Get the straight facts on nutrition, slim down, and feel great You've been hearing it since you were a kid: "You are what you eat." And this wise saying is true! Good nutrition is the key to achieving and maintaining healthy weight and lifelong good health--no matter how you slice it. "Nutrition For Dummies, " 6th Edition is a one-size-fits-all guide to nutrition that shows you how to manage your diet so you get the most bang for your buck. This book gives you the know-how to put together a shopping list, prepare healthy foods, and easily cut calories.
The latest edition of "The Dietary Guidelines for Americans" encourages individuals to eat a healthful diet--one that focuses on foods and beverages that help achieve and maintain a healthy weight, promote health, and prevent chronic disease. This updated edition of "Nutrition For Dummies" reflects the latest suggested guidelines and details in plain English so you can incorporate these recommendations for living a nutritionally sound life. You'll get updated RDAs on vitamins and nutritional supplements; find out why you should eat more fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and other plant-based foods; understand the importance of cholesterol for brain health; get the latest information on obesity; and more. Decipher the latest nutrition facts, labels, and guidelines Understand why sugar is the most controversial subject in diet today Grasp the truth about vitamin supplements and energy drinks Make informed decisions about your own nutrition choices
An apple a day may not necessarily keep the doctor away, but with the simple guidance of "Nutrition For Dummies," 6th Edition you can be on your way to living a happier, healthier, and longer life.
I started off reading this in an attempt to grasp for some concrete sense in a world of continually changing "research shows...." and claims of fad diets and so much processed food....it had become hard to tell what was good, bad, healthy, not, etc.
A friend suggested I start with Nutrition for Dummies to build a foundation of simple, long-standing, basic nutrition information. Boy was she right.
This book has everything from the difference between mineral and nutrients, vitamin deficiencies, calorie intake, food as medicine, and much much much more. This was a great place to start my "Year of nutrition" as I learn more about how we should eat, and make small, lasting changes in our family diet. It is a handy reference book to keep around; as well as providing resources for further investigation.
Nutrition for Dummies offers the basic nutritional knowledge we all need to improve/maintain a healthy diet. It has several interesting chapters about food processing, drug-food interactions, micro- and macro-nutrients, and food as medicine. It's light and easy to read, with tables, diagrams and a very simple layout.
Recommended to anyone who would like to get a handle on food processing, storage, nutrients, effects, etc...and not get bored out of their mind in the process.
Review is intended for personal use -- summary of thoughts / takeaways to help decide whether to potentially re-read again later.
Potential for impact: very high Enjoyableness of reading: medium Likelihood of re-reading: Very high (as a reference)
About time!!
Finally finished another book – the one book a week goal has fallen by the wayside (work has taken priority which is certainly the right call) but at least books are still being completed. I’ll still take this over not reading at all, and, well, this one was amazing in terms of information.
In terms of readability? Well, it wasn’t too bad. But it’s not like you read “nutrition for dummies” to be entertained. But, I really appreciated the chapter-based way the author presented the information -- this book is obviously designed to be read / referred to by chapter, and as such the other does a great of writing a number of self-contained chapters that still somehow build off one another to make a complete picture. Good job.
As such this is a strong reference book for beginners (like me), for the most part the book presents information rather than taking hard stances. The few times a strong stance is taken, the recommendations are fairly straightforward / common sense and based in scientific studies, which are also referred to. Which is really nice to see.
Some huge takeaways: Huge takeaway #1: the government website that has a comprehensive list of full nutritional data of every food I can possibly think of. Have referred to this page often and will continue to do so. https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/
Huge takeaway #2: the definition of heavy drinking. For men, this is over 4 drinks per day or 14 drinks a week… which IMO is really not a lot and much less than what I would honestly consider heavy drinking. However. This definition is not due to societal pressures, but solely based in health risk. Put another way, if you drink heavily according to this definition, you increase the likelihood of all sorts of negative health risks including lots of different types of cancers etc. From Matt Walker’s sleep book (also worth reading), alcohol significantly negatively affects the restorative quality of sleep, which also increases negative health risks including lots of different types of cancer (what a surprise). Anyway it's really good to know that if someone drinks 14 drinks a week on a regular basis, they are much more likely to have long term consequences due to alcohol.
Huge takeaway #3: Nutrition is really not that hard to figure out. Get all your vitamins / minerals etc, it's much easier to do so by eating a varied diet of actual food rather than junk.
Many other specific takeaways in here too (for instance Vitamins A, D, E, K are stored in the body’s fat and much harder to get rid of than the rest of the water soluble vitamins)… must read for anyone even a little interested in nutrition. I’ll be referring to this book often.
This was a pretty good informative book, and makes for a good resource. The actual nutritional information seemed pretty standard and maybe a touch dated (my book is a 2006 version). What I did enjoy, however, was reading the basic information about how the body's digestive system works, what happens during an allergic reaction to food, and how we process different substances like vitamins, alcohol, and meat.
Not sure where this author is getting her info but more than half the info contained in this book is inaccurate, as I learned in my first year of med school
(For context, I read the 7th Edition) This book changed my relationship with food for the better! Most nutrition books that I've picked up seem like they want to instill fear about this or that food, but this book did it right - explained the facts and brought up relevant studies and made it clear whether those studies were conclusive or not. Also the writing style was very engaging and I never got bored! I really really enjoyed this book and it has made me less scared of 'bad' foods but also has gave me incentives to strive for more vegetables, beans, and whole grains. I highly recommend this book. It has a chapter on just about anything you would consume. The most thorough book about nutrition I've ever read. I feel like there's been multiple times I would do research on a healthy diet but I would just end up frustrated and confused because of all the contradicting information and fear mongering. This book did not do that, and left me feeling content and educated.
کتاب صوتی پر از اشکال تلفظ کلمات و ضبط صدا بود. هیلی از جاهایی که ادیت شده بود رو یادشون رفته بود از روی متن بردارن بنابراین گاهی سه ویرایش از یک جمله رو پست یر هم می شنیدی. متن کتاب هم به درد نخور بود فقط گوینده صدایی محشر داشت.
Out Of Date There was some useful stuff. However some was out of date, and dangerous if.taken at face value. 1) Olestra is mentioned as having issues for some, but generally safe. It has since.been pulled off.the market due to issues. 2)Sweeteners all considered safe. Evidence for years has flagged up serious.concerns, which are being validated by recent studies. 3) Implies.skimmed.milk etc healthier, but contradicts that earlier in by citing a study that only showed far from meat not dairy was detrimental. 4)Implies a calories in/out over simplistic view.of.losing weight. It is much more complex, and depends on lots of different factors. 5) Cites staying up to date on every vaccine healthier than having none. No evidence cited.to back this.up. 6) Touts emulsifiers as safe, when we know they can damage the gut.
Really good book for someone interested in nutrition, who is not an expert. Covers all topics necessary to provide an all-rounded knowledge into healthy eating and the science behind the GI system.
کتاب یکم قدیمی بود، زیاد از حد تخصصی بود برای من و خیلی چیزاش رو متوجه نشدم. در کل به چیزی که خواستم نرسیدم توی این کتاب. اما اطلاعات خوبی بدست آوردم. برای سرنخ گرفتن خوب بود.
This books delivers what the title promises: basic knowledge on nutrition. Nevertheless, my biggest critic to the book is that it is not a practical read. Too many concepts and no easy way to find summaries at the beginning or end of each chapter for a quick reference later. I will have to read it again to take more advantage of the purchase.
I read it again... worth the time!!! Here’s my complete insight:
Your diet provides the energy and building blocks you need to construct and maintain every cell and organ in your body. To do this you need a range of nutrients from two different and distinct groups: — Macronutrients (macro = big): Energy, protein, fat, carbohydrates, and fibre — Micronutrients (micro = small): Vitamins and minerals
Mouth 👄 — You start to break up the indigestible layer of fibre surrounding the edible parts of some foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains) so that your digestive enzymes can get to the nutrients inside. — Saliva provides amylases, enzymes that start the digestion of complex carbohydrates (starches), breaking the starch molecules into simple sugars. (No protein or fat digestion occurs in your mouth.) — Chewing your food well also helps stimulate the release of digestive juices farther down your gut. It also makes you eat more slowly, giving your brain a chance to recognise when your body has had enough food so helping to stop you overeating.
Stomach 🤰 Other enzymes, plus stomach juices, begin the digestion of proteins and fats, separating them into their basic components-amino acids (from protein) and fatty acids.
Small Intestine 🐛 The body absorbs nutrients according to how fast it breaks them down into their basic parts. — Carbohydrates, which separate quickly into single sugar units, are absorbed first. — Proteins (as amino acids) go next. — Fats, which take longest to break apart into their constituent fatty acids, are last. — Water-soluble vitamins such as B and C, and minerals are absorbed earlier than those that dissolve in fat.
Probiotics are live cultures of the good bacteria normally found in your intestines. They beneficially affect your health by improving the balance of your gut bacteria, and they help with stimulating your immune system (fight infections better).
Another way of boosting your own natural good gut bacteria is through eating prebiotics — these are types of fibrous carbohydrate that provide food for the good bacteria in the gut so promoting their growth. Natural sources of prebiotics include onions, garlic, asparagus, artichoke, chicory.
Hunger is the need for food. Appetite is the desire for food.
The practical difference between hunger and appetite is this: when you're hungry, you eat one handful of peanuts. After that, your appetite may lead you to eat two more handfuls just because they look appealing or taste good.
People who exercise regularly are likely to have a healthy appetite, but they're rarely hungry immediately after exercising because: — Ordinary short bursts of exercise release stored energy (glucose and fat) from your body tissues, so your glucose levels stay steady and you don't feel hungry. — Endurance exercise like marathon running or triathalon events eventually use up all stored energy in body tissues. — Exercise slows the passage of food through the digestive tract. Your stomach empties more slowly and you feel fuller for longer. — Exercise (including mental exertion) reduces anxiety.
Functions — Making enzymes, the specialised worker proteins that do specific jobs such as digesting food and assembling or dividing molecules to make new cells and chemical substances. — Making neurotransmitters requires proteins. — Making Antibodies — Proteins play an important part in the creation of every new cell and every new individual
To make all the proteins that your body needs, you require 21 different amino acids. Ten are essential amino acids, which you must obtain from food. The rest are nonessential amino acids that you can manufacture yourself from fats, carbohydrates and other amino acids if you don't get them in food.
Proteins from foods of animal origin are known as high-quality proteins.
Your body absorbs these proteins really efficiently and can use the proteins without much waste to synthesise other proteins.
The proteins from plants have limited amounts of one or more essential amino acids.
The prime exception is the soya bean, a legume packed with abundant amounts of all nine essential amino acids.
Fats have more than twice as much calories as protein and carbs: 9 calories per fat gram versus 3.75 calories per gram for proteins and 4 for carbs.
The visible body fat: — Provides a source of stored energy — Gives shape to your body — Cushions your skin — Acts as an insulation blanket that reduces heat loss
The hidden fat is: — Part of every cell membrane (the outer skin that holds each cell together). — A component of myelin, the fatty material that sheathes nerve cells and makes it possible for them to fire the electrical messages that enable you to think, see, speak, move — A shock absorber that protects your organs as much as possible if you fall or injure yourself. — A constituent of hormones and other biochemicals, such as vitamin D and bile.
Glucose, the molecule you get by digesting carbohydrates, is the body's basic source of energy. Burning glucose is easier and more efficient than burning fat, so your body always goes for carbohydrates first. But if you've used up all your available glucose after prolonged exercise or starvation, then it's time to start on your body fat.
To make it simpler when you're shopping, if a label says a food contains more than 20 grams of total fat and more than 5 grams of saturates per 100 grams, it contains a lot of fat. If the food contains less than 3 grams of total fat and 1 gram of saturated fat it contains ‘a little' fat.
Finding fat in all kinds of foods As a general rule: — Fruits 🍉 and vegetables 🍅 have only traces of unsaturated fat — Grains 🌽 have small amounts of unsaturated fat — Dairy products 🍼 vary (saturated) * Cream is a high-fat food * Normal milks and cheeses are moderately high in fat * Skimmed milk and skimmed milk products are low-fat foods — Red meat 🍖 can be low to moderately high in saturated fat depending on the cut, the breeding and the species — Poultry 🍗 without the skin is relatively low in fat. — Fish 🐠 can be high or low in unsaturated fat. Fish with darker flesh (such as salmon, trout or mackerel) is usually higher in fat — Oils and Butter * Vegetable oils ➡️ 📈 unsaturated fat * Butter and lard 🐖 ➡️ saturated fat * Coconut oil 🥥 and cocoa butter ➡️ saturated — Processed foods ➡️ 📈 saturated and trans fats
A diet high in saturated fats increases the amount of cholesterol circulating in your blood, which is believed to raise your risk of heart disease and stroke. A diet high in unsaturated fats reduces the amount of cholesterol circulating in your blood, which is believed to lower your risk of heart disease and stroke.
— VLDLs and LDLs are sometimes called bad cholesterol — Travelling through the body, LDLs continue to lose cholesterol. — In the end, they become high-density lipoproteins (HDL), the particles sometimes called good cholesterol.
The energy that your resting body uses to do all this stuff is called Resting Energy Expenditure or Basal Metabolic Rate accounts for a whopping 60 to 70 per cent of all the calories you need each day.
The only number you need to remember is 3,500, the number of calories it takes to lose 0.5 kilograms of body fat. So if you simply cut your calorie consumption from 2,000 calories a day to 1,500 you'll lose 0.5 kilograms a week.
Most of us equate carbs with bread and pasta, but you can also find them in: dairy products, fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, legumes, seeds, sugary foods and sweets Carbohydrates are made up of three components: fiber, starch, and sugar. Fiber and starch are complex carbs, while sugar is a simple carb.
Simple carb foods to avoid: soda, baked treats, packaged cookies, fruit juice concentrate, breakfast cereal.
The more complex the carb, the better. Complex carbs pack in more nutrients than simple carbs. They’re higher in fiber and digest more slowly. This also makes them more filling, which means they’re a good option for weight control.
Fiber and starch are the two types of complex carbohydrates.
The main sources of dietary fiber include: fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, whole grains. High-starch foods are: potatoes, whole wheat bread, cereal, corn, oats, peas, rice. Complex carbs you should eat more of: whole grains (quinoa, buckwheat, and whole-wheat pasta), fiber-rich fruits (apples, berries), fiber-rich vegetables (including broccoli, leafy greens, and carrots), beans. Your body can pack about 400 grams or 1500 cal (1g carbs = 3,75 cal) of glucose the cell doesn't need into liver and muscle cells. If you add up all the glucose stored to the small amount of glucose in your cells and blood, it equals about 1,800 calories of energy.
If your diet provides more carbohydrates than you need (1800 cal) your body converts the excess into fat.
Energy Sources: carbohydrates (easiest to get), fat, protein (most difficult)
Most nutritionists recommend that 50 per cent of your daily calories need to come from carbohydrate foods.
Your body needs at least 13 specific vitamins: vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, vitamin C, thiamin (vitamin B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin, vitamin B6, folate vitamin B12, biotin and pantothenic acid.
Vitamin C supplements may reduce the length of time you have to put up with the cold symptoms. Higher doses of 100 milligrams per day produce better benefits than small doses. More than 1 gram a day might do you more harm than good.
Benefits — Keep your cells healthy — Slow down tissue degeneration — Prevent the formation of carcinogens — Reduce cholesterol levels — Protect your heart — Maintain your hormone balance — Keep your bones strong
The most interesting phytochemicals in plant foods appear to be antioxidants.
Antioxidants are named for their ability to prevent a chemical reaction called oxidation, which enables molecular fragments called free radicals to join together, forming potentially carcinogenic compounds in your body.
Antioxidants also slow the normal wear and tear on body cells, so a diet rich in plant foods is known to reduce the risk of heart disease and may reduce the risk of some kinds of cancer.
Chapter 13: What Is a Healthy Diet?
People are often confused about what constitutes a portion, so here's a guide to help: — A cereal bowl full of mixed, undressed salad — A handful of berries such as strawberries or grapes — A small glass (150 millilitres or 5 fluid ounces) of unsweetened fruit or vegetable juice-sorry, you can only count fruit juice once a day! — Half an avocado — One big slice of large fruit such as a large slice of melon or pineapple — One medium fruit such as a banana or an apple — Three heaped tablespoons of beans (pulses also only count once a day) — Two small pieces of fruit such as two plums or two apricots — Two tablespoons of dried, cooked or tinned fruit in natural juice
You can assume the food is high in sugar whenever the sugar word is one of the first ingredients listed on the food product's ingredient list: brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, glucose (dextrose), high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, (50:50 fructose-glucose), lactose, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, sugar (sucrose), syrup.
This is a review of the 4th edition, with a copyright of 2006.
This is one of my Mom's books. Our copy is full of the bright little sticky tabs she would fill her books with. For about 30 years, she was obsessed with food and dieting. We got rid of many food-fad books and cookbooks, but we decided to keep this one. It doesn't promise any miracle cures, and keeps reminding you to check with your doctor about any radical changes to your diet.
With a book of this age, it's inevitable that some of the information is out of date. If you want the latest nutritional tips, you need to check out sites like Mayo Clinic or Medical News Today. Searching for "nutrition study" in Google News is also recommended. Still, this book has decent basics. Not too much has radically changed since this was published.
I would ignore the ten superfoods list. That was definitely a product of its time. For example, it recommends white tea, and there is far more information on the benefits of green tea than white tea. But both teas suck. No superfood is going to help you if you despise the taste.
Considering such a bland subject, it was a quick read. The information is well organized in easy to digest chunks. There is a bit of humor, as well as the obligatory Rich Tennant cartoons.
El mejor libro de nutrición con el que me he encontrado hasta ahora.
Al principio me abrumaron tantos términos desconocidos, pero poco a poco fui haciéndome a ellos. Está todo muy bien explicado, con un lenguaje común y tablas, y, aunque es demasiada información como para retenerla toda en una sola lectura, siempre se puede volver a consultar y está diseñado de forma que sea muy fácil encontrar lo que buscas y poder resolver tus dudas rápido. Se puede leer en el orden que se quiera sin sentirse perdido y, si algún término de un apartado se ha mencionado en otro, te dice a qué capítulo tienes que ir para que puedas consultarlo y profundizar un poco más.
Tiene toques de humor y dice las cosas como son, dando las versiones de muchos estudios, sin apoyar a uno sobre otro a menos que haya motivo científico.
En resumen, he aprendido muchísimo y me ha resultado entretenido. Me ha encantado.
Read the Canadian edition and decided to purchase the 7th edition for updated information. However, despite mounting research saying otherwise, it still recommends moderate drinking for health benefits, as such I returned my physical 7th edition and listened to the 6th edition for free on audible. I cannot support nor recommend this book while it still recommends moderate drinking for its health benefits. It would be like a professional today recommending cigarette smoking for its benefits of anger and stress reduction, improved mood and concentration, appetite suppression and weight management; while ignoring the MASSIVE amount of research and evidence of how bad in how many ways cigarettes are for you.
I picked up this book because I wanted to learn more about nutrition, and how it plays a part in being healthy and what all goes into it. I'm no dummy but this book helped explain it in a way that it was easy to understand. It was easy to learn the concepts. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
نویسنده فکر میکنه که همه در جهان ذهنی او و با اصطلاحات تغذیه آشنا هستن. این از بیخ با ایدهی دامیز مغایره. حجم کتاب کمه و اجازه شرح و بسط موضوعات رو برای مخاطب عمومی نمیده؛ بیشتر یک دستنامه برای تنظیم تغذیه است تا چیز دیگه. برای من بهانهی خوبی شد که بهخصوص به کمک جیپیتی، با موضوعات اصلی تغذیه آشنا بشم و نسبت به دادههای روی بستهبندی محصولات غذایی درک پیدا کنم.
كتاب لطيف فى بابه وددت لو كان فى مطابعنا مثل تلك السلاسل التعريفية والتقريبية للعلوم والاداب طال عهدى بالكتاب فقد قرأته مستعيرا من الصديق العزيز أحمد خطاب فى 2013 رد الله غربته ولم يبق فى الرأس من مادته إلا لذة الذكرى
Un libro que en un listado de "superalimentos" incluye el alcohol me parece que desacredita a su autor como nutricionista. Algunas de las recomendaciones nutricionales que se dan en este libro son nefastas.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
A spoiler: drink beer and eat beans The audiobook version is boring as hell, because the narrator is reading every cell in every table. Good to fall asleep though