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|  | Author: Michael Pollan
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $8.29
as of 9/7/2010 14:21 CDT details
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Seller: treebeardbooks
Rating:  400 reviews
Sales Rank: 192
Language: English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.7
ISBN: 0143114964
Dewey Decimal Number: 613.2
EAN: 9780143114963
ASIN: 0143114964
Publication Date: April 28, 2009
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Showing reviews 6-10 of 400
 common sense August 15, 2010
Matsuda
Should be required reading for anybody health minded.
Traditional dieting is not the way to go. For survival and to thrive, one must eat wholesome foods that are capable of rotting. It is plain and simple.
 Wanna Save the Planet? Do You REALLY Know What's on Your Plate? August 13, 2010
Jay Gilbertson (Prairie Farm, WI USA)
"In Defense Of Food"
An Eater's Manifesto
by Michael Pollan
Book Review by Jay Gilbertson
From the first sentences, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." I wondered where the heck this guy was headed, I mean--we are eating food. But, come to find out, the last thing that most folks are chowing on is anything but food.
Pollan has pulled together an eye-opening study, or perhaps it could be considered revelation of just exactly what are Americans eating? It can all be lumped into what most refer to as (drum roll) The Western Diet. He defines it as a shift from eating leaves to seeds. The four most produced seeds in America? The four most subsidized seeds in America? The four seeds most chemically altered and used to produce over 17,000 new food products in America? Give up? Soy, corn, wheat and rice.
Those four innocent seeds account for two-thirds of the total calories we consume. That's a lot of fake-food people and the fact that those fancy-schmancy pre-packaged NON-food products have the marketing power of 32 billion bucks a year overwhelms the force of tradition (think Mom) and has unfortunately left us in the hands of science, journalism, government and marketing to tell us what to eat. Honestly, do you really think that that nutrition-packed bar, chip, cracker, cereal, bread, icy-soda, burger-helper, yogurt-on-a-stick, is actually good for you?
Think again, please.
So many of us simply want to shove something in and get on with things. What's the rush? Wonder why the French can eat all that heavy food, slug wine and finish things off with some rich pastry? They eat together, they eat food, they eat slowly and they eat far less than Americans as in their actual portion sizes. Take a look at grandma's china and I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts it's about half the size of what most of us have in our cabinets today.
I think one of the most compelling factoids in this fact-packed (and well sourced and footnoted) volume is the indisputable, as well as unfortunate, fact that over two-thirds of Americans are obese. There's also been an enormous increase in diabetes, especially in our kids. Why has this happened? Pollan, with a great deal of clarity and example suggests that we truly are what we eat and isn't it time we spend a little bit more on real food and a little less in front of the TV, computer, or Game-boy? If you're concerned with the health of yourself as well as the health of your family, I can't recommend this book enough. It should be required reading for every high school across America.
Here are just a few things Pollan suggests one considers: "Pay more, eat less." It's simply a known fact that good food is going to ring-up higher. Yet many Americans that eat on the cheap seem to be able to afford that extra phone or deluxe TV or... "Eat Meals." Defined as sitting down at a table (imagine) and eating an honest to goodness meal. We are becoming a nation of snackers and eating less and less together. About a fifth of 18 to 50-year-old Americans eating now takes place in the car. What? "Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does." Think those gas station aisles are packed with fruits and veggies? Not. "Eat Slowly." By eating fast, we tend to eat more and not give our bodies the chance to realize we're stuffed.
Bottom line in this fascinating and empowering book is that the only way we're going to get healthier is by realizing most of the stuff in our cupboards isn't even food and that real food could possibly bring us back to real health.
REALLY!
Some websites to consider for more information:
[...]
Dropping the other shoe August 4, 2010
D. Sejda (Palm Coast, FL United States)
This is a bit of a change from the Omnivore's Dilemma in the Pollan seems to have moved from objective reporting to advocacy. This is not to say the work is not objective but that the author now has a particular point of view in mind and moves the reader to it very nicely. Well researched and written, it has a stand alone capability but, I think, it works a little better as the second book. Not so much from the point of view of content but more from the point of view of understanding the author.
As well researched as the first book but with additional resources, esp. online, for obtaining real food.
pleased! July 27, 2010
emilie
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The condition of the book when i received it was absolutely fine for what i needed it for! I had to annotate it so i wasn't needing it to be in perfect condition... and I found that the online description of the book's condition was accurate! Overall, I was very pleased with my order!
In Defense of Food July 26, 2010
M. Reynard (Montana)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was a good book. Sadly, it was largely what should be common sense but due to the fact that the book needed written, it must not be so common anymore. Pollan addresses the problems with modern meals and the Western diet in this book.
There are three main sections. The Age Of Nutrition-ism talks about just that. Pollan goes over some of the studies and thoughts out there that are modern view of nutrition came from. Especially noticeable are the concepts of vitamins and nutrients. We all recognize that our bodies need these things to work properly, but Pollan's point is that supplements alone aren't going to solve this problem. There is something out there undefined as of right now that makes whole foods as nutritious as they are and not just the sum of their nutrients. He doesn't say that vitamins are worthless, he just says that they are not the best trade-off for whole fresh food.
The next section is the Western Diet and the Diseases of Civilation. He touches on how most people eating a western diet (considered processed food, not a lot of variety, etc.) tend to have higher incidences of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other long term diseases. When he goes back to research other diets that have been established for centuries, he finds that they have lower incidences of these types of disease.
The last part is called Getting Over Nutrition-ism. This section basically gives his rules for good eating. He says to eat "food" and while this seems silly, what he means is actual food, not processed engineered food. He goes over how whole food may not actually be as good as you think, such as meat that is fed processed or bad for it type food. Eat mostly plants, meat should be an accompaniment, not the main course. And lastly, don't eat too much. People should learn when they are full and take cues from their body, not from the portion sizes. Enjoy the meals, that's what is most important.
Pollan makes several good points in this book. He does get repetitious at times and I think the book could have been shorter if this had been left out. He is also a writer, not a scientist so all his writing is not backed up by claims. But this is ok because it is interesting to speculate that the French are thinner because they take time to enjoy their meals even though its relatively similar to what the Americans eat.
The writing was easy to understand although it did get tedious in some parts. He uses a lot of the scientific names for things (i.e. lipids instead of fat) and sometimes this can make for longer reading as you have to remind yourself of what is what. He provides sources and scientific referrals for his work and this can be seen as credited in the back or footnotes within the book.
It should be common sense; but Pollan does a great job of directing this book towards people who maybe were never taught the proper way to eat. It does the research for those who might not know all that goes into their food and what they are ingesting. Truly a complicated educational read.
In Defense of Food
Copyright 2008
201 pages
At the end there are acknowledgements, sources, and an index.
Showing reviews 6-10 of 400
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