I am reading two of Michael Pollan's books for my biology class. And while I really loved the Botany of Desire, In Defense of Food is really the book for me. And for you by close proximity. And although I have written a total of 16 pages in book review for the two books (one of which isn’t even completed). I refrain from inundating you with my opinion. I will simply say read them both, you won’t regret it. But if you don’t take this incredibly well written quote from In Defense of Food home with you.

 "One of the most momentous changes in American diet since 1909 (when USDA first began keeping track) has been the increase in the percentage of calories coming from sugars, from 13 percent to 20 percent. Add to that the percentage of calories coming from carbohydrates (roughly 40 percent, or ten servings, nine of which are refined) and American are consuming a diet that is at least half sugars in one form or another - calories providing virtually nothing but energy. The energy density of these refined carbohydrates contributes to obesity in two ways. First, we consume many more calories per unity of food; the fiber that's been removed from these foods is precisely what would have made us feel full and stop eating. Also, the flash flood of glucose causes insulin levels to spike and then, once the cells have taken all that glucose out of circulation, drop precipitously, making us think we need to eat again."


To view his books, and the man himself go to here : http://michaelpollan.com/