T he T ruth A bout F ood
Why Pandas Eat Bamboo and People Get Bamboozled
D avid L. K atz , MD, MPH
Foreword by Mark Bittman
With Recipes and More by Catherine S. katz, PhD: Founder/President, Cuisinicity.com
The information herein is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice. Consult a healthcare professional for any matter relating to your health, particularly if that matter may require diagnosis or treatment.
The Truth About Food. Copyright 2018 by David L. Katz, MD with Catherine Katz, PhD. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. For information, address Dystel & Goderich, 1 Union Square West, Suite 904, New York, NY 10003.
Reproduction or distribution of book materials without permission is prohibited and theft of the authors intellectual property. Permissions may be coordinated through Dystel & Goderich.
Dedicated to my children all grown, now
Rebecca, Corinda, Valerie, Natalia, & Gabriel:
The countless hours allocated over the years to projects such as this book likely leave them knowing far too little about how much I actually love them .
They deserve longevity, and vitality a bumper crop of years in life, and life in years and a planet hospitable and fertile to that very bounty. This effort, these stolen hours are consigned to the promise of it .
A few quick words of guidance to my readers:
Readers familiar with my on-line writing / columns will note that The Truth about Food addresses many of the same topics and themes found there, and along with all of the entirely new material, selectively adapts content I have previously posted on-line. Relevant columns are included routinely among the citations at the end of each section to indicate this and of course, each column leads to its own array of additional sources .
Readers formerly unfamiliar with my columns may find additional (and frequently updated) commentary on many of the topics covered in this book at my website:
https://davidkatzmd.com/articles
For any of you _____________ (crazy? ardent? related to me?) enough to read The Truth about Food cover to cover, I apologize for a certain repetition of core messages, examples, case studies, and expressions you will note throughout. This is intentional and strategic redundancy on my part; this is quite a long book, and I anticipate most readers will read and refer to it in sections. I thus wanted all of the key parts to stand up reasonably well on their own, as well as in the context of the whole. If you do read straight through, please think of these recurrences as something like the chorus of a song: a distillation of key messages, rhythmically repeated .
All of my proceeds for The Truth about Food go to support the True Health Initiative , a federally authorized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The True Health Initiative is dedicated to turning the fundamental truths about diet and lifestyle for disease prevention, health promotion, and environmental conservation into common, actionable knowledge around the world. Please visit: http://www.truehealthinitiative.org/
T estimonials
Youve got a terrific book in front of you, written by a doctor who is woke, devoted, caring, and deeply concerned not only about what and how we eat but the impact it has on ourselves, our environment, other living beings, and the planet in general. This is a big book, addressing some of the most important topics of our time, and Dr. David Katz is the ideal person to put it together .
From the Foreword by Mark Bittman
The truth about food is simple, while the lies about food are complicated. And, with that statement, Dr. David Katz helps insulate us from the next food fad by making sure we are armed with the truth, and nothing but the truth. It is an audacious undertaking and Dr. Katz, who has dedicated his professional life to this, is perhaps the perfect person to be educating all of us. Facts do matter, and The Truth About Food is full of them. The Truth about Food should have a home in everyones kitchen .
Sanjay Gupta MD ; Staff Neurosurgeon,
The Emory Clinic; Chief Medical Correspondent, CNN
Sometimes, even I have nutrition questions; and when I do, I take them to Dr. David Katz. Read this book- and you will see why!
Joy Bauer, MS, RDN ; health and nutrition expert for
NBCs TODAY show; best-selling author of Joys Simple
Food Remedies; founder of Nourish Snacks
With the inquisitiveness of a seasoned detective, the intellect and wit of a master of prose and the dissection skills of a forensic pathologist, Dr. David Katz awards the reader with the simple truths of food for thought and optimal health. Read this book, your life may depend on it!
Richard Carmona, MD, MPH, FACS ;
17 th Surgeon General of The United States; Distinguished
Professor, University of Arizona
This book, unlike any other, takes readers deeply into the challenges of separating truth about foods from the overwhelming amounts of misinformation, purposeful lies, and deception that engulf Americans today. Everyone will learn something from Dr. Katzs lively discussions and insights and will be better prepared to interpret tomorrows sensational headlines .
Walter Willett, MD, DrPH ; Professor, Epidemiology
and Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public
Health; Professor, Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Once and for all a book that cuts through the never-ending hyperbole surrounding diet and health written by the brilliant David Katz who minces no words and clearly and eloquently lays out the fundamentals of a what constitutes a healthy lifestyle. His mastery of the English language and unique ability to make sense of the nonsense is evident throughout The Truth about Food. You will never need another source of reliable nutrition information. Do yourself a favor, stop listening to self-described experts and all the sensational chatter on social media and turn to the real expert, Dr. David Katz and buy his book, The Truth about Food .
Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RDN ;
award winning nutrition journalist .
I dont know any scientist with clearer, more important insights about the lifelong effects of diet on our health than Dr. David Katz. Get this book, take his advice and live a longer, better life .
Dan Buettner ; National Geographic Fellow;
New York Times Bestselling author of Blue Zones .
Few people in public health today understand as fully as David Katz the potential of food as medicine, and few if any are working harder to overcome all that stands in the way of that promise. This book is a very important and worthy addition to the career-long efforts of a public health champion .
David A. Kessler, MD, JD ; Professor, University of California San Francisco; Former Commissioner, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
For decades Dr. David Katz has relentlessly grappled with almost each and every nutrition controversy that arises, whether in a classroom lecture, conference proceedings, or Op-Eds and social media. The breadth and depth of his grasp of the field of nutrition science knowledge is unparalleled. He is gifted in his ability to translate nutrition knowledge into powerfully compelling explanations of the Truth about Food. The topics are varied, but the approach is always the same: grounded in scientific evidence, translated in practical terms, and delivered with an engaging blend of humor and blunt honesty .
Christopher D. Gardner, PhD ; Professor,
Medicine (Research), Stanford University
Dr. Katz provides a no-nonsense, practical guide for our most basic of human needs how to eat. He gives us a set of truths to follow and he brings back something fundamental the joy of eating food that is good for you and for the planet. This has become my go-to resource whenever I hear the latest study about which foods are bad or good.