Review by Goldenharvey -- Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
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Goldenharvey
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Review by Goldenharvey -- Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
[Following is a volunteer review of "Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks" by Morton E Tavel, MD.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks: A Physician’s Advice by Morton E Tavel, MD is a nonfiction book that is exactly as the title claims, a book of every day advice having to do with health. His goal as he says is to provide “Health information to liberate us from ‘Snake Oil’.” This book is a go-to guide for everything from red wine to the best way to dry your hands to various scams in the food and drug industries.
Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks: A Physician’s Advice is separated into three sections. The first section, Tips, covers tips about food, drinks, and ways to keep your body healthy. This section is my favorite, with practical tips for keeping healthy and maintaining a balanced diet. There are loads of studies to support the information, even some helpful charts and links; such as a variety of links related to fish consumption safety. One especially interesting chapter discussed Some Foods to Avoid. This chapter was eye opening. For example, Dr. Tavel discusses Cold Stone Creamery’s sizes in this way “…the large ‘Gotta Have It’ (24 oz.) with 1,600 calories and 62 grams of saturated fat…is the saturated fat content of two 16 oz. rib eye steaks plus a buttered baked potato.” I thought this was both shocking and a hilariously accurate depiction of what you’re getting with two different food sources.
The second section, Myths, deals with a variety of common myths that most people are aware of or believe in. For example, in chapter 34 Some Irrational Fears Never Die, Dr. Tavel dives into facts and myths related to immunizations. This is an extremely hot topic for parents and I thought the information was interesting and valuable.
Dr. Tavel then discusses Tricks. This section of the book was my least favorite. It mainly discussed supplements, the use of famous athletes and media “doctors” to pawn ineffective or even dangerous fads and supplements, and the use of alternative medicine; such as chiropractic care or acupuncture. I may be biased, because I DO buy into some alternative medicine, however, this section felt like a long rant to me. Although there are some valid points included, especially in terms of buying supplements, I felt that the majority of this information was common knowledge. Additionally, there is a very clear bias against “Eastern medicine” in this section. This is a portion of the book where anyone who reads it will have to decide for themselves if alternative medicine truly is a “quack” trick to take buyers money or truly works. That’s up to the reader!
I believe this book will be helpful to anyone looking for easy tricks to better their health backed up by science. Additionally, this is a great book for parents. It covers things that can be helpful for you as a parent in keeping up with healthy habits and general health. For example, I really appreciate chapter three, Some Foods to Avoid because it is very eye opening, in terms of common foods we pick up at the store that have hidden fat content. And of course, I love chapter 6, Chocolate. This was a fun chapter with interesting tidbits, and definitely encouraged me to have some of the dark stuff around. One of the most informative chapters for me was chapter 37, Genetically Modified Food and Mass Hysteria. As a person who was raised to think of organic as the best and most wholesome version of foods, this chapter was shocking to me. It definitely changed some of my opinions about GM foods.
I would give this book 3 out of 4 stars. Overall, I feel this book was very relatable to the average person. I learned quite a few new things. The scientific data and studies included in this book are cited and valid. I also feel that there are many common sense tips to help me and my family in daily life. It is a good book to keep handy on the shelf. There are a few grammatical errors, which did not take away from the purpose of the text. However, when I downloaded my digital copy of Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks: A Physician’s Advice, the title did not say this, it said “Tips, Myths, and Rips: A Physician’s Advice”. Again, this did not detract from the work, but did bother me. I enjoyed reading this book and learning some new things.
******
Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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3 out of 4 stars
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Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks: A Physician’s Advice by Morton E Tavel, MD is a nonfiction book that is exactly as the title claims, a book of every day advice having to do with health. His goal as he says is to provide “Health information to liberate us from ‘Snake Oil’.” This book is a go-to guide for everything from red wine to the best way to dry your hands to various scams in the food and drug industries.
Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks: A Physician’s Advice is separated into three sections. The first section, Tips, covers tips about food, drinks, and ways to keep your body healthy. This section is my favorite, with practical tips for keeping healthy and maintaining a balanced diet. There are loads of studies to support the information, even some helpful charts and links; such as a variety of links related to fish consumption safety. One especially interesting chapter discussed Some Foods to Avoid. This chapter was eye opening. For example, Dr. Tavel discusses Cold Stone Creamery’s sizes in this way “…the large ‘Gotta Have It’ (24 oz.) with 1,600 calories and 62 grams of saturated fat…is the saturated fat content of two 16 oz. rib eye steaks plus a buttered baked potato.” I thought this was both shocking and a hilariously accurate depiction of what you’re getting with two different food sources.
The second section, Myths, deals with a variety of common myths that most people are aware of or believe in. For example, in chapter 34 Some Irrational Fears Never Die, Dr. Tavel dives into facts and myths related to immunizations. This is an extremely hot topic for parents and I thought the information was interesting and valuable.
Dr. Tavel then discusses Tricks. This section of the book was my least favorite. It mainly discussed supplements, the use of famous athletes and media “doctors” to pawn ineffective or even dangerous fads and supplements, and the use of alternative medicine; such as chiropractic care or acupuncture. I may be biased, because I DO buy into some alternative medicine, however, this section felt like a long rant to me. Although there are some valid points included, especially in terms of buying supplements, I felt that the majority of this information was common knowledge. Additionally, there is a very clear bias against “Eastern medicine” in this section. This is a portion of the book where anyone who reads it will have to decide for themselves if alternative medicine truly is a “quack” trick to take buyers money or truly works. That’s up to the reader!
I believe this book will be helpful to anyone looking for easy tricks to better their health backed up by science. Additionally, this is a great book for parents. It covers things that can be helpful for you as a parent in keeping up with healthy habits and general health. For example, I really appreciate chapter three, Some Foods to Avoid because it is very eye opening, in terms of common foods we pick up at the store that have hidden fat content. And of course, I love chapter 6, Chocolate. This was a fun chapter with interesting tidbits, and definitely encouraged me to have some of the dark stuff around. One of the most informative chapters for me was chapter 37, Genetically Modified Food and Mass Hysteria. As a person who was raised to think of organic as the best and most wholesome version of foods, this chapter was shocking to me. It definitely changed some of my opinions about GM foods.
I would give this book 3 out of 4 stars. Overall, I feel this book was very relatable to the average person. I learned quite a few new things. The scientific data and studies included in this book are cited and valid. I also feel that there are many common sense tips to help me and my family in daily life. It is a good book to keep handy on the shelf. There are a few grammatical errors, which did not take away from the purpose of the text. However, when I downloaded my digital copy of Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks: A Physician’s Advice, the title did not say this, it said “Tips, Myths, and Rips: A Physician’s Advice”. Again, this did not detract from the work, but did bother me. I enjoyed reading this book and learning some new things.
******
Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Goldenharvey's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks" by Morton E Tavel, MD
