Book review: Cholesterol Down by Janet Bond Brill

In Cholesterol Down, Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D., R.D., LDN has produced a diet plan with the aim of lowering cholesterol without drugs. Copiously documented, the book outlines nine diet and one lifestyle change that sound easy to adopt and lead to cardiovascular health.

The diet steps include eating oatmeal, almonds, flaxseed, Metamucil, beans, apples, margerine with phytosterols (plants' version of cholesterol), soy, and garlic. The lifestyle change is walking 30 minutes a day. Each chapter begins with a testimonial of someone who has used the diet and lowered their cholesterol. Many of these people are on cholesterol-lowering drugs and used the diet in conjunction.

Each of the elements of the diet have scientific studies to back up the claims to their cholesterol-lowering effects; Dr. Brill's innovation is this combination of them. She developed the approach to combat her own high cholesterol (which she developed despite eating well and exercising). Being a dietician, part-time academic, and lifestyle coach, she has the training to be able to design such a plan.

The book has a few preliminary chapters that explain the basic science of cholesterol, including the different between "good" cholesterol (HDL) and "bad" cholesterol (LDL). I was interested in it because my own total cholesterol was a bit high at my last physical, and I would like to avoid taking drugs if I can. In my case, I have very good HDL and a healthy HDL/LDL ratio but a slightly elevated total. I took the surveys she includes in the appendices and determined that my risk of heart disease is still quite small, which is reassuring.

Still, I was happy to hear suggestions for dietary changes I could make, and most are completely reasonable and easy. I already was eating almonds, which are now in vogue for their health qualities, and Cheerios (since I don't care for oatmeal), but I don't mind adding an apple a day (who could argue with that?). Some of the other suggestions, such as taking Metamucil and eating beans and garlic every day, seem like a stretch (not to mention having some social consequences!). Dr. Brill has no answer for smelling like garlic but advises that adding fiber slowly and using Beano can help alleviate any diet distress.

I found the science part, which in the introduction the author says one can skip, a bit repetitive, and I got tired of reading the zillions of reasons the recommendations work. The book could have been organized differently to avoid these issues. Regardless, it is an informative and relatively accessible read and includes a sample eating plan with accompanying recipes, which look good and sound pretty mainstream. (A few examples: curried lentil and potato soup, roasted asparagus with garlic, eggplant lasagna.) Product recommendations are very specific when appropriate, an most items can be found in regular grocery stores.

Only trying the diet will tell if it really works, but it sounds well-thought out and easy enough to adopt. What's there to lose in trying, but a little cholesterol?

Cross-posted to Blogcritics.

Book review: Consolation, by Michael Redhill

Consolation by Michael Redhill is a complex novel set in Toronto, both past and present. Masterfully written, the story has a strong sense of place and possesses a fluid concept of time, its elements unfolding like in a mystery. The overall arc of the narrative lacks cohesion, however, which keeps it from being the slam-dunk triumph it could have been.

When we meet protagonist John Lewis, he is engaged to Bridget Hollis, daughter of Professor David Hollis, a renowned forensic archaeologist. John was orphaned and raised by an aunt and uncle who could not treat him as their own child, leaving him unprepared for involvement in his fiance's family. He also is drifting in his career. He earned a degree in accounting, even though he had no interest in the subject, and now his job, such as it is, is doing research for a playwright with writer's block.

Early in the book, the Hollis family tries to deal with David's newly-received diagnosis of ALS. Bridget and her mother Marianne are are neither calm nor understanding, and, as David struggles with his worsening symptoms, mother and daughter become overly protective. David rebels against being so constrained, and John, whom David loves, supports him instead of trying to wrap him in bubble wrap to keep him alive.

David is a lover of history who believes it is a sin that modern people do not care about their heritage. In his last academic act, he wrote a book about a ship that went down in Lake Ontario near shore in the late 1850's carrying the original glass plates of a complete photographic history of Toronto at the time. He believed the ship became land fill and lies buried on the spot the city is excavating for a new sports arena. His colleagues at the university were interested his thesis, but when David refused to produce the diary on which his book is based, he became a laughingstock, and his concerns had no impact the plans for the arena.

The main action of the book takes place after David's death. As they watch the arena excavation and wait, John tries desperately to help Bridget and Marianne as he promised David he would. Interspersed among the episodes in the present is the story of Jem Hallam, an apothecary who arrived in Toronto in the 1850's. We follow Hallam's experiences in the rough, nascent city and begin to wonder if this is the man who wrote the diary David used for his book.

Consolation is beautifully written and makes many astute observations that I admire greatly. The historical story of Jem Hallam is absorbing and comes to a surprising conclusion. The modern story of John and the Hollis family is less than satisfying, however. Told mostly from John's point of view, it is filled with interesting thoughts but lacks the focus of the historical story. David is the most sympathetic figure, but we never really get inside his head. John is described as decent, which he appears to be, but his aimlessness infects the narrative. The Hollis women are portrayed in mostly unsympathetic ways. They are headstrong and touchy and they never really "get" John. Their confrontations with him feel staged and theatrical.

Be that as it may, Consolation is still an interesting and worthwhile read. If you already know the city of Toronto, you will come to see it in a different light. And if you have never been there, you will fell like you have been.

Cross-posted to Blogcritics.

Book review: The Crimson Portrait by Jody Shields

The Crimson Portrait by Jody Shields is a beautifully written novel about an unusual and difficult subject: World War I soldiers with disfiguring facial wounds. Inspired by historical events, it demonstrates the toll of war in one of its cruelest manifestations. Love plays an important role in the story, but it is love removed, denied, and gone astray. Unfortunately, like the love it portrays, the book ultimately disappoints.

Catherine is a wealthy widow whose husband died in the war. It was his wish that their estate be turned into a hospital, and as the novel opens, preparations are being made, including all the mirrors being removed on the order of Dr. McCleary. McCleary has come out of retirement to head the surgical team that works on soldiers with facial wounds, and he is adamant that the men not be able to see their own reflections.

At the front, we meet Anna, an artist, who has come from the United States with her physician husband. They are sent to different hospital camps, and Anna meets Dr. Kazanjian, a dentist skilled at reconstructive surgery. Anna and Kazanjian are transferred from the front and sent to the hospital at Catherine's estate, where Anna takes up the difficult task of documenting the doctors' work on the men. She is also tasked with creating masks for men whose faces cannot be reconstructed surgically.

We follow these characters in the hospital, seeing the action alternately from the point of view of Catherine, who becomes involved with a patient; Anna, who believes she must not acknowledge any of her feelings; and Dr. McCleary, who does his best to dispense hope, which he believes is as powerful as surgery.

Love is an issue for each of these individuals, mostly love unfulfilled. Julian, the patient who gets involved with Catherine, despairs that no one will love him because of his face. (This in spite of the fact that Catherine already loves him.) Catherine confuses her love for her dead husband with how she feels about Julian. Anna turns away from her love for Dr. Kazanjian, and Dr. McCleary, who did not marry the love of his life, is tortured by regret over it now. Obviously love is not a sure thing; nor does it conquer all. When McCleary attempts to save a young man at the estate from being drafted, the course he takes out of fondness and a desire to protect has unintended consequences.

I was intrigued by the setting of the book, but I did not feel fulfilled by its progress. It was like a watching an artful table being set and a beautiful meal put upon it, only to find that the food has little taste. I was frustrated by the way the relationships developed, or failed to. Anna becomes short-tempered; Catherine is obsessed with her dead husband. Dr. McCleary, who strugggles against despair, is the most sympathetic character.

I also found the ending a bit confusing. There is an epilogue that ties up some of the lose ends, but the dots between it and the last chapter are barely connected. In addition, I had trouble conjuring up the horrific nature of the soldiers' injuries in my mind's eye. I could see this being very moving and affecting on film, but the narrative lacked that kind of clarity of description for me.

Shields does a wonderful job of evoking a time and place and in choosing an interesting setting. In elegant prose, she tells an important story by bringing to light the types of injuries that were encountered during World War I and how they were treated, an ephemeral scene that was made outdated almost immediately by advances in medicine.

Cross-posted to Blogcritics.