From the Publisher

If up until now you have relied on luck, genetics, and a few healthful practices to achieve this goal, SuperFoods HealthStyle will be your authoritative, engaging introduction to a new, better life. Like SuperFoods Rx, the authors’ bestselling book, HealthStyle takes the most recent, cutting-edge research on what lifestyle practices have actually been proven to achieve disease prevention and improve daily functioning -- both physically and mentally -- and translates this information into simple recommendations that you can use to improve your physical and mental health now and in the future.

Evidence abounds that total health is achieved via a network of efforts. You might guess that diet and exercise are important. Did you know that other factors like sleep and stress management can have just as much impact on your daily health and functioning? In HealthStyle Dr. Steven Pratt, dubbed "the Food Dude" by Oprah Winfrey, has expanded on his original thirteen SuperFoods and broadened his focus to include all aspects of health promotion. He covers such topics as:

• How ordinary spices like black pepper and cinnamon can make surprising contributions to health promotion
• What the latest compelling research shows about how poor sleep habits could be sabotaging your efforts at weight control, reducing your cognitive abilities, and impairing your overall health
• How achieving "personal peace" can prolong life and improve brain function
• Why dark chocolate, honey, andkiwi have joined the ranks of SuperFoods
• How the simplest imaginable exercise program can be the most effective
• Why paying attention to one simple aspect of eating could be the answer to weight control

HealthStyle is about extending the true quality of life. It’s about being as active at seventy as you are at thirty-five. It’s about helping to prevent osteoporosis, hypertension, and Alzheimer’s disease. It’s about ending the confusion about how people should exercise and how often. It is about making simple but significant changes to get the most out of life for the rest of your life.

Publishers Weekly

Pratt and Matthews follow their successful SuperFoods Rx by laying out a yearlong health program based on a diet incorporating the first book's 14 "best foods" plus additions like dark chocolate and kiwis, as well as lots of exercise, adequate sleep and other healthy habits. For each season, they describe proven benefits of foods in abundance then and provide recipes combining them; they also focus throughout on specific concerns like diabetes, portion control and stress. Readers may occasionally struggle with dietary jargon that isn't always well explained (e.g., "phytochemicals" and "cryptoxanthins"), and those new to the SuperFood way might be overwhelmed by the amount of certain foods they're supposed to eat (a cup or two of blueberries per day in summer; one-half to one cup of broccoli daily in autumn), but the advice is sensible and the authors make no incredible claims. The recipes, mostly simple, range from breakfast items to light entrees to desserts and show ways the book's recommendations can be put into practice. Pratt and Matthews's system is basically the age-old one of restraint: eat fresh food in moderation and exercise. (On sale Dec. 27) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Pratt and Matthews believe that "true health involves the whole you: Body, mind, spirit." This follow-up to their earlier Superfoods Rx expands the emphasis to cover not only diet and exercise but also stress reduction and the importance of sleep. The "superfoods" of the earlier book are reexamined and their effects on a wide variety of physical conditions discussed; recipes are included for each. An extensive bibliography lists the various studies and reports cited in the text, although the lack of specific footnotes makes matching the two difficult. However, the primary audience for a book like this one will probably not mind this omission. Overall, this is an excellent lifestyle manual telling how to incorporate healthy eating with the right variety of exercises, stress reduction techniques, and sufficient sleep. The superfoods hook will be a popular draw, so libraries can expect demand.-Susan B. Hagloch, formerly with Tuscarawas Cty. P.L., New Philadelphia, OH Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

• ISBN: 0641861087
  
• ISBN-13: 9780641861086
• Format: Hardcover, 334pp
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Pub. Date: December 2005
• Edition Description: Bargain
• Sales Rank: 41,453

• Read a Sample Chapter

Read a Sample Chapter

SuperFoods HealthStyle

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Though the poets may claim that April is the cruelest month, HealthStylers would no doubt pick December. And January, February, and maybe some of March. Winter can be hard on our health. We tend to be less physically active because inclement or cold weather keeps us indoors. We are tempted with holiday foods that we wouldn't dream of eating other times of the year. The days are shorter: Less daylight makes outdoor exercise a challenge while it promotes more TV watching and thus more snacking. Reduced sunlight affects our moods, making some of us less optimistic and less committed to health goals. Some of us even suffer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder), which makes reduced sunlight an actual health risk.

Don't despair! Winter does have its special beneficial rhythms. We seek warmth in winter -- of every kind. Winter draws us inward. We can seize opportunities to be more reflective. Long evenings encourage more family and social time -- time to reconnect and cherish the important relationships in our lives. Exciting new evidence demonstrates that these important social contacts keep us healthy as well as happy. The winter holidays are a time of spiritual renewal and give us an opportunity to connect with an often neglected aspect of health -- spirituality, or, as we discuss in HealthStyle, Personal Peace. Winter is a perfect time to take stock, make resolutions, and look to a healthier new year.

We're about to show you that you can come through winter in healthy style with new and reinforced good health habits. Winter is the time to focus on some new and delicious SuperFoods that will make achieving optimum nutritional health a pleasure. We've got some warming recipes that feature the winter SuperFoods along with some SuperSpices that have impressive health benefits. Just a sprinkle of cinnamon on your morning oatmeal could help control your blood sugar levels and have other positive effects on your health. Here's the really good news: Chocolate is a SuperFood. The beneficial polyphenols in chocolate make it a powerful health promoter. What could be a better winter treat -- for your health and your spirit -- than a mug of steaming cocoa twirled with a cinnamon stick? Who would have thought that this indulgence could have such positive effects?

Yes, winter can be a challenge for many of us, but it offers special opportunities, and if you adopt the recommendations of HealthStyle, you'll be able to savor the best of the season, improve your overall health profile, and be ready to greet spring in the best shape you've ever been in. You have three months: Make them count toward your better HealthStyle and your better future.

The goal of HealthStyle is literally to help you change your life. You've already taken the first step: You're reading this book. You might be mildly curious -- perhaps you'd like to lose a few pounds or eat more healthfully -- or you might be absolutely determined to improve your health because a condition or illness has made you realize that your HealthStyle is a life-and-death decision. It doesn't matter how you came to read this book; it should be comforting and encouraging to know that just by doing so, you're going in the right direction. Your goal is change. However, change isn't always so easy. Many of us have tried and failed before. This time will be different because, with the help of HealthStyle, you'll have different skills and constant motivation.

As the winter and the start of the new year are times of recommitment and resolution, it's useful to take a look at the process of personal change. If you are aware of all of the elements of effective change, you'll be more successful in your year of HealthStyle.

In a book published more than a dozen years ago, Changing for Good, three psychologists studied thousands of people who were able to alter their lives positively and permanently. The authors learned that change isn't dependent on luck or willpower as many of us believe. It is a process that can be successful if certain guidelines are met. As a doctor who actively works to promote health with his patients, I've always known that positive change isn't just a matter of willpower. I've seen too many patients who were determined and committed but who failed to achieve change in the long run for many reasons. Making positive, permanent change is a skill. You can learn how to do it. It's a gradual process of learning to know yourself, learning to set goals, maintaining motivation, and learning what tools you need to reach your goals. I find it useful in winter, when we're starting a new year, to take a close look at the process of change. It will help us as we go forward trying to improve our overall health and well-being.

Continues...

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Excerpted from SuperFoods HealthStyle by Steven Pratt Copyright © 2005 by Steven Pratt. Excerpted by permission.
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