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What to Eat

4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 · rating details · 2,843 ratings · 367 reviews

How do we decide what foods to eat? In recent years, this simple question has become complicated beyond belief--as supermarkets have grown to warehouse size, and as the old advice to eat foods from four food groups has been overrun by questions about organic foods, hormones, pesticides, carbohydrates, "trans "fats, omega-3s, supplements, health claims, extreme diets, and,...more How do we decide what foods to eat? In recent years, this simple question has become complicated beyond belief--as supermarkets have grown to warehouse size, and as the old advice to eat foods from four food groups has been overrun by questions about organic foods, hormones, pesticides, carbohydrates, "trans "fats, omega-3s, supplements, health claims, extreme diets, and, above all, obesity.
Fortunately, Marion Nestle is here to tell us what's what--to give us the facts we need to make sensible choices from the bewildering array of foods available to us. With "What to Eat," this renowned nutritionist takes us on a guided tour of the supermarket, explaining the issues with verve and wit as well as a scientist's expertise and a food lover's experience.
Today's supermarket is ground zero for the food industry, a place where the giants of agribusiness compete for sales with profits--not nutrition or health--in mind. Nestle walks us through the supermarket, section by section: produce, dairy, meat, fish, packaged foods, breads, juices, bottled waters, and more. Along
the way, she untangles the issues, decodes the labels, clarifies the health claims, and debunks the sales hype. She tells us how to make sensible choices based on freshness, taste, nutrition, health, effects on the environment, and, of course, price. With Nestle as our guide, we learn what it takes to make wise food choices
and are inspired to act with confidence on that knowledge.
"What to Eat "is "the "guide to healthy eating today: comprehensive, provocative, revealing, rich in common sense, informative, and a pleasure to read. Marion Nestle received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the James Beard Foundation--the food world's highest honor--as well as the foundation's book prize. She is the author of "Food Politics" and "Safe Food," and was featured in the documentary "Super Size Me." A native of New York, she raised her family in California and now lives in Greenwich Village, where she teaches at New York University. How should you decide what foods to eat? As supermarkets have grown to warehouse size, this simple question has become complicated beyond belief. Fortunately, Marion Nestle--renowned for her sage advice on food and nutrition--is here to cut through the confusion and lay out what you need to know. In "What to Eat," she takes us on a guided tour of the American supermarket and shows us exactly how to feed ourselves and our families wisely and well.
With sharp humor, expertise, and a food-lover's delight, Nestle guides us through the supermarket sections--produce, dairy, meat, fish, breads, and juices, and then to the "center aisles," where big profits are made. Along the way, she reveals the big food companies' marketing practices, explains complex labels in clear language, and tells us what we need to know about:
- wild and farm-raised
- frozen and fresh
- organic, natural, and conventional
- carbs, omega-3s, and "trans" fats
- pesticides and the environment
- portion size, labeling, and nutrition claims
- supplements, additives, and preservatives
- food safety "The industry wants you to believe there are no good foods or bad foods. Well, that's not true. And I can't think of anyone who knows the difference better than Marion Nestle."--Eric Schlosser, author of "Fast Food Nation" "Not only is "What to Eat" the most comprehensive guide to the political and nutritional choices we make shopping for food, but it's also full of up-to-date research on health."--Susan Salter Reynolds, "Los Angeles"" Times Book Review" "With this comprehensive guide, Nestle, a nutritionist, makes the weekly trip to the grocery less daunting and a healthy diet more attainable."--"Science News" "Part muckraking journalism, part reference book and part consumer guide, "What to Eat" is organized in the manner suggested by the subtitle: as a walk down each grocery store aisle with a companionable Ph. D. researcher as the guide. It is a simple, yet effective, concept for organizing what otherwise could have become a mind-numbing amount of information."--Steve Weinberg, "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" "When it comes to the increasingly treacherous landscape of the American supermarket, with its marketing hype and competing health claims, Marion Nestle is an absolutely indispensable guide: knowledgeable, eminently sane--and wonderful company, too."--Michael Pollan, author of "The Botany of Desire"
"The industry wants you to believe there are no good foods or bad foods. Well, that's not true. And I can't think of anyone who knows the difference better than Marion Nestle."--Eric Schlosser, author of "Fast Food Nation"
"According to nutritionist Nestle, the increasing confusion among the general public about what to eat comes from two sources: experts who fail to create a holistic view by isolating food components and health issues, and a food industry that markets items on the basis of profits alone. She suggests that, often, research findings are deliberately obscure to placate special interests. Nestle says that simple, common-sense guidelines available decades ago still hold true: consume fewer calories, exercise more, eat more fruits and vegetables and, for today's consumers, less junk food. The key to eating well, Nestle advises, is to learn to navigate through the aisles (and thousands of items) in large supermarkets. To that end, she gives readers a virtual tour, highlighting the main concerns of each food group, including baby, health and prepared foods, and supplements. Nestle's prose is informative and entertaining; she takes on the role of detective, searching for clues to the puzzle of healthy and satisfying nutrition. Her intelligent and reassuring approach will likely make readers venture more confidently through the jungle of today's super-sized stores."--"Publishers Weekly "(less)

Hardcover, 611 pages

Published May 2nd 2006 by North Point Press (first published 2006)

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Jul 26, 2007 Brad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: foodies, fans of Michael Pollan

Shelves: non-fiction, food

Marion Nestle is a nutritionist and professor. What to Eat is a nicely segmented book of nutrition advice. A lot of the heady political issues are ones I've read before in Fast Food Nation, The Omnivore's Dilemma and others. Nestle has simple overall advice: "eat less, move more, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, go easy on junk foods."
Some other neat bits I picked up from the book:
-avoid farm-raised fish.
-7 eggs a week is pretty much the max
-frozen vegetables are good
-homogenizing milk is a...more

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Jul 28, 2007 Beth Ann rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: initiates into healthy eating

Shelves: borrowed-from-library

I must admit I didn't read all of this book. I tried to read all of it, but I gave up.

This book would be good for people who are starting their journey into healthy eating. Nestle basically walks readers through the supermarket aisle-by-aisle detailing her research on what the average consumer can expect to find.

I did learn some ancillary facts about food topics, but I already have read so much about good eating that there wasn't a lot new to me in this book. Plus, I patronize an alternative sup...more

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Apr 12, 2008 Jace rated it 4 of 5 stars

The mixture of common sense, logic, nutritional science, and hard data make WHAT TO EAT an eye-opening one time read as well as a handy reference volume. Even the introduction (an easily digestible 15 pages) serves as a wake-up call about the state of food choices in America and should be required reading for every consumer before taking another trip to the supermarket. I had quite a bit of fun with this book and found it to be more whimsical and interactive than I had expected. A number of para...more The mixture of common sense, logic, nutritional science, and hard data make WHAT TO EAT an eye-opening one time read as well as a handy reference volume. Even the introduction (an easily digestible 15 pages) serves as a wake-up call about the state of food choices in America and should be required reading for every consumer before taking another trip to the supermarket. I had quite a bit of fun with this book and found it to be more whimsical and interactive than I had expected. A number of paragraphs had me running to check food labels on items in my pantry and find out what I was really eating.

The book is divided by food type into a number of different sections. The sections flow well from topic to topic and are generally self-contained, making it easy for the reader to skip around and focus on topics of particular interest. The title WHAT TO EAT is somewhat of a misnomer, and the author admits to this early in the book. Rather than authoritatively commanding "Eat A, B, and C, but never eat X, Y, and Z", this book provides the reader with detailed information about possible food options, thus enabling the reader to make their own choices about what they eat. When laying out the array of choices, Nestle includes both quantitative tables of data and qualitative personal considerations to aid the reader in rumination. Those who read this book hoping to uncover the Holy Grail of diets may find the title misleading; personally I found the approach to be informative, engaging, and empowering. Nestle's writing is never demanding or heavy-handed, instead letting food choices speak for themselves. For example, if your 2 options are "organic milk produced in your own state" versus "hormone- and antibiotic-laced milk from cows halfway across the country", it becomes difficult to imagine what informed consumer would choose the latter.

All that being said, the gist of WHAT TO EAT can really be boiled down into two words: "information" & "choice". Unfortunately, as Nestle astutely explains, there are a number of interested parties who strive to disseminate dubious information and exert undue influence over the choices we make. I don't get the impression that Nestle set out to write a political book, but in her endeavor to delve into food culture she is forced to confront a simple fact: that much of what we eat is influenced heavily by the American political system. The governmental bodies--namely the FDA, the USDA, and the US Congress--that oversee what we eat owe their livelihood [via political contributions] to lobbying firms which represent food, pesticide, and drug producers. With lobbyists in control of our decision making bodies, the government provides corporations with subsidies, tax breaks, free advertising, and favorable research findings. In the end, these corrupts bargains leave consumers stranded in a market where they can buy a jumbo-sized bag of chemically-processed "Cheeze Doodles" for 99 cents, but a red pepper costs 4 dollars. WHAT TO EAT is never bitter or preachy about this situation, but quietly alerts its readers that a change of national food priorities is desperately needed.
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Feb 12, 2008 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: the educated but occasionally baffled grocery shopper

Recommended to Sarah by: Lynne Baer

Shelves: non-fiction, foodgloriousfood

A down-to-earth, excellently researched look at your local supermarket, aisle by aisle, without any of the preaching you've come to expect from nutritionists. Sure, Nestle's got opinions, but they're the opinions of your grandmother who lives in New York and who wants you to eat, to enjoy what's on your plate to to give everything a taste before you turn up your nose.

And like your sensible grandmother, Nestle's concludes that real, minimally processed foods are better for you than most of what's...more A down-to-earth, excellently researched look at your local supermarket, aisle by aisle, without any of the preaching you've come to expect from nutritionists. Sure, Nestle's got opinions, but they're the opinions of your grandmother who lives in New York and who wants you to eat, to enjoy what's on your plate to to give everything a taste before you turn up your nose.

And like your sensible grandmother, Nestle's concludes that real, minimally processed foods are better for you than most of what's out there. She disdains marketing tricks and corporate bullying of the USDA; she doesn't care for anything that pretends to be healthy when it's really just a dessert in disguise (see her take on the super-sweet yogurts heavily marketed towards dieters and children). Nestle would much rather see you put a dollop of butter on your food than hem and haw on which faker-than-fake low-no-less-than-before option awaits you in the dairy isle this week.

Though a nutritionist by training Nestle has the soul of an investigative journalist, using her scientific background to read through the conflicting (and often corporately-funded) research that's out there. When she comes to the conclusion that the organic vegetables in the freezer section are better tasting (and better for you) than the so-called "fresh" conventional veggies in the produce section, it's only after she's taken you through her analysis of the literature. Nor is she shy about busting the prolific and questionable health claims on food packaging: there is, for example, no reason to claim your vegetable oil is cholesterol free (of course it is: all vegetable products are cholesterol free) or the chickens who laid your eggs weren't treated with hormones (no chickens are treated with hormones -- cattle may be, but not chickens).

Though a good deal of this information may not be new to a reader who's attentive to food and nutrition, this is still an excellent resource for deciphering the gray areas and learning more about the USDA and FDA's role (or lack thereof) in determining what makes it to the supermarket shelves and what claims can be emblazoned across the packaging.(less)

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Mar 31, 2008 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Anne by: aml2006@verizon.net

More about what not to eat than what to eat. Lenny recommended I read this after I read In Defense of Food. I think In Defense of Food covers what to eat, while it draws heavily on the information presented in this book. Very interesting reading about the background of how decisions are made by the FDA, the USDA, grocery stores, food manufacturers, etc. Really convinces me to try to get as much locally, from sources that I know, with as little processing as possible. The testing and quality chec...more

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Jul 01, 2012 Chad Warner rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Chad by: Michael Pollan

Shelves: health, non-fiction

Nestle explains not only the nutritional science behind making healthy food choices, but also explores the economic, political, and environmental considerations. I was looking for nutritional advice, so I skimmed many pages that dealt with the other issues. However, I did find the information on food marketing interesting. Nestle summarizes the scientific research, presents several options, then makes recommendations. There are a few special topics at the end, including baby food, which I haven’...more

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Jul 10, 2011 Bridget rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Bridget by: Sarah

Shelves: 2011

What to Eat is the antidote to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Where AVM screeched and keened about how eating certain foods makes us horrible people, What to Eat is an unemotional guide to making informed food choices. I would call this a crash course in nutrition, but 'crash' is not the best word to use. It is a robust, honest-to-goodness course in all things food, with its narrative structured according to the shelves and sections you'd find in a supermarket. When I picked up this book, I was at...more What to Eat is the antidote to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Where AVM screeched and keened about how eating certain foods makes us horrible people, What to Eat is an unemotional guide to making informed food choices. I would call this a crash course in nutrition, but 'crash' is not the best word to use. It is a robust, honest-to-goodness course in all things food, with its narrative structured according to the shelves and sections you'd find in a supermarket. When I picked up this book, I was at first dismayed by its size and thought that maybe I'd end up flipping through it and reading brief selections, but no: I read the whole thing straight through. It was that interesting (and informative).

Marion Nestle (that's the author's name, and she has no relation to the food company) believes that you shouldn't tell people what to eat and expect them to do it blindly; she is a fan of the informed choice, and that makes all the difference. If you are informed about the ingredients and manufacturing process that goes into an Oreo, and you still want to eat it, that's ok. (She even admits that she personally prefers the Oreo recipe from before they eliminated the trans fats.) But armed with the facts, you can make a better decision about how many Oreos you should eat, and how often you should eat them. That is my kind of nutritionist!

There is also plenty of insight into food issues such as why it was ok for you to eat raw cookie dough when you were a kid - but why you shouldn't let your own children do that today.

I was also impressed to notice that many of the issues Nestle raises in this book, which was published in 2006 - trans fats, organics, country of origin labeling, HFCS, etc. - have really hit the spotlight in recent years. What to Eat is almost prescient in that respect.

I am so glad I read this book, and one change I'm planning on making in my family's food consumption habit is to look more closely at the labels of boxed cereals. I didn't realize how many cereals that I considered NON-"sugar" cereals (like Rice Krispies), actually have sugar as one of their main ingredients.(less)

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Mar 09, 2011 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: health

Loved this book. It's essentially a reference guide to shopping and eating that's been broken down by food category, so when I got it in the mail and saw how HUGE it is (600+ pages) I thought I'd just end up reading the chapters on food topics that interest me. I ended up reading the entire thing - even the sections on foods that I don't eat or care about (two chapters just about margarine?!?). Nestle is an academic and a nutritionist, but also (thankfully) a great writer. She writes intelligent...more

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Nov 09, 2009 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2007

Some months ago I read Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, which, along with other things I've read, provides fairly compelling arguments against blithely eating the same foods I have been.

The main problem with Pollan's book is that it makes the reader want to act, but provides almost no advice. Conveniently, Marion Nestle, an NYU nutrition professor, has written a book that is actually called What to Eat , and it recently came out in paperback.

The book is divided into chapters like...more Some months ago I read Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, which, along with other things I've read, provides fairly compelling arguments against blithely eating the same foods I have been.

The main problem with Pollan's book is that it makes the reader want to act, but provides almost no advice. Conveniently, Marion Nestle, an NYU nutrition professor, has written a book that is actually called What to Eat , and it recently came out in paperback.

The book is divided into chapters like the sections of a supermarket (produce, meat, dairy, etc.) in which Nestle describes various processes (flash pasteurization, irradiation) and label claims (grass-fed, low cholesterol), evaluating what they mean and whether they're worth avoiding--or paying extra for. These individual tidbits are useful, but what is striking about the book is its overall theme, which is threaded through all the sections: a huge amount of money is spent trying to get you to buy food (and if you're trying to eat heathily, you're just another market segment to be exploited).

In principle this isn't surprising, of course, but as someone who does actually read the Nutrition Facts, I was startled at how easily I was misled. For example, we have a cereal called Kashi Go Lean Crunch, which boasts about its fiber, protein, whole grains, and the fact that it's naturally sweetened. If you read the ingredients, you'll discover that this cereal has three different natural sweeteners and actually has more sugars per cup than Froot Loops. Oh, and it's made by Kellogg's. None of this will kill you; it just proves that choosing foods based on their apparent virtue isn't going to work.

Nestle goes on to explain that the USDA has often taken its role as a promoter of U.S. agriculture more seriously than the health of Americans; for example, farmers never want the USDA to tell Americans that they should eat less of anything, so over the years, the advice about sugars has become more and more mealy-mouthed, to the point where it's quite understandable that people are confused. The message that food makers would like you to absorb is that you can eat pretty much anything as long as your other "choices" are good and you exercise. This is true in theory, but a lot of foods that are sold today are so bad for you that you'd have to live like some kind of triathlete monk to make up for them.

Overall, I thought Nestle's advice seemed even-handed and no-nonsense. She is harsh on sugary yogurts, baby formula makers, and contaminated meats. But about aspartame, she writes that "this particular substance has been so weirdly maligned that I almost feel sorry for it." And the book is occasionally wryly amusing; in reply to Gatorade's claim that it rehydrates and refuels, she suggests: "Try water for rehydration; it works better than anything to replace lost fluids. For replenishment of 'fuel' (which presumably means calories from 'carbs' or any other source), try food."

Try food: why not? I'm not going to turn into a Park Slope Food Coop person, especially not overnight, but this book will at least help me make more informed choices at the Key Food. It was a good read about something that's bound to interest all of us.(less)

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Oct 24, 2008 Danika rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who cares about food

This book is awesome. What an excellent resource. Marion Nestle, a nutritionist, walks you through a supermarket, aisle by aisle. She talks about organics vs. nonorganics, farmed vs. wild seafood, hormones and antibiotics in meat, high fructose corn syrup, processed foods, etc. You name it- she covers it. Lots of really interesting info and I found it absolutely fascinating. Would love to read her older book "Food Politics" as well. It's long- over 500 pages- but a great reference guide.

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Sep 09, 2012 Mary Rose rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

I have been interested in fitness and health for about 2 years now. I started out mainly focusing on fitness, working out a lot and trying new and varied routines. About a year ago I became more aware of my health and how it was affecting my overall well-being. That was when I took the leap into vegetarianism. I'm very happy now as a vegetarian, but I'm not writing this to advocate any particular lifestyle. A friend of mine who I consider a fitness guru suggested this book to me, because he knew...more I have been interested in fitness and health for about 2 years now. I started out mainly focusing on fitness, working out a lot and trying new and varied routines. About a year ago I became more aware of my health and how it was affecting my overall well-being. That was when I took the leap into vegetarianism. I'm very happy now as a vegetarian, but I'm not writing this to advocate any particular lifestyle. A friend of mine who I consider a fitness guru suggested this book to me, because he knew I was already becoming aware of what foods I put in my body, and he knew I wanted to learn more.

This book has been an invaluable tool for me. When I got fit, I would walk into grocery stores and read signs and labels and ingredients, and I'd leave more confused than when I came in. Half the time I only hoped I made the healthiest choice from all my options because it seemed to me, making the most informed choice would require so much research my head would explode. Enter Marion Nestle, my supermarket savior.

The intro explains her approach to the book, all the research she did, and lays out a ground plan for the whole thing. Each section focuses on a particular part of the grocery store -- and she writes it the way I walk around the store (produce, meats, dairy, center aisles). The chapters are broken down into smaller, concise parts. She uses simple language, explains the science in basic ways (even a left brain challenged person like me got it), and she summarizes all the parts at the end of the chapter to help you see their relationships to each other.

The other huge reason I loved this book was her all-inclusive philosophy, and her objectivity. Never in the book did she tell you to "eat this, not that." In fact, she advocated against it, which I agree with. Also, at the end of chapters, when she drew her conclusions, they always stayed objective. She never wrote that any food should be avoided or any food was always safe or good. She included information for vegetarians, but she never gave her personal opinion whether she agreed with that lifestyle or not. I loved that.

The point is, if you're interested in what's happening at the grocery store, if you're interested in knowing more about the food you eat (and I think everyone should be...guess I'm not as objective as Ms. Nestle...oh well), if you're interested in knowing strategies the food companies and grocery stores use to get you to buy things you might not otherwise purchase, then this book is for you. This book is especially for you if you do not want to be preached at, you just want the facts.(less)

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Jun 15, 2011 Zelda rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: life-is-too-short

I tried. I really did. 150ish pages worth. Her politics were pretty clear when I opened the library edition and smelled the patchouli-tinged pages but I just held my breath and read on. I'm used to it.

Lots of numbers and studies. Most chapters ending in the same basic way. The information about this food is inconclusive at this time. Great. I mean, I'm glad she doesn't try to hide that the studies are mostly inconclusive but surely she can say it with fewer numbers and words.

The writing style...more

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Jun 13, 2010 Todd rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, library

I'm going to review this book even though I'm only half way through it. It's just a lot of information to absorb, so I know I'll probably be reading it bit by bit until the end of the year.

The premise of the book couldn't be simpler: A professor of nutrition goes through a typical grocery store aisle by aisle explaining the politics, nutrition, and economics behind the food we buy and its packaging. A lot of times the real drama is in the packaging. For example, if you have ever wondered about t...more I'm going to review this book even though I'm only half way through it. It's just a lot of information to absorb, so I know I'll probably be reading it bit by bit until the end of the year.

The premise of the book couldn't be simpler: A professor of nutrition goes through a typical grocery store aisle by aisle explaining the politics, nutrition, and economics behind the food we buy and its packaging. A lot of times the real drama is in the packaging. For example, if you have ever wondered about the difference between "natural" beef and "organic" beef, you probably want to read this book.

This book is completely fascinating to me though I'm not the type of guy who says "Hooray! Three chapters on dairy production!"

The introduction makes the very interesting point that there is too much food grown in our country. About 3,900 calories is created each day per person -- almost twice as much as necessary for the average person -- and the various components of the food industry are dedicated to getting you to buy and consume as many calories as possible.

Without being strident, this book also points out the way that food subsidies (especially for corn) and the corporate profit motive combined with a government terrified to upset any of the various food lobbies has led to a crazy and confusing system where the consumer is left to fend for himself.

Seemingly innocuous issues like labeling the country of origin for produce or meat turn in to a decade long back-and-forth between lobbyists and Congress. I tend to skew pretty libertarian on most issues, but this is one area where the people would benefit from stronger government.

My only complaint about this book that it is too dense with information. This could be because I am starting from scratch because I know next to nothing about food, cooking, or nutrition. I have strongly held opinions about how to make a grilled cheese and which 7-Elevens have the best Lucky Charms, but that's about it.

I also checked out "On Food And Cooking," and read the chemistry section in the back as I was reading this book. That was the only way I could follow along carefully when things like triglycerides, trans-fats, and omega-3s were mentioned, but I don't think it's necessary to get the main point.

If you don't think you have the gazillions of hours necessary to get through this book (though these hours would be well spent), then I'd recommend finding Professor Nestle's talk at Google on YouTube and watching that.
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Mar 22, 2012 Jodi rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: health-books

If a low-fat, high carb and low-calorie diet makes you feel good and helps you maintain a healthy weight and you just want to refine your regime a tiny bit, then this might be the book for you. It tells you about some of the benefits of eating organic and choosing healthier meats although it does also give terrible advice about taking vitamins and supplements.

If aiming for a low-fat, high carb and low-calorie diet makes you feel awful, hungry and ill - as it does for many of us - and has impeded...more

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Nov 02, 2009 Trena rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Savvy Supermarket Shoppers

At the beginning of this book, Marion Nestle says that she's not going to tell you what to eat. Instead, she examines the shelves of a typical American supermarket (produce, meat, fish, dairy, frozen, prepared foods, bakery, cereal, etc etc) and thoroughly researches and discusses the goods and bads to be found therein. At the beginning, I liked the idea that she wasn't going to prescribe a rigid diet. By the end, I was pretty much afraid to put anything in my mouth other than organic fruits and...more At the beginning of this book, Marion Nestle says that she's not going to tell you what to eat. Instead, she examines the shelves of a typical American supermarket (produce, meat, fish, dairy, frozen, prepared foods, bakery, cereal, etc etc) and thoroughly researches and discusses the goods and bads to be found therein. At the beginning, I liked the idea that she wasn't going to prescribe a rigid diet. By the end, I was pretty much afraid to put anything in my mouth other than organic fruits and vegetables, and wished she'd offered more concrete guidance. I don't think this was her intent, but it was all pretty terrifying.

I am a vegetarian, but I read the meat and fish sections. Apparently, fish will kill you. Seriously. It is all filled to brim with mercury. Yikes. I don't think I'll start eating it (not to mention the whole overfishing/fish farming stuff).

I liked her sensible approach to high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). There are many people who say that HFCS is the root of all evil, or at least the root of all American obesity, because it doesn't appear in nature and requires extensive chemical processing to be produced, much like hydrogenated oils (which turned out to be poison). Nestle doesn't necessarily dispute that it is to root of all American obesity, but simply because it is sugar (it's a mix of sucrose and fructose, two sugars available from many natural sources) and it is ubiquitous. As delicious as it is (and oh, it is delicious), sugar is bad for you, period, whether it's "natural" or HCFS. (By the way, it turns out that "fruit concentrate" is basically fruit reduced to pure fructose with nothing good left in it; bummer.)

Her analysis of HCFS typifies her "no magic bullet" approach. There are foods that are good for you, but she avoids identifying a punchy list of "super foods" that will keep you skinny and healthy for your entire long life. She acknowledges that it's good to eat a variety of brightly colored fruits and veggies, but if you just stick with your few favorites it's still better than eating processed foods. And, alternatively, eliminating a short list of "bad foods" (HCFS, trans fats, carbs, etc) won't magically fix everything either.

There's a section on artificial sweeteners, but I feel like she omitted interesting and useful research on how artificial sweeteners may prompt an insulin response in the body as though they were real sugar (tastebuds can't tell the difference). After the flood of insulin uses up all the sugars in your bloodstream, you get hungry and eat something. Unless you can ignore those hunger signals, artificial sweeteners don't really save you any calories. The book was published in 2006, so it's possible this research wasn't out yet, and indeed it appears the animal research study didn't appear until 2008, though there was 2005 research showing a correlation between drinking diet soda and being overweight (but this research didn't address causation or the mechanism of how they might be related).

The content wasn't limited only to the nutritional value of foods, it included extensive discussion of food marketing and regulation as well. In a nutshell, there are about twice as many food calories available per capita in the US than people need (or should consume). Food companies need to find a way to sell them.

This book is aimed at beginners, and doesn't assume any starting knowledge, which contributes to its length. In terms of actual application to my life, I don't know that I took away a lot other than terror. I don't drink sugar water (with real or fake sugar) or even juice, buy from the farmer's market when it's available, and generally eat a balanced diet low in processed foods (not that I don't have my Cheetos and Oreos and general sweet tooth weaknesses!!!!!). There was a section on Omega 3/6/9 fatty acids. Olive oil is high in Omega 6, which is a common type and American Omega 6 and Omega 3 ratios are out of whack. So I'll use canola oil more often.

This is a long review, but it's a long book! (less)

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May 11, 2009 Bob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Let me start by saying that this book is fantastic. It's everything you ever wanted to know about food, broken down by category. It falls somewhere between a reference book and an exploration of an entire diet. I'm sure I'll return to it again and again, probably jumping to any given section which I need information about. As Michael Pollan says on the cover, it's "indispensable" if you want good solid general knowledge about what you eat.

Now, my complaints. First off, if I met this author at a...more

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Jun 30, 2011 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It took me a while to get through this-- 524 pages of debate and studies on food, marketing, government, and supermarket tactics-- but it was SO fascinating. She tackles foods one by one, progressing in the order one encounters in a regular supermarket. She talks about the studies and debates about the food (example: eggs. healthy or not? is cage free important? what should laying hens eat? is is important to get eggs from flaxseed fed hens for the higher Omega-3 content? and so forth.) A lot of...more

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Jun 30, 2009 LauraW rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: uwa-book-club

I am finding this book interesting, but very discouraging. There are so many problems with our food choices and the food supply in general. It makes me feel that a course in nutrition should be a requirement for high schools. But our eating habits are formed even earlier, so maybe nutrition classes should start much earlier.

I substitute teach in the elementary schools and I am appalled at the foods that the kids typically eat. Many teachers allow their students to eat snacks when they feel like...more

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Jan 21, 2008 Lynne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, food, wishlist

There are so many things messed up about the food industry, I think I need to purchase this as a reference. I say this not to frighten, but more as a realization that food choices throughout my life will be laden with compromises, and it's better to be informed.

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Apr 13, 2009 Tammay70 added it · review of another edition

This is a great book that (gasp!) isn't a diet book! It's a book that mainly goes through the supermarket aisle by aisle and deciphers some of the mystery behind food, such as what organic really means, what labels on bottled water mean, etc. Marion Nestle is awesome - a no-nonsense expert (you might recall seeing her in the documentary "Super Size Me") who isn't afraid to call the food industry on some of their, shall we say, less than honest advertising (she mentions in the book that the sugar...more

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Mar 02, 2009 Carlie rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you're curious about exactly what is in modern American food...read this book. The author covers everything you could imagine wanting to know from supplements to take-out. I know quite a lot about food anyhow because I cook and am also interested in nutrition plus I do the meal shopping for our family but, Marion Nestle taught me things I never knew, things I wanted to know, even things I thought I already did know. The facts are...the modern supermarket is a billion layered culinary riddle t...more If you're curious about exactly what is in modern American food...read this book. The author covers everything you could imagine wanting to know from supplements to take-out. I know quite a lot about food anyhow because I cook and am also interested in nutrition plus I do the meal shopping for our family but, Marion Nestle taught me things I never knew, things I wanted to know, even things I thought I already did know. The facts are...the modern supermarket is a billion layered culinary riddle that the average uninformed consumer might eventually untangle if he spent years at it but, why kill yourself? Ms. Nestle wants every American customer to have as much information as possible in a very readable, friendly format and so she did all the untangling and research and now she's handing you this golden guide book chock full of everything you need to know about everything you eat. I think the author's contribution to modern health is kind of awe-inspiring. She has given knowledge, a form of raw power to me and any other consumer who has a library card. This book is so totally worth reading, for anyone of any age, with a family to feed or not, with lots of money (and therefore more choices) or little money (and therefore more important choices)for anyone really. I can't think of a person who wouldn't benefit. The information she covers is so revelatory and yet so incredibly practical for everyday living for any American that I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to pick it up. I honestly think that this book will go on a shelf in my kitchen with my cookbooks. Its a great read but, also a good one to keep on hand for reference as I shop and cook and decide what to feed my family.

Is this book perfect? No. Its not. Generally, the author does a very impressive job of maintaining objectivity as she examines foods and evaluates them. But, occasionally, I felt like her personal tastes cut in and asserted themselves disguised as research. For example, she feels like most foods with similar make-ups are not so great but, she says she sees no real problem with daily coffee drinking and then mentions that there are a few studies (however weak and of the sort which are unconvincing to her in other chapters)that seem to say coffee may even have health benefits. And then she lets on that she personally drinks coffee daily because she likes it. Fine. But, I have a hard time believing she drinks it for health reasons...it feels like a touch of self-justification.

That said, Marion's research is incredible, her general ethic is admirable and the sheer depth of and breadth of information here is impressive. I think the big thing she sheds light on with this book is all the pieces of modern food we're not aware of. The chemical additives, the politics, the marketing, the way food has been taken apart and reassembled. These are all things that eaters everywhere ought to know and things that the food business really wants you to NOT know. Many kudos to Nestle for writing such an incredibly helpful and fun to read historic book.(less)

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Jul 25, 2008 Matthew rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Excellent book that goes aisle-by-aisle through supermarkets explaining what's available, how, and why. Although it was about 600 pages, I left wanting to learn more, especially about stuff like dairy and eggs...

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Jun 08, 2011 sleeps9hours rated it 3 of 5 stars

Another in my quest to focus more on healthful eating. Marion Nestle is great, she understands the motivations of the food industry, the government regulators, and the academic community (sometimes sponsored by industry). Food is big business, which makes it hard for us to make the most healthful choices, or even to know what they are. But this book isn't really about that. Instead, she goes aisle by aisle in a hypothetical grocery store and talks about the issues surrounding each section and wh...more

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Jul 05, 2009 Toomy rated it 4 of 5 stars

PROs:
1. Well-researched books covers a wide range of food categories.
2. Many useful informations regarding to food choice and daily consumption size.
3. Relatively unbiased viewpoint.

Cons:
1. About two thirds of the books is about food politics. Maybe food politics is part of the cause behind the writing of WHAT TO EAT. I think most readers are more interested in healthy advices when they choose to read this MORE-THEN-500-PAGE book.
2. (For people outside the US only) Most of the units of measurem...more

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Sep 28, 2009 Caroline rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a very fact-based and intriguing look at the way food is handled in America. From the farm to the table, Marion looks at food from multiple angles utilizing both her own informal experiments and published articles to truly show what we are eating. As a nutritionist she does not allow her own personal bias to influence what she says; if she includes an opinion she tells you rather than cloaking opinion as fact.

If you want a frank look at what is on your plate and in your supermarket pick...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Anne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

everyone who buys food at the store should read this i had to stop reading it at night because it made me so angry mostly because i believed the FDA and the manufacturers (big mistake) FDA is political and influenced or directed by lobbyists with lots of money and manufactures and big farms are all about the bottom line--they have bosses--stock holders--that demand profits--increasing profits every year

the scripture that continually came to mind was from section 89 "because of the hearts of desi...more

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Mar 15, 2012 Lauren Mosley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-favorite

Loved this book. If you have questions about organic, FDA certifications, or other food questions in the US this is the best book. She goes down each aisle of a supermarket. She discusses both nutrition and the FDA programs that influence our food(both positive and negative). LOVE LOVE LOVE this book. She encourages BALANCED DIET. NOT...PALEO...RAW...VEGAN...VEGETARIAN...just a balanced/in moderation diet. I love her discussion of the milk/egg aisle. The "Got Milk" campaign is a great topic. Egg...more

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Jun 04, 2010 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

This book is so informative. It's a heavy read, but is peppered with the author's humor. I was fascinated by the amount of knowledge and research that went into writing a book of this caliber. I consider myself pretty nutrition savvy, but I learned a lot about making food choices, and more importantly, how to interpret the "nutritional advice" we receive from different sources. Think you can take what the FDA and USDA tells you at face value? Think again. Oh, and I won't be eating any fish that...more

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Dec 07, 2011 Christine rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am on a food politics kick, started reading this and though, hmm, I already know this stuff, until I got to Meat. I don't think I will be able to so easily choose meat by price anymore, organic meat now seems like the only good deal. Same goes for bread, drove home once and for all why wheat bread really is worth insisting on with my kids. A good read for people who do cook and therefore shop for raw materials. Nestle is a wonderful academic, she manages to come across as super smart and yet e...more

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Dec 09, 2012 Conrad Burkholder rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reading this book opened my eyes to the reasons behind why processed foods are made and marketed. Health claims on food packages are all about profit and not about health. Having the appearance of being a healthy food sells the product. It is easier to add a few vitamins to a processed food to make it appear healthy than to actually make a healthy product. A junk food with added vitamins is still a junk food!

This book was long, but the writing was engaging and readable. I enjoyed reading it very...more

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