|
| 
 enlarge | Author: Michael Pollan
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
Buy New: $11.84
You Save: $10.11 (46%)
New (75) Used (34) Collectible (5) from $10.33
Rating:  192 reviews
Sales Rank: 115
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 1594201455
Dewey Decimal Number: 613.2
EAN: 9781594201455
ASIN: 1594201455
Publication Date: January 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 166-170 of 192
 Finally the Truth about Nutritionism January 25, 2008
K. B. Fenner (Columbia, SC USA)
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
Pollan thoughtfully and convincingly explains the many seeming paradoxes of "State of the Art" science about how to eat for good health. He establishes that what you eat may not be as important as the context in which you eat it, and that, as I have come to believe, there is no single universally appropriate healthy diet. He convinced me that the supposedly bad Western Diet is more accurately labeled the modern over-processed, gulped-down diet, and that one is best off, perhaps, eating what one's ancestors traditionally ate a century or so ago. The science analysis is excellent--he confirms my scientist husband's observation that "the great minds do not not gravitate to dietary science" or perhaps more accurately that nutrition reporting distorts what decent science there may be. The proof of the pudding seems to be that as I have returned to the food lifestyle of my German ancestors, I am losing weight and enjoying my food, and more important, enjoying my life.
A recovering orthorexic
Common sense isn't common. We needed a does of it... January 24, 2008
Lunazen (Arizona)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
...and Michael Pollan delivers.
I absolutely love this book. It is onethat should replace most books on nutrition and all diet books on the market. I had many "ah-hah!" moments while reading this; it is so full of simple common sense. It is shocking to realize we have come so far in the modern world and yet we have forgotten how to eat. "In Defense of Food" puts it all back into perspective.
I went to the grocery store tonight and stuck to food along the walls, avoiding food products in the aisles. It was one of the best dinners I've cooked in a long while. It felt good making it, eating it, and seeing my kids eat it, knowing it was made with real food.
I highly recommend this book!
Seven little words January 24, 2008
Nicholas Gold (Baltimore)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Seven little words summarize Pollan's In Defense of Food, and they are emblazoned right on the cover: Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
Could it be? Could it be that escaping from the trap of the Western diet, and associated ill health effects, could be so easy? More or less, but In Defense of Food unpacks these words to not only offer very straightforward advice about how to eat right (and avoid foodlike substances that are really just masquerading as food) but a very interesting explanation of how we got here (is it a surprise that industry lobbyist groups created much of the mess?)
As Pollan says, he is not trying to present a definitive analysis of exactly which foods in which combinations can make us healthier (turns out almost ANYTHING other than the Western diet, and our eating patterns, would make us much better off.) Rather, he offers basic tenets that can guide any shopper, but not drive him or her insane.
Very refreshing, and highly motivating. I very strongly recommend this title, even to people who think they know everything about this subject, but are obsessed with what is supposedly the most nutritious food, what is the worst, etc. We don't really have to fret so much at all, and only a writer of Pollan's character could so fully convince us that we an reclaim our relationship to real food that makes us healthy and happy.
 Great Expectations with only Good Results January 22, 2008
E. Lambeau
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
After reading The Omnivore's Dilemma (OD) I had great expectations for this book. It delivered, but not as much as I had hoped. While I thoroughly enjoyed OD; I, along with many of my friends and co-workers, found the first half much more fascinating than the latter. The history (and politics) of corn production, the impacts of a mono-culture (environmentally and nutritionally) and the available alternatives were fascinating.
I was hoping this book would go even deeper into all three of these topics; and it did, but only to an extent. The history of processed foods as it pertains to government regulation was fascinating. What an interesting cultural shift; I would have loved to have seen some "counter-culture" arguments from of the time as I find it hard to believe that all of society jumped head first into processed food like substances without any dissent. The counter arguments of the day that were presented were vague and felt rushed.
I've read some of the negative reviews and have to agree somewhat. As a liberal progressive this book did pander to my demographic. With a topic as important as our national health, I was hoping for a politically neutral book that would inspire the average American to change. Unfortunately, I can see how many readers could be put off. BUT, the "nutrition establishment" is funded by food processors, they did tell us that margarine was not only safe, but better for us and heck, it took at least a generation before the establishment decided that smoking was bad for us. So faulting Mr. Pollen for only presenting limited nutritional facts is unfair. Even if the scientific community were correct 99% of the time, we are talking about the health of the nation. Everything depends on it, national security, our economy, everything. The food network system is flawed, preliminary safety studies are conducted, a product is brought to market, in the case of margarine, over the next 20 years additional studies are done only to find out that the original studies were wrong and margarine is much worse for you than the butter it was supposed to replace.
So yes, maybe nutritional science does have more to offer than Mr. Pollen gives them credit for, but in the same breath, blind faith in their accuracy (and motivations) is a path we must get off. Our government should be more concerned about healthy citizens than healthy profits, regardless of the downstream economic impact to a small number of corporations or lobbys.
 Nostalgia by a Luddite January 22, 2008
RoadRunner (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
33 out of 80 found this review helpful
This book cherry picks nutritional findings when it wishes to add a little scientific credibility to its arguments, but then implies that nutritional science will always get it wrong. In this way it implies there is no difference between the discredited lipid hypothesis and the carbohydrate hypothesis which has so recently been brilliantly documented by Gary Taubes. Pollan then wanders off into unsubstantiated claims that vegetarians live longer and endorses the customary liberal feel good arguments about farmers' markets and natural food. While charmingly written, it is basically a literary work and not a book with useful nutritional information.
|
|
|
. | |
