It Was Probably Something You Ate: A Practial Guide to Avoiding and Surviving Foodborne Illness
By Nichols Fox
(Penguin Books/New York City), $13.95

People with AIDS are much more susceptible to the dangers of food poisoning than “healthy” Americans--it’s the great unspoken opportunistic infection of the epidemic. With common sense, readability, great thoroughness and no hysterics, this excellent book will tell you how to avoid the typical, often unsuspected pitfalls of consuming tainted fare. In addition to specific discussions of every major contaminant, the author offers strategies for managing everything from restaurant meals to eating on the road to buying, storing and preparing food. Now go wash your hands!

The Natural Way: HIV & AIDS
By Leon Chaitow
(Element Books/Boston), $5.95

A compact, if sketchy, primer on alternative HIV treatments by a British naturopathic doctor. Densely packed chapters detail the herbs, nutrients, diets and mind/body approaches (such as massage, guided imagery and meditation) that can boost immunity or treat specific infections. An analysis of possible disease-promoting cofactors--from nutritional deficiencies to toxic chemicals to stress--is followed by a self-help list of treatment strategies. Despite the title, there is a brief section on antiretroviral drugs, but it’s dated as well as notably negative, as in the comment that HAART’s benefits “seem to be short-lived.” Overall, though, a useful road map, whether you’re traveling the alternative or drugs-plus route to HIV care.