 A Thumbs Down Book Review
Protein Power
By Michael R. Eades, MD and Mary Dan Eades, MD
Review by Sally Fallon
Protein Power is a step in the right direction, but a very small step. The Eadeses argue that we need good quality protein in the way of meat in our diets, and that we should cut back on sugar and hydrogenated fats--but beyond that good beginning, the book is a tissue of mixed messages.
The authors recognize the fallacies of the notion that foods containing cholesterol cause heart disease, but buy into the shaky HDL-LDL hypothesis. They say that butter is a good fat and red meat and eggs are fine, but then go on to warn against foods containing arachidonic acid (like butter, eggs and red meat), which they wrongly assert contribute to heart disease.
Most puzzling is their stand against flax and other oils rich in the omega-3 essential fatty acids, which they accuse of contributing to heart disease--hard to believe since the great increase in heart disease in this country has occurred during a period when the omega-3s have largely disappeared from the American diet.
Equally strange is their endorsement of soy foods, after pages on the virtues of meat.
The Eadeses offer an array of desserts sweetened with Nutrasweet, suggest lining baking sheets with aluminum foil and think the microwave oven is fine. They lack basic understanding of the importance of whole foods and proper preparation techniques.
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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