Customer Reviews

Nutrition Almanac, Fifth Edition

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is about half the size and has about half the information contained in the fourth edition of book with the same name. Get the fourth edition from the same publishers...get much more value for your dollar...and your health!

If you are looking for a handy reference that allows you to easily look up nutrition information than you'll want to consider this book. The author presents the material in a straight forward manner and the back of the book contains lots of helpful charts and data, as a vegetarian I found to be particularly useful.

I've used the Nutrition Almanac, Third Edition, for years. This 'new' addition has very few updates compared to the third. It feels like it's written by someone working strictly with Western Medicine, even though it does give a person direction to some Natural treatments for the listed ailments. Also the book does not go too deeply into describing any vitamin or mineral.

On the positive side, the Table of Food Composition is nice to use, even though it is incomplete. And the layout of the book is quite nice, making it easy to use compared to smaller books.

What I like most about the book is the fact that the author is totally unbiased. He is not trying to sell a diet plan or food supplements or promote anything except solid facts. The author provides detailed tables, charts, etc. on nutrition and health which you can incorporate into your own personal health plan. As a bodybuilder, I found this data valuable in planning my workout routine as well as my nutriitonal plan. If you're looking for sound information on nutrition minus the myths and sales talk, this is the book for you.

I bought this book based upon the Amazon reader recommendations I found here. Now I feel obligated to set the record straight.

While parts of this book are thorough, with lots of hard numbers [though it's difficult to figure out what they mean in a practical sense, and the charts are not lined to assist in their reading], it is also riddled with new age foolishness as directly presented as fact as RDA recommendations -- including homeopathy, aroma therapy, etc. The book's organization leaves me with questioning its entire content. It is also not nearly as complete as I might have hoped in listing nutritional content, leaving out more unusual fruits and vegetables, and glossing over different cuts of meat as largely the same.

It also gives far out of date [at least 20 years?] recommendations for treatment of various diseases and maladies. The treatments I'm aware of, again raise questions about the others.

I will continue my search for thorough -- and scientific, a.k.a. proven, not just testimonial and/or based upon one flawed study -- nutrition elsewhere.

Don't buy this book if you are looking for a Calorie Counter. This book is a good reference for a Nutritionist or Professional Practitioner, but not for every-day use for diet management.

If you are trying to manage your diet, you will do better with a pocket sized or handy calorie counter book, like

If you need hard data on foods, relationship between exercise, diet and health, information on treatments, and scientific basics for preventing illness through proper nutrition, you may find this book useful.

In my opinion the 3rd edition seems to have more detailed and useful information than this 4th edition of the book. It caught my attention that the book has kept the same title, but the authors have changed from the previous editions.

If you are looking for a detailed reference on vitamins, minerals, and supplements (which this book doesn't cover properly), you may find the "Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements: The Essential Guide for Improving Your Health Naturally" an interesting complement for this book.

This book is an educational tool on how to take care of your body with foods and nutrition. It shows how preventative measures that food and vitamins can do to your life. Read and live by it!

If you really want to approach your eating habits armed with well-rounded information, you need this book. It not only gives you calorie counts, but also breaks down the carbs, the protein, the sodium, etc. Excellent source to make wiser food choices.

This is one of the best, informative books for anyone looking for diet guidelines. It shows actual portion sizes, calorie count, carbs, proteins and fats. Great book............