Interview with 75 year old David Coory – researcher and author of New Zealand’s top selling health and nutrition book – "Stay Healthy by Supplying What's Lacking in Your Diet" (100,000 copies sold in New Zealand as of 2022) Q WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO WRITE THIS BOOK? When I was 35 (in 1982) my 66 year old father was hospitalised with a serious heart attack. Dad didn’t die (he lived to 96) but it was a health wake-up call for me. I was living a similar lifestyle to Dad and eating the same diet, and so this sparked my interest in natural health. A brother–in-law was into natural health at the time and he began loaning me health books. I’ve always enjoyed research and began researching health passionately. I’d devour all kinds of books on the subject and make extensive notes and also experiment with my own health. As I began sharing my findings with baby boomer friends and peers I found great interest in health and diet. My own health was also beginning to improve markedly. At that time I’d already written and published a self-help book called “Panelbeating and Spray Painting for the NZ Home Handyman.” (It was based on skills from a former business I operated for 20 years). As this book was selling strongly, it occurred to me that all this study I was doing for my own use, could also be put together in a similar New Zealand, do-it-yourself health and diet book. So after researching and experimenting with natural health for further five years, in 1988 I wrote and published a do-it-yourself diet book on practical nutrition and health. It was called “NZ Nutrition and Your Health”. This book instantly sold amazingly well, probably because it was timely and easy to follow. Ideas for improvements to the book flowed in from readers and I soon published a second edition, retitled “Stay Healthy by Supplying What’s Lacking in Your Diet.” This new title was a better description of the book’s content. (The old title sounded somewhat like a government publication.) Since then, for 34 years the book has continued to sell strongly, mostly by direct mail through my publishing company Zealand Publishing House. Every few years after extensive research, I update it with the latest nutritional scientific findings. It is now in its 11th edition with a new section on scientifically proven herbs. As of 2022, sales in New Zealand now exceed 100,000 copies. Q WHO WAS YOUR BOOK WRITTEN FOR? Initially for myself, as an easy-to-use health reference book. But mostly for any New Zealander who want a simple, up-to-date reference book on how to achieve a healthy diet and how to avoid common health disorders, especially heart disease, cancer, arthritis and Alzheimers. Q WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS BOOK COMPARED TO OTHERS FOCUSING ON NUTRITION? Perhaps its simplicity, relevance, large print and the use of foods in standard portions throughout. It also contains much useful material suggested by readers over the years – the kind of things I want to know myself, like what do the food additive numbers mean on processed food packaging and which ones can be harmful? The comprehensive index at the back of the book is also highly useful and will often tell you what you want to know without having to look up the page article. Q WHAT IS THE ONE THING THAT YOUR BOOK DOES BETTER THAT OTHER BOOKS SIMILAR TO IT? Probably the book’s easy-to-use layout and the food tables that use everyday portions of local foods, rather than the often difficult-to-convert 100 gram portions for every food. Q GIVEN THIS BOOK USES NEW ZEALAND REFERENCES. HOW DO YOU SEE ITS RELEVANCE TO OTHER MARKETS LIKE THE US, CANADA AND THE UK? I should not be a problem when common sense is applied. Most readers should know an equivalent local breakfast food when a New Zealand term like Weetbix or Cornflakes is used. The mostly 100 gram portions of meat used throughout the book can be roughly converted to 4oz portions. The book is planned to be offered internationally this year (2015) so I am considering making an American/Canadian version available using US weights if readers want it. Apart from that, most things pertaining to diet and health are much the same worldwide. Q FROM THE FEEDBACK YOU HAVE RECEIVED ARE THERE ANY COMMON THREADS THAT PEOPLE HAVE ENJOYED ABOUT YOUR BOOK? The three most common comments would appear to be: 1. “The information is really useful to me.” 2. “It’s the best health book I’ve ever read.” 3. “I have improved my health in (some dramatic way).” Q HAVE YOU WRITTEN ANY OTHER BOOKS? “Panelbeating and Spray Painting for the NZ Home Handyman” “Secrets of Fascinating Womanhood” “Is Your pH Healthy?” “Condensed Bible” “The Second Coming of Jesus and the 1000 year Millennium” (due 2023) Co-authored “Everything You Need to Know About Colloidal Silver” “Heal Your Eye Problems with Herbs, Minerals and Vitamins” “Colostrum – Life’s First Food”
