Bowes & Church's Food Values of Portions Commonly Used -- 8th Edition

Book Review by Donna Werner, DC

Bowes & Church's Food Values of Portions Commonly Used 18th Edition is an updated version of a reference database text that has been in use since 1937. The book is intended for practitioners who provide nutritional and dietary counseling to their patients. Its stated purpose is "to supply authoritative data on the nutritional values of food in a form for quick and easy reference," and it certainly succeeds in that mission.

The table of contents allows you to quickly find what you are looking for with alphabetized category headers, such as "Beverages," "Fast Foods and Restaurant Foods," "Fats, Oils, Shortenings, and Spreads," "Meats"and "Soups," to name just a few. Subheadings beneath the main categories, such as "Distilled Spirits," "Fish Oils," "Pork" and "Ready-to-Serve," help you refine your search even further at a glance. Other handy features of this edition include listings of:

• Specific, common fast-food chains
• Sports and energy beverages (albeit a somewhat short list, considering the abundance of these on the market)
• Various candies (nearly six pages)
• Infant, junior, and toddler foods (including generic listings and specific name brands)

In addition to the standard macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrate) that are common in most food-analysis charts, this book includes the amount of vitamins and minerals that each item contains, as well as a breakdown of its contents of sugar and fiber and saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fats and cholesterol.

An almost 20-page section on special dietary foods includes formulas andmedical foods for both children and adults and will be especially helpful for those whotreat patients with chronic illnesses.

The front of the book contains the various dietary reference intakes (DRI) tables, estimated energy requirements (EER), daily values for nutrition labeling, and acceptable macronutrient distribution ranges established in 2002 and taken directly from and referenced to the National Academy of Sciences website (www.nap.edu).

Another neat feature of this book is a listing of amino acids, whether or not they're essential or dispensable, and their metabolic product. Heat, weight, and volume conversions and a table of gram-ounce equivalents give readers an easy way to convert various measures.

Other helpful supplementary tables include the nutrient content of alcoholic beverages and specific information on the amounts of amino acids, fatty acids, plant acids and sterols, sugars, and other ancillary compounds found in various foods. Another table provides the scientific names for plants and animals used as food or ingredients for those interested in such esoteric information.

A detailed index allows users to find the specific food they're searching for or almost anything about that food. For example, under cereals, you'll find "caffeine in," "dietary fiber components," "infant/junior foods," "bars" and many others. The book is extensively referenced from peer-reviewed journals published between 1997 and early 2003, so you know the information is up to date and credible.

This book is not only packed with well-referenced, easy-to-find nutritional information, but the supplementary tables and information provide you with a wealth of knowledge to assist you as you counsel your patients on their nutritional habits.

Bowes & Church's easily deserves a 10 out of 10 and is an excellent reference book for those giving nutritional advice at any level, whether occasionally or on a daily basis.