Review by Natalie Charlene -- Health Tips, Myths, and Tr...

[Natalie Charlene]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks" by Morton E Tavel, MD.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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These days it seems like the media is constantly bombarding us with information regarding our health and what we should and should not be doing. Talk shows promoting energy healing, advertisements for the latest drug, “miracle” fat-burning pills—all of this information is shoved in our faces, but how can we tell between which are phony or dangerous and which are legitimate?

In his book, Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks: A Physician’s Advice, Morton E. Tavel, MD, provides an abundance of facts to help you live a healthy lifestyle and avoid money-making scams and risky fads. Whether you are a health-nut or if you are just looking for a few tips, this book has something for you. From safe weight-loss to disease prevention, and from dangerous supplements to over-priced pharmaceuticals, Dr. Tavel covers it all.

Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks, is divided into three different sections—tips, myths, and tricks—which make navigating the book simple if you want to read up on specific topics. However, Dr. Tavel’s writing style show humor and his fun personality, making this highly-informational book a pleasure to read from beginning to end.

I like to think of myself as a health-conscious person, and I try to always research what is best for my body. While reading this book, I learned a wealth of information on a wide variety of topics, which I have been implementing in my day-to-day life. Aside from detailed, and sometimes shocking, facts, two things stuck out to me throughout this book. First, Dr. Tavel provides the details to all of the studies that he references, so readers can do their own fact-checking, and he encourages his readers to be more critical. I completely agree with his idea that the public is often not skeptical enough when it comes to segments and stories about health, and they often blindly believe in fad diets and new pills without looking into the real facts. Secondly, I was surprised at how fun and easy this book was to read, while still maintaining its educational purpose. The voice Dr. Tavel brings to his writing makes this book hard to put down.

Though I did thoroughly enjoy reading this book, there were a few times I found myself to be disappointed. Dr. Tavel tended to be a little vague and one-sided when it came to alternative medicine, lumping a wide array of topics, such as nutrition therapy, energy healing, and acupuncture into one section, disagreeing with their practice, and not discussing potential individual pros or cons. Also, I found multiple grammatical flaws and issues with the continuity in the layout of the chapters and style of writing. For instance, the cover page and headers throughout the book read, “Tips, Myths, and Rips,” instead of, “Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks,” which left me a bit confused on the title.

I am giving Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks: A Physician’s Advice 3 out of 4 stars. Although there are some errors in the writing and some details left out, this book provides excellent information, and I have applied what I’ve learned in my own personal life. I highly recommend Dr. Tavel’s book to anyone who is interested in their long-term health and who wants to learn tips about how to sort through the confusing and conflicting messages regarding health that are dangled in front of us every day.

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Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
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[Toria Mason]

It's great that they include sources, research, and encourage the readers to learn things themselves. I try to do research on things a lot, especially where health and safety is concerned. It is unfortunate, though, that they disregard what they term "alternative" medicine, as those are the areas I would care the most about.