Lite Reading ; Diet Books Measure Up When Tailored to Fit a Healthy Lifestyle

By MARY CONSTANTINE, constantine@knews.com

Walk down the aisle of your local bookstore, and you’ll find shelves of diet books, each one plugging itself as the magic bullet needed to trim your body.

“Enjoy food with flavor. Lose weight for life,” touts one cover, while another claims, “You won’t feel hungry. Lose up to 2 pounds a week.”

We asked Lee Murphy, community nutritionist at the Knox County Health Department, to review six newly released diet cookbooks for us. We also asked her what to look for when choosing a diet book.

“I think you are obviously looking for solid science, solid recommendations from research … with consistent data and things that work,” she said. “All the food groups should be incorporated in a healthy way.” She said the books to avoid are those that “throw red flags” by eliminating fruit and other healthy foods.

“We all have different personalities and different ways of looking at things, and whatever is going to work for you is what you need to do, as long as it’s in a safe way,” she said.

Murphy said it’s OK to have a goal to lose weight by spring or summer, but one must be willing to make lifestyle changes to accomplish the goal. “If you’re not changing lifestyle habits, it (weight) will creep back on,” she said.

* “Betty Crocker Win at Weight Loss Cookbook” by Dr. James Hill and Susan J. Crockett (Wiley, $24.95)

Murphy said this book gives great information for all families, especially working moms and dads, children who want to help in the kitchen and families with overweight children. It’s co-written by a medical doctor and a professor who is a registered dietitian and offers sound nutrition advice.

It encourages children to help in healthy food preparation and discusses healthy family weight-loss tactics. Murphy liked the photographs and helpful tips through the book but listed negatives as the lack of whole-grain items and the fact that some recipes call for processed ingredients that tend to be high in sodium.

* “SuperFoods HealthStyle. Proven Strategies for Lifelong Health” by Dr. Steven G. Pratt and Kathy Matthews. (HarperCollins, $24.95)

“SuperFoods” provides good information but is difficult to follow as a cookbook, Murphy said. It emphasizes exercise, stress reduction, adequate sleep and portion control in order to optimize what it calls “HealthStyle.” There’s a focus on specific “super foods” and their health-promoting benefits and discussion of research regarding certain diseases and nutrients for prevention. Recipes are listed in a seasonal format and include detailed nutrient analysis.

On the negative side, Murphy said, there aren’t many recipes, and many nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables are not mentioned, which could lead readers to assume those foods are not healthy.

* “The Road to a Healthy Heart Runs Through the Kitchen” by Joseph C. Piscatella with recipes by Bernie Piscatella (Workman Publishing, $14.95)

Written by a surviving coronary-care patient, this book is great for individuals with heart disease or those trying to prevent it, Murphy said. It discusses portion sizes, dietary guidelines for Americans and physical activity.

Murphy said it presents generally good, nutritionally sound information and discusses recipe modification, reading food labels and healthful tips for each food group. The recipes blend a Mediterranean-style diet with an American lifestyle, including a selection Murphy particularly liked on main-meal salads, sandwiches and wraps.

Her sole negative: no photographs with recipes.

* “Good Housekeeping: The Supermarket Diet” by Janis Jibrin (Hearst Books, $19.95)

Murphy calls this a great general diet book for those wanting a more structured plan. It’s written by a registered dietitian and advocates moderate carbohydrate, fat and protein intake. The book offers menu plans for three different calorie ranges — 1,200, 1,500 and 1,800 –and suggests a healthy weight-loss of 1/2 to 2 pounds per week.

“Supermarket Diet” walks its readers through a tour of a grocery store, complete with tips on reading labels and on foods to keep on hand, and encourages activity and exercise. Murphy’s negatives: It comes across as “gimmicky” although actually presenting fairly good information. It doesn’t reflect the importance of daily dietary fiber, and following specific menus for certain days might be too restrictive for some people.

* “The Sonoma Diet” by Connie Guttersen (Meredith Books, $24.95)

This book by a registered dietitian comes across a bit like a fad diet but generally offers healthy recommendations, Murphy said.

The recipes are Mediterranean-based, with an emphasis on whole grains, vegetables and fruits with minimal use of processed foods. The book incorporates a diet in three “waves,” with the first wave being a 10-day, very restrictive, low-carbohydrate, no-sugar approach. After that, it offers a more flexible menu, keeping certain food groups and portions limited.

“The Sonoma Diet” uses the “plate method” of measuring portions for each meal, complete with diagram. For example, dieters can choose from a breakfast with 25 percent grains and 75 percent protein or a bowl with 50 percent dairy and 50 percent grains.

Murphy said the book suggests certain food combinations and power foods that are ideal for the diet. Her negatives: It does not strongly encourage exercise, although it is mentioned, and the claim that one can receive a “trimmer waist in 10 days” may be misleading.

* “The California Wine Country Diet” by Haven Logan and Sharon Stewart (Quill Driver Books, $25)

This is a great book for the adventuresome cook, Murphy said. It encourages a pleasurable relationship with food while keeping dietary guidelines in mind. It uses “wheel of weight management,” a methodology including nutrition, physical activity, practicality, pleasure, relationships and variety.

Murphy said the book offers flexible plans for 1,200-, 1,600- and 2,000-calorie diets and strongly encourages activity. It’s not really a “wine diet,” as the name implies, though alcohol can be considered as an optional, discretionary indulgence. The book’s food choices, Murphy said, are eclectic and diverse, and restaurant recipes are included.

Murphy’s negatives are that the book’s nutrition pyramid seems to overemphasize plant oils at the expense of lean meats, legumes, fish and other healthy foods. In addition, some of the included foods and beverages may provide culinary pleasure but aren’t nutritionally necessary.

Mary Constantine may be reached at 865-342-6428.

DIET BOOK RECIPES

* Sunny lemon-raspberry muffins, mac and cheese, Italian white bean and spinach soup, and other recipes from diet books. E2