Book Review

Joy Bauer's Food Cures: Easy 4-Step Nutrition Programs for Improving Your Body

By Joy Bauer, MS, RD, CDN, and Carol Svec Rodale 2007

Reviewer: Lona Sandon, MEd, RD, LD

Claims:

Healthful eating patterns and foods can help treat common chronic illnesses, improve your energy and mood and help you manage your weight.

Diet Plan:

You will not find a one-size-cures-all plan in this book, but rather individual chapters dedicated to nutrition strategies for meeting individual health goals. The book begins with the basics on getting started with healthy eating. From there, readers pick and choose the chapters that meet their needs, such as tips on eating for a healthier appearance; living stronger and longer with a variety of chronic illnesses; and using food to improve your mood when suffering from migraine headaches, irritable bowels and more.

Each chapter is based on scientifically sound nutrition information followed by a four-step program that includes a grocery list, meal plans and snack options, recipes and strategies to keep the reader on track.

Nutritional Pros and Cons:

Kudos to the authors for providing balanced meal plans and encouraging a wide variety of foods. No food group is off limits. Readers are taught to estimate their energy needs and choose the right amount of calories for their fitness level. Meal plans provide 1,300 calories to 1,700 calories, enough to get proper nutrition to fuel the body while maintaining a healthy weight.

Bottom Line:

This book offers a common-sense, fad-free approach to using food to improve your health and feel your best. The four-step program makes it easy for any reader to get started and keep going. Advice is specific and realistic and the book would be a great resource for RDs to help clients plan for healthy eating. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in nutrition and their health.