In Defense of Food
by Michael Pollan
Pollan's seven words, eat food, not too much, mostly plants, and the argument behind them: how nutritionism replaced food with nutrients and made eating anxious and worse. It is journalism, not a diet, and its advice is sane, memorable and compatible with almost any sensible approach.
Read it if…
you are exhausted by conflicting diet advice and want one durable rule.
Skip it if…
you want a specific plan; the book offers principles.
Three things you will actually use
- Eat real food; avoid what makes health claims.
- Not too much; stop at eighty percent.
- Mostly plants; the rest is detail.
Do this first
For one week, eat nothing your great-grandmother would not recognize as food.
Our verdict
Wise and clear; the sanest food book.
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