Eat, Drink, & Be Merry: America's Doctor Tells You Why the Health Experts Are Wrong [Paperback]

Dean Edell (Author), David Schrieberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 16, 2000

No wonder. How often have you felt whipsawed by the experts, confused by conflicting advice, or torn with guilt over what you eat, drink, think? Prepare yourself for a shock: You can relax, enjoy life, and still be healthy.

Renowned for candid straight talk on radio and television, Dr. Dean Edell applies his unique common-sense perspective to America's growing obsession with health. Frank and iconoclastic, Dr. Edell walks readers through a lifetime of experience from deep inside twin worlds of media and medicine. As one of the first media doctors, he knows better than anyone the dangers of distorted medical reporting. With colorful detail, he shows how medical consumers are made neurotic at a time when people are healthier than ever before. Dr. Edell sorts through the morass of research, distinguishing documentable fact from panic-inducing fiction. With trademark humor, grace, and style, he shares with us the essential reassuring facts about our health: you can be fatter than you think; too much exercise might kill you; and yes, sex will add years to your life!

Did You Know That...

• People who crave ice chips may have a nutritional deficiency?
• Saturated fat may reduce the risk of stroke?
• Dementia appears to be less common among those who eat more fish?
• You can lose weight by fidgeting, chewing on a pencil, or drinking coffee?
• Sex can cure headaches?
• Playing an instrument is not only good for your mental health, it burns 160 calories an hour?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Whether you buy one health book a year or dozens, this book may well zoom to the top of your list. Fans of America's favorite radio doctor will delight in picking up the latest health facts delivered in Edell's typically irreverent and witty style. Go to the head of the class or become the hit of the party when you retell Dr. Dean Edell's stories of inaccurate media frenzies or dispense facts that challenge society's assumptions about overweight people, or even, gulp, the value of exercise for longevity. You'll also learn Edell's story of his journey from disillusioned medical student to hippie dropout to respected and entertaining media MD.

"One day you are told that eating rutabaga is the true path to everlasting health, and the next day you hear that rutabaga will rot your brain." Edell teaches you how to sort out information such as this. Want to lose weight? Follow the "Dr. Dean Shut Your Mouth Diet": Eat what you want, but less of it. Hate treadmills? Garden or walk in the park. Besides amassing scientifically supported facts about all varieties of health topics, Edell's book has a serious mission--to teach you to demand proof before you swallow a health fad, put yourself on a trendy diet, take your illness to the nearest alternative guru, or get spooked by media-induced or Internet-spread health scares.

Edell's main theme, as the title implies, is to enjoy life and not let the health cops control all your lifestyle choices--especially when they're usually wrong. --Joan Price --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Can this book possibly live up to its subtitle? After all, Edell hosts a national health-related radio talk show and is himself an acknowledged "health expert." Edell does not shatter conventional medical wisdom, but his engaging style and common sense make this an excellent overview of the keys to healthy living. Some of his recommendationsAthat fad diets don't work or that communication is the key to good sexAwon't come as revelations. But he covers an impressive number of bases, including nutrition, fitness, food safety, drugs, alternative medicine, even the quest for happiness. Edell backs up his recommendations with university studies and his personal experiences as a physician. Most chapters include summaries and checklists of the most important information. The result is a book that is both authoritative and user-friendly, mixed with a good dose of humor (the chapter on why sex is good for your health is called "There is a Santa Claus"). In the end, Edell may not prove all the health experts wrong, but he does deliver what he promises in his introduction: "common sense choices and options... always based on science."
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; 1 edition (May 16, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061096970
• ISBN-13: 978-0061096976
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #994,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't let facts get in the way of our beliefs? Hmmm!, November 21, 1999

By 

Joel F. Speiser (Toledo, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eat, Drink, & Be Merry: America's Doctor Tells You Why the Health Experts are Wrong (Hardcover)

This is a terrible book for close-minded, prejudiced,"don't confuse me with the facts -- my mind's made up!" typeof people, but an eye-opener for everyone else. Dr. Edell brings a degree of level-headedness and logic to our everyday lives that is refreshing, entertaining, and enlightening. Always willing to adapt to new circumstances and adopt new ideas, his overriding message can probabaly be summmed up in one simple phtase: "Show me the proof!"

While the author is a doctor and the book is about health, it is actually more about enjoying life thasn just living it. The subjects are interesting: drugs, diseases and, yes, sex (none of us would be here without it no matter how dirty you may feel it is, Dr. Edell points out); but the treatment of those subjects is what makes this book a delight to read. Cell phones causing brain tumors? Electric transmission lines causing cancer? Here we find not hype and hypervole, not ratings-boosting sensationalism, but simply a true and unbiased discussion of the scientific facts as we have them today. All this -- and it's a fun read too!

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sex, Weight, Health and Happiness, September 5, 2001

By 

"abalzak" (Amherst, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eat, Drink, & Be Merry: America's Doctor Tells You Why the Health Experts Are Wrong (Paperback)

Edell challenges his readers to think by providing mountains of medical research (in easily digestible form). His genuinely folksy charm pokes at our preconceptions. He offers alternatives and, without preaching, tells us why he belives that the media and the self-help gurus are driving us mad by inevitably trying to sell their own products whilst scaring and belittling us into cycles of depression, another fad, another depression.

Here's what the book recommends: Go out and mow the lawn (burns 486 calories); dance with partner (burns 288); garden (burns 587). Oh, and sex! Engage in it often, do what pleases you and your partner. Sex cures headache, raises cardio functioning, relaxes, induces feelings of well-being, and is a drug-free soporific. In short, do what you like, stay active and most of all, enjoy it.

One painfully kind chapter covers a group "unacceptable" fat women who must sneak off to swim when the pool's closed to regulars. (Apparently, they offend "regular" people.) This wonderful hour with the "chubs" sums up Edell's warmth and decency. It also lightens all our burdens by allowing us to enjoy this group's simple pleasure. They're sweet and fun; we see another option.

Here's Edell's essential truth on staying fit: "The relative risk occurs between the lowest level of fitness and the next lowest level of fitness." Thus, anything beyond moving from a sedentary, really bad diet to moderate exercise and a decent diet is somewhat frivolous--unles you take great pleaure in hours at the gym and drinking celery shakes. Being neither pushy nor dogmatic, Edell gives many examples-- backing up their veracity with medical data gleaned from credible, longitudinal studies.

The point here is that we've been struggling, emotionally and physically, to live up to various, ever-changing standards. We force ourselves into regimens that hurt, and ultimately, we fail. To Edell then, don't do it. You'll pay too heavy a psychological price.

Of course I recommend this book. Edell is still fighting for us. One hopes that we as a nation fight back against the neuroses-makers. That said, it's very tough giving it a five-star rating-- those are precious and to be rarely given. But, this a fine book for its genre, so five stars it is.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Common sense + science= happier, healthier you., May 28, 2000

By 

Darren C. Buckey (U.S.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eat, Drink, & Be Merry: America's Doctor Tells You Why the Health Experts Are Wrong (Paperback)

By utilizing straight talk and scientific studies, Dr. Dean has written an important and immensely readable health book without all of the BS that you find in others. He tells you what you probably already expect- you kookie "I'll just eat protein and fat until I drop 40 pounds or my kidneys fail" folks, and shows how you may be better off improving your mental health instead of yo-yoing your weight every summer. The book is a nice combination of fact and amusing anecdotes that keep the pages turning. So grab a carrot, turn off the T.V., and get MERRY.