THE NEW PRITIKIN PROGRAM: The Easy Way to Shed Fat, Lower Your Cholesterol and Stay Fit

Once considered dangerously extreme, long since vindicated as a healthful regimen, the Pritikin program now seems just a slightly stricter version (no coffee, only ten percent of calories from fat--and that includes fish oils) of the many mainstream guides based on officially endorsed diet/exercise programs. And the whole approach of the present book, by Nathan Pritikin's son and heir as director of the Pritikin Longevity Centers, is to assure readers that it's not that difficult. Instead of emphasizing the rigor, Robert Pritikin offers alternative dishes and exercise programs and holds your hand through food shopping, menu planning, dining out, dealing with family saboteurs, and choosing exercise gear. And while the recipes, designed to entice followers intolerant of the whole-grain-and-sprouts route, won't win any culinary awards, they succeed in conforming to the rules (a ratatouille uses a little soy sauce [!] but no oil) while avoiding any aura of diet or hardship. A friendlier Pritikin, then, inviting lifetime commitment.