An Apple a Day
The Myths, Misconceptions, and Truths About the Foods We Eat
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Exploring the myths, claims, and misconceptions surrounding the food we eat—with expert nutrition advice for the organic-obsessed, the diet-depressed, and the everyday food lover!
You have to be a nutritional scientist these days before you sit down to eat—which is why we need An Apple a Day. In this entertaining guide to the food we eat, Dr. Joe Schwarcz has taken his knowledge of food chemistry and applied it to our top food fears, trends, and questions.
Organized in short, easy-to-reference chapters on dozens of different food topics, Dr. Joe looks at how food affects our health and explains what’s happening in our bodies when we eat—how do the hundreds of compounds in a single food react when we put something in our mouths?
He investigates how we manipulate our food supply, delving into the science of food additives such as MSG and sweeteners both artificial and natural. Which nutritional supplements might actually do you good?
Dr. Joe also clears up the confusion about contaminants, examining everything from pesticide residues, remnants of antibiotics, the dreaded trans fats, and chemicals that may leach from cookware. Finally, he takes a studied look at the science of calories and weighs in on popular diets.
With Dr Joe’s advice, readers will be armed with the information they need on how to eat well, how to make better food choices, and how to avoid diet hype.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Widely known in Canada from his Montreal Gazette column, and work with the Discovery Channel, Schwarcz (Let Them Eat Flax) is an entertaining guide through the tangle of conflicting research studies, advertising claims, special interest groups, age-old myths and popular opinion that make diet a cloudy subject. In short chapters he aims his microscope at such highly touted foods as tomatoes, acai berries, curry and soy; additives like nitrites, artificial sweeteners, vitamins and fluoride; contaminants including pesticides, hormones, trans fats and dioxins; and what, for him, are suspect fads. Schwarcz contends that while there are no "magical" foods, a diet of mostly vegetables, fruits, whole grains and low-fat dairy products and moderation are key to good health. To help readers make informed choices, he ably cuts through many controversies and will likely stir up a few (he challenges those who condemn milk consumption, espouse detoxification and promote kosher foods, for example). Schwarcz makes learning fun by peppering his text with fascinating facts (coffee contains naturally occurring carcinogens, and apples have formaldehyde). More importantly, he leaves readers with a rational framework for evaluating the complex nature of foods and how they affect health.
