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Understanding Nutrition [with Access Code]

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This is the most widely used introductory nutrition text used by students from around the world and you will see that it's a text worth keeping! Not only will this best-selling book help you excel in your nutrition course, Whitney and Rolfes' UNDERSTANDING NUTRITION will also guide you in applying the most current nutrition research and show the relevance to your own life. UNDERSTANDING NUTRITION is at the forefront of the latest advances in human nutrition-helping you understand what the scientific facts tell us about human nutrition and health. Ellie Whitney and Sharon Rady Rolfes begin with the basics-an introduction to the nutrientsand then guide you through every important topic covered in today's nutrition courses. Linked chapter by chapter to the ThomsonNOW?, a new online resource that provides you with PERSONALIZED STUDY tools, Thomson Audio Study Products, animations that clarify complex processes, and much more, this Eleventh Edition of UNDERSTANDING NUTRITION features everything you need to keep on top of this quickly evolving field.

Unbound

First published June 1, 1962

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1020 people want to read

About the author

Ellie Whitney

116 books14 followers
Dr. Ellie Whitney, Ph.D., grew up in New York City and received her BA and PhD degrees in English and Biology at Harvard and Washington Universities. She taught at both Florida State University and Florida A&M University, wrote newspaper columns on environmental matters for the Tallahassee Democrat, and coauthored almost a dozen college textbooks on nutrition, health, and related topics. She spent three decades exploring outdoor Florida and studying its ecology. She co-chairs the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton, New Jersey, Green Sanctuary Committee. Now retired, and more concerned about climate change than any other issue, she volunteers full-time for the nonpartisan national nonprofit Citizens Climate Lobby.
(Bio-clip from Cengage Publishers)

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5 stars
194 (34%)
4 stars
198 (35%)
3 stars
118 (21%)
2 stars
26 (4%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
Profile Image for Darius Murretti.
422 reviews65 followers
May 16, 2021
This is the text book for the Registered dietitian course that I took in college . The ebook is about 15 USD . Its a good book as it provides an essential foundation for a well balanced nutritionally complete diet .It tells you very clearly and precisely what vitamins and minerals your body needs and why you body needs them and what will happen to you if you don't get them and what foods are the best sources of each . But since its a USA book it wont give you the straight scoop on GMOs , or Glyphosate residues because Monsanto has such a hold the US government but still its very helpful to correct nutritional deficiencies and avoid the vitamin supplement ripoffs by getting your vitamins and minerals from foods ....

If you want to be seriously healthy see the Gerson's institute's book The Gerson Therapy
The Proven Nutritional Program for Cancer and Other Illnesses
By: Charlotte Gerson, Morton Walker

Fresh fruit and vegetable Juices -Dr Norman Walker ( the first chapter of this books sums it all up in only 10 pages )

Survival Into The 21st century - Viktoras Kulvinskas

The wheat grass book by DR ANN WIGMORE

THE COLON HEALTH HANDBOOK: NEW HEALTH THROUGH COLON REJUVENATION BY ROBERT GRAY (just the pages on diet )
Profile Image for Sherri.
248 reviews14 followers
May 21, 2013
I didn't really care for this book at all. I had to read it for a college nutrition class.
There has to be better books out there.
It was written to please the government.

The descriptions of how the body absorbs and distributes the vitamins and minerals through the food that we eat was great. That's the only positive thing I have to say about it.
Profile Image for Marian.
105 reviews
December 30, 2015
Read for a nutrition class. Doesn't seem up to date and the authors show their biases. They are particularly dismissive of and ready to blame "the consumer" for shortcomings. The Standard American Diet doesn't fail us, we fail the diet! (well, okay, they're not quite that obvious about their disdain... but it does come across.) They are also exceedingly fond of the grain and dairy industries--I sometimes wondered if lobbyists from those industries paid the authors' salaries. Still, the basics seem sound, they include references, and I passed with my class.
Profile Image for Marion.
18 reviews
May 15, 2015
Well written, but mostly tows the government nutritional guidelines, which are very much a product of heavy lobbying by the different agricultural lobbies rather than based on nutritional sciences.
Profile Image for Rochelle Saldaña.
208 reviews4 followers
March 4, 2022
This is a comprehensive book in nutrition. Well written and organized. I’ll keep this as a resource to use over and over.
Profile Image for Scientia.
191 reviews4 followers
August 14, 2013
if I could give 6 stars to this book I would!
This is the IT Nutrition book, this isn't something you read in one go, it's a keeper to put on your life shelf and go back to several times. This book talks about nutrition from every corner, it surrounds it and envelops it in a magnificent way. The illustrations displayed, the whole layout of the book is amazing apart from the information which is exceedingly mind blowing for it deals with everything related to nutrition, you'll get a brain freeze from reading too much of it. The variety of exercises at the end of each chapter, the references and go-to links... this is nutrition, the whole package.
I loved it and I can't find the words to describe it, If you're in the field of nutrition, this is a book you do not want to miss!
Profile Image for StrangeBedfellows.
581 reviews37 followers
December 11, 2012
This is a very informative text that includes several useful charts. I used this for a distance-learning college course and found that, even without face-to-face interaction with an instructor, I got my money's worth from the class based on the quality of this book. Of course, it's still a textbook, mind, so don't expect a riveting read. It's instructive, well-illustrated, organized ... all things a textbook should be.
Profile Image for Ms.soule.
281 reviews59 followers
May 22, 2019
Probably the most useful textbook I ever bought in college. I still have my old copy and refer to it frequently as a mom. Excellent nutritional guidelines for children and athletes, growth & weight charts, and amazingly approachable definitions of all the various vitamins and minerals.
Profile Image for Kimba.
96 reviews4 followers
June 13, 2010
Decent enough overview, and quite good digestion and metabolism chapters, but is too dismissive of complementary medicines or vegan diets.
Profile Image for Jennifer Vensel.
95 reviews1 follower
September 4, 2020
Was not taught well about food growing up. I read this in college from cover to cover. Although the science part was a bit tough, the book helped me really understand food and how our bodies use it. You can tell why some foods will mess you up if you eat too much.
Profile Image for Rachel Patu.
10 reviews
May 7, 2018
The title is self-explanatory. I read it for my Introduction to Nutrition college class. Recommend to anyone who is pursuing nutrition as a career. A LOT of content.
Profile Image for Johnnysbookreviews .
570 reviews10 followers
May 16, 2018
The best textbook I have read in college so far. The book discusses the componenets of nutrition and to make sure to eat vegetables, fruits, proteins, carbs, fats, and dairy products.
Profile Image for Megan Kirwan.
36 reviews2 followers
August 2, 2020
A book full of very insightful information on all things nutrition. Most textbooks I get for my classes are quite dry and fairly boring but this one was an easy read that kept me interested.
Profile Image for Carley.
16 reviews
August 7, 2020
Lots of repeated info and multiple sections on the same topic make for a confusing read.
15 reviews5 followers
January 16, 2022
The organization of the cengage textbook makes it easy to read, but it could be better and less cluttered.
Overall great textbook (2016) 2nd Canadian edition.
Profile Image for Jen.
34 reviews
August 31, 2016
This was well-organized, written, and illustrated. I found it to be a great resource for learning class material, much better than the lectures. It gave good explanations of bodily processes and also provided helpful summaries for reference. It was mostly free of woo but as others noted was written to the USDA's guidelines. It also contained information about complementing proteins, which is not universally accepted.

Overall, it was OK, so settle in with your USDA-mandated 3 cups of low-fat milk (regardless of your caloric needs!) and give it whirl. You'll come out of it with a good education in basic nutrition and metabolism, or at least good open-book quiz and exam grades thanks to its excellent glossary and index.
Profile Image for Heather.
406 reviews
May 3, 2016
As textbooks go, this is a good one. The information is clearly presented and logically organized. This is the 14th edition of the book, so typos and errors are pretty much nonexistent. The information felt current even though the title has been the standard in nutrition for decades. A very good, introductory nutrition text. The content is fairly basic and probably easily found online in other formats, but I think having everything in one text and easily accessible is still worthwhile. My only main critique is that was one of the most expensive textbooks I have ever had to purchase.
Profile Image for Brittany Rouse.
32 reviews2 followers
January 5, 2014
Still reading it for my Introduction to Nutrition class. It's not a bad book, full of a lot of information! My only probalem was how they presented cellular metabolism, I found that to be somewhat confusing. It'd be better if it used the names of the enzymes and intermediate step names as oppose to random carbon circles.
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
124 reviews27 followers
December 21, 2011
The nutritional information presented in the book is of high quality and well referenced. I had some difficulty with the writing flow but regardless found the read to be a valuable contribution to my education.
Profile Image for Asya.
14 reviews1 follower
September 21, 2008
lurve dis book!!1 of d medicine book dat doesnt bored me..hahaha..but ofcoz la..have not finish reading it yet!!!bapak tebal!!
Profile Image for Merri Su.
275 reviews
September 21, 2008
Read this for an intro to nutrition class I took. One of two textbooks I've ever read cover-to-cover.
Profile Image for Eric Troy.
16 reviews1 follower
August 27, 2010
There are many good basic nutrition texts to choose from but this is a very good one. Simple and easy to use.
Profile Image for Valerie.
204 reviews
May 7, 2011
Texbook but very informative. It took me months to read. Great resourse book.
14 reviews
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August 3, 2011
I really like this book. It helped me a lot when it came to nutrition. I especially like my teacher, who was actually very knowlegable---Dr..
Profile Image for Laura.
233 reviews
November 2, 2011
If you have an interest in basic nutrition to diseases affected by nutrition, look on your local craigs list for this book. You should be able to pick up a used copy of this edition for $40-50.
Profile Image for Kerry.
5 reviews
July 19, 2012
While this was required reading and dense at times, I learned TONS from this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews

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