Dying to eat : health, heresy, and hysteria / by Michael David Trevan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Trevan, Michael David, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Food habits--Psychological aspects.

Food habits.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 610 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Newcastle upon Tyne, UK : Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018.

Summary:

This book examines our oft emotional relationship with food; the way science has been used and misused by those who govern, provide advice to the public, or try to sell food; and why we tend to believe the statements about healthy eating that we wish were true, rather than those which are true. The book discusses and challenges how the science and knowledge of food, health and nutrition are derived; why knowledge can appear valid even when it is not; how the misleading use of descriptors of risk has been responsible for the strangest ideas about eating in the history of humankind, perverted our approach to the role of food in our lives, and engendered hysterical attitudes; and why public health policy is subject to the whims of activists and lobbyists, and how it becomes dogma that is highly resistant to change despite new evidence. The role of the media and how, and why, science is "modified" and sometimes "falsified", and why how, not just what, we eat may be crucial are also examined. The book also explores those foods that come ready loaded with poisonous compounds and carcinogens. The conclusions presented here are firmly based upon an extensive bibliography, and a detailed and trustworthy re-examination of key pieces of research that have been influential in setting the present food agenda. The text is set within an historical context dating back to the 16th century, and illustrates how it is that we have always known what we must eat and do to be healthy.The book is written in an approachable and engaging style for all readers regardless of pre-existing scientific knowledge. It is intended for all who have an interest in their food and health, and for students of the food, nutrition, medical, and social sciences.

Contents:

Intro

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

List of Tables

Acknowledgements

Chapter One

1.1 Why this book was written and how it came to have its title

1.2 Stuff you need to know: some biochemistry

The importance of carbon and water

What about sugars and carbohydrates?

Fats and lipids

Steroids

Other Fatty Stuff

Amino acids and Proteins

The genetic code, DNA and RNA

1.3 The Trouble with Numbers

1.4 How we assess risk

Chapter Two

2.1 Diet and health in time and place

2.2 Sir Charles Cameron and the beginnings of the science of dietetics

Chapter Three

3.1 I didn't order those!

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)

3-MCPD (3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol)

Nitrosamines

Advanced glycated end-products (AGE)

Acrylamide

Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HCAs)

Furan in heat treated foods

Caramel in soft drinks

Trans-fatty acids

Salt (and iodine)

Naturally poisonous foods

3.2 I'm allergic to that

3.3 I'd quite like some of those

3.4 The Importance of Onions

3.5 An apple a day keeps the doctor away

Chapter Four

4.1 HUFAs, PUFAs, MUFAs and NUFAs

4.2 The point about Olive Oil and Oily Fish

Chapter Five

5.1 Obesity, Banting and Bread

5.2 Come Sweet Death: the case against fructose

Chapter Six

6.1 Red meat, or is it fish, and the latest scientific opinion

6.2 Mad Cow disease and how governments react to a crisis

Chapter Seven

7.1 Gut instinct

7.2 Hidden in plain sight

7.3 Is it not what we eat but the way that we eat it?

The importance of regimen

The importance of timing

The importance of pleasure

Chapter Eight

8.1 Why is official nutrition advice bad for science and health

8.2 Who is to blame for misinformation

8.3 So how safe is your food anyway?

Chapter Nine.

9.1 We know our ABC, but what about our D?

Vitamin A (retinol)

The B vitamins

Thiamine (B1)

Riboflavin (B2)

Niacin (nicotinamide/nicotinic acid, B3)

Pantothenic Acid (B5)

Pyridoxine (B6)

Biotin (B7)

Folate (Folic acid, B9)

Cobalamin (B12)

Other B vitamins

Ascorbic Acid (C)

Cholecalciferol (D, calcidiol, calcitriol)

Alpha-Tocopherol (Vitamin E)

Vitamin K

Choline

Coenzyme Q, (CoQ, Co Q10, Ubiquinone)

9.2 The Perfect Tomato - why the fuss over GMOs?

The Good Enough Tomato

The economic cost of plant disease

Disease resistance in plants

Disease resistance from plants

So why modify plants?

What is genetic modification?

GM foods and the consumer

Conclusion

Chapter Ten

Appendix A

References

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-5275-2283-0

OCLC:

1078637114