THE LIVING HEART DIET

Sound, but routine: detailed advice on improving diet, focused on cardiovascular concerns. DeBakey & Co. build on a previous work (The Living Heart, 1977) in presenting this straightforward program: the background and rationale for the diet (low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-sodium, and lower-calorie) help explain the body's workings and why problems arise. The bulk of the guide is then given over to recipes and menus. While they meet the authors' criteria, readers may blanch at such fare as ""Mock Cream Cheese"" (created from 1 cup of low-fat cottage cheese and fl cup of margarine) or ""Sharon's Sherried Meatballs"" (ground beef, I cup of catsup, sherry, brown sugar). The authors include a special section on low-sodium diets (although sodium content is listed for all recipes throughout); and also set out a series of menus for ""Managing Your Diet""--first for the general regimen, then for low-calorie and low-sodium situations. DeBakey's celebrity apart, readers may prefer the creativity of Just What the Doctor Ordered, by Harriet Goodman and Barbara Morse, or the Pritikin guides.