In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
by Michael Pollan
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Book Summary Information
Author: Michael PollanNarrator: Scott Brick
Edition: Music CD
Format: Audiobook
Published: 2008-01-01
ISBN: 0143142747
Number of pages: 5
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Book Reviews of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
Book Review: Fresh Perspective on Food
Summary: 5 Stars
This is likely the most useful book I have read in a decade. Having grown up in the clean-your-plate-get-dessert era I greatly appreciate Pollan's fresh (pun accepted) perspectives on food and eating. Despite a medical background, I have long been perplexed by food and the many products now available that masquerade as food. If Pollan is right, it's not so complicated after all. This diligently-researched book explains the origins--government, food industry, junk science--and motivations behind commonly held myths about healthy and not healthy. He does a masterful job of presenting evidence, but avoids a know-it-all attitude common among so-called experts of the modern era. Though I find the evidence-based nutrition science to be fascinating, the book is filled with practical, applicable advice that anyone can understand, like Pollan's recommendation to avoid products with more than five ingredients or those with ingredients that are tough to pronounce. Though I still eat more than I should, I have drastically changed what I eat. More importantly I am using the book's concepts to gradually, persistently re-educate my high-fructose-corn-syrup-craving teenagers. Hopefully it's not too late.
Summary of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
Amazon Significant Seven, January 2008: Food is the one thing that Americans hate to love and, as it turns out, love to hate. What we want to eat has been ousted by the notion of what we should eat, and it's at this nexus of hunger and hang-up that Michael Pollan poses his most salient question: where is the food in our food? What follows in In Defense of Food is a series of wonderfully clear and thoughtful answers that help us omnivores navigate the nutritional minefield that's come to typify our food culture. Many processed foods vie for a spot in our grocery baskets, claiming to lower cholesterol, weight, glucose levels, you name it. Yet Pollan shows that these convenient "healthy" alternatives to whole foods are appallingly inconvenient: our health has a nation has only deteriorated since we started exiling carbs, fats--even fruits--from our daily meals. His razor-sharp analysis of the American diet (as well as its architects and its detractors) offers an inspiring glimpse of what it would be like if we could (a la Humpty Dumpty) put our food back together again and reconsider what it means to eat well. In a season filled with rallying cries to lose weight and be healthy, Pollan's call to action—"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."--is a program I actually want to follow. --Anne BartholomewWhat to eat, what not to eat, and how to think about health: a manifesto for our times.
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