The McDougall Program for a Healthy Heart: A Life-Saving Approach to Preventing and Treating Heart Disease

Making a strong pitch for the vegan lifestyle, McDougall (The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss) freely criticizes mainstream medicine for scanting nutritional advice. Unlike the modest dietary changes recommended by such authorities as the Texas Heart Institute (see above), McDougall, who runs a cardiac program at St. Helena Hospital in California's Napa Valley, bans all animal products-fish, poultry, eggs, even nonfat dairy-from his no-cholesterol, under-10%-fat diet. Though the emphasis is primarily on nutrition (two weeks of menu plans, 100 recipes and extensive brand-name shopping lists are provided), McDougall also discusses exercise and stress management, medications and surgical procedures and offers plenty of cautionary words on diagnostic tests. Peppering his lively prose with anecdotes, McDougall is persuasive and upbeat about his program's success in preventing as well as treating heart disease, but his demanding regime will likely appeal most to the highly motivated, especially those already experiencing heart problems. (Feb.)