Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating

by Walter C. Willett, Patrick J. Skerrett, Harvard School of Public Health (Contributor)

The bestselling guide to healthy eating, debunking dietary myths, and proposing the radical benefits of low-carbohydrate diet, Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy is “filled with advice backed up by documented research” (Tara Parker-Pope, The Wall Street Journal).

Dr. Walter Willett’s research is rooted in studies that tracked the health of dieters over twenty years, and in this groundbreaking book, he critiques the carbohydrate-laden diet proposed by the USDA.

Exposing the problems of popular diets such as the Zone, South Beach, and Atkins, Dr. Willett offers eye-opening research on the optimum ratio of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, and the relative importance of various food groups and supplements. Find out how to choose wisely between different types of fats, which fruits and vegetables provide the best health insurance, and the proportions of each to integrate into their daily diet.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Nutrition, Food, Science, Self Help, Cooking

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Kassin · Rating 4 out of 5]

In case you don't read this book, these were my biggest take-aways:

1) There is a different Food Guide Pyramid from the one we grew up with. If you haven't seen it, look it up!

2) Exercise at least 30 minutes a day. Anything less than that isn't enough.

3) "The clearest and most consistent finding from both animal and human studies is that too many calories, regardless of food source, are far more important to the development of breast cancer than dietary fat."

4) "...too many calories in relation to exercise levels is the strongest dietary link with colon cancer..."

5) Avoid trans fats entirely, which are everywhere - mostly "... hidden in commercially baked goods like crackers, muffins, and cookies, in other prepared foods, and in fried foods prepared in restaurants." When looking in ingredient lists, look for "partially hydrogentated vegetable oils" and "vegetable shortening."

6) Certain foods seem to work against specific types of cancer, like carrots for breast cancer; raw and green vegetables for colon cancer; and tomatoes for prostate cancer. See pg. 119.

7) Eating more fruits and vegetables can lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, possibly why this habit is linked to less instances of heart disease and stroke.

8) Eat more INsoluable fiber. This is the stuff that makes a difference, not just fiber.

9) With fruits and vegetables, eat as many servings a day as you can (5+) and "eat for variety and color." The book says to try to eat something from each of the following every day:
- dark green, leafy vegetables
- yellow or orange fruits and vegetables
- red fruits and vegetables
- legumes (beans)
- citrus fruits

10) Interestingly, alcohol tends to have an increased link to cancer in people who have low intake of folic acid, a B vitamin.

11) The one alcoholic drink a day guideline is not as clear-cut as we've heard recently... the real story is that "it depends." See pg. 136 before you drink for health, and make sure you keep exercising if you booze it up.

12) Even though the "Got Milk?" ads would like you to think otherwise, calcium isn't necessarily the best thing for you. Most people get enough calcium in a day via non-dairy sources, and dairy usually comes in sources that also contain saturated fat - bad! Dairy products have also been linked to prostate and ovarian cancer!! Calcium itself may be to blame in prostate cancer, and galactose (a simple sugar released by the lactose digestion process) may be damaging to ovaries.

13) Take a multivitamin for insurance.

And one extra tip from me, make sure you eat birthday cake and gorge at Christmastime. If you don't, you might as well die early anyway. :)

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite nutrition book! It’s the perfect blend of nutrition science, study results, and practical food recommendations. I like to know the science behind the nutritional recommendations, and this book draws on decades of research conducted by Harvard and others. The book gives "a science-based, multicultural approach to healthy eating."

I've read the 2005 edition twice, and have referenced my notes many times. I'm glad for this update, and was encouraged to see that the advice hasn’t changed significantly. Willett says the recommendations are "fundamentally the same" as the original 2001 edition, showing that its nutritional advice can withstand the test of time.

The author, Walter Willett, is Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The Harvard School of Public Health’s Nutrition Source has a lot of this book’s content online, plus other useful info.

Notes
Healthy Eating Matters
Advice for healthy eating
• Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits.
• Eat more good fats (from plants) and fewer bad fats (from meat and dairy).
• Eat more whole-grain carbs and fewer refined grain carbs.
• Choose healthy sources of protein. Limit red meat, and don't eat processed meat.
• Drink more water. Coffee and tea are OK, but sugary drinks aren't.
• Drink alcohol in moderation, if at all.
• Take a daily multivitamin for insurance, with at least 1,000 IU of Vitamin D.

Harvard Healthy Eating Plate
• Healthy oils (e.g., olive, canola, soy, corn, sunflower, peanut) in moderation. Limit butter. Avoid trans fat. Avoid partially hydrogenated oils.
• Vegetables: Many, wide variety. 1/2 of plate (along with fruit).
• Fruits: Plenty of all colors. 1/2 of plate (along with veggies).
• Water, tea, or coffee with little or no sugar. Limit milk/dairy to 1-2 servings/day. Limit alcohol to 2 drinks/day for men, 1/day for women.
• Whole and intact grains: Eat variety. Limit refined grains. 1/4 of plate.
• Healthy protein: Fish, poultry, beans, nuts. Limit red meat, cheese. Avoid processed meats. 1/4 of plate.
• Exercise.

Of Pyramids, Plates, and Dietary Guidelines
USDA dietary guidelines are influenced by agribusiness, lobbyists, and special interest groups.

Those who follow USDA advice are barely healthier than average.

Mediterranean diet reduces heart disease, diabetes, breast cancer, and increases cognitive function.

There's no scientific basis for target percentages of fat, carbs, protein.

What Can You Believe About Diet?
Not all meta-analyses give reliable data; their quality depends on data sources and nutritional understanding of analysts.

What to look for in nutrition info
• Studies done on humans, not animals
• Studies done in the real world, not hospitals and research centers
• Studies that look at diseases, not markers for them
• Large studies
• Weight of evidence (multiple studies by multiple researchers on multiple groups)

Healthy Weight
Risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure begin to climb around BMI 22.

You shouldn’t gain weight after your early 20s; weight gain isn’t inevitable or healthy.

Daily brisk walk does much to prevent disease, though more vigorous activities may have added benefits. Walk fast enough to speed up heart and breathing (3-4 mph).

Exercise at least 30 minutes daily (all at once or broken up), though more is beneficial.

The longer you sit each day, the greater your risk of death and disease, even if you exercise regularly. Move regularly.

Straight Talk About Fat
Avoid trans fats and partially hydrogenated fats, reduce saturated fats, and increase mono- and polyunsaturated fats.

Monounsaturated fat sources: olive, peanut, canola oils; olives; peanuts; tree nuts; avocados.

Polyunsaturated fat sources: vegetable oils (corn, soybean, safflower, cottonseed); fish; legumes; seeds.

Saturated fat sources: whole milk, butter, cheese, ice cream; red meat; chocolate; coconuts, coconut milk and oil. Solid at room temp. Raise LDL and HDL.

Coconut oil isn't healthy; its boosting HDL is cancelled out by its raising LDL.

Eating eggs doesn't increase risk of heart disease or stroke for those without diabetes. Still, it's probably better to have 1 egg/day than 3.

Limit butter; its high saturated fat raises LDL. Some margarine is OK, if low in saturated fat and free of trans fat.

Try to eat at least 1 source of unsaturated fat daily:
• Omega-3 fats: fatty fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel, trout, tuna); canola and soybean oil (not partially hydrogenated); flaxseed and flaxseed oil; walnuts; dark green leafy veggies (kale, spinach, mustard greens, collards); omega-3 enhanced eggs
• Omega-6 fats: vegetable oils (soybean, safflower, sunflower, corn); sunflower seeds, walnuts, pine nuts

Canned salmon is "best buy" for omega-3.

Limit red meat, processed meat, full-fat dairy to reduce saturated fat. Use skim milk or non-dairy milk.

Carbohydrates for Better and Worse
Grains aren't necessary. Low-carb diets, including keto, can be OK.

Intact grains are best.

High-fructose corn syrup doesn't seem to be worse than other added sugars, including natural sugar.

WHO recommends <50 g/day of added sugars.

Glycemic load (amount of carbs in food × glycemic index) better reflects a food's effect on body than amount of carbs or glycemic index alone.

Gluten isn't bad for health, for those who don't have celiac disease.

Steel-cut and old-fashioned oats have lower glycemic index than quick or instant.

Choose Healthier Sources of Protein
Eat 7-8 g of protein per 20 lbs of body weight per day.

Almost all healthy Americans, even vegetarians, get plenty of protein.

Processed meat is carcinogenic, and red meat probably is.

High dairy intake increases risk of prostate cancer.

Limit soy to a few servings per week.

Eat variety of low-mercury fish 2-3 times/week (cod, haddock, salmon, sardines, shrimp, tilapia, pollock, catfish, light tuna (not white/albacore).

If you don’t eat enough fish and have heart issues or exercise hard, take a fish oil supplement with 600-800 mg of EPA and DHA.

Protein supplements (including whey) are expensive and give no benefit over a high-protein diet, and can rev up cancer cells.

Eat Plenty of Fruits and Vegetables
Eat Brussels sprouts no more than once weekly.

It's not necessary to eat over 5 servings of vegetables and fruits a day.

Eat for variety and color. On most days, try to eat at least one serving of:
• Dark green, leafy vegetables
• Yellow or orange fruits and vegetables
• Red fruits and vegetables
• Legumes (beans) and peas
• Citrus fruits

Cook tomatoes to get more lycopene.

Eat several servings of fresh, uncooked fruits and vegetables each week, because cooking damages some phytochemicals.

Frozen fruit and vegetables can be as good as fresh. Canned are OK if they’re low in salt and sugar.

You Are What You Drink
You don't need to drink 64 oz of water daily.

Thirst isn't a good guide of need to hydrate.

Drink at least one glass with each meal, and one between meals.

Artificial sweeteners probably aren't hazardous, but there haven't been long-term studies.

Adolescents and most adults can be harmed by drinking a lot of milk. Milk is good for young children, may help older children grow, and may help elderly get protein and other nutrients.

High-milk intake gives saturated fat, extra calories, hormones, increased risk of heart disease and cancer.

If you don't drink alcohol, don't feel compelled to start. You can get similar benefits from exercise and healthy eating.

Calcium: No Emergency
Americans are near top of list for average daily calcium intake.

There's little evidence that high-milk or high-calcium intake protects you from breaking bones (osteoporosis) over long term.

Aim for 600-1000 mg of calcium/day. More has little or no benefit, and may be harmful. It's not necessary to track calcium intake.

Get calcium from variety of foods (especially greens, whole grains). Without dairy, you can reach ~300 mg/day. If you need more, and don't eat dairy, take a daily supplement of 500 mg. Dairy is optional. 1 glass of milk (or equivalent dairy) has ~300 mg, so 1 serving/day of dairy in addition to food will almost certainly provide all the calcium you need.

Taking a Multivitamin for Insurance
High doses of Vitamin C don't help with common cold.

Only way to get enough Vitamin D is with supplement, unless you live in southern US and spend time in sun most days, or eat a lot of fish.

Get at least 800-1000 IU of Vitamin D daily; most multivitamins have only 400-600, so you may need a Vitamin D supplement in addition to a multivitamin.

Few foods naturally contain Vitamin D. Sources: coldwater fish (mackerel, salmon, sardines, bluefish) (especially fish livers), cod liver oil, fortified dairy, cereals, eggs.

Sources of calcium: sardines, tofu, canned salmon, turnip greens, kale, fortified soy milk or orange juice.

Chewable calcium-based antacids such as Tums are cheap, efficient way to get calcium. Calcium supplement that contains Vitamin D is even better.

Zinc lozenges may shorten common cold, at best.

8 vitamins and minerals many don't get enough of from diet: beta carotene, folic acid, Vitamins B6, B12, D, E, iron, zinc.

Standard, store-brand, RDA-level multivitamin is fine. Look for one that meets US Pharmacopeia (USP) standards. Basic One is good. Multivitamins are cheap and unlikely to cause harm.

Even healthiest diets can have nutritional holes, which multivitamin can fill.

The Planet's Health Matters Too
Grass-fed beef isn't significantly healthier than feed-lot beef.

Putting it All Together
Mediterranean diet is "an excellent place to start" but don't feel limited to it; you may include healthy foods from other cultures. Traditional Japanese and Latin American diets can be healthy.

Olive oil isn't healthier than canola or soybean oils.

Healthy Eating in Special Situations
Quinoa is a complete, high-quality protein comparable to meat and eggs.

[Gabrielė Bužinskaitė · Rating 5 out of 5]

Choosing the right healthy diet is confusing. We are surrounded by massive amount of information, misinformation and disinformation — and its difficult to tell which is which.

However, there are certain standards that help identify quality of the studies: large number of participants, them being followed over time, confirmation by other studies, systematic reviews, publication in top-tier journal, etc. That is exactly what the book provides — unbiased data of large and widely confirmed studies (few small ones too, for a wider perspective).

This is the diet book I decided to trust — the suggested guidelines are absolutely sustainable for a long term and explained in a simple manner (I learned so much!). Ideal for those who want to live healthy without overcomplicating their lives. Recommend.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book based on the recommendation from my brother. It is the first 'health' book, I've read.

The key to health according to the book, based on research done by the author or his cohorts, is 1) exercise daily; 2) eat proper amounts; 3) whole grains at every meal; 3) abundance of vegetables and fruit; 4) nuts, oils with unsaturated fats - olive, canola etc - avoid saturated and trans fats; 5) fish and some poultry. 6) dairy unnecesary, meat infrequently; 7) multivitamin for insurance.

The diet the book teaches, seems to resemble the Mediterrean diet most closely.

I like the book. It quotes many research studies, and gives recipe examples. A good book for those looking to improve their health.

[Anshul Agrawal · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a mega-market of nutritional research present online today, a lot of which is upturned on a continual basis, the Harvard Guide is a solid well-researched place to start planning your diet, or at least of knowing the what's what.

Excerpts-

Eating rapidly digested starches, like those in white bread, a baked potato, or white rice, causes a swift, high spike in blood sugar followed by an equally fast fall. This blood sugar roller coaster—and the insulin one that shadows it—triggers the early return of hunger pangs.

To eat more from food groups near the bottom of the pyramid and less from those at the top.

Seven healthiest changes you can make in your diet.

- Watch your weight
- Eat fewer bad fats and more good fats, avoid trans fats, since they have no place in a healthful diet.
- Eat fewer refined-grain carbohydrates and more whole-grain carbohydrates
- Choose healthier sources of proteins, The best sources of protein are beans and nuts, along with fish, poultry, and eggs.
- Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, but hold the potatoes
- Use alcohol in moderation,
- Take a multivitamin for insurance. Several of the ingredients in a standard multivitamin—especially vitamins B6 and B12, folic acid, and vitamin D—are essential players in preventing heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, and other chronic diseases.

The problem with nutritional researches-

They can’t because these conflicts and contradictions are the way science works. It happens this way in every field, from
archaeology to zoology, nuclear physics to nutrition. Men and women carry out studies and report their results. Evidence
accumulates. Like dropping stones onto an old-fashioned scale, the weight of evidence gradually tips the balance in favor of
one idea over another. It is only when this happens that you should make changes in your life.

Randomized trials - often impossible to do when it comes to nutrition.

Cohorts- Such long-term studies (see “Cohorts” on page 32) have yielded some of the best insights so far into the link between diet and health. By gathering information at the beginning, before specific diseases have occurred, cohort studies avoid the skewed recall sometimes seen among people who develop a particular disease—and who would like to find an explanation for it.

Case Studies- researcher gathers information from a group of people who have developed a particular disease (the cases) and a similar group of people who are free of that disease (the controls) and compares the two groups for differences in diet, exercise, or whatever variable he or she is interested in.Case-control studies are also more prone to error and bias than cohort studies. Because case-control studies can be done quickly and inexpensively, they supplied the evidence for many of the early recommendations about diet and health. As information emerges from cohort studies, though, we are finding that the conclusions from case-control studies were often off the mark

Metabolic Studies- The controlled conditions make it possible to see how different foods or nutrients affect changes in blood cholesterol or other biochemical markers, but they are too small and don’t go on long enough to measure the effect on health.

“Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.” --- Mark Twain

Watching the weight-

But next to whether you smoke, the number that stares up at you from the bathroom scale is the most important measure of your future health.

If your weight corresponds with a BMI below 25, do everything you can to keep it there. More specifically, try to keep from gaining
weight, even if you could add some pounds and still stay within the healthy BMI range. If your weight corresponds to a BMI above 25, you will do yourself a huge health favor by keeping it from getting larger and, if possible, by trying to bring it down.

In reality, adult weight gain is neither inevitable nor innocuous.
Someone who was lean at age twenty—say, with a BMI of 19—can gain more than twenty-five pounds and still stay in the healthy range, even though this weight gain has serious health consequences.

Weight control is the single most important factor in your good health (after not smoking), overeating can pose serious health risks.

A CALORIE IS A CALORIE IS A CALORIE. So five hundred calories from ice cream, five hundred from red meat, and five hundred from pasta will have similar effects on your weight.

Even when you are sleeping, your muscles are constantly using energy. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even at rest.

Prevention is better than cure-

It is far easier to prevent weight gain than it is to lose excess weight. In fact, gaining weight makes your body more receptive to future weight gain and makes getting rid of extra pounds doubly difficult. To make matters worse, some of the effects of excess
weight, such as diabetes, heart disease, or stroke, may not fully disappear even with successful weight loss.

Activity-
Brisk Walking- What, exactly, is “brisk?” It means moving quickly enough so your heartbeat and breathing speed up, but not so fast that you can’t carry on a normal conversation. It’s moving as if you were late for an important meeting. If you are a counter or measurer, brisk walking is taking around one hundred steps a minute or walking at a clip of three to four miles per hour.

According to the Surgeon General’s report, you need to intentionally burn at least two thousand calories a week to begin reaping the benefits of physical activity.For an activity to help your cardiovascular system, it must speed up your heartbeat and your breathing.

Make your day more active- Possibilities include walking up the stairs at work instead of taking the elevator; parking in a far corner of the lot and walking; getting off your train or bus a stop or two early and walking the rest of the way; using a rake for leaves or a shovel for snow rather than a leaf- or snow-blower.

Avoiding saturated and trans fats and getting more monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can improve your cholesterol levels, help prevent blood clots, allow your arteries to work more effectively, and boost your muscles’ response to insulin. Going
easy on red and processed meats and eating in their place fish, nuts, beans, and poultry will reduce the risks.

PRACTICE DEFENSIVE EATING

- Practice stopping before you are stuffed
- Be selective
- Choose small portions
- Beware of desserts
- Slow down and pay attention to your food when you eat.
- Keep track of the calories in the foods you eat
- Sugary sodas and fruit drinks, for example, can be a big source of invisible calories that you can easily cut from your diet.
- Spoil your appetite
- Have a snack or appetizer before eating a meal.
- Be vigilant
- Try keeping it simple

Diet-

Hunger from eating less, not to mention cutting back on common or once-favorite foods or giving them up altogether, creates cravings that can lead to “cheating.” This can trigger feelings of failure and hopelessness. These, in turn, undermine the effort and
enthusiasm needed to stick with a diet.What’s really needed is a plan you can sustain for years. It should be as good for your heart, bones, brain, colon, and psyche as it is for your waistline. Its hallmarks should be plenty of choices, relatively few
restrictions, and few “special” foods.

LOW-FAT DIETS
By switching from fatty foods to carbohydrate-rich ones, especially fruits and vegetables, you can double your food intake without taking in more calories. They can also leave you feeling hungry, one reason why low-fat diets usually call for high-fiber foods that increase the sensation of fullness as well as between-meal snacks. Many people find it difficult to stick with a low-fat diet for a long time because it is so restrictive and because fats make food taste good.

LOW-CARB DIETS
chicken, beef, fish, beans, and other high-protein foods slow the movement of food from the stomach to the intestine. Slower stomach emptying means you feel full longer and get hungrier later. Second, protein’s gentle, steady effect on blood sugar avoids
the quick, steep rise and the just as quick hunger-bell-ringing fall in blood sugar that occur after eating a rapidly digested carbohydrate like white bread or baked potato.
How well they work over the long term is anyone’s guess. One big unknown is the long-term effects of eating a lot of protein.

The Volumetrics Weight Control Plan fiddles with satiety, the body’s signals that it has gotten enough food. It does this by recommending foods that fill the belly without adding too many calories. These tend to be water-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, low-fat milk, cooked grains, beans, lean meats, poultry, and fish. Soups, stews, casseroles, pasta with vegetables, and fruit-based desserts get the thumbs up, while high-fat foods like potato chips and dry, calorie-dense ones like pretzels, crackers, and fat-free cookies get the thumbs down.

Unsaturated Fats vs Saturated Fats and Trans Fats-

In fact, eating more good fats—and staying away from bad ones—is second only to weight control on the list of healthy nutritional strategies.

Unsaturated fats are so important to good health that they support the foundation of the Healthy Eating Pyramid. This acknowledges that fats and oils make up a substantial chunk of daily calories and can also have long-term health benefits

The human body can build most of the different fats it needs from any other fat in the diet, or from carbohydrates, for that
matter. A few, though, can’t be made from scratch. These so called essential fats, which are all polyunsaturated fats, must
come directly from food.Our bodies don’t make polyunsaturated fats, so we need to get these essential fats from plant oils like corn and soybean oil, seeds, whole grains, and fatty fish such as salmon and tuna.

Not long ago, an FDA advisory panel said that trans fats are even more harmful than saturated fats. The Institute of Medicine went a step further, concluding that the safest amount of trans fats for humans is zero.

The focus on cholesterol has ignored the fact that eggs aren’t just packets of cholesterol. They are very low in saturated fat and contain many other nutrients that are good for you—protein, some polyunsaturated fats, folic acid and other B vitamins, and vitamin D.

The latest research indicates that trans fats also fire inflammation, an overactivity of the immune system that plays key roles in the development of heart disease, diabetes, and probably other leading causes of death and disability.

By the fast-food industry’s decision to switch the fat they use for deep-frying from beef fat to heavily hydrogenated vegetable oils high in trans fats.

Omega-3-derived hormones include ones that regulate blood clotting, contraction and relaxation of artery walls, and inflammation.

The best source of omega-3s is fish, especially fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring, and sardines.

If fat does influence the development of cancer, though, evidence from large cohort studies with many years of follow-up show that the effect is small.

People eating chips or other snacks made with olestra might be inclined to eat more than usual—because they are fat-free!

Carbohydrates-

Simple carbohydrates are sugars. Simple carbohydrates provide us with energy and little else.
And a staggering half of these “carbohydrate calories” come from just eight sources:

• soft drinks, sodas, and fruit-flavored drinks;
• cake, sweet rolls, doughnuts, and pastries;
• pizza;
• potato chips, corn chips, and popcorn;
• rice;
• bread, rolls, buns, English muffins, and bagels;
• beer and;
• French fries and frozen potatoes.

Four things contribute to insulin resistance
Obesity is at the top of the list. Next on the list is inactivity. The less active you are, the lower the ratio of muscle to fat you have, even if your weight is perfectly fine. Muscle cells, especially if they are exercised regularly, handle insulin and glucose very efficiently. Dietary fats play a modest role in insulin resistance, with low intake of polyunsaturated fat and high intake of trans fats leading to greater resistance. Finally, genes play a part.

HIGH-CARBOHYDRATE DIETS ARE ESPECIALLY BAD FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE OVERWEIGHT

Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load-

The higher a food’s glycemic index, the faster and stronger it affects blood sugar and insulin levels. As a reference point, pure glucose—the rapidly digested essence of blood sugar—is assigned a score of 100. On this scale, anything below 55 or so is considered a low glycemic index food. A low glycemic load is considered to be anything below 10.

For this reason, my colleagues and I developed the concept of “glycemic load.” This is the amount of carbohydrate in a food multiplied by the glycemic index of that carbohydrate. The biggest value of the glycemic load may be for deciding among various options. When picking a snack or meal, choosing foods with a low glycemic load is excellent for your heart and your insulin-making cells.

REFINED GRAINS VS. INTACT GRAINS-

Whole-grain, high-fiber foods have no effect on cancer,

Many consumers erroneously equate low carb with low calorie. In fact, many low-carb products deliver just as many calories as their normal-carb counterparts, and sometimes more.

Discover whole-grain breads. Forget the French fries. Eat whole grains for breakfast.

Proteins-

The bottom line is that animal and vegetable protein all by themselves have roughly equivalent effects on health. What matters is the protein package.

Eating more protein from fish, chicken, and vegetable sources like beans and nuts and getting less from red meat and dairy products is fourth on the list of healthy eating strategies.

Getting 7–8 grams of protein per twenty pounds of body weight is a good guide for most people. You can hit this goal almost without thinking, given the abundance of protein-containing foods.

It offers strong reassurance that even eating a lot of protein doesn’t harm the heart.

nuts have quite a bit of fat, but these are mostly unsaturated fats that reduce LDL cholesterol and keep HDL cholesterol high.

Here’s the wrong way—gobbling nuts on top of your usual snacks and meals. At 160 calories an ounce, eating a handful of almonds a day without cutting back on anything could translate into a ten-to-twenty-pound weight gain over the course of a year. This weight would cancel out any benefit from nuts and tip the scales toward, not away from, heart disease.Here’s the right way—eat nuts instead of chips or chocolate as a snack.

High-protein foods slow the movement of food from the stomach to the intestine.

The more protein you eat, the more calcium you excrete.

No particular defining evidence on benefits of soy. Also, soy contains estrogen.

Fruits and Vegetables-

Eat many and include variety.
Many components of the DASH diet contribute to its ability to lower blood pressure. A follow-up study showed that the single most important factor is the extra potassium provided by the fruits and vegetables. There’s some evidence that certain types of fruits or vegetables work against specific cancers.

Drinking-

Drink enough so your urine is consistently clear or pale yellow rather than bright or dark yellow. Minor dehydration can make you feel grumpy and tired and make it hard to concentrate.

The simple sugars in soda trigger rapid and intense increases in blood sugar and insulin levels. Vegetable juices tend to have fewer calories than fruit juices, but check the label to be sure, and look up the sodium content as well. The biggest problem with drinking fruit juice instead of water is that many people don’t eat less to adjust for the extra calories in juice. That’s a surefire recipe for gradual weight gain. You should think of milk as an optional food, not one you need two or three times a day

Regular caffeine consumers tend to get nasty headaches if they miss their morning cup(s).caffeine’s activity as a diuretic—a substance that stimulates the body to excrete more water—helps flush out the plumbing and may make urine that is too dilute to form kidney stones.Coffee (and other caffeinated beverages) may act like mild antidepressants.

For now, don’t count on tea to bring any special benefits besides a reduced risk of kidney stones and a pleasant way to begin, enjoy, or end the day.

For men, study after study has shown that men who have one or two alcoholic drinks a day are 30 to 40 percent less likely to
have heart attacks than men who don’t drink alcohol at all. Taking a multivitamin that contains folic acid is especially important for those who drink alcohol.a number of recent studies have shown that any alcohol-containing beverage offers the same benefits. Red or white wine, beer, cordials, or spirits such as gin or Scotch whiskey all seem to have the same effect on cardiovascular disease. Claims that the small amounts of resveratrol and other antioxidants found in red wine and grape juice prevent heart disease have yet to be proved; if they do indeed offer any extra benefit, it is likely to be small.A drink a day three or more times a week is far, far better for you than three or more drinks one day a week.

Calcium-

Studies have shown link between Calcium and Cancer. So don't go overboard.
Milk is highly efficient in delivering calcium but it also delivers other stuff with it. So it's better to look for other sources of calcium. Possible harmful effects of milk and calcium from milk far outweigh the potential benefits.

Sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone stimulate bone-building activity.

Lactose intolerance- All babies are born with the ability to digest milk.In fact, only about a quarter of the world’s adults can fully digest milk.If you enjoy milk, low-fat and skim are certainly better choices than whole milk.
Saturated fat, Extra calories.

Too much calcium slows or even stops the conversion of inactive vitamin D to its biologically active form and so may rob the body of a natural anticancer mechanism.

Vitamins-

Don’t take two of these to get extra vitamin D, since a double dose of preformed vitamin A (retinol) might counteract vitamin D’s
effects.

Vitamin K also plays one or more roles in the regulation of calcium and the formation and stabilization of bone.

Each antioxidant has a unique set of chemical behaviors and biological properties. No single antioxidant can do the work of the whole crowd. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is an excellent way to get antioxidants (including many that haven’t been discovered yet) as well as fiber, minerals, and other good things important for keeping your heart and blood vessels healthy.

In high amounts, vitamin A can block the effects of vitamin D, which is good for bones and muscles and has a calming effect on cancer cells. The darker your skin color, the less effectively your body converts sunlight to vitamin D.

The five vitamins that many people don’t get enough of from their diets are
• Folic acid
• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin E

Tidbits-

Losing weight isn’t about deprivation. It’s about moderation. So don’t put favorite foods on a taboo list, just learn to eat them in smaller portions and less frequently.
General guidelines encourage 1,200–1,300 milligrams of sodium per day, with an upper limit of 2,300 milligram (about the amount found in 1 teaspoon of salt).
Wheat flour is not necessarily whole-grain flour. The less sugar the better.

High BP-
Most cases of high blood pressure (hypertension) can be prevented by staying lean and physically active, consuming generous amounts of fruits and vegetables daily, and keeping salt intake low.weight control is the most important. potassium, which helps keep blood pressure under control.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is exactly what I want in a nutrition book. The author cites study after study and doesn't make any outlandish claims. There are recipes in the book, but he's not promoting a diet or program. He does provide a new food pyramid and go over why it's better than the USDA's food pyramid, with lots of scientific studies to back him up. Even though its copyright date is 2001, it's been updated since then with a lot of recent data. There were many things that I was surprised by in this book and now I find myself reconsidering everything that I eat. Which is kind of why I read it in the first place, so that's good!

[Andreea Ratiu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book: it gave me actionable advice, clear explanation and scientific evidence. The only downside is that it is a bit too repetitive.

[Sonal · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book!

I’ve seen discussions on Reddit talking about how Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken helped them see their food in a new light, but something about it didn’t really work for me.
I think this book would serve as an excellent base to Chris’ work. It covers the basics of all the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that your body needs and where you can find them. There are sixty recipes to try at the end of the book!

I recently did my food shop and bought lots of vegetables and fruits of different colours, and I’m trying to build good eating habits. I’ve learnt what my body needs and what I should ideally keep away from :)

Something I found interesting is that both books talk about how calorie-dense foods and foods high in saturated fats tend to be cheaper than healthier food, even though they were written nearly 25 years apart. I was under the impression that that would have been a trend only in the last 10 years.
It’s so easy to spend five pounds on a quick meal that you can pop into the oven as opposed to spending the same amount and cooking something at home.

A great read if you’re looking to learn more about nutrition without feeling overwhelmed :)

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Willett offers straightforward scientific advice on nutrition and diet. He includes a basic account, minus key statistics concepts, of how the science works (chap. 3).

[Shane Duquette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best nutrition book out there. It's not flashy, controversial, or even particularly entertaining, but it has the distinction of being basically the only nutrition book that's actually scientifically accurate.

[Meera · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a dense book to get through but had a lot of useful information. I am one of those people who is in the healthy weight range who will put on a few pounds every year within that BMI and will lose it and then the cycle starts over the next year. And every year, I try to find that balance of exercise and eating well but I cannot maintain it for the whole year, hence the cycle. I liked how this author pointed out that the healthy BMI range is vast. I had tried the low carb way of eating last year and it was successful but I had felt deprived and it didn’t feel right to avoid whole grains. It did help me reduce added sugar in my diet though and I have kept it which surprised me. I don’t actually like sugar in my coffee and tea anymore. Which this book supports as well.

There isn’t anything new in this book but I liked how detailed he got with what vitamins we need in our diet and how he supports everything he chose to say with research based evidence. I don’t know if I agree with everything in this book though. I feel that most nutrition experts leave out info that doesn’t go with their point. I do not want to only eat produce, whole grains, chicken, soy and fish. He didn’t convince me that eating other protein or butter is bad for you if you do it sensibly. But this book has made me cook more vegetarian meals and be more mindful about what I’m eating. I had borrowed this book but now I’ve bought my own copy so I can refer back to it. The recipes aren’t that useful to me but I will see if they give me ideas for new flavor combinations.

[Dalya Saadoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for anybody who wants a comprehensive overview of the science behind healthy eating.

[Ronald Brady · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I have been looking for a science based nutrition book that actually explains a lot of the research behind more ideal dietary guidelines, as opposed to the ones that are dictated primarily on political compromises due to public policy pressures. And this book fills that gap.

The recipes in the book however in the second half really left a lot to be desired, but that’s more so a matter of personal taste rather than a critique of the concept of the book itself to some extent. The book does a really good job of explaining how to make healthier choices based on what you were already like, the basics of how to read nutrition labels and what to watch out for, and provides for a sample of recipes that are good inspirations for how to continue forward, knowing what you know after finishing the book.

The one caveat I would make is that the author recommends cooking with canola oil which is not necessarily one of the healthiest choices you could make. I would remove that from your healthy oil list, and just use olive oil and coconut oil more sparingly. The other thing I would add to this caveat is that he mentions there is no discernible difference between high fructose corn syrup and table sugar, which isn’t necessarily true… Newer research has born out the fact that overconsumption of high fructose corn syrup has similar effects on the liver as over consumption of alcohol, and should probably be moderated/avoided if possible. I think from that I thought this was an excellent overview of contemporary nutrition research(as of the 2017 edition) and I would definitely recommend this book to someone curious about nutrition and looking to make healthier food choices that are sustainable long-term.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could give this book three and a half stars, because it isn't as middling as three stars sounds, but it's a little quaint and outdated to get four stars. It's amazing how quickly nutritional information changes from year to year.

Anyway! This book has a handful of guidelines and a re-designed food pyramid to help optimize your health, as has been shown by nutritional and epidemiological studies up to 2000. The bottom line? You should exercise, maintain a healthy weight, and eat lots of whole grains, unsaturated fats, a great variety of fruits and vegetables, and low-fat proteins. Milk, red meats, and starchy carbs (white rice, potatoes, white flour, breakfast cereal) are all optional foods that should be taken very moderately if at all. Also, moderate use of alcohol, coffee, and tea are encouraged. In short, Willett is a big fan of the Mediterranean diet along with regular exercise.

He doesn't jump on the then-bandwagon (wow, I feel old) of the "Where's Your Mustache?" US Dairy Council campaign. People in the US have really high rates of calcium consumption but also higher than average rates of osteoporosis. So. He believes that around 600mg/day is adequate, and ideally not from milk. He does support supplementation with Folic Acid, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D (in winter and in higher latitudes), and Vitamin E.

The last hundred or so pages of the book are a bunch of recipes, from breakfast to dessert, using the types of foods he believes are most beneficial.

[Hazel Bright · Rating 1 out of 5]

He starts off this book with a tirade about food companies gaming the system to profit off the backs of an unhealthy public. I'm like, "Yusss. Tell it, doc." Then just a few pages later, he says, don't eat all of those sugar-laden processed foods. Eat healthy whole foods and good oils, he says, "like canola oil." Canola oil?

There are dozens of warnings about this nasty oil that is so processed that it is hard to know what's really in it. No, fancy Harvard guy. Maybe go pick up a few journals that are from this century. Canola oil is bad bad bad.

"At this time point we found that chronic exposure to the canola-rich diet resulted in a significant increase in body weight and impairments in their working memory together with decrease levels of post-synaptic density protein-95, a marker of synaptic integrity, and an increase in the ratio of insoluble Aβ 42/40." (Effect of canola oil consumption on memory, synapse and neuropathology in the triple transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, Lauretti & Praticò, ,2017)

That's just one study. There are dozens. Canola oil is a cheap oil, highly processed, and has been linked to heart disease, general inflammation, and as above, Alzheimer's disease.

Yeah. Lots of doctors are like this. They don't get into med school being a renegade like I am. They don't question dogma, even when they tell you they do.

No thanks. I'll stick with Web of Science.

[Nihan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is a great book because of 1 good reason: it gives proper reference.
I think it repeats itself sometimes. But what the author does is, he explains “what affects your health in what way” in a clear and proved manner. He also mentions it very clearly if something is “not proved”. And he let’s you learn and decide how should you be eating.
I found this book much more helpful than all other books that I’ve read. Most diet books feels like they are trying very hard to convince you that their diet is the best diet ever. However, this book felt more “educating” than “convincing”.
-> I’ll suggest it to anyone who would like to learn more about food and diet. If you have a specific illness and you want to read dietary books, you might prefer some other book. This one does talk a lot about health but it doesn’t address to people with specific conditions.

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book, even if it's just slowly chapter by chapter over the course of a year. Walter Willett, the author, is my hero and one of the greatest public health nutritionists ever. It may be redundant for people who already know that real food is good for you and you need to eat a variety, everything in moderation, not a lot of soda, refined grains, blah, blah which is all stuff I knew but I STILL enjoyed reading it. He has a really easy to read, entertaining writing style that lays out why things that are good for you are good for you. His food guide pyramid is the one that the USDA should be promoting instead of their current one that is inconsistent with a lot of nutrition messages. There's some good recipes in the back also.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because I wanted a better scientific understanding of nutrition. But then, every time the author started explaining science, my eyes glazed over and my brain shut down because science is so booooooring. I also found myself skimming his lengthy explanations about why certain research studies were flawed. So I did not leave this book any further educated about how nutrition actually works.

But the author did have helpful, bite-sized, digestible pieces of advice on healthy eating. Puns intended. Plus, his sections excoriating the political corruption of government health guidelines were fascinating. Any sort of food pyramid or "my plate" coming out of the USDA is fundamentally a result of lobbying and conflicts of interest.

[Matthew K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book on what you should eat - backed by science. This is for anyone interested in digging under the hood and really learning what you should be eating and why.

Willett also describes the relationship between various kinds of food and the diseases they eventually cause.

If you're looking for a "quick fix," without reading the whole book, you should check out the "Harvard Healthy Eating Plate," a quick and easy visual guide to what you should be eating (link below). It's something that everyone should be aware of. Kudos to you and your team, Dr. Willett. You've done us all a great service.

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritio...

[Maren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must confess I didn't actually finish reading it (before it was due at the library). Much of the information I already knew, and some of it didn't make sense to me. For example, he advocated eating a lot of fat, but of course "healthy" fats. While I don't think fat ("healthy" fat of course) is evil, I'm not sure anyone really needs to go seeking it out to get enough in their diet. The book was okay, just not extremely helpful for me.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read "Diet Cults" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... and "The Big Fat Surprise"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
For authors and studies which contradict the claims here with just as valid or better depth and interpretation of the research. Also to learn how the authors in this book have their own bias and agenda💰 💰💰



In the beginning the authors make the assumption that they're correct about not eating red meat, without providing the reasoning or evidence for this oft repeated claim. They do so later on, but its prevalence throughout the book before evidence is provided is proof they are trying to make you think it's true by repeating it often enough, so you won't doubt or look into the sketchy evidence they provide to support their oft repeated claim.

They say avoid all potatoes and starches are bad, no, absolutely not.
All vegetables have either simple or complex carbohydrates, ie sucrose (glucose and fructose), starch, or fiber as their carbohydrate content. Starch is a complex carbohydrate, if you eat vegetables as they recommended you literally can't avoid them.
Plants' sucrose and starch is their version of glucose and glycogen animals (and we) have in our bodies.

They say certain fats and oils (lipids) are either good or bad, healthy or unhealthy, like olive oil, this is untrue.
The Mediterranean diet is "healthy" in spite of the olive oil, not because of it.
ALL lipids are unhealthy, ALL. However, just like how we need oxygen to live but oxygen is also damaging our body and killing us, so is true for lipids. (Actually, it's both oxygen and lipids turning into free-radicals and combining that makes both damage our cells and kill us, but I digress).
There are less unhealthy or "bad" fats, but that doesn't make them good or healthy, however we need lipids to live, so there's no avoiding them.
Similar to how not liking something doesn't mean you hate it, you're just indifferent or accept the reality of it, same with lipids.
You can't not eat fats, and you can't only eat "good" fats and avoid bad fats, you just need a balance of them, and to prioritize eating the least worst ones, while avoiding man-made trans fats.

They say to avoid milk or dairy, because SaTuRaTeD fAtS, I bring you to my point above and the two books recommended in the beginning.

They say there are benefits to a drink of alcohol a day. Sure, there are also benefits to a cigarette a day.
However, new studies now show why no amount of alcohol is safe, same with cigarettes for even longer.
The WHO says to avoid alcohol and provide the studies as to why.
So if the authors still promote the old advice of "moderate drinking", that tells you their bias and unwillingness to change based upon new studies and information contrary to their long held belief and opinions.

They prop up the useless BMI, which is bad science through and through. Not even just "massive bodybuilders" will have high mass but low body fat yet be considered obese, while someone has near no muscle mass and high body fat can be just under the obese threshold.
It happens a lot and shows how useless BMI is without additional data to measure body composition.

[Jessica Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for continuing education. I did learn a lot about how corporations basically force the government to lie to us about what is healthy. But I also got a huge helping of shame and fear about my weight.

Here’s what I made:

🍤 Avocado-Shrimp Salsa: amazing. Who knew shrimp was so good in guac?
🍚 Pad Thai-Style Fried Rice: really good flavor. Filling too
🍄 Double Mushroom Meat Loaf: it was alright but much better with sauce like BBQ or tomato jam, which I realize adds sugar and goes against his plan
🍎 Apple-Cherry Crumb Pie: basically a pile of sad dry apples. Wayyyy better when I smothered it in dulce de leche 😅

[Tamás Szajkó · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ez egy rendkívül udvarias 4 csillag, leginkább a tudomány iránti elismerésemet szeretném kifejezni vele.

Ez a könyv a redditen, mint a táplálkozás téma legkonzisztensebb, legkevésbé agenda-pushy-bb könyveként jött velem szembe, és így elolvasva nagyjából igaznak is tűnik ezt az állítást, bár azért agenda-pushingból valójában jutott bőven a kötetbe, így a mediterrán étrend, bármi is legyen az, oldalanként egy copkodást azért megkap.

A szerző túlságosan nagyokat nem is akar mondani, alapvetően szépen alaposan végigveszi az egyes élelmiszercsoportokat, és a józan belátás szintjén lehozza azokat az eredményeket, amiket viszonylag könnyű megsejteni (feldolgozott vörös hús = nem jó, zöldség = jó), viszont a hecc kedvéért néhány érdekesebbet is bevállal (kevés alkohol = jó, napraforgóolaj = jó, krumpli = nagyon nem jó), amiben aztán lehet hinni, vagy éppen nem hinni.

Megsüvegelendő, hogy a hit kérdést a könyv igyekszik félrerakni, ugyanis a terjedelem igen jelentős része különböző study-k, és meta-study-k ismertetésére terjed ki, amelyekből megtudhatjuk azt, hogy tajvani tanárnők 10.000 elemű mintája alapján a répafogyasztás 11,2%-kal csökkenti a vastagbélrák kialakulásának kockázatát, a vörös hús pedig 8,3%-kal növeli az emlőrákét. Valószínűleg ennél tudományosabban nem lehet a kérdéshez hozzáállni, de a maga nemében nehéz túl sokat kiolvasni ezekből, pláne, hogy a szerző is elismeri, hogy a Pareto-elv alapján az alapok rendbetétele (ne dohányozz, ne túlsúlyozz, ne egyél cukrot) jelenti a lényeget, minden egyéb pedig már csak finomhangolás.

[Peter]

I ate horribly one week and thought I should get my sh together about nutrition and read a book.

This one's good. I can't believe there are a million gimmicky diet books and websites coming out every year. The big benefit of this one is that it's not a diet or regimen. It's just a series of guidelines and supporting studies that suggest sticking to those would probably be beneficial in the long run.

It's so sad to read 200 pages that just comes back to don't eat so much sugar, but it is what it is.

[Madhumitha Mohan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted a simple textbook guide to nutrition to make informed dietary choices amidst confusing and contradicting “nutrition” reels or WhatsApp forwards from my dad, and this book was just what I needed! Touching upon fats/carbs/protein/multivitamins/minerals and everything, the author (chairman and renowned researcher at Harvard School of Public Health) not just gives evidence based dietary recommendations, but also explains how things work in simple layman terms to equip readers to make their own informed choices.

[Marjorie Elwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

More-or-less the Mediterranean diet, complete with the science behind why it's healthy for you. The recipes look pretty tasty.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably should be required reading at all secondary institutions nationwide.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why instant ramen gotta be so dang yummy

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good base for learning more about how to incorporate better nutrition into your diet but a bit repetitive (ie stressing plant-based diet throughout the whole book). Will prob try some of the recipes in the back of the book - looked fairly simple to toss together.

[Lohit Namboodiri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book after seeing its review on https://www.redpenreviews.org/reviews/#

The book provided extensive information on various aspects of nutrition; however, it was overly prescriptive without explaining in detail how it functions within the body.

Additionally, the author seemed slightly biased toward environmentally friendly nutrition options, rather than what is best for the body, which felt like a conflict of interest.

Author's recommendation for alcohol also seems to be outdated with WHO recommending to completely avoid it.
https://www.who.int/europe/news-room/...

Overall, this book might be helpful for someone to know the major research that has gone into nutrition but might not leave you with better understanding of how it fully works within your body.