The FastDay Forum

[Moogie]

I'd love to be a bit more nerdy about diet & nutrition, so I had a look at my local college but no courses there. Don't really fancy an OU type course so now I'm thinking I should read a nice introductory book... Like an idiot's guide/dummies book, to see how I take to it.
Anyone got any suggestions? I don't want to read around the web, I'm at my screen to much and just want a nice proper book to wrap my eyes around.

Thanks!

http://www.nutritionsociety.org/publications/textbooks if you have £50 spare perhaps ?

or Tweet @BrDieteticAssoc or @DietitianSian and ask for suggestions

It isn't a nerdy textbook, but I like Jonny Bowden's 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth for an informative and easily digested read.

[quote="PhilT"]http://www.nutritionsociety.org/publications/textbooks if you have £50 spare perhaps ?

Moogie - you could try requesting this through your local library - they could get it on inter-library loan, might have to pay a bit more but nowhere near £50!

Moogie the real problem is that there are so many 'experts' out there. I have been reading about health & nutrition for the best part of 40 years. There are so many different ideas about what is best. Some of these people (Adelle Davis comes to mind) end up dying young. You can find that people who believe in the Govt guidelines of lots of carbs in the pyramid - old fashioned and out of date. Or the low GI carbers (South Beach Diet's Dr Arthur Agatston), or people who believe in raw food, or live food or...the list is endless. It's hard to know what is real...or sustainable.

One of my favourites over the years is Leslie Kenton - the daughter of Stan an American Jazz musician, who at a very young age tried to heal someone (can't remember who) in her family thru diet. She has written heaps of books and was always before her time in many of her beliefs. http://lesliekenton.com/ Interesting woman (I have seen her talk live) and worth a read.

Good luck in your search.

[Moogie]

Thanks all

What I'm after is the basic science of it - what micro/macronutrients are, what role they serve to the body, how they are digested/processed etc. Maybe that all makes no sense as I know nothing about it all... I found a BMJ book which might give me the basics, but I guess there is a lot of 'opinion' in this field rather than fact!

Moogie, the best way to learn about good food and nutrition is to read some good cookery books! Start with Elizabeth David's great classic French Provincial Cookery - real taste, real food.

When I first became interested in nutrition and physical activity related topics I actually started in the children's section of the library as their books had lots of basic information about macronutrients, micronutrients,the process of digestion etc with lots of colourful pictures! I have done this over the years with other topics and then progressed to the free on-line courses.

Maybe you would be better with a basic anatomy and physiology book such as Ross and Wilson. That would take you to the basics of digestion and how food is actually broken down into its constituent parts etc. It would also cover other systems so you could cross reference and see why its important to have particular nutrients in specific amounts.

As someone else mentioned, there are very many "experts" out there and all favour their own theories. You need a base knowledge to allow you to decide who you want to follow. Most of us have started out experimenting because of our own issues and you tend to follow the teaching of the "prophet" whos theories have helped you most!

Nutrition classes along with politics and religion for starting a good scrap!

Hi Moogie,

Not exactly what you asked for, but you may want to check out this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Pollan. One of my food heroes at any rate. Biology book on human physiology for secondary education? Good luck!

Miffy is right. You will do well with Ross and Wilson, and the diagrams and explanations are great.