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What to Eat (Hardcover)

by Marion Nestle (Author) "I am a nutrition professor, and as soon as people find out what I do, they ask: Why is nutrition so confusing?..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, New York, General Mills (more...)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
How do we choose what to eat? Buffeted by health claims--should we, for example, restrict our intake of carbs or fats or both? Is organic food better for us?--we become confused and tune out. In supermarkets we buy semi-consciously, unaware that our choices are carefully orchestrated by sophisticated marketing strategies concerned only with the bottom line. That we should confront such persuasion is the major point made by nutritionist-consumer advocate Marion Nestle in her extraordinary What to Eat, an aisle-by-aisle guide to supermarket buying and thus an anatomy of American food business. "The way food is situated in today's society discourages healthful food choices," Nestle tells us, a fact that finds literal representation in our supermarkets, where food placement--dependant on "slotting fees," guaranteed advertising and other incentives--determines every purchase we make.

Nestle walks readers through every supermarket section--produce, meat, fish, dairy, packaged foods, bottled waters, and more--decoding labels and clarifying nutritional and other claims (in supermarket-speak, for example, "fresh" means most likely to spoil first, not recently picked or prepared), and in so doing explores issues like the effects of food production on our environment, the way pricing works, and additives and their effect on nutrition.

What Nestle reveals is both discouraging and empowering. Through ubiquitous advertising, almost universal food availability, the growth of portion size, and unchecked marketing to kids, we’re encouraged to eat more than we need, with consequent negative impact on our health. Knowledge is indeed power, and Nestle's lively, witty, and thoroughly enlightening book--the work, readers quickly see, of a food lover intent on increasing sensual satisfaction at table as well as promoting health--will help its readers become completely cognizant about food shopping. It's a must for anyone who eats and buys food and wants to do both better. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly
According to nutritionist Nestle (Food Politics), 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. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 624 pages
  • Publisher: North Point Press; 1 edition (May 2, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0865477043
  • ISBN-13: 978-0865477049
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #84,264 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
I am a nutrition professor, and as soon as people find out what I do, they ask: Why is nutrition so confusing? Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, New York, General Mills, Nutrition Facts, American Heart Association, Glycemic Index, Wall Street, Dairy Council, Food Politics, Consumer Reports, Kraft Foods, New Zealand, Big Four Cereal, Sugar Association, American Diabetes Association, Calorie Control Council, Count Chocula, Egg Nutrition Center, Smart Balance, Wonder Bread, Fish List, Tops Market, White House, Cadbury Schweppes, European Union
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Average Customer Review
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257 of 299 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars WOW This is a must read for anyone interested in food, June 1, 2006
Every now and then a book or two comes along that makes me want to get on the phone to friends or email friends to tell them they must read the book. This happened this past week when What to Eat by Marion Nestle and Gone Tomorrow the Hidden Life of Garbage by Heather Rogers arrived at my cottage.

Starting with this book 'What to Eat' the author does an excellent job of explaining the psychology of food from its invention (since so much is man made or processed), to the thousand mile journey it makes, even if organic, to most grocery stores, and the vast amount of waste that is involved in getting even organic fruits and vegetables to your local grocer. And that local grown fruits and vegetables are often turned down for local sale in grocery stores, but packed and shipped across country, all as part of a man made game plan. As is the label game and how many label issues are voluntary and not mandated like for genetically modified foods.

Her section on dairy is good. Personally I buy organic milk from here in northern California and no matter where we have lived I have sought out locals who would allow me to make a 'donation' for their raw milk, since I prefer to make my own yogurt, butter, cheese etc. The taste of regular homogenized milk from the store tastes horrid to me. Probably because its altered so much to allow for weeks on the grocery shelf. How I wish people would demand that their grocer carry dairy products from humane farms that are also whole and healthy.

Her section on meat is equally interesting. As she notes well, those who cull (kill, slaughter) the meat Americans eat work for low wages in very dangerous conditions, with the buyer all to willing to ignore just what happens to get that piece of meat on ones dinner table or fast food meal. Page 139 'Raising cattle also consumes vast amounts of nonrenewable energy. According to figures in the June 2004 National Geographic, it takes more than 200 gallons of fuel oil to raise a 1,200 pound steer on a feedlot. ... You pay the costs of loss of environmental quality in taxes, not at the grocery store.' What is interesting to me is I come from a family where we hunted in the fall and wasted little of any animal we got. We did eat some beef, chicken etc but this was home grown either by us or friends. But when I did my own homework and found out what the local slaughter house near a town we lived in, I knew how unhealthy commercially raised meat can be. And having a son who has worked in the grocery business I admit I wasn't surprised when he told me that the clean cold cases that you buy your meat from are called meat coffins in the business.

Her section on eggs is good and basic but I also urge people to read up on humane egg production because the fact is, most eggs are from hens crammed into cages, beaks clipped to prevent hurting other chickens, and eggs not laid in straw nests but on a slopped cage floor that allows them to coast down an egg gutter where workers come by every few hours and collect them. No matter where we have lived, even in suburbia Dublin CA in the 70's, and now in the Sierras we have had a few free range laying hens, for eggs, not meat. I think its inhumane to buy eggs from caged animals.

I also agree with her frozen food section, that if you cannot buy fresh fruits and vegetables, then buy frozen. But as she notes, you still need to read labels and buy only those items that have a single ingredient i.e. frozen beans, whole strawberries. Rather than whole strawberries in sugar.

I smiled when I read on page 356 'The huge SG Superstore in San Gabriel, California, caters to a largely Chinese speaking immigrant community. The store prints all its signs in Chinese characters as well as English, and the one over aisle 14B says: SPEAR ASPARAGUS, MUSHROOMS, COOKIES, CANNED FISH, and --get this-- JUNK FOOD.' Honest advertising to say the least.

And as the author notes, if we shoppers would set aside a few hours to just walk up and down the aisles and honestly read labels and see how many 'foods' are processed and loaded with cheap sugars and other flavorings and little real food, and then stop and ask ourselves how much of our hard earned money are we throwing away on 'food' that isn't healthy we might be shocked.

As Dr Mehmet Oz notes in his books, shoppers need to stop and read labels as if they were reading a medical prescription. If it has sugar or ingredients you cannot pronounce steer clear of the item. Consider Pepsi, Coke and other manmade beverages. Most six packs around here are around $2.50. What do you get for that $2.50? Water, sugar, caffeine and flavoring. Yet it costs less than .25 cents to make that six pack that has NO nutritional value! None. Same if its sugar free.

And as the author notes, we as a nation are paying dearly for the obscene profits the food manufactures are making. In poor dental and physical health. Diabetes and obesity levels are higher than they have ever been. Now I am not one to simply blame the food manufactures since I think as adults we have the obligation to grow up and act like adults and NOT allow unhealthy things into our lives. I actually am proud to be a food snob! But how do we get others to be food snobs to?

The book is helpful in how it also points out that eating whole healthy food need not be expensive, if we learn to eat fruits and vegetables in season, and if we substitute beans and grains for meat.

On page 489 she gives an excellent example of commercial sliced bread, and their ingredients, fiber and health claims with her comments. As an example there are 22 ingredients in Wonder bread, including enriched white flour, malted barley flour, and various minerals and vitamins ALL added, and not naturally occurring. Compared to home made bread that is easy to make and has less than six ingredients like whole wheat flour, salt, honey, yeast water, milk.

The section on infant formula should be read by any parent who isn't breastfeeding. Page 459 'Beyond the difference in cost, does it matter which level of convience you choose in an infant formula? It might. Powdered formulas are not sterile. ...In 2002, the FDA warned pediatricians that powdered milk formulas could be contaminated with Enterobacter sakaskii, a type of bacteria that causes rare but terrible and sometimes fatal infections in infants, especially those who are premature.' Considering the high number of preemies being born here in the states I wonder how many parents were told of this serious situation. She also has a good section on baby foods. I remember making my own, because commercial baby foods until the 1980's were heavily laced with sugars, and fillers. And as she notes commercial baby food is mainly for convience. But I think buying a $5 baby food grinder and simply taking some of your own steamed vegetables or fruits and grinding them at the table is much easier in the long run and you know the food is fresh.

Also appreciated her health food and supplement section and because I think those of use who strive to eat healthy need to be reminded to read ALL labels no matter where we buy our foods. As an example. I would buy the 100 calories Power Bars thinking they were 'healthy,' until I started taking my own advise and reading the labels. Now I reach for piece of fruit instead.

There is so much helpful information in this book and its a book I think anyone interested in healthy food should own or at least read. You may even want to donate your copy to your local library so hundreds of other people can also become informed.
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37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An eye opener to the world of food, June 1, 2006
By S. Young (Bountiful, Utah USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
Wow! What a Book!

In my quest to eat better and find the true meaning behind food companies claims of how healthy their products are I found Marion Nestle's book `Food Politics', while it was interesting my eyes started to glaze over (I'm not really fond of politics or boring text-book books). I gained a little knowledge that food companies could not be trusted in what they preach about their products because their sole purpose is to sell their products not for the consumer's health.

Then I found she had a new book coming, `What to Eat'. I already knew that Nestle had years of experience as a nutritionist and was more impartial to a person's health than promoting something. You can pretty much bet she wasn't on a payroll of a food company or work for the government, though she was on a national committee a while back, since she really dressed them down for irresponsibility to the public.

I am surprised and saddened to find that the government who is supposed to watch out for the welfare of their people take contributions in the millions to `look the other way' while corporations are allowed to throw out claims that sugary, over processed, artificially colored and flavored foods are whole grain and healthy for a balanced diet.

This is one of the reasons I read this book. Artificial sweeteners give me headaches but when I looked on the internet about them I read from one end of the pendulum in `it's healthy and good for you' to the other `its cancer forming and bad for you'. Who do you believe? You know a good share of these websites are the producers of the products and their competition.

Nestle goes through the entire store telling you what she's learned in her own quest to find the truth about what we buy, why we buy it, and what it all means to eating better. I liked that it wasn't as dry as `Food Politics', at least for me, it was simple and easy to read and told me what she knew that made it a really interesting.

I also learned that food corporations pay supermarkets for `prime real estate' on shelves, at the front of the store, by the check-outs so that you will see their products and be more apt to buy them, while things that are more healthy for you are in the `bad real estate section' because they don't sell as well.

Nestle's motto is `eat less, move more, and eat lots of fruit and vegetables', it's good advice though it's easier said than done and she admits that it is without a bit of effort because prepared/processed foods are easier to use in our hectic world. Nestle does admit that junk food is okay to eat, she tells of her fondness for Oreos, but they should be eaten on a rare occasion and in moderation, I mean... no one can eat just one... right?
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64 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and easy to read, May 9, 2006
By Shashi Jivan (Berkeley, CA. USA) - See all my reviews
This is a great book for anyone who eats. That would mean all of us, because the choices we come upon at the grocery store, restaurant, farmers markets etc. are immense, and Marion Nestle's book informs the average person (organic vs. nonorganic; how far did the blueberries in your grocery store travel to get there and what can you guess about their freshness, how the soil they are grown on is doing ...).

This book is sure to make you think about how and why your local supermarket places things where they do and how you can make educated choices for eating in your family.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Great reference
Very detailed. Great reference for grocery shopping. It is interesting to learn about all the science that goes into product marketing.
Published 2 months ago by Lindsey J. Nash

5.0 out of 5 stars Nourishing, and troubling.
This is the most credible, impressive book I've read on food. Her advice is actually quite traditional (eat fewer calories, exercise more, watch portion size and saturated fats,... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Jeremy M. Simon

5.0 out of 5 stars All Purpose Guide
This is a good all purpose guide to nutrition, including and especially safety concerns. It doesn't just stop with "carrots are a good source of vitamin A, etc" but it goes on to... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Lark Williams

4.0 out of 5 stars Taking it all into account.
Nestle's book takes on a different view than your average foodie book promoting organic and local foods. Read more
Published 8 months ago by IIN Graduate

5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough
This book was recommended based on interest in the book "In Defense of Food" which I loved. This book has the information that shows people are too hung up on balancing a diet,... Read more
Published 10 months ago by K. Klecker

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have book.
This book answers practically every question that today's confused American consumer could possibly have about food. Read more
Published 11 months ago by A reader

3.0 out of 5 stars This book has a split personality ...
This is really two books that would have been better separated. The author takes us through a supermarket, showing us what to look for on the shelves and what various labeling... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Curious Cat

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for your nutritional library
At last, an easy to read, comprehensive book that explains the ins and outs of the food industry. The author delivers the information without any kind of prejudice, just facts... Read more
Published 12 months ago by J. Deloro

5.0 out of 5 stars "Eat less, move more, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, go easy on junk foods."
Marion Nestle's What to Eat is a scientific examination of the health claims that food manufacturers and marketers use to move products. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Jessica Lux

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Food Guide
This book was informative and organized very well. I was impressed with how the author gave real examples of what she was able to find in grocery stores in her area. Read more
Published 18 months ago by M. Wiatr

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