Spoon-Fed: Why Almost Everything We've Been Told About Food is Wrong

by Tim Spector

Overview

*THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*

The groundbreaking new book from Tim Spector, bestselling author of The Diet Myth and creator of the COVID Symptom Study app.

'Illuminating and so incredibly timely.' —Yotam Ottolenghi

'One of the clearest and most accessible short nutrition books I have read: refreshingly open-minded, deeply informative and free of faddish diet rules.' —Bee Wilson, Guardian

'This book should be available on prescription.' —Felicity Cloake, Literary Review

We are all bombarded with advice about what we should and shouldn't eat, and new scientific discoveries are announced every day. Yet the more we are told about nutrition, the less we seem to understand.

Through his pioneering scientific research, Tim Spector has been shocked to discover how little good evidence there is for many of our most deep-rooted ideas about food. In a series of short, myth-busting chapters, Spoon-Fed reveals why almost everything we've been told about food is wrong. Spector explores the scandalous lack of good science behind many medical and government food recommendations, and how the food industry holds sway over these policies and our choices.

Spoon-Fed is a groundbreaking book that forces us to question every diet plan, official recommendation, miracle cure or food label we encounter, and encourages us to rethink our whole relationship with food. Diet may be the most important medicine we all possess. We urgently need to learn how best to use it, not just for our health as individuals but for the future of the planet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787332294
Publisher:	Penguin Random House UK
Publication date:	01/01/2021
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Tim Spector is a professor of genetic epidemiology at King's College London and honorary consultant physician at Guy's and St Thomas’ Hospitals. He is a multi-award-winning expert in personalised medicine and the gut microbiome, and the author of four books, including the bestselling The Diet Myth. He appears regularly on TV and radio around the world, and has written for the Guardian, BMJ, and many other publications. He is the lead researcher behind the world’s biggest citizen science health project, the COVID Symptom Study app.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 It's personal 18

2 Breaking the fast 26

3 Calorie counting doesn't add up 35

4 The big fat debate 45

5 The supplements really don't work 53

6 The bittersweet hidden agenda 63

7 Not on the label 73

8 Fast-food phobia 81

9 Bringing back the bacon 91

10 Fishy business 106

11 Veganmania 120

12 More than a pinch of salt 129

13 Coffee can save your life 138

14 Eating for two 146

15 The allergy epidemic 155

16 The gluten-free fad 163

17 On your bike 172

18 Food for thought 180

19 The dirty business of water 189

20 Just a drop 198

21 Food miles 207

22 Spraying the planet 216

23 Don't trust me, I'm a doctor 224

Conclusion: How to eat 231

Appendix: Twelve-point plan 243

Acknowledgements 245

Notes 247

Index 273

Editorial Reviews

"Illuminating and so incredibly timely." —Yotam Ottolenghi
 


"One of the clearest and most accessible short nutrition books I have read: refreshingly open-minded, deeply informative and free of faddish diet rules.' —Bee Wilson, Guardian
 


'This book should be available on prescription.' —Felicity Cloake, Literary Review


"A remarkable book... It's a smoothie-dropping read. First [Spector] chucks your clean-eating, vegan, ketogenic lunch out of the window. Then he scrapes your high-fat, low-carb, Palaeolithic, gluten-free and lectin-free menus into the bin." —The Times

From the Publisher