Fed Up

Why is it so hard to decide what to eat? We are bombarded with conflicting advice on weight and health, fad diets and food pyramids. No wonder so many of us feel confused and guilty.

In Fed Up, Daniel Lieberman tackles this confusion head-on with his trademark blend of lively storytelling and myth-busting science. Drawing on evolutionary biology, anthropology, and physiology, he explains how humans first evolved to eat; how fire, farming and industrialisation transformed our diets; and what that history combined with rigorous medical science can —and cannot—tell us about what to eat today to stay healthy and manage our weight. In each chapter, Lieberman explores what different diets—from Palaeo to veganism to intermittent fasting—tell us about nutrition and health, even putting these diets to the test himself. His conclusion is liberating: there is no optimal diet. What matters instead is variety, moderation, and finding out what works for you.

Clear-eyed, humane and always entertaining, Fed Up gives us the tools to make wiser, kinder choices about what we eat.