Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: America's Doctor Tells You Why the Health Experts Are Wrong

Can this book possibly live up to its subtitle? After all, Edell hosts a national health-related radio talk show and is himself an acknowledged ""health expert."" Edell does not shatter conventional medical wisdom, but his engaging style and common sense make this an excellent overview of the keys to healthy living. Some of his recommendations--that fad diets don't work or that communication is the key to good sex--won't come as revelations. But he covers an impressive number of bases, including nutrition, fitness, food safety, drugs, alternative medicine, even the quest for happiness. Edell backs up his recommendations with university studies and his personal experiences as a physician. Most chapters include summaries and checklists of the most important information. The result is a book that is both authoritative and user-friendly, mixed with a good dose of humor (the chapter on why sex is good for your health is called ""There is a Santa Claus""). In the end, Edell may not prove all the health experts wrong, but he does deliver what he promises in his introduction: ""common sense choices and options... always based on science."" (May)