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Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating
This updated edition of the national bestseller debunks dietary myths and presents Dr. Willett's New Healthy Eating Pyramid, a healthier guide to nutrition than the recently revised USDA pyramid.
Inside you'll discover:
<UL TYPE=DISC> <LI>eye-opening new research on the healthiest carbohydrates, fats, and proteins
<LI>why weight control is still t
...morePaperback, 352 pages
Published
February 1st 2011
by Free Press
(first published 2001)
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I read this book based on the recommendation from my brother. It is the first 'health' book, I've read.
The key to health according to the book, based on research done by the author or his cohorts, is 1) exercise daily; 2) eat proper amounts; 3) whole grains at every meal; 3) abundance of vegetables and fruit; 4) nuts, oils with unsaturated fats - olive, canola etc - avoid saturated and trans fats; 5) fish and some poultry. 6) dairy unnecesary, meat infrequently; 7) multivitamin for...more
The key to health according to the book, based on research done by the author or his cohorts, is 1) exercise daily; 2) eat proper amounts; 3) whole grains at every meal; 3) abundance of vegetables and fruit; 4) nuts, oils with unsaturated fats - olive, canola etc - avoid saturated and trans fats; 5) fish and some poultry. 6) dairy unnecesary, meat infrequently; 7) multivitamin for...more
Chad Warner
rated it
Recommends it for:
health-conscious, nutritionally minded
Shelves:
health,
non-fiction
This is the best nutrition book I’ve read so far. It’s the perfect blend of factual nutrition science, study results, explanations of bodily processes, and practical food recommendations. This is more my style of book than Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, because I like to know the science behind the nutritional recommendations, and this book draws on over 40 years of research conducted at Harvard and elsewhere.
The author, Walter Willett, is chairman of the Department of Nutritio...more
The author, Walter Willett, is chairman of the Department of Nutritio...more
An incredibly good, no-nonsense book on nutrition for people who want more science and less rhetoric. I'm a very big proponent of evidence-based medicine. This book contains just that. This is what you should expect from a book written by Harvard Medical School faculty.
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This is exactly what I want in a nutrition book. The author cites study after study and doesn't make any outlandish claims. There are recipes in the book, but he's not promoting a diet or program. He does provide a new food pyramid and go over why it's better than the USDA's food pyramid, with lots of scientific studies to back him up. Even though its copyright date is 2001, it's been updated since then with a lot of recent data. There were many things that I was surprised by in this book a...more
In case you don't read this book, these were my biggest take-aways:
1) There is a different Food Guide Pyramid from the one we grew up with. If you haven't seen it, look it up!
2) Exercise at least 30 minutes a day. Anything less than that isn't enough.
3) "The clearest and most consistent finding from both animal and human studies is that too many calories, regardless of food source, are far more important to the development of breast cancer than dietary ...more
1) There is a different Food Guide Pyramid from the one we grew up with. If you haven't seen it, look it up!
2) Exercise at least 30 minutes a day. Anything less than that isn't enough.
3) "The clearest and most consistent finding from both animal and human studies is that too many calories, regardless of food source, are far more important to the development of breast cancer than dietary ...more
Walter Willett is the best nutritionist in the world (that I know of, though I must admit that I don't know of too many nutritionists). He has done exhaustive research to back up the principles he teaches, and almost all of his ideas agree with me (although I don't follow them as well as I would like to). He distinguishes between good (complex [whole-grain]) and bad (simple [white flour, sugar]) carbs, as well as good (unsaturated [vegetable]) and bad (saturated [animal]) fats. His Healthy Ea...more
Straight-forward and sensible information about how to eat well and still be healthy. There are no radical ideas here, but the material is presented clearly, and Willett does a good job of explaining why he makes the suggestions and claims he does. His ideas are based on solid research, and don't require you to make huge changes in your lifestyle, unless you eat incredibly poorly. Not a diet book, and not a fad-anything book, but great reading for anyone who wants to live better.
I feel the information provided in this book is solid. When you read it, it's one of those books that just seems to make sense. Very informational! I have read through this book twice and refer back to it frequently. The food pyramid defined in this book is quite different from the government version and they talk about why. I totally recommend this book if you want to learn about eating right. No I have not mastered that yet, but it has changed some of my eating habits.
Walter Willett from the Harvard Medical School writes about the importance of eating healthy and provides the science behind what makes a healthy diet. Weaning American's off the typical American diet is not going to be an easy task, but with research that shows the health benefits to be gained by changing one's eating habits, this is a good start to helping people make the change.
Good guide to healthy eating based on scientific findings (versus the USDA Pyramid, based on lobbying from US Farmers). He uses good metaphors and cracks good jokes. It's worth reading by anybody who eats. The Harvard Healthy Eating pyramid is the one to follow. I didn't try the recipes but there are a chapter's worth.
This is a great basic primer on nutrition - I highly recommend it to anybody that wants to learn what to eat for long-term good health as well as weight loss, if that's something you're interested in. It's common sense and driven by what scientific evidence we do have, rather than commercialism or diet trends.
Unfortunately, there's not much of an interest in sustainability at all in this book (which in a way takes a somewhat narrow view of health, as the carbon footprint of eating o...more
Unfortunately, there's not much of an interest in sustainability at all in this book (which in a way takes a somewhat narrow view of health, as the carbon footprint of eating o...more
Everyone should read this book, even if it's just slowly chapter by chapter over the course of a year. Walter Willett, the author, is my hero and one of the greatest public health nutritionists ever. It may be redundant for people who already know that real food is good for you and you need to eat a variety, everything in moderation, not a lot of soda, refined grains, blah, blah which is all stuff I knew but I STILL enjoyed reading it. He has a really easy to read, entertaining writing style ...more
The author explains how he believes and has done research to prove that the government sponsored food pyramid is made to help certain food producers keep their jobs. I do like the practical approach to eating healthy and not jumping into fad diets.
I must confess I didn't actually finish reading it (before it was due at the library). Much of the information I already knew, and some of it didn't make sense to me. For example, he advocated eating a lot of fat, but of course "healthy" fats. While I don't think fat ("healthy" fat of course) is evil, I'm not sure anyone really needs to go seeking it out to get enough in their diet. The book was okay, just not extremely helpful for me.
Love its no-BS straightforward and efficient explanations. Wastes no time. Good for both positive (advice) and negative (debunking myths) tips based on studies. He holds back on making conclusions where studies are inconclusive.
Michael P
added it
Not gripping reading, but I wanted to read something that would give me an understanding of what it means to eat healthily. I always feel uneasy trusting just one source, but this book presents a clear picture.
I'm not sure I learned anything new, but at least this book confirmed my eating choices as being good ones. My husband read a tiny bit and learned (FINALLY) that soda is bad for him. If only he'd read on...
I liked it much more than I was expecting to. I found it to be written in a reasonable, cautious tone; when Willett believes that the jury is still out on a topic, he has no problems saying so. I still find Taubes's arguments and data in "Good Calories, Bad Calories" more persuasive, but there are at least a few areas where he and Willett agree.
I always wanted to take a nutrition class in college but it was one of those things I didn't have time for. I thought this book would be a fun replacement, talking about the different aspects of healthy eating and things to include/consider when choosing how to create a balanced diet. Instead it spent most of the time talking about the validity of claims that different foods are either cancer causers or preventers. I did really enjoy the last chapter where he finally talked about practical nutri...more
Great info on lifestyle and nutrition to feel your best and have your best health possible. Not about deprivation but about adding the right kinds of foods to your everyday lifestyle.
Good read about what is good for you and what is not. Most of it was commonsense but I found some new points in it that I hadn't known or considered. Worth owning to reference.
This book not only makes good sense, but is supported by numerous clinical studies and years of research. Thankfully, it reads much easier than a medical journal. It lays things out in a systematic and easy-to-understand manner. The thing I liked the best was finding recipes and information in the second half of the book, which showed me how to cook many of the unfamiliar whole grains discussed in earlier chapters. I look forward to incorporating these changes in our family's diet (just as soon ...more
A straight-forward, no-nonsense look at nutrition and how we can optimize healthy eating for our daily lives that was a surprisingly easy read. There is also a collection of recipes at the end that I look forward to trying in the coming weeks.
Walter Willett is a big-shot MD at Harvard who curates and publishes some of the biggest diet-health epidemiological studies in the field, such as the Framingham Heart Study.
I respect Willett because he has been able to break away from the nutritional orthodoxy and admit things like not all fat will kill you, and eggs and nuts are not unhealthy (for example).
That having been said, he's still stuck in the high-carb, low-saturated fat dogma that the field can't seem to es...more
I respect Willett because he has been able to break away from the nutritional orthodoxy and admit things like not all fat will kill you, and eggs and nuts are not unhealthy (for example).
That having been said, he's still stuck in the high-carb, low-saturated fat dogma that the field can't seem to es...more
This book has done more than any other to change the way I eat. Not that the recommendations are new, exactly. Most of it is what scientific research has been telling us for years--even when that's not reflected in the USDA Food Pyramid. Willett has led several of the largest and most important nutrition studies yet conducted. His conservative scientific method gave me the push I needed to start practicing what I know. (For a criticism, see my review of In Defense of Food.)
Love this book. It's a great, researched based nutrition guide by the head of Harvard's School of Public Health.
Philip S
added it
Beth I would be interested to know what you think of this one...he advocates a version of vegetarianism.
Finally a book about health with the research to back all of the claims being made!
Changed my life. Helped me lose 50 pounds (have only gained back 10 over three years).
This book was easy to read, very informative, and well supported. I recommend it!
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