David A. Bender. Nutritional Biochemistry of the Vitamins, 2nd ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press 2003. £70.00. (hardback). pp. 496. ISBN 0 521 80388 8

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Hardman, Adrianne E.
Copyright Year	2004
Abstract	This book addresses an important and topical issue, which is of increasing importance to public health. As such, it is a valuable addition to the literature for undergraduate students studying a range of sportand exercise-related degrees. The literature in this field is substantial in terms of journal articles and reviews and it is somewhat surprising that few texts such as this have attempted to pull this large body of evidence together in a focused academic text. Students will undoubtedly benefit from having this dedicated text to support their studies. The book covers a range of important diseases, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, insulin-resistance syndrome, cancer and skeletal health. There are also sections on levels and trends in activity, older individuals, therapeutic effects of activity, risks of exercise and the role of activity in public health. This is an impressive list, but it is surprising that children are not addressed as a population group in a more substantial way and the same can be said of mental health. Both of these are major public topics deserving of inclusion; the book clearly focuses on physical health. The book is well illustrated using data from a variety of sources encompassing both epidemiological and experimental techniques. Students are given study tasks to complete at the end of each section and summary boxes that highlight each section’s main points. Further reading for each section is also provided. The book contains an excellent glossary of key terms used in this field. The real strength of the book is that it draws on both epidemiology and the basic sciences, predominantly physiology, to explain the current state of knowledge in some important areas of health. Essentially, the text details the strength of relationships between activity levels and various indices of health, as identified by epidemiological studies. For each of these, it then discusses the level of biological plausibility of such relationships. A valuable feature of the book is that it explains the nature and the quality of the various sources of evidence, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of each method. This is extremely valuable, as normally students need to delve into complicated statistical texts in order to get a feel for this dimension of interpretation. The most valuable feature of the text is therefore that students not only get epidemiological and physiological information, they also get an important insight as to how public health professionals weigh the evidence before translating it into public health policy. The final sections of the book attempt to provide some links between the preceding sections (focusing on diseases) and public health. In this, the book almost succeeds, but I was left with the feeling that there was something more substantial and possibly very important here that could have been explored in more depth. However, space is always a major limitation and this slight ‘tailing off’ in the final sections should not detract from the quality of what has gone before; the thorough treatment of activity–health relationships. In summary, this is an excellent text addressing activity– health relationships in a unique and insightful way. It will be a valuable addition to the reading lists of students who are engaged in the study of sport and exercise science.
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/2C97D3E45B3C668C28DEDBE1997D61CC/S0007114504001461a.pdf/david_a_bender_nutritional_biochemistry_of_the_vitamins_2nd_ed_cambridge_uk_cambridge_university_press2003_7000_hardback_pp_496_isbn_0_521_80388_8.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article