What to Eat
Luise Light
(Guest Reviewer - Pam Killeen)
2005 McGraw-Hill
ISBN: 007145313X

The Ten Things You Really Need to Know to Eat Well & be Healthy.

This no-nonsense nutrition guide from former USDA nutrition director Luise Light offers a basic, balanced & user-friendly food plan that cuts through the confusion & controversy of the latest fad diets, federal guidelines & big food lobbies. Its ten simple rules are also adapted for a wide variety of nutritional needs -- including weight loss, fibromyalgia, diabetes & gastrointestinal disorders.

Guest Reviewer Pam Killeen writes:

Is it any surprise to learn that American consumers are being conned by the USDA? Dr. Luise Light's book, What to Eat reads like a detective novel, exposing scathing secrets of corporate & government malfeasance.

During her career as the nutrition director for the USDA, Light witnessed the blatantly cozy relationships that existed between the USDA & the food and agricultural lobbies & lobbyists. Not only did she witness the cover-up of an important study linking diet with major chronic diseases, she also witnessed dangerous changes that were made to the 1992 US Food Pyramid Guide to satisfy corporate interests rather than to protect the public's health. In fact, she warned the USDA that those very changes would cause an epidemic of obesity & diabetes, a warning that looks more like prophecy, today.

In What to Eat, Light explains the connection between nutrition & many of the life-threatening chronic diseases prevalent today. No longer held back from exposing the truth, she describes the numerous illnesses that are connected to what she calls “nutritional malaise”, including memory loss, loss of balance, depression, sadness, anxiety, pessimism, “road rage”, low energy, “mind freeze”, eye strain, generalized aches & pains, migraines, abdominal discomfort, frequent colds & flu & massive weight gain.

According to Light, these are all indications of “biochemical chaos” that can be corrected with good nutrition. To prevent your symptoms from progressing into devastating chronic conditions such as, heart disease, obesity, gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, osteoporosis, asthma, arthritis etc , she recommends eating a balanced diet, based on real food.

Although What to Eat gives a detailed, easy to grasp account of the problems inherent in the American food system (pesticides, GMO's, acrylamide, MSG, processed foods etc.), Dr. Light also manages to focus on straightforward & realistic solutions -- from what to stock in your larder, to a week's worth of menus, meals & recipes, & practical tips on eating on the road & dining out.

Even though What to Eat tackles a very serious subject, Dr. Light manages to imbue it with humor, pointing out the irony of conventional medical approaches. “Don't worry about your diet; we have a pill for that!”

For seventy years, the USDA has stood by the theme that “All food is good food”. As more and more “chemicalized” foods line our supermarkets shelves, it is less & less true. Dr. Light's book is a very fresh & reasoned account of why this concept is flawed & why we need to go back to the basics, choosing whole nutritious foods instead of synthetic designer food products that are designed to sit on a shelf for seven years.

What to Eat will give you chills & hope that you can eat better, feel better & finally, get straight talk about nutrition.
(03/12/06)

Guest Reviewer - Pam Killeen
2006©Pam Killeen