public Health and Nutrition in the School of Public Health at the University of California at Berkeley.

From Booklist

By the editors of the University of California at Berkeley Wellness Letter and the Wellness Nutrition Center, this is a welcome addition to consumer-oriented nutrition guides as an explanation of the importance of knowing what's in the foods we eat. Written in language that is clear and nontechnical, the volume is well laid out and easy to understand. Perhaps the most important information can be found in the opening sections, which explain the basics of a healthy diet, including the building blocks of nutrition, nutrient needs, 15 keys to a healthy diet, and how to read a food label.

The text is divided into three sections. "Vitamins and Minerals" describes the individual nutrients and provides a list of leading sources of each. "Foods, General" supplies the nutritional values of whole fresh and nonbranded foods based on the USDA Handbook 8 used by nutrition professionals. "Foods, Brand Name" includes nutritional data that come from the manufacturers on a variety of brand-name products, including the offering of fast food restaurants such as Burger King and Domino's Pizza. The weakest section is the index, which seems to be missing subjects contained in the book, such as Wendy's. And readers may be confused by the fact that mineral and vitamin contents of foods in the brand-name section are given as percentages of the RDI (Reference Daily Intake, the information that appears on manufacturers' food labels), while in the other sections they are expressed in terms of an average serving.

This volume is the only good alternative to the nutrition standard Bowes and Church's Food Values of Portions Commonly Used (17th ed., Lippincott, 1998). Although similar in cost to Bowes and Church's, this new resource seems to be more consumer-friendly. Neither volume does a very complete job of giving nutritional data for restaurants, but this information can be found for 37 national chain restaurants in Fast Food Facts (5th ed., IDC Pub., 1998).

Overall, The Wellness Nutrition Counter is recommended for most libraries. As consumers become more health conscious, books of this type will become even more popular. The price is right for all libraries. A good popular selection.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House, Inc.
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0929661389
• ISBN 13: 9780929661384
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 479