A Few Books on Nutrition to Add to Your Shelves : Dietary Guides and Cookbooks Provide Needed Food-Related Information

Following are reviews of books on health, which are recommended for those who find need for them.

Eating on the Run by Evelyn Tribole, registered dietitian (Life Enhancement Publications: $8.95, paperback, 131 pp.)

This book is an eye-opener for people eating on the run, especially if nutrition is sacrificed more often than not. Of all the valuable information--not least of which are meal planning strategies including 24 recipes for dishes that can be prepared in only one minute-- the chart listing calories and fat of fast foods served in nine major fast food restaurant will probably give readers their money’s worth.

And you’ll be surprised at how caloric and fatty the most healthful-sounding foods are. For instance, fried chicken in form of nuggets, strips and pieces or a sandwich fillet has the majority of its calories supplied by fat.

“Likewise, fish, another nutritious-sounding alternative, becomes heavy in fat and calories if it is fried,” Tribole said. Tribole also warns against the high calories of potatoes when tampered with. “Once potatoes are crowned with cheese, bacon, sour cream and chiles, the calories are more than doubled and the fat level is increased by 100-fold,” she said.

The nutritional pitfalls are many, but the chart helps the consumer make wise choices by glancing at the calorie and fat counts before they buy.

Tribole also tells you where the best nutritional bets are when you dine out, according to an American Heart Assn. recommendations list. (Arby’s, Denny’s, El Pollo Loco, Hungry Tiger, Houlihan’s, Skinny Haven, Sizzler and Marriott Hotel restaurants are the winning group.)

Tribole also helps readers reorganize the pantry, drawers, countertops and refrigerator to help save time when searching for implements and food. Tips on prepping foods or buying them prepped also help save time. There is a section on getting the most (nutritionally) from frozen dinners by learning to read labels critically. There is a frozen food calorie, fat and sodium content chart, which will help make the selection of frozen food items more sound. There are guidelines for weight control and reducing fat and salt consumption, plus up-to-date information on vitamin and mineral requirements.

A nice package of information from an authoritative source for anyone, whether on the run or not. Tribole teaches at Cal State Long Beach and has a nutrition counseling practice. She received a national award as 1985’s Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year for her professional accomplishments.

To order the book, write to Life Enhancement Publications, P.O. Box 5076, Champaign, Ill. 61820. Send $8.95 (Illinois residents add 6% sales tax), plus $1.50 for handling and postage charges. (If ordering more than one book, send 50 cents postage and handling for each additional book.)

Or you may call (800) DIAL-HKP or (800) 334-3665 in Illinois.

Fit and Fine: The Registered Dietitians’ Healthy Cookbook by Anne Bradford, registered dietitian (California Dietetic Assn.: $10, ring-bound paperback, 208 pp., illustrated)

If you are trying to lower risk of heart disease or cancer, or trying simply to lose weight or maintain your present weight, a look at “Fit and Fine” will probably do you good.

As a publication of the California Dietetic Assn., the approach toward better health through diet and recipes that are naturally low in fats, cholesterol and sodium, can hardly do wrong.

The book starts off clarifying the facts about fats, cholesterol and sodium, with recommendations that unless you are on a severely restricted cholesterol regimen you do not need to eliminate eggs, which are nature’s nutritional package in a shell.

The book also gives an easy way to remember the most common polyunsaturated oils. The recipes are indeed low in fat and cholesterol and sodium, with attention paid to good taste, as well. There is, for instance, a better than average group of recipes to give any diet a lift: curried cashew spread (instead of peanut butter), a vegetable tostada, tofu salads, quiche made with low-fat cottage cheese and milk, Greek-style spinach pie made with feta cheese, plus a good roster of healthful, low-calorie, sweet things, such as apple bread pudding, frozen yogurt pops, sugar-free fruit crumbles, eggless honeycake and others.

Best of all, you’ll find hard-to-get recipe substitutes, such as mock sour cream made with lower caloried hoop cheese, a pancake syrup with almost no sugar, a cream cheese substitute made with non-fat milk, farmer’s cheese and plain nonfat yogurt.

A good bet all around. The book can be ordered through the California Dietetic Assn. Los Angeles District, P.O. Box 3506, Santa Monica 90403. Send $10 (California residents add 6 1/2% tax charge), plus $2 for shipping and handling. Make out check or money order to CDA Los Angeles District.

The Culinary Kid: A Nutrition Guide & Cookbook for Parents & Kids by Sheila Flynn-Esquivel, registered dietitian, and Valerie Orleans (St. Joseph Hospital: $7.95, ring-bound paperback, 157 pp., illustrated)

The nice thing about this book is that it goes beyond recipes (which are, indeed, healthful enough for the entire family to enjoy and easy enough for children to help prepare) and provides common-sense advice on all sorts of topics. There are discussions on easy foods for tots and teens to handle, nutrition tips for busy people, frozen convenience foods, eating well while eating out, dangerous diets and healthful alternatives, foods for sick days and eating for athletic competition. Making cooking and mealtimes fun for both parents and children is the crux of the book. And that it does well.

You have, for instance, simple-to-do chicken drumsticks made with soy, honey and chili sauce, and health cookies made with dried fruit, oats, walnuts, seeds and coconut that Mom loves to serve and kids would love to help make.

We like the list of vitamin-rich foods for Vitamin A, C, calcium and iron, which are the vitamins for growing children to watch in their diets. They can see, for instance, that meats (especially liver), breads and cereals, fruit (especially dried ones) and vegetables (especially green leafy, soy beans, lima beans, lentils and kidney beans) are loaded with iron.

For copy of the book, send $7.95 (California residents add 6% sales tax) plus $2 postage and handling per book to St. Joseph Hospital, Community Health Education, 1100 W. Stewart Drive, Orange 92668.