Book Nook: 'The Whole Heart Solution' review

THE WHOLE HEART SOLUTION: Halt Heart Disease Now With the Best Alternative and Traditional Medicine, by Joel K. Kahn, M.D. Reader's Digest, 308 pp., $24.99.

Dr. Joel K. Kahn wants you to consider simple ways to avoid "the killer you don't want to meet" -- America's No. 1 killer -- heart disease.

Kahn, who writes the Holistic Health Doc column for Reader's Digest magazine, suggests many things that might sound familiar: Eat more veggies, avoid fast food, take a daily aspirin, don't sit too long, exercise and sleep more and "study ingredient labels like Jane Goodall studies chimps." He says statins aren't the answer for everyone and advises avoiding getting coronary stents and bypass operations when possible, saying they do nothing to prevent new blockages. Plus, he warns against getting too close to cellphones and microwaves.

THE SCOOP Small, manageable "whole body" lifestyle changes can get you started on feeling better and lead to a healthier heart.

THE BOTTOM LINE Kahn's tips are ones you most likely have been hearing about -- and trying hard to do -- for years. (The book comes out Sept. 16.)