Review

Sensible and dispassionate

The Oxford Book of Health Foods
JG Vaughan and PA Judd
Oxford University Press, 2003. £19.99

This is a very attractive, beautifully illustrated volume on a popular topic. It has the appearance of a ‘coffee table’ book and might well tempt a bookshop browser looking for a gift. But this would be to sell its contents short.

Its authors are highly respected academics, who have approached their subject systematically. Each item has information on origin and cultivation, and a description of the plant. This is followed by ‘culinary and nutritional value’, ‘claims and folklore’ and a brief section that puts this book into the academic rather than coffee table bracket – ‘evidence’.

The authors pull no punches, and if evidence is scanty, inadequate or simply non-existent, they say so. This is also true of the sections on ‘culinary and nutritional value’. A thorough introduction, a glossary and index support the information offered in this highly user-friendly book.

In a society where so much hype surrounds health foods, and we are encouraged to spend fairly large amounts on them, it is a pleasure to find a book that deals sensibly and dispassionately with each item in a no-nonsense way. If a gift is what you are looking for, it will more than fit the bill, but if you are a serious student of health food and nutrition, you might want to treat yourself to this one.