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Is Butter a Carb?: Unpicking Fact from Fiction in the World of Nutrition
The ultimate myth-busting nutrition bible.Registered dietitians Rosie Saunt and Helen West are the founders of The Rooted Project, set up to translate the latest research direct to your plate, and make evidence-based nutrition accessible and engaging.In this book, they explore everything from the danger of anecdotal evidence and unsubstantiated 'facts' about food to the real science behind the nutrients we consume every day. They explain why there's nothing to be feared from fat or carbs, or - for the vast majority of us - the much-maligned gluten, as well as probing the murky depths of the diet industry to explore the latest links between diet culture and weight stigma. They take a deep-dive into gut health, look at the emerging science of the connection between food and mood and examine differences between allergies and intolerances.This book is both a reference guide and a narrative to it debunks the myths that dominate the food and wellness industry and offers the right tools and knowledge to allow readers to take control of their own health. Evidence-based, body positive and practical, Is Butter a Carb? is the modern must-have nutrition book for everybody interested in food, health and pop science.
331 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 6, 2019
97 people are currently reading
1323 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
July 25, 2019
Must-read for anyone interested in nutrition. There is so much "nutribollocks" out there on the internet, theories and diets that are completely unfounded and not backed up by evidence. This book really breaks down and debunks all of the theories and trends, simplifies eating for those of us who have been confused by the abundance of information (and misinformation) presented in the media and online. It also takes a body positive approach to food and seeks to improve our relationship with it and our bodies. Recommend!
January 23, 2022
A really informative approach to nutrition that is based in science. The rational approach debunks the claims made by the wellness brigade.
June 27, 2019
Clear, concise, and easily digestible (pun intended), this book is an excellent overview of research to-date in nutrition. The chapters are balanced and non-judgemental, and reflect how good scientific writing should be, while also being very easy to read for someone with a non-scientific background. I flew through it and found it very interesting, and will be going back to different sections any time I have a query. Particularly loved the discussions on weight stigma and contemporary fad-diets!
August 12, 2024
Impressions
Very easy to read and well organised. I enjoyed the last few chapters on diet myths and identifying evidence-based articles. I found a few things I would like to incorporate in my life, however, if you are looking for a "set of instructions" or "recipes" to follow maybe this isn't the book for you. The point of this book is to remove all restrictions surrounding diet and teach you that nutrition is more holistic and I think this book does that well
Actionable Takeaways
1) Increases cholesterol: Butter 63% saturated fats > Coconut oil 82% saturated fats > olive oil (14%) and sunflower oil
2) For high-temperature cooking (baking and frying) use refined olive oil, canola oil and avocado oil
3) Increasing fibre in your diet by choosing whole grain bf cereal ie, 6gm fibre every 100gms, leave the skin on fruit and vegetables page 62
3) Protein for vegetarians should include legumes (isoleucine and lysin) + grains (methionine and tryptophan) to meet the daily total protein requirement. Whereas non-vegetarians can eat plain meat without needing to add grains to meet the total protein requirement
4) Retaining nutrient value:
- Keep most fruits and veg in the fridge
- Store cut fruit in air-tight containers
- Add veggies to water after the water has reached boiling point and cook for a short amount of time OR steam them in a microwave
- Frozen is good!
5) Tips to increase veggie intake:
- Add greens to hot boiling pots
- Roast veggies in bulk and store them to be used later
- Stick to seasonal fruits and veg and add new ones every week
- Make healthy dips like hummus
- Switch out potato for beetroot, sweet potato, and parsnips and add half and half
- Nutty toppings for fruit puddings
6) Common prebiotics: onions, garlic, chicory, asparagus, beans and bananas
7) Follow intuitive eating as a form of diet:
- No need to have rules to follow
- Eat something only when you are hungry
- Eat all foods, 'bad' and 'good'
- Challenge the internal voice that stops you from enjoying food
- Learn to know when you are full
- Find other ways to cope with emotions
Favourite quotes
"The Dunning-Kruger Effect speaks to the phenomenon where people with the least experience and knowledge talk with confidence and authority because they have no idea how limited their knowledge is. At the same time, someone with years of experience can appear non-committal or as though they doubt their position, due to the caveating statements and sharing their uncertainty."
"Confirmation bias We all tend to seek out information that we agree with and which confirms our pre-existing beliefs"
Very easy to read and well organised. I enjoyed the last few chapters on diet myths and identifying evidence-based articles. I found a few things I would like to incorporate in my life, however, if you are looking for a "set of instructions" or "recipes" to follow maybe this isn't the book for you. The point of this book is to remove all restrictions surrounding diet and teach you that nutrition is more holistic and I think this book does that well
Actionable Takeaways
1) Increases cholesterol: Butter 63% saturated fats > Coconut oil 82% saturated fats > olive oil (14%) and sunflower oil
2) For high-temperature cooking (baking and frying) use refined olive oil, canola oil and avocado oil
3) Increasing fibre in your diet by choosing whole grain bf cereal ie, 6gm fibre every 100gms, leave the skin on fruit and vegetables page 62
3) Protein for vegetarians should include legumes (isoleucine and lysin) + grains (methionine and tryptophan) to meet the daily total protein requirement. Whereas non-vegetarians can eat plain meat without needing to add grains to meet the total protein requirement
4) Retaining nutrient value:
- Keep most fruits and veg in the fridge
- Store cut fruit in air-tight containers
- Add veggies to water after the water has reached boiling point and cook for a short amount of time OR steam them in a microwave
- Frozen is good!
5) Tips to increase veggie intake:
- Add greens to hot boiling pots
- Roast veggies in bulk and store them to be used later
- Stick to seasonal fruits and veg and add new ones every week
- Make healthy dips like hummus
- Switch out potato for beetroot, sweet potato, and parsnips and add half and half
- Nutty toppings for fruit puddings
6) Common prebiotics: onions, garlic, chicory, asparagus, beans and bananas
7) Follow intuitive eating as a form of diet:
- No need to have rules to follow
- Eat something only when you are hungry
- Eat all foods, 'bad' and 'good'
- Challenge the internal voice that stops you from enjoying food
- Learn to know when you are full
- Find other ways to cope with emotions
Favourite quotes
"The Dunning-Kruger Effect speaks to the phenomenon where people with the least experience and knowledge talk with confidence and authority because they have no idea how limited their knowledge is. At the same time, someone with years of experience can appear non-committal or as though they doubt their position, due to the caveating statements and sharing their uncertainty."
"Confirmation bias We all tend to seek out information that we agree with and which confirms our pre-existing beliefs"
December 29, 2021
An informative, easy to read, no nonsense book about nutrition which I thoroughly enjoyed. I appreciated the authors’ evidence-based approach, definitely one of my favourite books of all time. Will continue to refer back to it in the future - highly recommend!
May 9, 2021
I really enjoyed this book! As someone who overthinks about food, diets etc. it was so interesting to read a book that broke down so many aspects of nutrition. I definitely won't remember everything and all the detail but that doesn't mean it wasn't interesting during the read. Some bits I definitely will remember and overall would recommend this book! In my experience nutrition just isn't something that we're taught but end up picking nuggets of information up along the way, so it was great to learn the fact from fiction with this and expand my knowledge overall with what was also a really engaging book.
January 5, 2021
Very interesting book.
Some may sound like common sense, but we know that common sense is often not that common from one person to the next.
There is a lot information to understand the basics of food and nutrition, a lot of details on why things are not always what we think, through decades of misunderstandings and incorrect knowledge.
This book does not give magic recipes, but solid fundation to understand the science of food and sort through all the fads around. It shows how some diets are based on nothing, others on partial facts sometimes twisted beyond any value, and some much more justified, but usually for only some people and never universal.
It reminds the basics of eating well which is usually by having a lot of different foods rather than sticking to very few.
I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. I'll probably keep it handy to come back to some of the information.
Some may sound like common sense, but we know that common sense is often not that common from one person to the next.
There is a lot information to understand the basics of food and nutrition, a lot of details on why things are not always what we think, through decades of misunderstandings and incorrect knowledge.
This book does not give magic recipes, but solid fundation to understand the science of food and sort through all the fads around. It shows how some diets are based on nothing, others on partial facts sometimes twisted beyond any value, and some much more justified, but usually for only some people and never universal.
It reminds the basics of eating well which is usually by having a lot of different foods rather than sticking to very few.
I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. I'll probably keep it handy to come back to some of the information.
July 19, 2019
This was an incredibly useful book, in the age of fake nutritional advice being freely thrown around on Instagram, this book gives evidence-based advice on all the nutrition myths out there. I like that the author isn't trying to sway you one way or another, they are simply giving you the facts, and also admitting when there isn't enough evidence/trials yet to prove something.
I learnt so much about health in such an accessible, easy-to-read way. Highly recommend.
I learnt so much about health in such an accessible, easy-to-read way. Highly recommend.
May 21, 2020
The best book about nutrition out there
First of all this book is so well written that I read it all in 3 days. It explains in the best way possible what nutrition really is about, what science says about it, what's evidence-based and what is not. I learned a lot, also got rid of some fears around certain topics I had and just enjoyed getting back to some things I already knew and learning so much more. Great read I'd recommend to absolutely everyone.
First of all this book is so well written that I read it all in 3 days. It explains in the best way possible what nutrition really is about, what science says about it, what's evidence-based and what is not. I learned a lot, also got rid of some fears around certain topics I had and just enjoyed getting back to some things I already knew and learning so much more. Great read I'd recommend to absolutely everyone.
August 5, 2019
Easy to read, but I still learned alot despite feeling like I already had quite a secure base of nutrition knowledge. I especially liked how balanced the book was, and the chapter on Diet Culture and Weight Stigma (although I wish there was more information about Intuitive Eating, even a whole chapter, as I felt this part left me with more questions and wanting to know more practical tips)
January 4, 2020
Easy to understand, science backed nutrition
The authors base all their information on scientific evidence, but somehow manage to make the entire book entertaining and easy to read. They explain everything in simple terms but give enough references and new perspectives on things for all of the nutrition nerds wanting to know a little bit more.
The authors base all their information on scientific evidence, but somehow manage to make the entire book entertaining and easy to read. They explain everything in simple terms but give enough references and new perspectives on things for all of the nutrition nerds wanting to know a little bit more.
August 26, 2022
A great book to read if you're looking to better understand the complexities of nutrition, and if you're repairing your relationship with food (dieting is my biggest regret, don't do it!)
I read this on the recommendation of Pixie Turner (No Need to Diet book), and it debunks a lot of food myths in a clear way
I read this on the recommendation of Pixie Turner (No Need to Diet book), and it debunks a lot of food myths in a clear way
July 21, 2019
A book based on science debunking many mths/trends of popular diets and ways of eating. A good read as most will know navigating around what you should or should not eat to lose weight/ be healthy can be so confusing.
July 14, 2020
At last - a sensible book about nutrition!
I loved reading this book. It told the truth, made me laugh and made me realize what I was in danger of forgetting. Food is meant to be enjoyed, not to be seen as something to worry about. Thanks guys.
I loved reading this book. It told the truth, made me laugh and made me realize what I was in danger of forgetting. Food is meant to be enjoyed, not to be seen as something to worry about. Thanks guys.
August 25, 2020
Definitely a book that has chapters that will be more relevant to some readers more than others. An overall positive balanced read which helped to de-myth and provide a strong evidence base throughout. Not abundant in ‘new’ information to me but good to solidify previous reading.
January 3, 2021
This book, part of the health and nutrition book club list has been one of my favourite nutrition books I’ve read. It is written in a friend and honest way by two qualified dietitians and covers the general basics of nutrition. Couldn’t recommend it enough to anyone - nutrition interested or not.
March 12, 2021
A nutritionist recommended this as a good book on nutrition for non-nutritionists. He wasn't wrong, and there were very interesting parts to the book - however there was more stuff that I already knew than I was expecting.
August 23, 2022
Highly recommend this concise, reliable, and easily understandable approach to what we actually know about nutrition. Will definitely recommend this book if anyone I talk to has the slightest interest in nutrition.
July 13, 2019
Very easy to read and for anyone wanting to cut thru the pseudoscience and get a better understanding of nutrition fact from fiction I’d recommend this book.
August 9, 2019
I loved this book. Such an interesting, factual and practical book.
October 3, 2019
All pretty generic and common sense
January 3, 2020
Simply healthy
A very well explanation in a simplified manner of the modern and overall misconceptions and myths of diets and food habits.
I recommend this to all out there.
A very well explanation in a simplified manner of the modern and overall misconceptions and myths of diets and food habits.
I recommend this to all out there.
July 20, 2020
An interesting read that helped me to pick apart some of my preconceptions about diet culture and bust toxic diet myths. Some of the chapters did seem a bit basic and there were quite a few typos.
August 15, 2020
Useful and to the point summary to refresh the knowledge about food and nutrition
January 16, 2021
So much good information about nutrition away from all the fads. Highlighted so much here to go back to
June 1, 2022
Loved this book! Informative, nutrition myth-busting and educational, based in science. Wish this was required reading for everyone!
June 25, 2022
Absolute necesity to read for anyone who is confused in this diet-based nutrition world.
November 30, 2022
Good, interesting book attempting to cut through the misinformation and pragmatically convey useful information to laypeople.
March 18, 2023
Really really informative book! Educational and myth busting. Highlights how dangerous mis information spreading can be!
October 16, 2023
It was about time some of the most popular nutrition myths were debunked! Like they said, Nutrition is still too complex of a topic and in the end balance is all.
A must-read
A must-read
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews