New NG Book- NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC FOODS FOR HEAL: Choose and Use the Very Best Foods for Your Family and Our Planet

WASHINGTON (July 24, 2014)-National Geographic Fellow and celebrity chef Barton Seaver and acclaimed nutrition scientist P. K. Newby have created the ultimate shopping and cooking guide to help home cooks nourish their families while sustaining the planet. In the tradition of Food Matters and Food Rules, FOODS FOR HEALTH: Choose and Use the Very Best Foods for Your Family and Our Planet (National Geographic Books, ISBN: 978-1-4262-1275-8; Sept. 9, 2014; trade paperback; $22.95) is an authoritative, science-based guide to healthy, everyday eating for the whole family. This culinary tour shines the spotlight on 148 foods that have huge nutritional value and the least environmental impact.

FOODS FOR HEALTH is a compendium that brings together key elements of what we grow and eat in an easy-to-use fashion. Each section includes historical and agricultural food facts as well as science-based nutritional information, health benefits and environmental considerations. The authors have also included a few of their favorite methods and tips for selecting foods preparing them in ways that everyone will enjoy. Through the book's pages, readers are sure to gain an increased appreciation that, from farm to fork, what they eat matters, not only for their health and longevity but for that of the Earth.

The book is arranged alphabetically within six food categories - vegetables, fruits, proteins, whole grains, fats and oils, and beverages - while the appendix provides a handy guide to herbs and spices.

Combining old favorites with new grocery items - broccoli and bok choy, brown rice and barley, pears and pomegranate, peas and pinto beans, FOODS FOR HEALTH explores food and its place in history and cultures from around the world. Seaver and Newby highlight health benefits, offers preparation tips and advise consumers on what to look for and what to avoid when perusing the supermarket aisles or farmer's market and deciding what to make for dinner or pack in a school lunch box.

Here are a few fascinating facts readers will learn:

The folate in fennel aids in brain function and limits the risk of heart disease and stroke. When consumed by pregnant women, fennel can reduce brain and spine defects in newborns.

Beans can essentially fertilize their own soil; their root systems harbor bacteria that convert atmospheric nitrogen to a form the plant can use.

Canola oil has the lowest saturated fat content of any oil commonly available in the United States and it contains omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in healthy proportions.

Black tea can reduce the risk of stroke and its antibacterial qualities guard against cavities and gum disease.

Don't store carrots near apples, pears and potatoes, which emit ethylene gas that can give carrots a bitter taste.

Wisconsin produces more than half of the nation's cranberries, followed by Massachusetts.

Kiwifruit contains more Vitamin C than oranges as well as high amounts of potassium and Vitamin E, all considered important for healthy blood vessels.

Featuring invaluable tips, recommendations for food pairings and sample menus, this book is an always-there reference, a useable cooking guide, a handy health manual and an inviting, browsable read.

Publishing simultaneously is a book for young cooks, National Geographic Kids cookbook: A Year-Round Fun Food Adventure, by Barton Seaver (National Geographic Kids; ISBN: 978-1-4263-1717-0; Sept. 9, 2014; trade paperback; ages 8-12; $19.99.) More than 50, all-new and yummy recipes, ideas for creative crafts and activities, and food-focused challenges show kids how cooking can be both healthy and fun.

About the Authors

Acclaimed chef, author, speaker and National Geographic Fellow Barton Seaver is a leading voice in the sustainable food movement and has been recognized by the Seafood Choices Alliance and Blue Oceans Institute for fostering a responsible and sustainable seafood choice ethic. He is host of the National

Geographic Web series Cook-Wise and is the director of the Healthy and Sustainable Food Program at the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard School of Public Health. A graduate of the

Culinary Institute of America, he was named Esquire magazine's 2009 Chef of the Year. In 2012 he was named by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the United States Culinary Ambassador Corps. He is the author of For Cod & Country and Where There's Smoke: Simple, Sustainable, Delicious Grilling. Seaver lives in Maine. www.bartonseaver.org.

Nutrition scientist, educator, food writer and speaker, P. K. Newby has studied diet, chronic diseases and sustainable eating for more than 15 years. She teaches in the Gastronomy, Culinary Arts, and Wine Studies program at Boston University and the program in Sustainability and Environmental Management at Harvard

Extension School. She holds a doctorate from Harvard University's School of Public Health and master's degrees in public health and human nutrition from Columbia University. Newby shares sound science and fabulous cooking on her blog, The Nutrition Doctor Is in the Kitchen: Where Science Is Sexy and Healthy Eating Is Spectacular. Newby lives in Boston.

About National Geographic Books

National Geographic Books & Home Entertainment creates and distributes books, videos, and other print and digital media that inform, engage and entertain diverse audiences about our world. Annually, the group publishes more than 125 new books for adults, families and kids and releases 250+ new DVDs and digital downloads of the Society's films and TV shows, and these National Geographic titles are available in more than 35 local-language editions. While special photographic and film collections, travel books, nature shows, birding guides and atlases are a core focus of the Society's products, books and videos dealing with subjec

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