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Food Factor: An Account of the Nutrition Revolution
Book by Griggs, Barbara
398 pages, Paperback
First published February 4, 1987
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November 22, 2014
The first half of Barbara Grigg's book on food and health, published in 1986, is terrific. There is so much fun history about food and its relationship to health and the people who have studied it through the years. The author introduces us to some well known food pioneers like Henry Bieler, "Food is Your Best Medicine," Adelle Davis "Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit" and Sylvester Graham (remember the cracker), and some lesser known heroes like British Lt.-Col Robert McCarrison who discovered and studied the long lived and healthy Hunza people of the Himalayas. The writing is brisk and personal and very readable. The history of the discovery of vitamins and essential fatty acids makes you glad we know what we know today.
As a British author she has sections on Britain during WWII where we discover that the British people got healthier during the war, with fewer heart attacks, better pregnancies and healthier children because their diet was simplified and included whole grain bread instead of highly processed white flour bread. Unfortunately with the end of the war the British diet deteriorated for a variety of reasons and the truth of healthy eating had to be rediscovered. (I am not sure it has been rediscovered yet.)
In the first part of the book the author lauds the experts and investigators who answered questions about essential nutrients and tells us their personal stories. The "authorities" and the "medical establishment" are often in the background in these stories as these early researchers challenge conventional thinking about just what is healthy to eat. In the last part of the book she follows some contemporary trends such as the "discovery" of food additives as a cause of hyperactivity in children and continually bashes the medical profession for not accepting the view of the radicals now outside the box. Of course she must remind us that medical doctors know nothing about nutrition, but unsophisticated mothers who discover that their children do better when additives are withheld from their food are to be considered reliable observers. Unfortunately for her, some of the contemporary theories she choose to highlight have not stood the test of time and the medical establishment actually did a few things right in retrospect.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in a history of health and food, omitting the last few chapters or taking them with a large grain of salt.
As a British author she has sections on Britain during WWII where we discover that the British people got healthier during the war, with fewer heart attacks, better pregnancies and healthier children because their diet was simplified and included whole grain bread instead of highly processed white flour bread. Unfortunately with the end of the war the British diet deteriorated for a variety of reasons and the truth of healthy eating had to be rediscovered. (I am not sure it has been rediscovered yet.)
In the first part of the book the author lauds the experts and investigators who answered questions about essential nutrients and tells us their personal stories. The "authorities" and the "medical establishment" are often in the background in these stories as these early researchers challenge conventional thinking about just what is healthy to eat. In the last part of the book she follows some contemporary trends such as the "discovery" of food additives as a cause of hyperactivity in children and continually bashes the medical profession for not accepting the view of the radicals now outside the box. Of course she must remind us that medical doctors know nothing about nutrition, but unsophisticated mothers who discover that their children do better when additives are withheld from their food are to be considered reliable observers. Unfortunately for her, some of the contemporary theories she choose to highlight have not stood the test of time and the medical establishment actually did a few things right in retrospect.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in a history of health and food, omitting the last few chapters or taking them with a large grain of salt.
Displaying 1 of 1 review