The Healing Foods: The Ultimate Authority on the Curative Power of Nutrition

Hausman ( The Calcium Bible ) and Hurley, food columnist for Prevention magazine, have written an alphabetical compendium of more than 100 foods (from bulgar to carrots) and the diseases or physical conditions that are helped or hindered by diet. The authors identify scientific and quasi-scientific links between food and disease-prevention, and offer helpful buying, preparation and cooking tips. Also provided are easy-to-understand nutritional charts, lists of food sources for vitamins and minerals, recipes and menu plans. In exalting the benefits to health of variety in eating, however, the authors neglect certain considerations. For example, they make no mention of the potential dangers in eating pollution-contaminated fish (especially swordfish or tuna), or the risk of hepatitis in eating raw clams, and dismiss too quickly the potential health hazards of estrogen replacement therapy when discussing ways to prevent osteoporosis in pre-menopausal women. A suggested reading list and citations for studies discussed here would have been useful to readers hungry for more information or left less than convinced. Illustrations not seen by PW. (May)