THE MEDITERRANEAN FARMER'S SON'S DIET

A board-certified surgeon offers a manual for how to live a healthier, longer life and look good after age 40.

In this volume, Taha argues that disease should be treated through the combined efforts of diet, exercise, nutrition and medication. The author grew up among farmers like his father, for whom daily life was built around physical labor and eating seasonally. As Taha, a Palestinian immigrant who came to the United States as a doctor, has aged, he has developed diabetes and eye problems, which have caused him to reflect on the differences between American and Palestinian lifestyles and health management. In this book, he targets middle-aged Americans, ill or not, aiming to show readers how to apply a Mediterranean farmer’s way of living in order to be healthier. Taha’s farmer’s diet is fairly simple and unfortunately proposes very little that is new; he advises to exercise, avoid sugar, utilize antioxidants and keep your brain active. This plan generally reinforces accepted ideas and just places them under Taha’s four W’s–walk, work, watch weight/waist, water–and four recommended F’s–fiber, fish, fruit and fat. The earlier chapters meander unnecessarily while delving into Taha’s personal health problems, the basic tenets of the farmer’s diet and from where it derives. It’s the later chapters that reveal the most valuable information, as the book moves away from personal narrative and acts as a compendium of foods. Each chapter focuses on a particular food group, including dairy, meat, beans, oil and whole grains, breaking each down in terms of their vitamin/mineral content, number of calories and nutritional benefits in relation to avoiding particular ailments. For example, red beans are high in insoluble fiber, which helps prevent colon cancer, constipation and more. Less interesting are chapters on stress and osteoporosis, which simply reiterate common knowledge, providing little in the way of innovative approaches.

Another compilation of nutritional facts rather than a fresh diet plan to add to the already stuffed category.