Books

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday April 12, 2007

Genevieve Swart

Chocolate could halve your chance of dying of a heart attack. Eating it while pregnant could make for a happier baby. It could even help combat a persistent cough. This is some of the happy news in Why It's Good For You, by Emma Young (Fairfax Books, $18.95), a mini encyclopedia with more than 100 entries, from adzuki beans to yoghurt. The book is based on a column in the Herald and while it features all the usual healthy suspects - including brussels sprouts, carrots and broccoli - there are a few surprises. Pasta, red meat and red wine have their virtues but also consider dining out with a clear conscience on snails (for vitamins A and D), seaweed (packed with more than 50 minerals) and oysters, which are high in zinc. Sadly, there is no evidence to support their aphrodisiac claims.

A better boost for the libido might be garlic, nature's Viagra, reveals The Truth About Food (Allen & Unwin, $39.95). This comprehensive and fascinating book is based on the BBC science series of the same name. In fact, author Jill Fullerton-Smith produced the show. Packed with science facts and fiction, it busts several myths, including the idea you have to drink two litres of water a day and that children get a "sugar high" at parties (plain excitement is the more likely culprit). There is also no evidence stringent detox diets have any positive effects, Fullerton-Smith writes.

The Best Life Diet, by Bob Greene (Simon & Schuster, $29.95) has a foreword by Oprah Winfrey - the American talk show host renowned for yo-yo dieting. However, Winfrey credits Greene with helping her realise she was using food to numb negative feelings. "Bob changed my life," she writes. An exercise physiologist, personal trainer and a regular guest on Oprah, Greene has a three-phase plan for losing weight, staying healthy and recipes for success. At the heart of his message is the idea a diet is not just for after Christmas, it's for life. The book also features Winfrey's seven-day food diary ("she averages about 1700 well-balanced calories daily") and such healthy recipes as chicken sausage jambalaya and apple rhubarb walnut crisp.

Also on shelves

* Creative Journal Writing, by Stephanie Dowrick (Allen & Unwin, $27.95). Learn how to liberate your curiosity, be creative, keep memories and express yourself.

* Design Ideas for Curb Appeal, by Megan Connelly (Creative Homeowner, $32.95) How to put on a good facade, with examples of exterior makeovers and advice on paint colours, landscaping and outdoor lighting.

Between the lines

Hatched, by Sloane Tanen (Bloomsbury, $19.95)

What's with the little toy chickens?

It's literally chick lit. New York artist Sloane Tanen dresses up toy chickens - the fluffy ones left over from Easter - puts them in silly poses and has them photographed.

Doomed to failure, clearly.

Don't count your chickens before they've ... Hatched! The big push from pregnancy to motherhood is quite funny. Tanen is also the author of Bitter With Baggage Seeks Same, a satirical take on single life.

Highlights?

A big-eyed chick with a microphone gazes out over a room full of empty chairs, with the caption, "Soukie was a loud and proud member of the VBWAC: Vaginal Birth Without Anaesthesia Club. But did anybody care? Anybody? Anybody?"

Sounds like a collection of greeting cards.

How about a celebration of absurdity? Or simply a baby shower gift to provide comic relief from rompers?

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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