by Joy Feldman

MM Books, $21.95, 256 pages

This self-published volume is an updated, revised edition of the original 2009 edition. Joyful Cooking discusses healthy and nutritious eating at great length. The first 123 pages give detailed description of every aspect of the subject including what you should eat and what you should avoid. Turning to a two-page table on Recommended Foods reveals whether this book and recommended diet is for you or not. To mention a few of the foods to be avoided: all wheat products, soy, cakes, chocolate, ice cream, fruit juices, bacon, sausage and so on. A weekly suggested diet lists foods for five meals a day for both slow and fast oxidizing regimes. A chapter deals with healthy eating for pregnant women and one for children. All this information is useful but not checked for accuracy.

Unfortunately, the second half of the book providing recipes is a great disappointment. The recipes are unedited and filled with errors. The author did not follow the accepted recipe writing format; ingredients called for in instructions are missing, some listed under ingredients are not in the cooking steps, instructions are incomplete, sometimes ambiguous. The subject index is brief and inadequate; recipes are not included.


Reviewed by George Erdosh,