American Dietetic Association Complete Food and Nutrition Guide, 3rd ed, by R. L. Duyff. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons; 2007. Paperback, 659 pp.
The Complete Food and Nutrition Guide is an excellent and informative book on a wide range of aspects of nutrition and healthy eating. A comprehensive guide, written by an experienced Registered Dietitian for the American Dietetic Association, provides the consumer with sound nutrition and healthy eating advice for every stage of life.
The book is divided into 6 sections with the first section having 1 chapter on general food choices and fitness, the second section includes 7 chapters covering healthy weight and key nutrients with nutrition issues relating to them. In section 3, "Smart Eating: The Consumer Marketplace," 6 chapters give clear information and practical tips on "savvy shopping," eating at home, eating out of the home, planning meals, and safe food preparation. Section 4 covers healthy eating at various stages of life from conception to the senior years with discussion on nutrients and food topics specifically relating to these stages. Section 5 has 5 chapters on specific nutrition issues as they relate to special population groups such as athletes, vegetarians, and those with food intolerances or specific diseases requiring diet intervention including diabetes, osteoporosis, anemia, and raised blood pressure. Finally, the last section includes 1 chapter designed to assist the consumer in being able to judge quality of nutrition advice available through the media, internet, and personal nutritional counseling. The book is not referenced throughout the text but does include a chapter titled "Resources You Can Use" which is organized into topic areas enabling the reader to go directly to web sites or addresses of organizations relating to the specific subject area they may be interested in. The resources range from government organizations and food industry associations to nutrition newsletters.
The cover is inviting and colorful, but on opening the pages one initially feels it is overloaded with relatively small print text, having very few pictures and no color. This could be off-putting to some readers, however, once you dip into the book it quickly becomes apparent that it does have an easy to read format with lots of text boxes and bullet points giving key facts, useful tips, and great practical advice. In addition, some chapters include quizzes, goal setting tools, and nutrition "check-up lists." The reader can easily pick a topic, refer to the section or chapter, and quickly find practical advice enabling them to make good food choices.
I particularly liked the inclusion of questions and answers in the "Have you ever wondered?" boxes where the author deals with common queries and misconceptions such as "Have you ever wondered?" - "if free range chickens contain less fat?"; "if venison, rattlesnake, and buffalo are good choices from the meat and beans group?"; "why you feel thirsty after eating salty food?"; "if calcium supplements can substitute for dairy foods?"; "if you can breastfeed if you're sick?"; and so many more.
Overall, this is an excellent general resource book for dietitians to have on their bookshelf, with many practical ideas that could be useful when working with clients. It is also a book which can be highly recommend to those consumers interested in reading more about nutrition and health. If you are asked to recommend one book on healthy eating for today's living to your clients - this is the one!!
Bridget Wardley, MS, RD
Pediatric Dietitian and Consultant Chatham, New Jersey