FIGHT BACK WITH FOOD: Use Nutrition to Heal What Ails You

This comprehensive, beautifully illustrated volume thoroughly lays out a food arsenal for a healthier life. The first section contains a list of 50 "super foods" that range from apples to winter squash and are described as the foods that fight back; each has an explanation of its content, what it might help and how to maximize the benefit. Sidebars advise how to add more to the diet and "health bites" impart additional notes. The second section tackles the opposite angle by taking common ailments, describing their causes and how food might help and providing a food list to do so. The third section showcases the ingredients in the first section to provide treatment for section two. Recipes round out the final section, from Cod & Vegetable Stew (rich in beta-carotene, B vitamins, selenium, potassium and magnesium) to Mint-Chocolate Chip Pudding made with soy. With the thoroughness for which the series is known, the editors of Reader's Digest have provided an extensive volume that will appeal to a rapidly growing section of the population. (Jan.)