 A Thumbs Down Book Review
Optimum Health
By Stephen T. Sinatra, MD
Review by Sally Fallon
Dr. Sinatra says to forgive yourself and avoid sugar, caffeine, MSG and processed foods--all good advice. But the rest of the book is the same old politically correct story.
Cholesterol comes largely from saturated fats, he says (absolutely wrong) and cholesterol levels above 200 pose a greater risk for heart disease (wrong again.) Saturated coconut and palm oil are frequently used in processed foods, he warns. Which planet is he living on? These healthy fats were pushed out of the food supply years ago by partially hydrogenated vegetable oils—never mentioned by Dr. Sinatra.
He promotes lots of phytate-laden whole grain and soy products; shuns whole milk, butter, cheese and red meats; tells us to remove the skin from chicken (which contains lots of the polyunsaturates he thinks are so good for us); goes after organ meats with a vengeance (which he says are loaded with saturated fats—wrong again); and waffles on eggs.
It's hard to see how more mistakes could be packed into 317 pages. Don't waste your money on this book.
About the Reviewer
 Sally Fallon Morell is the author of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (with Mary G. Enig, PhD), a well-researched, thought-provoking guide to traditional foods with a startling message: Animal fats and cholesterol are not villains but vital factors in the diet, necessary for normal growth, proper function of the brain and nervous system, protection from disease and optimum energy levels.
She joined forces with Enig again to write Eat Fat, Lose Fat, and has authored numerous articles on the subject of diet and health. Through her New Trends Publishing label, she publishes books on nutrition and health, such as The Fourfold Path to Healing (by Dr. Tom Cowan), Honoring Our Cycles (by Katie Singer), The Untold Story of Milk (by Ron Schmid) and The Whole Soy Story (by Kaayla Daniel). The President of the Weston A. Price Foundation and founder of A Campaign for Real Milk, Sally is also a journalist, chef, nutrition researcher, homemaker, and community activist. Her four healthy children were raised on whole foods including butter, cream, eggs and meat.
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