DESPITE what HiSoft claims, this package is not the first medical expert system available on a home computer. In fact, there is nothing unusual about it at all.
The program works out the best diet for you given parameters such as age, weight, height and sex. It also tells you whether you are the correct weight for your age, gives information about what food you should be buying and diagnoses any medical problems you may have.
That is an awful lot for a program to do. The advice it gives from its expert system diagnosis is very general, amounting usually to a strong recommendation to go out and get some more vitamin C. According to the authors of the package, vitamin C deficiency seems to be the cause-all and cure-all of most modern diseases.
Your Health is one of those programs which will have you reaching for your doctor's phone number. If you are of a nervous disposition you could end up with a cabinet full of pep pills, and phobias concerning dogs, cats or any other animals or plants you care to mention.
The package is the first in a series of so-called practical applications aimed at widening the horizons of the average computer user. Your Health will probably be the most down to earth piece of software in that series. The others are called Your Horoscope and Your Hand Reveals.
If you are serious about health foods and their nutritional values, then go for Your Health. If you are only interested in keeping a fairly healthy diet stick to fat-free yoghurt, diet Coke, monkey nuts, and plenty of exercise. It's healthier than sitting in front of the television for hours on end and beats the worry of knowing you've just partaken of 120 calories.
15th December 1985
