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Despite the critical role good nutrition plays in maintaining health and preventing chronic diseases, most doctors receive only about 20 hours of nutritional education during medical school, as Aileen Burford-Mason points out in Eat Well, Age Better. In addition, the plethora of seemingly conflicting studies concerning the benefits of vitamins and mineral supplements would confuse even the most conscientious doctor or consumer trying to weigh the evidence.

In this straightforward and informative book, Toronto nutritionist Burford-Mason brings her experience as an immunologist, cancer researcher and cell biologist to bear on deciphering the research about what helps us stay healthy. Eat Well, Age Better should adorn the bookshelf of every clinician’s office as well as home libraries, particularly given its well-researched examination of the effects of some prescription drugs on vitamin deficiencies. Antibiotics deplete B vitamins, for example, and proton pump inhibitors can deplete magnesium, increasing fatigue.

The author does a balanced job of discussing the pushback by conventional medicine against the roles of many of these vitamins and mineral, such as vitamin D, which has been studied more than statins. Burford-Mason has organized her book, written with journalist Judy Stoffman, around common medical complaints, such as fatigue, sleep problems, skin and hair issues, colds and flu, weight gain and obesity, cholesterol and hypertension, and memory problems. For fatigue, for example, she highlights the role of magnesium.

Image courtesy of Thomas Allen Publishers

The common complaint sections of the book are prefaced by a short description of the history of food/eating, as well as the role of micronutrients. Burford-Mason concludes with a section on how to use food to promote good health (an egg a day to help prevent macular degeneration, for example) and how to create a core regimen of supplements.

Throughout the book, Burford-Mason makes good use of references. She weaves information about the importance of healthy living and food-based sources of nutrition into most chapters. Like many others, she touts the importance of Omega 3s and promotes antioxidants. But her thorough knowledge of the interaction amongst all of the vitamins and minerals she studies gives her more credibility than the talk-show hosts and the authors of trendy magazine articles about the latest quick-fix solutions.

“The big message from studies of the protective effects of anti-oxidants is that focusing on single nutrients, like Vitamin C or E alone, is not the solution,” she explains in the book. “It is the synergy amongst all the antioxidant vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that offers the greatest benefit.”

Nevertheless, Burford-Mason has some interesting tips: using topical vitamin C to reduce age spots; supplementing with B complex vitamins to retain hair colour; and adding vitamin A to improve night vision (cooking carrots with butter is a better source than eating raw carrots, she says, because the butter and water release beta carotene).

Overall, physicians and patients would do well to read Eat Well, Age Better to learn more about the nutritional means to improving health and well-being.