cover image Your Fat Is Not Your Fault

Your Fat Is Not Your Fault

Carol N. Simontacchi. Jeremy P. Tarcher, $19.95 (240pp) ISBN 978-0-87477-897-7

Blame not weak will for excess weight but a sluggish thyroid, an imbalance of hormones, high insulin levels or perhaps an inefficiency of brown adipose tissue, suggests Simontacchi, a nutritionist who is also the CEO of a chain of health-food stores in the Northwest. Following the trail blazed by Zone-master Barry Sears, Simontacchi urges a diet in which proteins, fats and carbohydrates are consumed in a 30-30-40 ratio. Among her dietary no-nos are wheat and dairy products, all foods that are white and all canned foods (a caveat that recipe writer West occasionally overlooks: there's canned tuna in her tuna salad and canned pumpkin in her pumpkin pie). To jump-start the new dieter, 30 days of precisely balanced menus, with a warning not to deviate from them, and 60 or so recipes are provided. Nutritional analyses are not included. The volume slips into the realm of the infomercial when Simontacchi promotes a comprehensive program of multivitamin/mineral supplements, which, for top quality, should be purchased not by mail or at the supermarket, but at a health-food store. (Feb.)