New Living Heart Diet

Completely revised since its bestselling original 1984 edition, this cookbook from a team of heart specialists at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas includes new information about risk factors for coronary heart disease and the most recent dietary recommendations for preventing it. The first half relates such health considerations as cholesterol, diabetes and blood pressure to diet; menus and 300-plus recipes with complete nutritional analyses constitute the second half. The dense format and even-tone prose detract from the book's value and diminish the potential impact of fresh data, e.g., a diet that is low in fat (30% or less of the total daily calorie intake), saturated fat and cholesterol but that contains lean beef lowers blood cholesterol as effectively as a diet free of red meat. This workmanlike approach will help readers make changes for a more healthful diet, but in recent years, others have come up with more appetizing, interesting low-fat fare. (Jan.)