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|  | Author: Michael Pollan
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Seller: ramdistributors
Rating:  400 reviews
Sales Rank: 217
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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Condition: NEW BOOK, COVER SHELF MINOR WEAR, FAST SHIPPING 100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE- M 112
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Showing reviews 391-395 of 400
 Eye Opening January 10, 2008
Diane Raylos
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I am familiar with some of the thngs set forth in the book, but not as familiar with other aspects.
I thought I had a good handle on the issues, but apparently I did not.
Plants (vegatables) are something I try to eat the most of, but have not made it past some of the other things that I should probably not be eating, though I try.
Browsing through this book has opened my eyes to some areas that I need to pay more attention to, namely some of the terms used by food providers in labeling their food. The discussion of what constitutes free range chicken, for instance, was something I did not know. I thought it was something I should be looking for when I shop.
There is no denying there is a problem today with eating habits that are causing health issues, and I have worked through some of these things myself but I still have a way to go.
Anyone who is interested in the subject, or who knows someone who should be interested due to their health or weight, should take a look at this book.
Care for your family? Want to live long and well? This is required reading. January 9, 2008
Jesse Kornbluth (New York)
973 out of 999 found this review helpful
What's better for you --- whole milk, 2% milk or skim?
Is a chicken labeled "free range" good enough to reassure you of its purity? How about "grass fed" beef?
What form of soy is best for you --- soy milk or tofu?
About milk: I'll bet most of you voted for reduced or non-fat. But if you'll turn to page 153 of "In Defense of Food," you'll read that processors don't make low-fat dairy products just by removing the fat. To restore the texture --- to make the drink "milky" --- they must add stuff, usually powdered milk. Did you know powdered milk contains oxidized cholesterol, said to be worse for your arteries than plain old cholesterol? And that removing the fat makes it harder for your body to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins that make milk a valuable food in the first place?
About chicken and beef: Readers of Pollan's previous book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma", know that "free range" refers to the chicken's access to grass, not whether it actually ventures out of its coop. And all cattle are "grass fed" until they get to the feedlot. The magic words for delightful beef are "grass finished" or "100% grass fed".
And about soy...but I dare to hope I have your attention by now. And that you don't want to be among the two-thirds of Americans who are overweight and the third of our citizens who are likely to develop type 2 diabetes before 2050. And maybe, while I have your eyes, you might be mightily agitated to learn that America spends $250 billion --- that's a quarter of the costs of the Iraq war --- each year in diet-related health care costs. And that our health care professionals seem far more interested in building an industry to treat diet-related diseases than they do in preventing them. And that the punch line of this story is as sick as it is simple: preventing diet-related disease is easy.
In just 200 pages (and 22 pages of notes and sources), "In Defense of Food" gives you a guided tour of 20th century food science, a history of "nutritionism" in America and a snapshot of the marriage of government and the food industry. And then it steps up to the reason most readers will buy it --- and if you care for your health and the health of your loved ones, this is a no-brainer one-click --- and presents a commonsense shopping-and-eating guide.
If you are up on your Pollan and your Nina Planck and your Barbara Kingsolver, you know the major points of the "real food" movement. But if you're new to this information or are disinclined to buy or read this book, let me lay Pollan's argument out for you:
-- High-fructose corn syrup is the devil's brew. Do yourself a favor and remove it from your diet. (If you have kids, here's a place to start: Heinz smartly offers an "organic" ketchup, made with sugar.)
-- Avoid any food product that makes health claims --- they mean it's probably not really food.
-- In a supermarket, don't shop in the center aisles. Avoid anything that can't rot, anything with an ingredient you can't pronounce.
-- "Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does."
-- "You are what you eat eats too." Most cows end their days on a diet of corn, unsold candy, their pulverized brothers and sisters --- yeah, you read that right --- and a pharmacy's worth of antibiotics. And they bestow that to you. Consider that the next time there's a sale on sirloin.
-- "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." By which Pollan means: Eat natural food, the kind your grandmother served (and not because she was so wise, but because the food industry had not yet learned that the big money was in processing, not harvesting). Use meat sparingly. Eat your greens, the leafier and more varied the better.
In short: Kiss the Western diet as we know it goodbye. Look to the cultures where people eat well and live long. Ignore the faddists and experts. Trust your gut. Literally.
In all this, Pollan insists that you have to save yourself. And he makes a good case why. Our government, he says, is so overwhelmed by the lobbying and marketing power of our processed food industry that the American diet is now 50% sugar in one form or another --- calories that provide "virtually nothing but energy." Our representatives are almost uniformly terrified to take on the food industry. And as for the medical profession, the key moment, Pollan writes, is when "doctors kick the fast-food franchises out of the hospital" --- don't hold your breath.
"You want to live, follow me." I loved it when Schwarzenegger said that in "Terminator." It matters much more when, in so many words, Michael Pollan delivers that same message in "In Defense of Food."
Essential Reading January 8, 2008
Tierney Tully (Chaplin, CT)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is the single most important book to read this year, or any year. While Omnivore's Dilemma was primarily about the ethics of how food gets onto our plates, this book is about our personal relationship with what we eat. "Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants" is Pollan's mantra for our decision-making process when it comes to what we eat. This is not a prescriptive diet book, but a philosophy of eating meant to counter the cult of "nutritionism" that has a strangle hold on our nation. While I have encouraged friends and family to read specific books from time to time, including Omnivore's Dilemma, I have never felt so strongly about a book that I did what I have with this one - purchased a dozen copies to hand out, written a review, and sent out a broadcast email urging those I know to read this book.
 Simply Not as Good as The Omnivore's Dilemma January 6, 2008
Samuel Sellers (Bainbridge Island, WA USA)
109 out of 124 found this review helpful
This was not a bad book, but the biggest problem I had with it was that it was too short (just over 200 pages of text in large typeface) and it often repeated points without elaborating on them in as much detail as I would have liked. Pollan goes back to the theme of "Nutritionism" throughout his book, and discusses how the interests of food scientists and manufacturers have aligned to create the food environment we have today. This is a very fascinating story, but he seems too narrowminded on the theme of nutritionism and how that has ruined our food system and doesn't detail other potential causes.
Other interests (such as the beef and dairy lobbies, which he briefly alludes to a couple times in the book) have also had a tremendous influence on the national diet. Moreover, the way we live our lives, busily, without time to eat, is a tremendous contributor to poor health that Pollan again only alludes to. Lifestyle is a huge part of the food culture that Pollan encourages, but he doesn't specify what elements of lifestyle are common in the most successful food cultures.
My other major bugaboo with the book was that he barely touched on the notion of vegetarian and vegan diets, which are becoming increasingly popular in the States. The question of whether these diets are safe and healthy was not mentioned much (about a paragraph or so) and some insight into these two movements would have been appreciated.
Overall, it's a quicker read than the Omnivore's Dilemma, but less detailed and with fewer eye-opening moments. A book that should be read, but I recommend you save your money and wait until the paperback edition is released.
I couldn't put it down January 6, 2008
CXC (CT)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
I love the whistle-blowers; I love the truth. I had just read, "Good Calories, Bad Calories" which was great. Michael Pollan is another fantastic author to be applauded. The information he shares is so important...you must read it or you may be left out in the cold - the dead cold! It is well written and you can't deny the sincerity of his intention. Please check it out. Everyone would be better off reading this book - for a healthier life that can actually result from finding pleasure in eating once again, as it should be.
Thank you, Michael Pollan.
Showing reviews 391-395 of 400
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