Dillema was more narrative in style, with a series of good stories about his explorations into where his food comes from. This book is more a review of research on nutrition, and a general castigation of the whole of nutritional science. The principle thesis is that nutrition really can't be broken down into component parts (nutrients) in any meaningful way that is useful to us because most good cultural diets evolve as a whole. E.g.: the Mediterranean diet really needs to be taken as a whole - olive oil, fish, chicken, wine, pasta, rice, vegetables, spices are only a part that should really include the cultural (meals taken with the family, conversation, time spent together) as well as significant other aspects we neglect in western culture. In fact the "Western Diet" is repeatedly held up for inspection and found to fail in that it causes most of our modern illnesses. Diabetes, obesity, metabolic disorder, heart disease, and other.
The last section is the prescription for the cure, the subheads quoted here:
- Escape from the western diet
- Eat food: food defined -
Avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar b) unpronounceable c) more than 5 in number d) high-fructose corn syrup
Avoid products that make health claims
Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle.
Get out of the supermarket whenever possible (use farmer's markets and CSAs)
- Mostly Plants: What to Eat
Eat mostly plants - especially leaves (seeds are calorie dense)
You are what you eat eats too
If you have space buy a freezer
Eat well-grown food from healty soils (farmer's markets, CSAs, organic)
Eat wild foods when you can
Be the kind of person who takes supplements
Eat more like the French Italians, Japanese, Indians, or Greeks
Regard nontraditional foods with skeptiscism
Don't look for the magic bullet in the traditional diet.
Have a glass of wine with dinner
- How to Eat - Not too much.
Pay more, eat less
Eat meals (not snacks)
Eat at at table (not a desk or in the car)
Don't get your fuel from the same place as your car
Try not to eat alone
Consult your gut (eat until "80% full").
Eat slowly
Cook, and if you can, plant a garden
