cover image Food for Life: The Cancer Prevention Cookbook

Food for Life: The Cancer Prevention Cookbook

Richard Bohannon, Terri P. Wuerthner, Kathy Weinstock. McGraw-Hill/Contemporary, $5.98 (418pp) ISBN 978-0-8092-5029-5

When the National Research Council reported in 1982 that there may be a link between certain foods and cancer, it opened the door for a new genre of cookbooks. Today we're told to diet not only to lose weight or to avoid heart attacks but also to ""prevent'' cancer. Bohannon, president of the American Cancer Society, California chapter, admits in his introduction (apparently his main contribution to the book) that ``research on the diet/cancer connection is still in its early stages'' and ``the recipes in this book are neither a cure for cancer nor a guarantee that you not contract it.'' Despite its specious title, the cookbook's guidelinesreduce fats, minimize cured meats and alcohol, increase fruits, vegetables and fibersare in keeping with basic healthy eating habits, and the tempting and varied recipes will take the monotony out of a restricted diet and can be easily incorporated into family meals. Weinstock is in the nutrition field and Wuerthner is a caterer. 35,000 first printing; $30,000 ad/promo; author tour. (June)