Cut Your Cholesterol: Featuring the Exclusive Live It Down Plan

Rating:
Summary: Great introduction to heart disease prevention.
Review: If you're new to the heart disease conversation, Dr. Katz's book is a wonderful place to start. The book is about a great deal more than just cholesterol. It's probably among the most wide-ranging of healthy heart books available, with concise descriptions of causes of heart disease beyond cholesterol (including lipoprotein(a) and homocysteine), an excellent discussion of inflammation and the metabolic syndrome, good though brief discussions of several supplements (including coenzyme Q10 for people taking statin drugs, arginine, and functional foods).

The nutritional advice (the oddly-named "Live it down plan") is a rationale and straightforward approach that is peppered with lots of easy tips and tricks to reduce heart attack risk. There's advice on dealing with stress, how to incorporate strength training into your exercise program, and an overview of medication.

The book is also beautifully illustrated in full color, one of the few heart books that has done so.