An urgent wake-up call about the hidden dangers of fad diets.
In this debut guide for physicians, a medical doctor argues that saturated fat is killing people and that health care workers aren’t doing enough to educate patients about its dangers.
Trendy diet plans, such as the ketogenic and Atkins diets, have promised to help people shed pounds while loading up their plates with steak, butter, and cheese. But there’s a problem, argues Allen, a family practitioner and a member of the American Board of Obesity Medicine: An overwhelming body of scientific evidence indicates that a diet high in saturated fat raises bad low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol, and can lead to serious ailments, including Type 2 diabetes, dementia, heart disease, and gout. However, through a combination of clever marketing and faulty studies, Allen asserts, the food industry has “worked hard to distort the truth,” convincing people that foods such as eggs and coconut oil are unambiguously healthy. Popular diet gurus and news media willing to report the results of any scientific study don’t help, but doctors share a big part of the blame, he says. They can help by not only talking frankly to patients about their diet, but also modeling good behavior: “As healers, our disdain for saturated fat needs to be nearly as pervasive and persistent as our contempt for cigarette smoking,” Allen writes. Some readers won’t want to hear the author’s blunt message that everyone should limit their saturated fat intake to 6% of their daily calories. (He cites a 2017 American Heart Association study that lists the current average for Americans as nearly 12%.) A vegan himself, Allen cites a mountain of evidence that significantly cutting back on animal products and eating more fruits, vegetables, and grains is better for long-term health—and that evidence is indeed persuasive. He also clearly highlights flaws in research that purports to show the benefits of a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. Vivid examples, such as a discussion of the heart attack that killed Emmy- and Golden Globe–winning actor James Gandolfini, effectively drive the author’s point home. Although this book is written for other doctors, its no-nonsense, conversational style will make it equally accessible to readers who aren’t medical professionals.
An urgent wake-up call about the hidden dangers of fad diets.Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5445-0336-3
Page Count: 236
Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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