How to Eat

By Mark Bittman & David L. Katz MD

Years ago I read "Disease Proof" by Katz. It has very blunt and common sense health advice. There are four things that make a big difference to your health--  eat a proper diet, exercise regularly, sleep properly, keep a healthy weight and stop smoking. Everything else is noise. 

In "How to Eat" Katz and Bittman explore "eat a proper diet." The conclusion is similarly common sense and blunt-- eat a largely whole plant based diet. Eat a variety." Don't be picky about your fruits and veggies. A conventional apple and a glass of water is better for you than a glass of organic apple juice. 

Everything else in this book is commentary on that thought. 

When we are deciding if something is healthy, we should think through the trade offs. We don't eat food in isolation. Food is a balance. We eat one thing at the expense of another. Is dairy healthy? A glass of milk is more healthy than a glass of sugary soda. If that's the trade-off you are making, then by all means enjoy dairy.

They also warn against demonizing conventional fruits and vegetables. It's a mistake to eat packaged foods because you are concerned about the pesticides on raw fruits and vegetables. We have an epidemic of obesity in this country. Organic snacks won't solve that.