cover image Amino Acid Super

Amino Acid Super

Gary Zisk. Putnam Publishing Group, $18.95 (218pp) ISBN 978-0-399-13290-2

Through simplistic Q & As, bariatric physician Zisk advances seven amino acids as natural weight-loss products. For example, he maintains that the right amount of the amino acid tryptophan in the diet can break a sugar addiction and that arginine burns up fat and replaces it with muscle tissue. Readers should consult their physicians before they embark on Zisk's 600-800, very low-calorie diet that attempts to compensate for a lack of nutrients with vitamin/mineral and amino-acid supplements. The book includes vegetarian and nonvegetarian menus, explanations of how amino acids help to shed pounds (they control appetite, stimulate the growth hormone, etc.), keep weight off, promote peak mental function and ease some symptoms associated with premenstrual syndrome, menstruation, menopause and birth-control pills. (February)