Davis '86 deciphers diet and nutrition claims

(Mria Dangerfield)

New book: Coffee is Good for You: From Vitamin C and Organic Foods to Low-Carb and Detox Diets, The Truth About Diet and Nutrition Claims, by Robert J. Davis ’86 (Perigee)

  The author: A health journalist, Davis teaches at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and also is the author of The Healthy Skeptic: Cutting Through the Hype About Your Health. He is the founder and owner of EverwellTV, which creates video content about health and wellness.     The book: Davis looks at the veracity of some of the most common diet and nutrition claims — ranging from green tea promotes weight loss to milk is necessary for strong bones. He offers tips to help people decipher diet and nutrition claims, including “ignore health claims on food packages and in ads,” and he outlines how to assess a scientific study. “My goal is to help you put scientific research to use so you can make informed decisions for yourself and your family,” he writes.   Opening lines: “Though food is supposed to be one of life’s simple pleasures, few things cause more angst and confusion. It’s no wonder why. We’re constantly being told which foods we should eat to be healthy, which diets we should follow to be skinny, which preparation methods we should use to be safe, and which chemicals and contaminants in food we should shun to avoid illness. It’s enough to give anyone indigestion.”   Review: Over the years many “dietary flip-flops from good to bad to good again, regarding everything from eggs to carbohydrates, have left the average consumer flailing in confusion. Thankfully, Davis, an award-winning health journalist, sorts it all out for us in this slender, handy guide to health and diet claims,” as he separates “fact from half-truth and fiction,” wrote a critic for Booklist.   Read more: PAW’s Nov. 19, 2008 story on Davis and his book The Healthy Skeptic.