Evening Edge

Each year hundreds of diet, nutrition, and cookbooks are released but how do you know if they are good buys or you should just say goodbye?

From time to time, I'll review books based on these questions:

AJC Health links 50 easy ways to get your 5 fruits and vegetables a day. Self control in the supermarket Separate fat from fiction: Deciphering diet myths Diet and exercise resources Sonya Moste, 41, of Fayetteville lost 60 pounds  Dick Jones, 53, of Alpharetta loses 72 pounds  Derrick Williams, 37, of Dunwoody sheds 75 pounds  Have a question of general interest? E-mail Chris Rosenbloom Fit to Eat columns Get out of rut: Try new fruits and vegetables  Three questions: Organic produce, iron and iodine, and tryptophan  Setting the record straight on some food myths         More Fit to Eat • Chris Rosenbloom, Ph.D., R.D., is a member of the nutrition faculty in the College of Health and Human Sciences at Georgia State University Related: • Carolyn O'Neil: Think of add-ons as accessories  Good links: • Evening Edge • AJC Food & Drink • AJC Health Channel • Diet and Nutrition headlines, resources • Atlanta Restaurant reviews and search • Low fat/ heart healthy recipes • Search recipes

Is it easy to read and understand? Is it accurate and based on strong science? Are the "extras" such as menu plans, recipes, and tables useful?

One of the most frequently asked question by readers is on fat — good fats, bad fats, trans fats. Readers want a guide to sort out the healthy fats from the not so healthy fats and are especially interested in omega-3-fats or "fish oils" that seem to offer all kinds of health benefits — from reduction of heart disease to cancer prevention with their anti-inflammatory properties.

Therefore, I was intrigued by registered dietitian Evelyn Tribole's book, "The Ultimate Omega-3 Diet" (McGraw Hill $23.95) that claims to "supercharge health, battle inflammation, and keep your mind sharp."

Readability: Tribole has a great way of taking complex chemistry and making it understandable. In the opening pages she lays out the problem for most Americans: we eat too much of wrong kinds of fats and too little of the good fats. We should be concerned about improving the ratio of fats in our diets — not just adding salmon or flaxseed to our diets, but changing the proportions of fat. She goes on to describe how to do it in a step-by-step fashion.

Scientific evidence: This book is thoroughly researched and distills hundreds of studies on the benefits of an omega-3 rich diet, from pregnancy to improved brain function. Each chapter ends with a summary so if you don't want to read the whole chapter the summary is a quick recap of the key points.

Extras: Want to know the amounts of various types of fats in your favorite foods or learn about omega-3 supplements? This book is filled with useful tables to arm you with the details to make over your diet. The book concludes with meal makeovers and recipes to help you convert your diet to one that provides more good fats and less bad fats.

Top tip: Fresh basil is good source of omega-3 fats, so grow it in your garden for a ready source of this herb.

Conclusion: This book is a good buy.

Tomato-Basil Salad

Serves 4

Hands on: 10 minutes Total time: 10 minutes

4 medium tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, stems removed and chopped

2 tablespoons fresh spinach leaves, chopped

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon flaxseed oil

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

In a medium bowl, combine the tomatoes, basil, spinach, and Parmesan cheese. In a small bowl, whisk together the flaxseed and olive oils with the vinegar until blended. Drizzle the dressing over the salad, and serve.

From: "The Ultimate Omega-3 Diet "by Evelyn Tribole (McGraw-Hill, $23.95).

Per serving: 103 calories (percent calories from fat, 70), 2 grams protein, 7 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 8 grams fat (less than 1 gram saturated fat), no cholesterol, 40 milligrams of sodium.

Nutritional bonus points: Don't be concerned that 70 percent of the calories in this recipe is from fat; one serving provides 1,860 milligrams of omega-3 fats with a favorable ratio of good fat to bad fats.

What's a recent book or web site that you've found helpful for getting accurate information about diet and nutrition?