6 used & new from £14.83
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
In Defence of Food: The Myth of Nutrition and the Pleasures of Eating
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

In Defence of Food: The Myth of Nutrition and the Pleasures of Eating (Hardcover)

by Michael Pollan (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


1 new from £197.25 5 used from £14.83
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Paperback Order it used

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
   Performance and Nutrition opens new browser window
www.alltech.com  -  Animal performance & health through nutrition naturally
   Food And Nutrition opens new browser window
Ask.com  -  Find the Best Results for Food And Nutrition. Ask us!
   Nutrition Info opens new browser window
www.Info.co.uk/Nutrition  -  Find Info On Nutrition Access 6 Search Engines At Once.
  
 

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Search for a Perfect Meal in a Fast-food World

The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Search for a Perfect Meal in a Fast-food World

by Michael Pollan
4.6 out of 5 stars (8)  £5.96
The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-eye View of the World

The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-eye View of the World

by Michael Pollan
5.0 out of 5 stars (5)  £6.22
Eat Your Heart Out: Why the Food Business is Bad for the Planet and Your Health

Eat Your Heart Out: Why the Food Business is Bad for the Planet and Your Health

by Felicity Lawrence
4.6 out of 5 stars (9)  £5.38
Swindled: From Poison Sweets to Counterfeit Coffee - The Dark History of the Food Cheats

Swindled: From Poison Sweets to Counterfeit Coffee - The Dark History of the Food Cheats

by Bee Wilson
4.0 out of 5 stars (5)  £10.88
What to Eat

What to Eat

by Marion Nestle
£8.49
› Explore similar items

Product details

Product Description

Boyd Tonkin, Independent

'It scourges the misdeeds of US agribusiness, supermarkets and nutrition "experts" with eloquence and erudition. It makes a watertight case for wholesome real food rather than gimmicky diets as the road to health.'

Daily Mail

`Reading Michael Pollan tackling this subject in his definitive new book In Defence of Food is like watching a hot knife slice through butter. It instantly makes redundant all diet books and 99 per cent of discussions around healthy eating'
See all Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
Agree with these tags?

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

In Defence of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
50% buy
In Defence of Food: An Eater's Manifesto 4.7 out of 5 stars (7)
£5.47
In Defence of Food: The Myth of Nutrition and the Pleasures of Eating
22% buy the item featured on this page:
In Defence of Food: The Myth of Nutrition and the Pleasures of Eating 4.4 out of 5 stars (10)
The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Search for a Perfect Meal in a Fast-food World
16% buy
The Omnivore's Dilemma: The Search for a Perfect Meal in a Fast-food World 4.6 out of 5 stars (8)
£5.96
Eat Your Heart Out: Why the Food Business is Bad for the Planet and Your Health
6% buy
Eat Your Heart Out: Why the Food Business is Bad for the Planet and Your Health 4.6 out of 5 stars (9)
£5.38
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
63 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A quiet personal revolution based on rational information, 16 April 2008
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.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Life changing.... really, 3 Mar 2008
By M. A. Stone "crazydaisydoo" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Nearly everyone in the western world needs to reads this book, 8 Feb 2008
By Timos (U.K.) - See all my reviews
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.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

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 6 months ago 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 9 months ago 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 11 months ago 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 12 months ago 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 12 months ago 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 17 months ago by Mike

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 23 months ago by Mr. J. J. Atkinson

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 

   

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject










i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.