cover image The Healthy Balance for Body & Soul

The Healthy Balance for Body & Soul

Cynthia Culp Allen. Fleming H. Revell Company, $12.99 (252pp) ISBN 978-0-8007-5868-4

Geared for Christian women who want to be fit and look good, this advice manual on balancing the physical and the spiritual mostly succeeds in its conversational, accessible approach. It's refreshing that this book is about the gift of health, and not just about vanity or personal appearance. Allen, who suffers from lupus, knows what it means to have a chronic illness, and thousands of women who have battled autoimmune disorders will relate to her story about joint pain, low-grade fevers and chronic weakness--and the fear and depression that often accompany such symptoms. The program she and her daughter Charity present in this book rests on a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, with a ""color wheel"" of foods for each day--red, orange, purple, yellow and, of course, green. The no-no foods include the usual suspects (refined sugar and flour, heavily processed foods). Although the writing style can be disjointed, with awkward transitions between the two authors, the health information here is solid.