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WELONGEVITY DIET

Name: WELONGEVITY DIET
Author: Asunta Simoloka
ISBN: 978-1-4196-5560-9

by Asunta Simoloka ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 29, 2008

Sound but too clinical advice on diet and digestion.

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Not just another trendy diet book, Simoloka’s straightforward guide to digestive health is stripped of the gimmicky marketing and slick verbiage that make similar titles more sensational (though no more sensible).

Shifting the emphasis from quick-fix weight loss to overall wellness, Simoloka instructs readers on not just what to eat, but how to eat for optimal digestion and weight management. Debunking misconceptions about obesity (asserting that it is the composition of fat that matters), she is simplistic, if not practical, about the role of waist size. As a counterpoint to Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution and its protein-obsessed followers, the author maintains the importance of carbohydrates to digestion and suggests healthy, unrefined options. She may fail to engage readers seeking inspiration or anecdotes with her scientific approach. Instead Simoloka teaches the anatomy of food and illustrates the process of digestion, in a style that is more school textbook–complete with bland stock photography–than diet guide. Still, she is authoritative and thorough. Readers will glean why whole foods are best, why produce should be raw and the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats. The author rejects popular diet-book fare–particularly, the emphasis on feeling full–which lends credibility to her claims. She deftly handles the confusing territory of food-combining, presenting clear-cut rules, a meal structure pie chart, specific food examples and valuable portion and serving-size information. Although Simoloka’s assertions come without backing and her credentials are nowhere to be found, they echo nutritionists’ advice. Still, while six mini-meals a day may be manageable for most, other mandates–such as timing one’s water intake or remembering which foods must be paired with legumes–may be less practical. She’s likely to convince readers of the plan’s effectiveness, but their ability to put these steps into action is unclear.

Sound but too clinical advice on diet and digestion.

Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2008

ISBN: 978-1-4196-5560-9

Page Count: -

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

HEALTH & FITNESS

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FATAL ADVICE

HOW SAFE-SEX EDUCATION WENT WRONG

by Cindy Patton ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1996

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An idiosyncratic and somewhat incoherent investigation into sex education in the age of AIDS. Patton (English/Temple Univ.) explores our country's response to the AIDS crisis vis-Ö-vis education and prevention, concluding that it is both homophobic and racist. When only the homosexual subculture seemed at risk, contends Patton, little effort was expended by US public health officials on education. Only later, when it became obvious that heterosexuals, too, could become infected with the AIDS virus, was there any concerted effort to prevent its spread. But by identifying AIDS almost exclusively with gay males, public health officials gave heterosexuals a false sense of security, failing to provide ``the tools they needed to evaluate and reduce their own risk of contracting AIDS.'' By denying that their own sons might be engaging in sex with other men or injecting drugs into their veins, policymakers did little to protect their children. They preferred to perceive them as too innocent to engage in risky behavior. And since the homosexual population was considered already at risk, little effort was put into stemming the epidemic among gay youth. Youth of color, Patton states, were also neglected by policy makers, since they were viewed as ``unlikely to change their behavior or escape the environment that marks them as premodern.'' In addition to criticizing our country's approach to sex education, Patton assaults the media for its lack of integrity. She insists, for example, that the teenage sexuality of Ryan White (who contracted HIV through a blood transfusion) was overlooked, while Philadelphia's ``Uncle Eddie'' Savitz was unfairly condemned for transmitting the AIDS virus to large numbers of teenage boys. With its painfully stilted academic prose and suffocating atmosphere of political correctness, Fatal Advice isn't likely to convince those who have seen greater complexity in the matter of AIDS education. (10 illustrations, not seen)

Pub Date: May 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-8223-1750-8

Page Count: 184

Publisher: Duke Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1996

Categories:

HEALTH & FITNESS | SELF-HELP

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MAN TO MAN

SURVIVING PROSTATE CANCER

by Michael Korda ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1996

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A riveting, candid, first-person account of one man's encounter with prostate cancer. Every year some 200,000 men in this country are diagnosed with prostate cancer. In 1994, Korda, editor in chief of Simon and Schuster and a master storyteller (The Immortals, 1992, etc.), became one of them. He relates, doctor by doctor, test by test, fear by fear, how it changed his life. Initially referred to Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Prostate Cancer Detection Center in New York City, he began a learning process there that he shares honestly and clearly with readers. After interviewing both a surgeon and a radiologist and listening to the advice of prostate cancer survivors, he opted for surgery at Johns Hopkins. His surgeon was Dr. Patrick Walsh, inventor of a nerve-sparing technique for radical prostatectomy that offered Korda the hope of retaining sexual potency. Following surgery, however, it was not impotence but incontinence, with its stigma and potential for humiliating accidents, that became his major concern. Although Korda is amazingly frank in his discussion of his problems, male readers are likely to find his experiences more reassuring than alarming. Happily, by book's end, some nine months after surgery, he seems to be well on the way to living a normal life. While the book is as difficult to put down as a good thriller, Korda's account is notable for the amount of solid information about prostate cancer that he weaves into this very personal story. In Korda's view, knowledge is power, and he urges all men to learn as much as possible about prostate cancer before it happens to them. Not the final word on prostate cancer detection or treatment, but a great awareness-raiser and highly recommended for any man who has, or has ever had, a prostate. (Author tour)