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Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks by Morton E. Tavel, M.D


Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks is a physician’s advice book that was published in 2015 by Brighton Publishing. It was written by Doctor Morton E. Tavel, a retired physician and internist/cardiologist. Doctor Tavel held a faculty position at Indiana University School of Medicine, where he taught trainees of all different levels. His medical research includes over 120 publications. Health and fitness are topics that humans have been interested in for centuries. If we go back far enough, we can find advertisements for how to lose weight. In fact, there were even advertisements that promoted weight loss with cigarettes. “To keep a slender figure that no one can deny, reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet!” Even in 2017, health and fitness are still important topics. This brings us to Doctor Tavel’s book, Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks. In the words of Doctor Tavel, “Health information to liberate us from 'snake oil.' This book covers various topics on health from how to control your weight to The French Paradox. There are 62 chapters and an introduction in the beginning of the book, including reviews. This introduction makes for a promising read by Doctor Tavel, so does it live up to its title? Is there anything to learn from Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks? The best part of this book is the amount of research that went into it. Tavel provides amounts and details for every aspect concerning health that you can think of. The information that Tavel teaches us is amazing, interesting, and even a little frightening. In this ever-changing world of GMO dangers, reluctance towards vaccines, and quests for the perfect body, you will find something that applies to you or something that you can relate to. While there’s a lot of information to take in from this book, there are some topics that seem short and rushed. It left me wondering what the point of these discussions was, especially if there isn’t any medical research to provide solid information on the topic. For example, if we don’t know the effects of something, then it’s not something readers would be interested in reading about. Most readers want facts upfront; they don’t want to be told, “In conclusion, I don’t know and neither does anyone else.” We have the Age of Technology to blame for this impatience, but this is the world we now live in. The writing style and overall editing of this book are great. I didn’t come across any grammatical errors, and I thought the style was appropriate for the topics discussed. Since this is more like a guide, I wouldn’t consider style to be the most important thing to review. The content is what’s important, and Doctor Tavel relayed it well to his readers. I give Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks by Doctor Tavel 3 out of 4 stars. I have given this book a 3 instead of 4 because of the some of the rushed and seemingly redundant topics. I do, however, recommend this book to everyone, even if you’re more of a natural healer. We’re all humans, and we all want to know what we can do to better our lives and our bodies. For centuries, humans have been on the hunt for ways to lose weight, look younger, eat better, and cut back on overused medications. This book has all of that and more. Doctor Tavel truly did a service when he wrote this book. In a world where we are constantly fed false information, it’s refreshing to read something written by a doctor with genuinely good intentions.

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