“In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto,” by Michael Pollan (Penguin Press, 2008).Americans don’t eat food, we eat “edible foodlike substances,” Pollan says. We know how to count calories and fat grams on packaging; have you ever counted the number of ingredients listed on a loaf of bread or a frozen Lean Cuisine meal? Pollan says don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce.
“What To Eat,” by Marion Nestle (North Point Press, 2007).
Like Pollan, Nestle, a nutritionist who teaches at New York University, helps cut through the confusion about what is and isn’t food. Both she and Pollan write about how we got here, eating manufactured food, not real food.
“The 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What You Should Eat and Why,” by Jonny Bowden (Fair Winds Press, 2007).
From A (artichokes) to Z (actually W, for watercress) the vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, meat, poultry and eggs, beverages, specialty foods (this is where dark chocolate comes in) and herbs and spices that are what the book title promises, the healthiest foods on earth. Two of my favorite parts of the book: top ten lists of the healthiest foods as chosen by other experts, and what the heck to do about sugar cravings.
More Books On the Real Food Movement
“Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life,” by Barbara Kingsolver
(Harper Perennial, 2008)
Novelist Kingsolver and her family move to a farm in Virginia and attempt to eat only what they and local farmers grow.
“Real Food: What To Eat and Why,” by Nina Planck
(Bloomsbury USA, 2007)
“Cooking the Whole Foods Way: Your Complete, Everyday Guide to Healthy, Delicious Eating with 500 Vegan Recipes, Menus, Techniques, Meal Planning, Buying Tips, Wit, and Wisdom,” by Christina Pirello
(HP Trade, 2007)
5 comments:
I'm really looking forward to reading all these--I'd also like to recommend Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilemma"--that book definitely changed the way I look at a LOT of the food I eat!
Another book would be "Fat Fallacy" which gives you the list of ingredients in a food at the beginning of each chapter and then reveals the "food" at the end of the chapter! The author also gives recipes worth trying, especially "Stunned Spinach".
~Patricia
I would also highly recommend Food Politics by Marion Nestle (to go with "What To Eat" by the same author). Also another book you may like that discusses the psychology of eating is Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink. (Yes, this is the same Wesa from Mon/Wed evenings).
Another good source of information is from Loren Cordain's "The Paleo Diet" He (as well as others) take the true foods idea back to our hunter/gather orgins, its a diet life style change that has helped me not ever to have to think about my weight. I lost 50 lbs over the course of a year after adopting this diet.
Patty
I love Marion Nestle's book! Her more academic book, about Big Food and corporate food in America is also really good, but a tougher read. CAn't remember the name right now...
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