In Defence of Food: The Myth of Nutrition and the Pleasures of Eating [Hardcover]

 

 

Create your own review

You know that you shouldn't be eating 'food products' instead of proper identifiable food. But you like biscuits and cakes. You don't want to be hectored. This book is smart enough to realise that. Pollan covers a lot of ground but he doesn't patronise or claim to be better than his audience. Amongst the topics covered are:
+ The French Paradox. Why do French people spend so much more money and time on food and yet consistently live healthier and longer lives than Americans?*
+ Why nutritional claims should be ignored on food products (hint, if they're telling you it's low in fat check the sugars etc)
+ Just why it is so hard to work out what difference adding or removing one element from a person's diet has. When you factor in the person lying about their diet in the first place, the very long and extremely detailed forms they have to complete to track food intake, life changes etc it's a wonder any judgement can ever be made.
+ Why switching from eating fat to carbs makes you fatter and unhealthier and why the American government encouraged an entire generation to make that misguided switch.

It makes for very readable reading.

The final section of the book is Pollan's rules of thumb. They're pragmatic, human and easy to remember. Some examples and quotes:

Rule No. 1 - 'Eat food'. (Meaning proper food made from proper ingredients instead of food products made from everything else. Homemade cake instead of 'diet' cake bars.)

'Don't Eat Anything Your Great-Grandmother Wouldn't Recognise As Food' With the additional comment, 'Don't eat anything incapable of rotting is another personal policy you might consider adopting'.

'Avoid Food Products Containing Ingredients That Are A)unfamiliar, B)unpronounceable, C)more than five in number, or that include D)high-fructose corn syrup.'

'You Are What You Eat Eats Too. That is, the diet of the animals we eat has a bearing on the nutritional quality and healthfulness, of the food itself, whether it is meat or milk or eggs.'

'Do All Your Eating At A Table. No, a desk is not a table.' (I love this quote!)

This is not a shock tactics book like Fast Food Nation was but rather a book that seeks a quiet personal revolution based on rational information. It's less likely to make you wave it under someone else's nose and demand they read it to change their life but it will make you more wary of claims like 'fat free' and aware of just how food products are replacing food. After reading this I walked around a supermarket and was surprised at just how many questions I had (Where does it actually come from? What does that ingredient actually do? Why is it in this product in the first place? etc). That rule about only eating things that actually rot kept floating back into my mind as well. It's a very good thought to be having when looking around so many hermetically sealed packages. So, I feel I learnt a few lessons from this book and I feel it is well worth a read even if it is more likely to make you simply say 'Oh' and buy a better choice rather than start a protest. Over time though, that change in your buying patterns will probably make a much bigger difference. 8/10. Recommended.

*They take longer at the table to eat less food of better quality for which they are willing to pay more. Simple really.

I heard Mr Pollan on Radio 4, and was impressed. The book is well worth persevering with, it is crammed with well researched information.

This is not a diet book, it is an anti-diet book. It arms you with all the tools you need to make up your own mind about food.

It is easy to become almost evangelical about this book, but it is a really important piece of work. Nutritionalists should not worry, the world still needs you, but this book makes you wonder about the way that major corporations use this information to boost profits.

This book is very well written and easy to understand. It conveys a complicated subject matter very simply. This is that the "western diet" of processed food products is slowly killing people and that we need to radically change our relationship with food. While this sounds scary, the book is not an act of scare-mongering but an essay on what and how we should eat food. I would highly recommend anyone living in the west to read this book as it will open their eyes.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 12 customer reviews...

 

5.0 out of 5 stars challenging the existing hypotheses
As a researcher in cardiovascular health, I found this book very interesting and inspiring in challenging the existing hypotheses and the research paradigm in which we do our... Read more

Published 3 months ago by E. Skaug

5.0 out of 5 stars please read this book if you are concerned about getting fat & unhealthy
I will give this book full marks - not because its so amazing, as it really just states what I thought was obvious - but because I was so surprised that only a few of his fellow... Read more

Published 22 months ago by Louisa Philippé

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but rambling
Pollan makes very interesting points, I agree with almost everything he says, and there is plenty of food for thought as per the other reviews, BUT, to a British ear, his... Read more

Published on 25 July 2009 by I read lots

2.0 out of 5 stars Confused and conceited
Being interested in good food and taking an interest in the effects of the modern diet I thought this would be a useful book. Read more

Published on 26 April 2009 by Dick Chuckens

5.0 out of 5 stars lifechanging
I must have read so many newspaper articles, books and magazines about food and what we should be eating, but none of it quite sunk in until now. Read more

Published on 1 Mar 2009 by Fiona

4.0 out of 5 stars In Defence of Food: The Myth of Nutrition and the Pleasures of Eating
Brilliant book, I would recommend it to anyone who cares about food and wants to hear the truth about the food industry and 'nutritional science. Read more

Published on 12 Feb 2009 by Herb

5.0 out of 5 stars How our "food" is no longer really food
The devils here are "nutritionism" and "reductive science." I would prefer the terms "big agriculture" and "over processed, refined and denatured" foods. Read more

Published on 21 Jan 2009 by Dennis Littrell

5.0 out of 5 stars Full of common sense, a first class read
Cannot recommend this book too highly. It's easy to read, written with good humour as well as insight, and makes lots of good points about the way our eating habits have changed... Read more

Published on 2 Sep 2008 by DMH

5.0 out of 5 stars debunking food fads
This book is a breath of fresh air to those Westerners concerned with their diet but unsure which way to turn for their own well-being. Read more

Published on 26 Feb 2008 by Mr. J. J. Atkinson

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 12 customer reviews...

Search Listmania!