Edell Also Tends Your Funny Bone

Eat, Drink & Be Merry

by Dr. Dean Edell

Harper Audio; abridged nonfiction; two cassettes; length, 3 hours; $18.

Read by the author. Available in bookstores or by calling (800) 331-3761.

If all health-care gurus were as entertaining as Dr. Dean Edell, their audios would be flying off the shelves. In fact, no other health-care audio could come more highly recommended than his latest.

Many audios in this genre simply do not work, as they consist of pie charts and lengthy lists that are better read than heard. However, Edell’s audio is much akin to sitting through a sensible, educational and entertaining lecture. It is one of the few, if only, health-care audios I am saving for repeated listening.

Edell is a sensible and witty man whose views may be a bit too radical and outspoken for some consumers, especially his rather liberal stance on mind-alter- ing substances. However, his advice is quite sensible, and he backs up many of his statements with study results. He corrects myths about diets, beta-carotene, germ phobia and more. He is especially sensitive to the media scares and sensations caused when partial studies or incomplete data are released to the public.

Even more importantly, Edell is amusing, and therefore his advice is memorable. The doctor’s diet plan? “Eat whatever the hell you want, just eat less of it.” His stance on yo-yo dieting? It is “the rhythm method of girth control.”

His approachability and dry humor make him easy on the ears. With much experience as a radio personality, he easily conveys his emotions, though sometimes he conveys them too quickly. This is a problem only occasionally, but it is a problem, as one can sometimes hear him gasping for breath as he hurries on to his next sentence. However, it does not interfere with this former hippie’s delightfully irreverent humor and sensible approach to the hype and hoopla of medicine.

While we hope he slows down next time he is in the studio, let us also hope his material is released unabridged. The printed version of his book is filled with personal and anecdotal stories that never made the cut to audio. They should have.

*

Foods That Fight Pain

by Dr. Neal Barnard

Random House Audiobooks, abridged nonfiction; two cassettes; length, 3 hours; $18.

Read by the author. Available in bookstores.

*

Neal Barnard, author of “Eat Right, Live Longer” and “Food for Life,” details the healing power of foods in his latest audio. Though his writing style is accessible, the information in this audio is rather dense.

The chapters cover a wide variety of health problems, such as the foods that trigger migraines and allergies. However, listening to the audio is much akin to listening to the introduction to a more complete book. For instance, he lists the “dirty dozen” of foods that trigger migraines. Are we to jot this down as we listen, or rewind each time we need a reference?

Though Barnard’s voice is a tad high and not what you would think of as rich, he has clear diction and an easygoing manner. Also, his material is soundly backed up by an extensive list of clinical studies. However, this information is listed only in the printed version of the book.

Also missing from the audio are 75 pages of recipes and a list of ingredients helpful to anyone in need of an alternative to problematic foods, such as wheat or milk. Such a list wouldn’t have lent itself to audio, but consumers seriously interested in foods that might help fight cancer pain or reduce joint swelling are much better off with the original material.