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New York University School of Education
Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health
35 West 4th Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10012
E-mail: domingo.pinero{at}nyu.edu
The second edition of Introduction to Clinical Nutrition bridges the gap between nutritional biochemistry and clinical nutrition. The text combines an introduction to nutrition fundamentals and nutrient metabolism with chapters on life cycle nutrition, principles of nutritional assessment, and diet therapy for a select group of disorders. The text also provides a basic overview of nutritional epidemiology and introduces the reader to current, relevant topics in nutrition.
The book includes 29 chapters, which are divided into 4 parts. Part I, "Biology and Biochemistry," begins with an overview of the fundamentals of nutrition and briefly reviews nutritional needs, enteral and parenteral nutrition, food allergies, and gene-nutrient interactions. Part I also includes a review of digestion and malabsorption syndromes; macronutrient requirements, including chapters on essential fatty acids and eicosanoids; and a comprehensive and well-organized review of vitamins, minerals, and vitamin-like substances.
Part II, "Special Nutritional Needs," focuses on life cycle nutrition, with an emphasis on the nutritional aspects of pregnancy, lactation, development, and aging. Part III, "Nutrition and Specific Disorders," begins with a brief introduction to nutritional assessment, which is followed by 6 chapters dealing with obesity and eating disorders, cholesterol and hyperlipidemia, osteoporosis, diabetes, genetic diseases, and nutritional and metabolic effects of alcohol. Part III ends with a chapter on nutritional epidemiology, which provides an in-depth discussion of the history and principles of epidemiology and its significance in the nutritional sciences.
The fourth and final part of the book, "Special Topics," introduces the reader to current issues and research areas in the field of nutrition and health. The chapters in Part IV discuss dietary fiber, antioxidants, toxicants, popular nutrition practices, nutritional aspects of biotransformation, nutraceuticals, and dietary supplements.
One of the most valuable aspects of this book is its comprehensive introduction to "hot topics" in the field of nutrition, including nutritional aspects of genetic disorders, antioxidants, dietary supplements, organic foods, fad diets, leptin and obesity, and hair analysis. In addition, several chapters are followed by clinical case studies, which are practical applications and illustrations of nutrition principles. One of the major weaknesses of this introductory text on clinical nutrition is that it fails to address certain widespread conditions (eg, renal disease) that should be addressed. Also, the section on nutritional support is limited.
Although Introduction to Clinical Nutrition should not serve as a stand-alone text for a clinical nutrition course, it is a useful up-to-date resource for practicing dietitians and a good supplementary text for nutrition students. It is most appropriate for use in a seminar course for advanced nutrition students at the undergraduate level.