Thread: A book for the best health info?

I am tired of bouncing all over the place picking up bits of conflicting info on all kinds of nutrition subjects. For example, one will say milk is great for you and will help you lose weight, and the next time I'll read milk is crap for a number of reasons.

I'm tired of trying to sort through all the conflicting info and remember what's what, so for my health's sake is there really a book or something that gives the unbiased, truest info on what's good for you and what's not?

Also, just like I discovered that Master Cleanse was absolutely NOT for me but a ton of other people have reported positive experiences with it, I'd like info that doesn't assume everyone is identical and what works for one will definitely work for another. Does that make any sense at all?

"In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan. It'll at least explain why the information you're getting is inconsistant.

Thank you, I will check it out. I also am looking at this one:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Science/dp/1400033462/ref=pd_sim_b_5]Amazon.com: Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health (Vintage) (9781400033461): Gary Taubes: Books[/ame]

And my local library has both these, so I get to try before I buy. ..g.:

I 2nd Michael Pollan's books.

I tend to stay away any book that says "good" or "bad".

What resources are going to be most helpful to you also depends on your philosophy of health and what your health goals/concerns are. Without these, you will be all over the map and unable to discern what is good advice and what is crap.

Eat Drink and Be Healthy is the best book I've read on Nutrition so far in my life. Once I got past the first chapter telling me why his book was so great I thought it was full of some really good content that was well researched and honest.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/dp/0743266420/ref=cm_sw_su_dp]Amazon.com: Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating (9780743266420): M.D. Walter C. Willett, P.J. Skerrett: Books[/ame]

I third Michael Pollan's books. They offer straight up, reasonably simple information without actually recommending any specific type of "diet" aside from making the effort to eat as little industrially processed food as possible and making produce the main event on your dinner plate. Generally, avoid anything that eliminates entire food groups or villifies a certain kind of food, especially when said food has been around for millenia (ie: bread), and definitely avoid those that follow overly complicated food rules or rituals (ie: eat only XYZ at this time of the day and don't combine with nutrient ABC).

Nutrition is a field that is absolutely rife with conflicting information due to
a) the infuriatingly varied manner in which people from different regions and ethnic backgrounds handle food (this is especially evident in food intolerances such as lactose intolerance)
b) Ethical and moral viewpoints regarding food (oh, you Pythagorians!)
c) advances in food and nutrition science
and
d) the massively lucrative market for books on diet/nutrition.

I know this isn't much of an answer, but again - Pollan's books are quite good. If you want something more cut-and-dried, I'd seriously start looking into nutrition textbooks. They may be dense, but they would be your best shot at finding unbiased information...

...and if you ever find The Diet and Nutrition Book of Books, please let us know!

I like Pollans books, too. He said in one of them to avoid eating things that your great-grandmother would not recognize as food. Such a simple piece of advice, and he has a lot more to offer, but it has been a good and easy to remember guideline for me to use when making food choices.

I love food and I love to eat, drink, and be merry. Often. I have no desire to change that about myself, and his books did not make me feel I needed to.

Here are my faves:

"The End of Over Eating" : explains how the food industry works to keep us consuming bad foods and how to circumvent.

"YOU on a diet": explains what's going on in the body, the hormone response to sugar, etc.. and gives you sample menus to get the max nutrients

"The Clean Eating Diet": loads of recipes that follow the basic principle of steering clear of processed foods

I found these books to work well together as they have the same basic principle of avoidance of processed, high fat, high sugar, high sodium foods. Technically this does work for everybody, but YMMV I suppose...

Originally Posted by Monica

I love food and I love to eat, drink, and be merry. Often. I have no desire to change that about myself, and his books did not make me feel I needed to.

This is the only recommendation I've ever read for a nutrition author that made me want to run right out and buy his or her books. Sister! Thank you!

Originally Posted by Zana

This is the only recommendation I've ever read for a nutrition author that made me want to run right out and buy his or her books. Sister! Thank you!

I second this. I enjoy food. I enjoy real food made out of real food...even if it is a decadent real food. Michael helps me feel better about my desire to enjoy full fat food with real butter when a food or meal requires it instead of feeling pressure to buy and consume low-fat versions of things that have required quite unnatural processes to get to be what they are.

A recent article/blog post made me think of this thread:
The rules of nutrition.

The concept of not seeing food as good/bad seems like a very good thing to me. And I liked her acknowledgments of critical thinking, individuality, and culture.

Plus it led me to this!

Originally Posted by Monica

A recent article/blog post made me think of this thread:
The rules of nutrition.

The concept of not seeing food as good/bad seems like a very good thing to me. And I liked her acknowledgments of critical thinking, individuality, and culture.

Plus it led me to this!

I like Pollan's work but I do have some issues with it. I love the Fat Nutritionist! She is so incredibly smart. Her blogs are so good that I am thinking about hiring her (she will consult people via skype, etc.) The master cleanse isn't nutrition or a way to lose weight. Another good book is [ame=http://www.amazon.com/3-Season-Diet-Nature-Intended-Cravings/dp/0609805436/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267978701&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: The 3-Season Diet: Eat the Way Nature Intended: Lose Weight, Beat Food Cravings, and Get Fit (9780609805435): John Douillard: Books[/ame]
This book takes the Ayurveda philospophy in that everyone has a different body type and should eat in the way that is right for them.

I put Pollan on my want-to-read-list thanks to this thread! I read 'The truth about food' and it helped me putting things in perspective on the good/bad food thing. They adress one health issue per chapter (six chapters in total) and they add information from experiments and studies to back up their claims.

What is good for you if you want to avoid vascular disease might differ from what is good for you when you want to stay healthy and active when you're over 65. It's a nice addition to read.