Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies

by Frances Sizer, Ellie Whitney

CONCEPTS AND CONTROVERSIES focuses on the application of Nutrition principles while offering outstanding coverage of biochemistry and physiology. Its colorful design and conversational writing style make it appealing and accessible to students and has made it the leading Nutrition text for the non-majors or mixed majors/non-majors introductory course.

Genres: Nutrition, Reference, Health, School, Nonfiction, Food, Textbooks

570 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

AKA Frances Sienkiewicz Sizer
AKA Frances Sizer Webb (or Frances Sizer-Webb)

Reviews

[Katelyn Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty neat textbook! :)
Used it for a community college class two years ago, pulled it out for a refresher. It has some outdated information and some wacky photos seemingly unbelievable. Yeah. It is nice. I used it well over the years! (maybe get one of the newer editions... maybe, haha).

[Dmitry · Rating 3 out of 5]

(The English review is placed beneath the Russian one)

Это тот тип учебника, который будет интересен не всем. Т.е. книга понравится и будет интересна только очень узкой группе людей, которые каким-то образом связанны с данной темой, т.е. учатся на данном факультете или работают по данной профессии.

Если обычные книги по питанию посвящают всё своё пространство теме правильного питания, то в этом учебнике автор рассматривает вообще всё, что только может касаться этой темы. Т.е. в этом учебнике читатель найдёт довольно подробное описание работы кишечника и человеческого организма в целом, какое питание должны выбрать для себя спортсмены, пожилые люди, грудные дети, подростки и так далее. И всё это снабжено очень подробной информацией, в особенности как пища, которая потребляется данными группами людей, влияет на их организм. Я хочу подчеркнуть: книга даёт действительно крайне детальное описание, можно даже утверждать, профессиональный обзор, именно такой, который требуется тем читателям, которые собираются работать в данной отрасли или которые проходят обучение на данном факультете (к примеру, будущие врачи).

Огромное пространство книги отдано описанию витаминов, а также приводится детальное описание влияния каждого витамина на человеческий организм, как в случаи его нехватки, так и в случаи его избытка. В этом смысле, книга была интересна мне, ибо я не знал, к каким катастрофическим последствиям может привести переизбыток потребления синтетических витаминов. Плюс, давая описания каждого витамина, автор заканчивает главу списком продуктов питания, в которых содержится данный витамин. Как я понял, передозировка витаминами через обычные продукты питания (молоко, сыр, рыба и пр.) невозможна. Передозировка является результатом принятия витаминов в виде таблеток.

Разумеется, книга на протяжении всех глав снабжает читателя советами в выборе правильных продуктов питания и в этом смысле, она убедила меня покупать цельнозерновой хлеб. Книга настолько часто подчёркивает его пользу, что в итоге я решил покупать именно его. Так что да, из книги можно выудить советы по правильному питанию, однако книга всё же писалась не с этой целью. Это крайне важно, ибо я думаю, что всё эти советы по правильному питанию и важности цельнозернового хлеба можно найти и в обычных книгах по здоровому питанию. Эта же книга важна главным образом своим профессиональным подходом к теме человеческого питания в целом, т.е. это научный подход, цель которого – дать полный курс по данному направлению для всех тех, кто в своей будущей деятельности профессионально столкнётся с данной темой. К таким людям можно отнести врачей, тренеров спортсменов, медсестёр, сиделок и пр.

This is the type of textbook that will not be of interest to everyone. That is, the book will be liked and interesting only to a particular group of people who are, in some way, connected with the topic, i.e., who study in this department or work in this profession.

Whereas conventional books on nutrition devote their entire space to the subject of proper nutrition, in this textbook, the author covers everything that could relate to this subject. That is, in this textbook, the reader will find quite a detailed description of the workings of the intestine and the human body as a whole, what kind of diet athletes, the elderly, infants, teenagers, and so on should choose for themselves. And all of this is covered in great detail, especially how the food that is consumed by these groups of people affects their bodies. I want to emphasize: the book gives a really extremely detailed description, one might even say, a professional overview, just the kind that is required for those readers who are going to work in this industry or who are trained in this department (for example, future doctors).

A huge space of the book is given to the description of vitamins, and there is a detailed description of the effect of each vitamin on the human body, both in cases of deficiency and in cases of excess. In this sense, the book was interesting to me, for I did not know what disastrous consequences can result from the overconsumption of synthetic vitamins. Plus, while giving descriptions of each vitamin, the author ends the chapter with a list of foods that contain that vitamin. As I understand it, overdosing on vitamins through ordinary foods (milk, cheese, fish, etc.) is impossible. An overdose is a result of taking vitamins in pill form.

Of course, throughout the chapters, the book provides the reader with advice on choosing the right foods, and in that sense, it convinced me to buy whole-grain bread. The book emphasizes its benefits so often that, in the end, I decided to buy it. So yes, you can get good nutritional advice from the book, but that's not the purpose of the book after all. This is extremely important because I think that all this advice about healthy eating and the importance of whole-grain bread can be found in mainstream books on healthy eating, too. But this book is important mainly because of its professional approach to the subject of human nutrition in general, i.e., it is a scientific approach that aims to provide a complete course on this subject for all those people who in their future activities will encounter this topic professionally. Such people might include physicians, athletic trainers, nurses, caregivers, etc.

[Marian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-written, basic text book on the Standard American Diet (SAD), in complete lockstep with governmental guidelines. Lots of citations, but even government recommendations are changing so quickly the book is already out of date in some areas. I found an error in the discussion of tryptophan's side effects at high doses, where one of the side effects they listed was actually one for EMS (caused by a badly manufactured batch of tryptophan from Japan in 1989, not the tryptophan itself).

[G · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a solid textbook. I liked the format of it when viewed in the pdf/printed way but OMG- the dumb one section at a time thing that made me kinda mad at it.

Really interesting info and I like that it is based on Canada vs just the USA.

Definitely written more so for if you have a background in science so if you plan on taking this- have at least 1 grade 11 class of bio behind you to breeze through it. If not- then it will take a second longer to digest some of the more dense chapters but still doable as they talk about common social instances too

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a textbook for one of my classes and has been the only textbook I have actually entirely read. I loved all the information in it, and I kept the book for my home library for reference. It is a great book if you are looking for detailed information on vitamins, nutrients, and how they work in the body.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting to read. Lots of good advice. Some parts I disagreed with though. It seems nutrition is the never ending debate.

[Linda Le · Rating 5 out of 5]

easy to read book for intro to nutrition. i LOVED it

[H Gultiano · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you have to read this for school like I did, I'm sorry. This book can fill in some of the basics of human nutrition but for me it was more frustrating than informative: it assumed the reader was on the unintelligent side and only shared certain some information while being frustratingly vague about other things. It presented somethings as controversies but had clearly stated biases throughout, even in sections not labeled as controversies but presented as proven facts. I was happy to see that it included some reference to the individual nature of nutrition and health but there seemed to be a contradictory fatphobic, normative bias in the wording and the way fitness was emphasized (such as claiming a muscular, toned body is "attractive"). I was particularly taken aback and offended by the way umami was referred to as the "Asian word" for the taste it describes... This book has gone through many revisions and something as absurd as referring to Asian as a single culture and calling a Japanese word a word in a nonexistent, pan-Asian language is really red-flaggish to me.

If you're looking for a book for your own research, you're better off with any other researched source, even wikipedia.

[Sydnee · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good textbook but nothing more and some of the information seemed a bit outdated and in my opinion some of the info sounded like diet advice from the 80’s hahaha. But it got me through my nutritional science class so I guess I have to like it a little bit. 😂

[Iralia Figueroa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy reading and learning from this book. It was for my Nutrition class. Very informative.

[Lauren Popple · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this whole thing, so I feel like it should count towards my reading goal.

[Liz]

Had to read for school so no rating

[Steve Dorrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended book for anyone thinking about or studying nutrition. It isn't just the content, it is the ideas and background reading it provides. As with all nutrition books, by the time you start reading it, it will be out of date. Read it for what it is, a really well thought out book on nutrition. I actually bought copies for friends who were also interested in nutrition. I must admit that I only bought them second hand as a copy of a new one is extortionately priced.

[Carolyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Provides a large volume critical information, but scattered 'infobites' detract from the raw, necessary information to be memorized. Many a sciences textbook is plagued by the introduction of extraneous information, so as to 'excite' and 'relate to' the reader. Unfortunately, this does nothing but fatigue and overwhelm the eyes. Text was also ridiculously overpriced for what is received in the package.

[Freya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the pre-nursing prerequisite class for getting into nursing school, i.e. science-based nutrition. It was a good foundation class text. But this book doesn't take into account the science of what happens to different foods once inside the body and the combining aspects in the digestive process. So it's science-based, just outside of the body.

[Amy]

Let's hope this becomes the first class I actually finish since my official college career. I have started many since then and finished none.

Finish Ch. 10. Then, 12-15.

Well, finished the class, but not the book. This was so last year. Very readable for a textbook.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good first year textbook. Interesting, easy to read and explains things well. Only covers the basics.

[Gaylynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm reading this for a nutrition class I'm taking, but really enjoying learning more about nutrition and health

[Christine Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it for a class. Pretty basic, easy reading. Personally I would have preferred something with a little more depth.

[Hassanat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reading this book for one of my classes and I'm loving it :)

[Nichole Hunziker · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book! It boring with a capital yaaaaaawn!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book regarding nutrition and the human body and its processes. A lot of information on healthy food options and what nutritional value foods hold.

[Kaisa Mettille · Rating 4 out of 5]

good refrence

[Katelin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually found this book really interesting. Of course, I read it for one of my classes, but it was actually pretty awesome!

[Challis]

Let's be honest, I only really skimmed and read the sections of this I had to read for class BUT I'M STILL COUNTING IT.