Medicine

Food consumption is a significant and complex social activity―and what a society chooses to feed its children reveals much about its tastes and ideas regarding health. In this groundbreaking historical work, Amy Bentley explores how the invention of commercial baby food shaped American notions of infancy and influenced the evolution of parental and pediatric care. Until the late nineteenth century, infants were almost exclusively fed breast milk. But over the course of a few short decades, Americans began feeding their babies formula and solid foods, frequently as early as a few weeks after birth. By the 1950s, commercial baby food had become emblematic of all things modern in postwar America. Little jars of baby food were thought to resolve a multitude of problems in the domestic sphere: they reduced parental anxieties about nutrition and health; they made caretakers feel empowered; and they offered women entering the workforce an irresistible convenience. But these baby food products laden with sugar, salt, and starch also became a gateway to the industrialized diet that blossomed during this period. Today, baby food continues to be shaped by medical, commercial, and parenting trends. Baby food producers now contend with health and nutrition problems as well as the rise of alternative food movements. All of this matters because, as the author suggests, it’s during infancy that American palates become acclimated to tastes and textures, including those of highly processed, minimally nutritious, and calorie-dense industrial food products.

Smoothies for Kidney Health is a very special recipe book. It is expertly put together by a kidney donor, who is a registered nurse, and her mom, the recipient of her kidney. Together, they have taken their knowledge and experience to create a resource for all those suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD). By explaining how kidney function is impacted by the foods we eat, they offer a simple way for patients to help slow down, stop, or possibly reverse the many effects of CKD―including heart disease, the number one killer of kidney patients. The vital information provided in Smoothies for Kidney Health, along with eighty luscious smoothie recipes, is designed to offer help to all patients at any stage of CKD. After presenting readers with a basic summary of kidney functions, the book  explains the relationship between our standard diet choices and the ever-growing epidemic of CKD―as well as each of its common causes. Utilizing and referencing the most current research studies, the book clearly shows how certain foods can speed deterioration of kidney function, resulting in dialysis and early death. The book then discusses how to prevent or slow progression of CKD by altering diet, again supported by the most current research studies and footnoted.  These sections also were reviewed and approved by a leading nephrologist and a cardiologist.  Following these explanation sections are eighty (80) kitchen-tested smoothies containing the very ingredients scientifically shown to protect and improve kidney function.  Each recipe includes hepful health promoting facts designed for the issues facing kidney patients.  All renal diet smoothies are renal dietitian reviewed and approved. The recipes are divided into three sections to allow readers to select those recipes most appropriate for their stage of CKD. Section One highlights the key ingredients that can help slow CKD progression, lower proteinuria, eliminate acidosis, decrease uric acid levels, and otherwise aid the health of the kidneys and the kidney patient. The second section is designed for individuals who must alter their intake of potassium and/or phosphorus because of the inability of their malfunctioning kidneys to stabilized blood levels of those minerals. The last section provides dialysis patients smoothies with a focus is on heart health, improving stamina and survival, and minimizing common dialysis side effects. The reader will also find valuable suggestions throughout the book that will help kidney patient deal with their most common problems at each stage. Once a diagnosis is made, kidney patients often want to know what they can do to improve their condition.  The basic food suggestions offered in this book are within a patient’s control in what is otherwise an uncontrollable and devastating disease. Smoothies for Kidney Health offers the hope and the help to aid kidney patients become part of the solution to improving their overall health.