In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto Michael Pollan

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SOURCES

Listed below, by section, are the principal works referred to in the text as well as others that supplied me with facts or contributed to my thinking. Web site URLs are current as of September 2007. All cited articles by me are available at www.michaelpollan.com.

INTRODUCTION: AN EATER’S MANIFESTO

Glassner, Barry. The Gospel of Food (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2007).

Kantrowitz, Barbara, and Claudia Kalb. “Food News Blues.” Newsweek (March 13, 2006).

Kass, Leon. The Hungry Soul (New York: The Free Press, 1994).

Mozaffarian, Dariush, and Eric B. Rimm. “Fish Intake, Contaminants, and Human Health: Evaluating the Risks and the Benefits.” Journal of the American Medical Association. 296.15 (2006):1885–99.

Nesheim, Malden C., et al. “Seafood Choices: Balancing Benefits and Risks” (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2006).

Nestle, Marion. Food Politics (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002).

Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma (New York: The Penguin Press, 2006).

———. “Our National Eating Disorder.” New York Times Magazine, October 17, 2004.

Prentice, Ross L. “Low-Fat Dietary Pattern and Risk of Invasive Breast Cancer: The Women’s Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial.” Journal of the American Medical Association. 295.6 (2006): 629–42.

Roberts, Paul. “The New Food Anxiety.” Psychology Today (March/April, 1998).

Rozin, Paul. “The Selection of Foods by Rats, Humans, and Other Animals” in Advances in the Study of Behavior, Vol. 6. Edited by J. Rosenblatt, R. A. Hilde, C. Beer, and E. Shaw (New York: Academic Press, 1976), pp. 21–76. The phrase “the omnivore’s dilemma” is usually credited to Rozin, who studies the psychology of food choices.

Scrinis, Gyorgy. “Sorry Marge.” Meanjin. 61.4 (2002): 108–16. Scrinis coined the term “nutritionism” in this illuminating article.

Temple, Norman J., and Denis P. Burkitt. Western Diseases (New Jersey: Humana Press Inc., 1994).

Trivedi, Bijal. “The Good, the Fad, and the Unhealthy.” New Scientist (September 23, 2006).

PART ONE: THE AGE OF NUTRITIONISM

On the history of nutrition science and the evolution of dietary advice:

Brock, William H. Justus von Liebig: The Chemical Gatekeeper (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).

Cambridge World History of Food, The: Volume One, edited by Kenneth F. Kiple and Kriemhild Conee Ornelas (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).

Ibid.: Volume Two, edited by Kenneth F. Kiple and Kriemhild Conee Ornelas (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).

Cannon, Geoffrey. The Fate of Nations: Food and Nutrition Policy in the New World. The Caroline Walker Lecture 2003, given at the Royal Society (London: Caroline Walker Trust, 2003). Can be obtained online at www.cwt.org.uk.

———. “Nutrition: The New World Map.” Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 11 (2002): S480–S97.

“Effect of Vitamin E and Beta Carotene on the Incidence of Lung Cancer and Other Cancers in Male Smokers, The. The Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta Carotene Cancer Prevention Study Group.” New England Journal of Medicine. 330.15 (1994): 1029–35.

Freudenheim, Jo L. “Study Design and Hypothesis Testing: Issues in the Evaluation of Evidence from Research in Nutritional Epidemiology.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 69 (1999): 1315S–21S.

Glassner, Barry. The Gospel of Food (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2007).

Kantrowitz, Barbara, and Claudia Kalb. “Food News Blues.” Newsweek (March 13, 2006).

Levenstein, Harvey. Paradox of Plenty (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003).

———. Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003). Includes an excellent account of food faddism in America.

Melton, Lisa. “The Antioxidant Myth.” New Scientist (August 5–11, 2006).

Planck, Nina. Real Food: What to Eat and Why (New York: Bloomsbury, 2006).

Scrinis, Gyorgy. “Sorry Marge.” Meanjin. 61.4 (2002): 108–16.

Shapiro, Laura. Perfection Salad: Women and Cooking at the Turn of the Century (New York: Random House, 2001).

Taubes, Gary. Good Calories, Bad Calories (New York: Knopf, 2007).

———. “The Soft Science of Dietary Fat.” Science. 291.30 (March 2001).

———. “What if It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie?” New York Times (July 7, 2002).

Trivedi, Bijal. “The Good, the Fad, and the Unhealthy.” New Scientist (September 23, 2006).

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health (Washington, D.C., 1988).

U.S. Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs. Dietary Goals for the United States (Washington, D.C., 1977).

On the contemporary food environment and food marketing:

Hartman, Harvey, and Jarrett Paschel. “Understanding Obesity: Practical Suggestions for the Obesity Crisis” (Bellevue: The Hartman Group, Inc., 2006). Interesting anthropological analysis of how American eating habits contribute to obesity.

Lofstock, John. “Boosting Impulse Sales at the Checkout Counter.” Convenience Store Decisions (January 11, 2006).

Martin, Andrew. “Makers of Sodas Try a New Pitch: They’re Healthy.” New York Times (March 7, 2007).

Merill, Richard A., et al. “Like Mother Used to Make: An Analysis of FDA Standards of Identity.” Columbia Law Review. 74.4 (May 1974). Contains a good account of the FDA’s 1973 decision to repeal its imitation rule.

Nestle, Marion. Food Politics (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002).

———. What to Eat (New York: North Point Press, 2006).

Simon, Michele. Appetite for Profit (New York: Nation Books, 2006).

On the controversies surrounding modern nutrition science and its methods, the literature is endless. A good place to start appreciating the complexities, if not impossibilities, of the field is Marion Nestle’s excellent epilogue to Food Politics. Gary Taubes offers a thorough critique of both epidemiological and clinical nutrition research in Good Calories, Bad Calories. For more on the methodology of nutrition science:

Belanger, C.F., C.H. Hennekens, B. Rosner et al. “The Nurses’ Health Study.” American Journal of Nursing. (1978): 1039–40.

Campbell, T. Colin. “Letters to the Editor: Animal Protein and Ischemic Heart Disease.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 71.3 (2000): 849–50.

Giovannucci, Edward, et al. “A Comparison of Prospective and Retrospective Assessments of Diet in the Study of Breast Cancer.” American Journal of Epidemiology. 137.5 (1993): 502–11.

Horner, Neilann K. “Participant Characteristics Associated with Errors in Self-Reported Energy Intake from the Women’s Health Initiative Food-Frequency Questionnaire.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 76 (2002): 766–73.

Hu, Frank B., and Walter Willett. “Letters to the Editor: Reply to TC Campbell.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 71.3 (2000): 850–51.

Hu, Frank B., et al. “Reproducibility and Validity of Dietary Patterns Assessed with a Food-Frequency Questionnaire.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 69 (1999): 243–49.

Kristal, Alan R., et al. “Is It Time to Abandon the Food Frequency Questionnaire?” Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers Prevention. 14.12 (2005): 2826–28.

Liu, Simin, et al. “Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: The Women’s Health Study.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 72 (2000): 922–28.

Napoli, Maryann. “Prevention Advice to Women Doesn’t Hold Up.” Center for Medical Consumers Web site (March 2006). Available online at www.medicalconsumers.org.

Ostrzenski, Adam, and Katarzyna M. Ostrzenska. “WHI Clinical Trial Revisit: Imprecise Scientific Methodology Disqualifies the Study’s Outcomes.” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 193 (2005): 1599–1604.

Rosner, B., W. C. Willett, et al. “Correction of Logistic Regression Relative Risk Estimates and Confidence Intervals for Systematic Within-Person Measurement Error.” Statistics in Medicine. 8 (1989): 1051–69.

Stein, Karen. “After the Media Feeding Frenzy: Whither the Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial?” Journal of the American Dietetic Association. (2006): 794–800.

Taubes, Gary. “Epidemiology Faces Its Limits.” Science. 269.5221 (1995): 164–69.

———. Good Calories, Bad Calories (New York: Knopf, 2007).

Twombly, Renee. “Negative Women’s Health Initiative Findings Stir Consternation, Debate Among Researchers.” Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 98.8 (April 19, 2006).

Willett, Walter C. “Invited Commentary: A Further Look at Dietary Questionnaire Validation.” American Journal of Epidemiology. 154.12 (2001): 1100–1102.

———, and Frank B. Hu. “Not the Time to Abandon the Food Frequency Questionnaire: Point.” Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers Prevention. 15.10 (2006): 1757–58.

On the subject of dietary fat and health:

Beresford, Shirley A. “Low-Fat Dietary Pattern and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: The Women’s Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial.” Journal of the American Medical Association. 295.6 (2006): 643–654.

Dietary Fats and Health. Edited by E. G. Perkins and W. J. Visek (Champaign, IL: American Oil Chemists’ Society, 1983). This book includes (from the Harshaw Chemical Company) Robert C. Hastert’s article “Hydrogenation—A Tool, Not an Epithet,” on pages 53–69.

Enig, Mary G. Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol (Silver Spring, MD: Bethesda Press, 2000). Enig is hardly mainstream, but she was one of the first scientists to raise questions about the lipid hypothesis and sound the alarm about trans fats.

——, and Sally Fallon. “The Oiling of America” (The Weston A. Price Foundation, 2000). Available online at http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/oiling.html.

Howard, Barbara V., et al. “Low-Fat Dietary Pattern and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: The Women’s Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial.” Journal of the American Medical Association. 295.6 (2006): 655–66.

Hu, Frank B., et al. “Types of Dietary Fat and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: A Critical Review.” Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 20.1 (2001): 5–19.

Ludwig, David S. “Clinical Update: The Low-Glycemic-Index Diet.” The Lancet. 369.9565 (2007): 890–92.

Taubes, Gary. Good Calories, Bad Calories (New York: Knopf, 2007). Taubes’s reporting on and analysis of the lipid hypothesis is groundbreaking.

———. “The Soft Science of Dietary Fat.” Science. 291.30 (March 2001).

———. “What if It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie?” New York Times Magazine (July 7, 2002). This article almost single-handedly launched the second Atkins craze and the great carbophobia of 2002–2003.

On the links between diet and diseases:

Campbell, T. Colin, and Thomas M. Campbell II. The China Study (Dallas: BenBella Books, Inc., 2006).

Ford, Earl S., et al. “Explaining the Decrease in U.S. Deaths from Coronary Disease, 1980–2000.” New England Journal of Medicine. 356.23 (2007): 2388–98.

Key, Timothy J., et al. “Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer.” Public Health Nutrition. 7.1A (2004): 187–200.

National Research Council. Diet, Nutrition and Cancer (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1982).

Nestle, Marion. Food Politics (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002).

Nutritional Genomics: Discovering the Path to Personalized Nutrition. Edited by Jim Kaput and Raymond L. Rodriguez (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006). This volume includes Walter Willett’s article “The Pursuit of Optimal Diets: A Progress Report.” Nutritional Health: Strategies for Disease Prevention. Edited by Ted Wilson and Norman J. Temple (Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, Inc., 2001).

Rosamond, Wayne D., et al. “Trends in the Incidence of Myocardial Infarction and in Mortality Due to Coronary Heart Disease, 1987 to 1994.” New England Journal of Medicine. 339.13 (1998): 861–67.

Willett, Walter C. “Diet and Cancer: One View at the Start of the Millennium.” Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. 10 (2001): 3–8.

———. “Diet and Health: What Should We Eat?” Science. 264.5158 (1994): 532–37.

———. Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating (New York: Free Press, 2001).

World Cancer Research Fund. Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective. (Washington, D.C.: American Institute for Cancer Research, 1997).

On nutritionism and its social and psychological effects:

Roberts, Paul. “The New Food Anxiety.” Psychology Today. (March/April, 1998).

Rozin, Paul, et al. “Food and Life, Pleasure and Worry, Among American College Students: Gender Differences and Regional Similarities.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 85.1 (2003): 132–41.

Rozin, Paul. “Human Food Intake and Choice: Biological, Psychological and Cultural Perspectives.” (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2002). Available online at http://www.danone-institute. com/publications/book/pdf/food__selection__01__rozin.pdf.

Rozin, Paul, et al. “Lay American Conceptions of Nutrition: Dose Insensitivity, Categorical Thinking, Contagion, and the Monotonic Mind.” Health Psychology. 15.6 (1996): 438–47.

Rozin, Paul, et al. “The Ecology of Eating: Smaller Portion Sizes in France Than in the United States Help Explain the French Paradox.” Psychological Science. 14.5 (2003): 450–54.

Scrinis, Gyorgy, and Rosemary Stanton. “A Diet Thin on Science.” The Age (August 29, 2005).

Scrinis, Gyorgy. “Engineering the Food Chain.” Arena Magazine. 77 (2005): 37–39.

———. “High in Protein, Low in Fat and Too Good to Be True.” Sydney Morning Herald (April 7, 2006).

———. “Labels: An Unhealthy Trend.” The Age (December 30, 2005).

———. “Sorry Marge.” Meanjin. 61.4 (2002): 108–16.

PART TWO: THE WESTERN DIET AND THE DISEASES OF CIVILIZATION

On the Western diet and its links to the Western diseases:

Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999).

Diet of Man: Needs and Wants. Edited by John Yudkin (London: Applied Science Publishers Ltd., 1978).

Drummond, J.C., and Anne Wilbraham. The Englishman’s Food: A History of Five Centuries of English Diet (Oxford: Alden Press, 1939).

Milburn, Michael P. “Indigenous Nutrition.” American Indian Quarterly. 28.3 (2004): 411–34.

Nabhan, Gary Paul. Why Some Like It Hot: Food, Genes, and Cultural Diversity (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2004).

Northbourne, Christopher James (5th Lord Northbourne). Look to the Land (London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1940). New edition: (Hillsdale, NY: Sophia Perennis, 2003).

O’Dea, Kerin. “Marked Improvement in Carbohydrate and Lipid Metabolism in Diabetic Australian Aborigines After Temporary Reversion to Traditional Lifestyle.” Diabetes. 33 (1984): 596–603. This is the research referred to at the beginning of Part II. It is further elaborated on in:

———. “The Therapeutic and Preventive Potential of the Hunter-Gatherer Lifestyle: Insights from Australian Aborigines.” From Western Diseases. Edited by N. J. Temple and D. P. Burkitt (Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, 1994).

Perry, George H., et al. “Diet and the Evolution of Human Amylase Gene Copy Number Variation.” Nature Genetics. doi:10.1038/ng2123 (September 9, 2007).

Price, Weston A. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, 7^th edition (LaMesa: Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, Inc., 2006).

Renner, Martin. “Modern Civilization, Nutritional Dark Age: Weston A. Price’s Ecological Critique of the Industrial Food System” (UC Santa Cruz master’s thesis, 2005).

Schmid, Ronald F. Traditional Foods Are Your Best Medicine: Improving Health and Longevity with Native Nutrition (Rochester, NY: Healing Arts Press, 1987).

Taubes, Gary. Good Calories, Bad Calories (New York: Knopf, 2007). See Chapter 5, “The Diseases of Civilization.”

Western Diseases. Edited by Norman J. Temple and Denis P. Burkitt (Totowa, NJ: Humana Press Inc., 1994).

On the industrialization of agriculture and the links between soil and health:

Asami, Danny K., et al. “Comparison of the Total Phenolic and Ascorbic Acid Content of Free-Dried and Air-Dried Marionberry, Strawberry, and Corn Using Conventional, Organic, and Sustainable Agricultural Practices.” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 51 (2003): 1237–41.

Benbrook, Charles M. “Elevating Antioxidant Levels in Food Through Organic Farming and Food Processing: An Organic Center State of Science Review” (Foster, RI: Organic Center, 2005).

Berry, Wendell. The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1977).

Brandt, Kirsten, and Jens Peter Mølgaard. “Organic Agriculture: Does It Enhance or Reduce the Nutritional Value of Plant Foods?” Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 81.9 (2001): 924–31.

Carbonaro, Marina, and Maria Mattera. “Polyphenoloxidase Activity and Polyphenol Levels in Organically and Conventionally Grown Peaches.” Food Chemistry. 72 (2001): 419–24.

Davis, Donald R., et al. “Changes in USDA Food Composition Data for 43 Garden Crops, 1950 to 1999.” Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 23.6 (2004): 669–82.

———. “Trade-Offs in Agriculture and Nutrition.” Food Technology. 59.3 (2005).

Fox, Jennifer E., et al. “Pesticides Reduce Symbiotic Efficiency of Nitrogen-Fixing Rhizobia and Host Plants.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104.24 (2007).

Garvin, David F., Ross M. Welch, and John W. Finley. “Historical Shifts in the Seed Mineral Micronutrient Concentration of US Hard Red Winter Wheat Germplasm.” Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 86 (2006): 2213–20.

Halweil, Brian. “Still No Free Lunch: Nutrient Content of U.S. Food Supply Suffers at Hands of High Yields” (Foster, RI: Organic Center, 2007). An excellent survey of the literature.

Harvey, Graham. The Forgiveness of Nature: The Story of Grass (London: Jonathan Cape/Random House, 2001).

Howard, Sir Albert. An Agricultural Testament (New York: Oxford University Press, 1943).

———. The Soil and Health (Lexington, KY: The University of Kentucky Press, 2006).

Manning, Richard. Against the Grain (New York: North Point Press, 2004).

Mayer, Anne-Marie. “Historical Changes in the Mineral Content of Fruits and Vegetables.” British Food Journal. 99.6 (1997): 207–11.

Mitchell, Alyson E., et al. “Ten-Year Comparison of the Influences of Organic and Conventional Crop Management Practices on the Content of Flavonoids in Tomatoes.” Journal of Food and Agricultural Chemistry (published online June 23, 2007).

Murphy, K., et al. “Relationship Between Yield and Mineral Nutrient Content in Historical and Modern Spring Wheat Cultivars.” Plant Genetic Resources (in press).

Pollan, Michael. The Botany of Desire: A Plant’ s-Eye View of the World (New York: Random House, 2001).

———. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (New York: Penguin Press, 2006).

Ryan, M.H., et al. “Grain Mineral Concentrations and Yield of Wheat Grown Under Organic and Conventional Management.” Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 84 (2004): 207–16.

Schmid, Ronald. The Untold Story of Milk (Washington, D.C.: New Trends Publishing Inc., 2007).

Voisin, André. Soil, Grass and Cancer (Austin: Acres U.S.A., Publishers, 1999).

White, P.J., and M. R. Broadley. “Historical Variation in the Mineral Composition of Edible Horticultural Products.” Journal of Horticultural Science & Biotechnology. 80.6 (2005): 660–67.

For statistical information on twentieth-century changes in the American food supply and diet:

U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). FAOSTAT Statistical Database: “Agriculture/Production/Core Production Data.” Accessed online at http://faostat.fao.org.

USDA Economic Research Service. “Major Trends in U.S. Food Supply, 1909–99.” FoodReview. 23.1 (2000).

———. “U.S. Food Supply Providing More Food and Calories.” FoodReview. 22.3 (1999).

———. “U.S. per Capita Food Supply Trends: More Calories, Refined Carbohydrates, and Fats.” FoodReview. 25.3 (2002).

On the health implications of various dietary patterns (as opposed to individual nutrients):

Ames, Bruce N. “Increasing Longevity by Tuning Up Metabolism.” European Molecular Biology Organization. 6 (2005): S20–S24. More of Ames’ research on micronutrient deficiencies is available at his Web site: www.bruceames.org.

———. “Low Micronutrient Intake May Accelerate the Degenerative Diseases of Aging Through Allocation of Scarce Micronutrients by Triage.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 103.47 (2006): 17589–94.

Appel, Lawrence J. “A Clinical Trial of the Effects of Dietary Patterns on Blood Pressure.” New England Journal of Medicine. 336.16 (1997): 1117–24.

de Lorgeril, Michel. “Mediterranean Diet, Traditional Risk Factors, and the Rate of Cardiovascular Complications After Myocardial Infarction: Final Report of the Lyon Diet Heart Study.” Journal of the American Heart Association. 99 (1999): 779–85.

Jacobs, David R., et al. “Nutrients, Foods, and Dietary Patterns as Exposures in Research: A Framework for Food Synergy.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 78 suppl (2003): 508S–13S. This is the study on whole grains discussed in the section.

Liu, Simin, et al. “Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: The Women’s Health Study.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 72 (2000): 922–28.

Planck, Nina. Real Food: What to Eat and Why (New York: Bloomsbury, 2006).

Weil, Andrew. Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Physical and Spiritual Well-Being (New York: Knopf, 2005).

On the rise of modern processed foods:

Drummond, J.C. The Englishman’s Food: A History of Five Centuries of English Diet (Oxford: Alden Press, 1939).

Levenstein, Harvey. Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003).

———. Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003).

Perren, Richard. “Structural Change and Market Growth in the Food Industry: Flour Milling in Britain, Europe, and America, 1850–1914.” Economic History Review. 43.3 (1990): 420–37.

Shapiro, Laura. Perfection Salad: Women and Cooking at the Turn of the Century (New York: Random House, 2001).

———. Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America (New York: Penguin, 2005).

Tannahill, Reay. Food in History (New York: Stein and Day, 1973).

Tisdale, Sally. The Best Thing I Ever Tasted: The Secret of Food (New York: Riverhead, 2001).

On omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids:

Allport, Susan. The Queen of Fats: Why Omega-3s Were Removed from the Western Diet and What We Can Do to Replace Them (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006). By far the best work of science journalism on the subject.

———. “The Skinny on Fat.” Gastronomica—The Journal of Food and Culture. 3.1 (2003): 28–36.

Carlson, Susan E., and Martha Neuringer. “Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid and Neurodevelopment: A Summary and Critical Analysis of the Literature.” Lipids. 34.2 (1999): 171–78.

Hibbeln, J.R., et al. “Dietary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Depression: When Cholesterol Doesn’t Satisfy.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 62 (1995): 1–9.

———, et al. “Healthy Intakes of n-3 and n-6 Fatty Acids: Estimations Considering Worldwide Diversity.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 83 (2006).

———, et al. “Increasing Homicide Rates and Linoleic Acid Consumption Among Five Western Countries, 1961–2000.” Lipids. 39.12 (2004).

Holman, Ralph T. “The Slow Discovery of the Importance of Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Human Health.” Presented as part of a symposium, “Evolution of Ideas About the Nutritional Value of Dietary Fat,” at the Experimental Biology 97 meeting, April 9, 1997. The proceedings were published by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences in 1998.

Kris-Etherton, P.M., et al. “Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in the Food Chain in the United States.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 71 (2000): 179S–88S.

Mozaffarian, Dariush, and Eric B. Rimm. “Fish Intake, Contaminants, and Human Health: Evaluating the Risks and the Benefits.” Journal of the American Medical Association. 296.15 (2006): 1885–99.

Nesheim, Malden C., et al. “Seafood Choices: Balancing Benefits and Risks” (Washington D.C.: National Academies Press, 2006).

Pischon, Tobias, et al. “Habitual Dietary Intake of n-3 and n-6 Fatty Acids in Relation to Inflammatory Markers Among US Men and Women.” Circulation. 108 (2003): 155–60.

Simopoulos, Artemis P., and Jo Robinson. The Omega Diet: The Lifesaving Nutritional Program Based on the Diet of the Island of Crete (New York: HarperCollins, 1998).

Uauy, Ricardo, et al. “Essential Fatty Acids in Visual and Brain Development.” Lipids. 36.9 (2001): 885–95.

On the rising incidence of type 2 diabetes and its impact:

Boyle, James P., et al. “Projection of Diabetes Burden Through 2050: Impact of Changing Demography and Disease Prevalence in the U.S.” Diabetes Care. 24 (2001): 1936–40.

Gregg, Edward W., et al. “Trends in the Prevalence and Ratio of Diagnosed to Undiagnosed Diabetes According to Obesity Levels in the U.S.” Diabetes Care. 27 (2004): 2806–12.

Haslam, David W., and W. Philip T. James. “Obesity.” The Lancet. 336 (2005): 1197-–1209.

Kleinfield, N.R. “Diabetes and Its Awful Toll Quietly Emerge as a Crisis.” The New York Times (January 9, 2006).

———. “Living at an Epicenter of Diabetes, Defiance and Despair.” New York Times (January 10, 2006).

Narayan, K. M. Venkat, et al. “Lifetime Risk for Diabetes Mellitus in the United States.” Journal of the American Medical Association. 290.14 (2003): 1884–90.

O’Connor, Andrew S., and Jeffrey R. Schelling. “Diabetes and the Kidney.” American Journal of Kidney Diseases. 46.4 (2005): 766–73.

Olshansky, S. Jay, et al. “A Potential Decline in Life Expectancy in the United States in the 21^st Century.” New England Journal of Medicine. 352.11 (2005): 1138–45.

Poinasamy, Darren. “Facing Up to the Diabetes Threat in the US.” Business Briefing: US Pharmacy Review. (2004): 48–50.

Urbina, Ian. “In the Treatment of Diabetes, Success Often Does Not Pay.” New York Times (January 11, 2006).

Wild, Sarah, et al. “Global Prevalence of Diabetes: Estimates for the Year 2000 and Projections for 2030.” Diabetes Care. 27.5 (2004): 1047–53.

PART THREE: GETTING OVER NUTRITIONISM

1. Eat Food: On the benefits of whole foods and traditional diets:

Allport, Susan. The Primal Feast: Food, Sex, Foraging, and Love (Lincoln, NB: iUniverse Inc., 2000).

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Edited by Marion Nestle, et al. 61 suppl (1995): 1313–20. This special supplement edition looked at the benefits of the Mediterranean diet.

Appel, Lawrence J. “A Clinical Trial of the Effects of Dietary Patterns on Blood Pressure.” New England Journal of Medicine. 336.16 (1997): 1117–24.

Brown, Melody J., et al. “Carotenoid Bioavailability Is Higher from Salads Ingested with Full-Fat Than with Fat-Reduced Salad Dressings as Measured with Electrochemical Detection.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 80 (2004): 396–403.

Feenstra, Gail. “The Roles of Farmers’ Markets in Fueling Local Economies.” Gastronomic Sciences. 1 (2007).

Fielding, Jeanette M., and Kerin O’ Dea, et al. “Increases in Plasma Lycopene Concentration After Consumption of Tomatoes Cooked with Olive Oil.” Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 14.2 (2005): 131–36.

Gussow, Joan Dye. “Why You Should Eat Food, and Other Nutritional Heresies.” Speech, University of California, Davis, Plant & Environmental Sciences. November 7, 2003.

Hu, Frank B., et al. “Prospective Study of Major Dietary Patterns and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Men.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 72 (2002): 912–21.

Johnston, Francis E. “Food and Biocultural Evolution: A Model for the Investigation of Modern Nutritional Problems.” Nutritional Anthropology (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1987).

Kouris-Blazos, Antigone, et al. “Are the Advantages of the Mediterranean Diet Transferable to Other Populations? A Cohort Study in Melbourne, Australia.” British Journal of Nutrition. 82 (1999): 57–61.

Milburn, Michael P. “Indigenous Nutrition.” American Indian Quarterly. 28.3 (2004): 411–34.

Nabhan, Gary Paul. Why Some Like It Hot: Food, Genes, and Cultural Diversity (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2004).

Nestle, Marion. What to Eat (New York: North Point Press, 2006).

Planck, Nina. Real Food: What to Eat and Why (New York: Bloomsbury, 2006).

Sherman, Paul W., and Jennifer Billing. “Darwinian Gastronomy: Why We Use Spices.” Bioscience. 49.6 (1999): 453–63.

Simopoulos, Artemis P. “The Mediterranean Diets: What Is So Special About the Diet of Greece? The Scientific Evidence.” Journal of Nutrition. (American Institute for Cancer Research 11th Annual Research Conference on Diet, Nutrition and Cancer, Washington, D.C., July 16–17, 2001): 3065S–73S.

———, and Jo Robinson. The Omega Diet: The Lifesaving Nutritional Program Based on the Diet of the Island of Crete (New York: HarperCollins, 1998).

Trichopoulou, A., and E. Vasilopoulou. “Mediterranean Diet and Longevity.” British Journal of Nutrition. 84 suppl. 2 (2000): S205–S9.

Unlu, Nuray Z., et al. “Carotenoid Absorption from Salad and Salsa by Humans Is Enhanced by the Addition of Avocado or Avocado Oil.” Journal of Nutrition. 135 (2005): 431–36.

van het Hof, Karin H., et al. “Dietary Factors That Affect the Bioavailability of Carotenoids.” Journal of Nutrition. 130 (2000): 503–6.

Willett, Walter C. “Diet and Health: What Should We Eat?” Science. 264.5158 (1994): 532–37.

On processed foods and health claims:

Barrionuevo, Alexei. “Globalization in Every Loaf.” New York Times (June 16, 2007). A good account of Sara Lee’s whole-grain white bread. See also: www.thejoyofeating.com/.

Erdman, John W., et al. “Not All Soy Products Are Created Equal: Caution Needed in Interpretation of Research Results” (Fifth International Symposium on the Role of Soy in Preventing and Treating Chronic Disease, American Society for Nutrition Sciences, 2004).

Holvoet, Paul, et al. “Circulating Oxidized LDL Is a Useful Marker for Identifying Patients with Coronary Artery Disease.” Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 21 (2001): 844–48.

Hur, S.J., et al. “Formation of Cholesterol Oxidation Products (COPs) in animal products.” Food Control. 18 (2007): 939–47.

Lesser, L.I., D.S. Ludwig, et al. “Relationship Between Funding Source and Conclusion Among Nutrition-Related Scientific Articles.” Public Library of Science. 4.1, e5 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040005 (2007).

Martin, Andrew. “Makers of Sodas Try a New Pitch: They’re Healthy.” New York Times (March 7, 2007).

Messina, Mark J. “Legumes and Soybeans: Overview of Their Nutritional Profiles and Health Effects.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 70 (1999): 439S–50S.

Pie, Jae Eun, et al. “Evaluation of Oxidative Degradation of Cholesterol in Food and Food Ingredients: Identification and Quantification of Cholesterol Oxides.” Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry. 38 (1990): 973–79.

Ravn, Karen. “Corn Oil’s ‘Qualified Health Claim’ Raises Eyebrows.” Los Angeles Times (April 16, 2007).

Staprans, Ilona, et al. “The Role of Dietary Oxidized Cholesterol and Oxidized Fatty Acids in the Development of Atherosclerosis.” Molecular Nutrition and Food Research. 49 (2005): 1075–82.

Tenbergen, Klaus. “Dough and Bread Conditioners.” Food Product Design—Culinary Connection. Accessed online August 1, 2007 at http://www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/1999/1199cc.html.

U.S. FDA. Qualified Health Claims: Letter of Enforcement Discretion—Corn Oil and Oil-Containing Products and a Reduced Risk of Heart Disease (Docket No. 2006 P-0243). Accessed online July 21, 2007 at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qhccorno.html.

U.S. FDA. Letter responding to health claim petition dated August 28, 2003: Monounsaturated Fatty Acids from Olive Oil and Coronary Heart Disease (Docket No. 2003 Q-0559). Accessed online July 21, 2007 at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qhcolive.html.

Warner, Melanie. “Science’s Quest to Banish Fat in Tasty Ways.” New York Times (August 11, 2005).

2. Mostly Plants: On plant-based diets and meat eating:

Appel, Lawrence J. “A Clinical Trial of the Effects of Dietary Patterns on Blood Pressure.” New England Journal of Medicine. 336.16 (1997): 1117–24.

Campbell, T. Colin, and Thomas M. Campbell II. The China Study (Dallas: BenBella Books, Inc., 2006).

Cho, Eunyoung, Sc.D., et al. “Red Meat Intake and Risk of Breast Cancer Among Postmenopausal Women.” Archives of Internal Medicine. 166 (2006): 2253–59.

Gardner, Christopher D. “The Effect of a Plant-Based Diet on Plasma

Lipids in Hypercholesterolemic Adults.” Annals of Internal Medicine. 142 (2005): 725–33.

Greene, Kelly. “Aging Well: How to Eat Meat and Still Feel as Healthy as a Vegetarian.” Wall Street Journal (October 21, 2006).

Heber, David. What Color Is Your Diet? (New York: ReganBooks, 2001). Excellent discussion of antioxidants and the benefits of a plant-based diet.

Hu, Frank B., et al. “Frequent Nut Consumption and Risk of Coro nary Heart Disease in Women: Prospective Cohort Study.” British Medical Journal. 317 (1998): 1341–45.

Hu, Frank B. “Plant-Based Foods and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: An Overview. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 78 suppl (2003): 544S–51S.

Jacobs, David R., and Lyn M. Steffen. “Nutrients, Foods, and Dietary Patterns as Exposures in Research: A Framework for Food Synergy.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 78.3 (2003): 508S–13S.

Jacobson, Michael F., and the staff of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Six Arguments for a Greener Diet: How a More Plant-Based Diet Could Save Your Health and the Environment (Washington, D.C.: Center for Science in the Public Interest, 2006).

Key, Timothy J. A., et al. “Dietary Habits and Mortality in 11,000 Vegetarians and Health Conscious People: Results of a 17-Year Follow-up.” British Medical Journal. 313 (1996): 775–79.

Key, Timothy J., et al. “Health Effects of Vegetarian and Vegan Diets.” Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 65 (2006): 35–41.

Leitzmann, Claus. “Nutrition Ecology: The Contribution of Vegetarian Diets.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 78 suppl (2003): 657S–59S.

Newby, P.K., et al. “Risk of Overweight and Obesity Among Semi-vegetarian, Lactovegetarian, and Vegan Women.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 81 (2005): 1267–74.

Steinfeld, Henning, et al. Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options. A report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Rome: FAO, 2006). Available online at http://www.virtualcentre.org/en/library/key pub/longshad/A0701E00.htm.

Willett, Walter C. “Diet and Health: What Should We Eat?” Science. 264.5158 (1994): 532–37.

3. Not Too Much: On Eating habits, food culture, and health

Berry, Wendell. “The Pleasures of Eating,” in What Are People For? (New York: North Point Press, 1990).

———. “The Reactor and the Garden,” in The Gift of Good Land (San Francisco: North Point Press, 1981). On the political significance of gardening.

Brillat-Savarin, Jean-Anthelme. The Physiology of Taste. Translated by Anne Drayton (London: Penguin, 1994).

Cutler, David M., et al. “Why Have Americans Become More Obese?” Journal of Economic Perspectives. 17.3 (2003): 93–118.

Geier, Andrew B., and Paul Rozin, et al. “Unit Bias: A New Heuristic That Helps Explain the Effect of Portion Size on Food Intake.” Psychological Science. 17.6 (2006): 521–25.

Hartman, Harvey, and Jarrett Paschel. “Understanding Obesity: Practical Suggestions for the Obesity Crisis” (Bellevue, WA: The Hartman Group, Inc., 2006).

Katz, Sandor Ellix. The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2007).

Montanari, Massimo. Food Is Culture (New York: Columbia University Press, 2006).

Petrini, Carlo. Slow Food Nation (New York: Rizzoli Ex Libris, 2007). For more on the Slow Food movement, see its Web site: www.Slowfood.com.

———. “Terra Madre Opening Speech.” Turin, Italy. October 20, 2004.

Pollan, Michael. “Cruising on the Ark of Taste.” Mother Jones (May, 2003).

Rozin, Paul, et al. “The Ecology of Eating: Smaller Portion Sizes in France Than in the United States Help Explain the French Paradox.” Psychological Science. 14.5 (2003): 450–54.

———, et al. “Food and Life, Pleasure and Worry, Among American College Students: Gender Differences and Regional Similarities.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 85.1 (2003): 132–41.

Wansink, Brian. Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think (New York: Bantam Books, 2006).

On calorie restriction:

Civitarese, Anthony E. “Calorie Restriction Increases Muscle Mitochondrial Biogenesis in Healthy Humans.” Public Library of Science. 4.3 (2007): 0485–94.

“Eat Your Cake and Have It” (New York: Nature Publishing Group, 2006).

Fontana, Luigi. “Excessive Adiposity, Calorie Restriction, and Aging.” Journal of the American Medical Association. 295.13 (2006): 1577–78.

Heilbronn, Leonie K., et al. “Effect of 6-Month Calorie Restriction on Biomarkers of Longevity, Metabolic Adaptation, and Oxidative Stress in Overweight Individuals.” Journal of the American Medical Association. 295.13 (2006): 1539–48.

Meyer, Timothy E., et al. “Long-Term Caloric Restriction Ameliorates the Decline in Diastolic Function in Humans.” Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 47.2 (2006): 398–402.

Seligman, Katherine. “Iron Will.” San Francisco Chronicle (September 2, 2007).

On drinking and the French paradox:

Criqui, M.H., and Brenda L. Ringel. “Does Diet or Alcohol Explain the French Paradox?” The Lancet. 344 (1994): 8939–40.

Drewnowski, Adam, et al. “Diet Quality and Dietary Diversity in France: Implications for the French Paradox.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 96.7 (1996): 663–69.

Ferrieres, Jean. “The French Paradox: Lessons for Other Countries.” Heart. 90 (2004): 107–11.

Fuchs, Flavio D. “Vascular Effects of Alcoholic Beverages: Is It Only Alcohol That Matters?” Hypertension. 45 (2005): 851–52.

Mukamal, Kenneth J., et al. “Roles of Drinking Pattern and Type of Alcohol Consumed in Coronary Heart Disease in Men.” New England Journal of Medicine. 348.2 (2003): 109–18.

Opie, Lionel H., and Sandrine Lecour. “The Red Wine Hypothesis: From Concepts to Protective Signalling Molecules.” European Heart Journal. 28 (2007): 1683–93.

Renaud, S., and M. de Lorgeril. “Wine, Alcohol, Platelets, and the French Paradox for Coronary Heart Disease.” The Lancet. 339.8808 (1992): 1523–26.

Rimm, E. “Commentary: Alcohol and Coronary Heart Disease—Laying the Foundation for Future Work.” International Journal of Epidemiology. 30 (2001): 738–39.

Volatier, Jean-Luc, and Philippe Verger. “Recent National French Food and Nutrient Intake Data.” British Journal of Nutrition. 81.S2 (1999): 57–59.

Zuger, Abigail. “The Case for Drinking (All Together Now: In Moderation!).” New York Times (December 31, 2002).

———. “How a Tonic Keeps the Parts Well Oiled.” New York Times (December 31, 2002).

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