Charts show RDA requirements for vitamins and minerals, recipes with nutritional analyses, pertinent FDA regulations, and evaluations of diet therapies for specific diseases. While many entries are only a paragraph in length, some are quite extensive. In the case of certain foods, historical background is given. For example, the grapefruit entry is accompanied by three charts showing the nutrient content of pink or white grapefruit, grapefruit packed in juice, and in syrup. Fourteen types of milk are defined, with a nutrient chart for each.
Recipes supplement many of the entries.
The dictionary is indeed a multipurpose source. It will be useful in public libraries as a dictionary, a consumer's guide, a cook's resource, and a compendium of food facts. The PDR Family Guide to Nutrition and Health is another consumer-oriented guide. There are five parts, three of which are in-depth discussions of broad nutritional topics such as the impact of diet on health, healthy cooking, exercise for weight loss, and medications in nutrition. This last section profiles common medications and food interactions, giving the same information found in the Physicians' Desk Reference but in simpler language.