PDR for Nutritional Supplements

Tired of getting your supplement information from the vitamin shop clerk? This is state of the art stuff. Finally here is a book that both the lay person and the physician can safely turn to. The author has no axe to grind. He neither overstates nor understates, but is carefully objective in his presentation and allows the evidence to speak for itself. Dr. Hendler brings to his subject an open mind, wide ranging intelligence, and a rigorous training in all of the relevant disciplines. He refuses to be a shill either for entrenched medical orthodoxy or starry eyed alternative approaches. The result is a cornucopia of information.

The PDR for Nutritional Supplements is the most well organized and substantive publication that I have ever used in over twenty years as a supplement consumer and one of the best literary purchases that I have ever made.While other publications may purport to be "encyclopedic," they fall short of the mark in paying attention to detail. Dr. Hendler's PDR for Nutritional Supplements is a critical and necessary resource for anyone using nutritional supplements, functional foods and or herbs. The knowledge imparted here will allow you to take control of your life as it relates to health care and maintenance.

As a medical technician who helps advise patients with nutritional problems, I have read nearly every major dietary supplement guide that has been published in the last decade. This PDR is, by far, the best such guide I have found. The doctors I work with are equally enthusiastic about its in-depth analysis, full citations to the supporting literature and its refreshing objectivity. This is the first time, to my knowledge, that nutritional supplements have been accorded the same in-depth treatment given, in other guides, to prescription drugs. This book should be "must" reading for every doctor, dietician, pharmacist and for every lay person who wishes to intelligently share in the management of his/her own health. There has never been a resource like this before. For those interested in herbal medicine, there is a separate PDR dealing with herbs; although I do not find the herbal PDR as useful as The PDR for Nutritional Supplements, which covers all the other nutritional/dietary supplements, as well as some of the active constituents of popular herbs, the herbal book is also better than most. Initially I wondered why Medical Economics, the highly respected publisher of the PDR series of books, did not combine the herbs with the other dietary supplements and cover all of them in one reference book. An editor at Medical Economics told me that had they done so they would have had to sacrifice much of the in-depth treatment they have provided--far in excess, as I have previously noted, of anything available in any of the other books--in order to squeeze all of the supplements discussed into one marketable tome. We can all be thankful that they did not do this. Both books are indispensable, as is every word in them.

This text is really a Masterpiece - the work of a Master. Hendler is a most rare talent, combining the skills of a scientist, physician, and scholar. This book is authoritative. When I read it, I really get the feeling like I am learning the truth (all that is known) about these compounds/products. I get the sense that it goes beyond "opinion", more about something I can trust in - the facts. This work has helped to answer questions that I have had for years and have not had the time to research on my own. The material is easily accessible for both the scientist and the home maker. It is a must read for physicians and anyone interested in protecting their own health. I highly recommend this text.

With all the claims and hype about one supplement or another, it's very hard to know what is legit. This book answers the need perfectly. In one or two pages (occasionally more) it condenses the chemical nature of the supplement, claims made for it, laboratory and animal and human research, risks and precautions and doses. If there is no credible basis for the claims, it says so; if there is support, it says that, too! There are indexes by supplement name, brand name, categories, needs ("indications"), side effects, etc. This is a truly handy, useful, and solid reference guide. You'll be glad to have it!