FOOD: What the Heck Should I Eat?

Food and figuring out what to eat today can make your head spin. Even the most health conscious have a hard time knowing what to eat in order to lose weight, stay fit, and improve health. There’s so much conflicting and confusing information that it’s hard to know where to look for trusted advice. So, what should we eat? Director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Mark Hyman’s brand new book, FOOD: What the Heck Should I Eat, provides the answers.

FOOD: What the Heck Should I Eat?

I’m a big fan of Dr. Hyman’s, having learned much from him working with him on The Daniel Plan and Eat Fat Get Thin. He’s had a tremendous influence on shaping what I think about food and nutrition. It is Dr. Hyman who helped me understand the power of food as medicine, and that food is not just fuel, but information. After attending the PBS television taping of  FOOD: What the Heck Should I Eat?  I couldn’t wait to see the book. After reading it, I think it’s his best work yet (of 18 books!) with information that will truly help everyone.

About the Book

In the introduction, Dr. Hyman writes “food connects us to one another and to our bodies; it can reinvigorate our health, bring families together, restore vibrant communities, improve the economy and the environment, reduce pollution, and even help our kids get better grades and avoid eating disorders, obesity, and drug abuse; food can even reduce poverty, violence, homicide, and suicide.”

Dr. Hyman wrote FOOD: What the Heck Should I Eat to take people from confusion to clarity that will lead us to health and longevity. He undoes decades of misguided information, food-industry lobbying, bad science, plus corrupt food polices and guidelines that turned the health of this nation into crisis. This is one book worth reading right away.

What I Like About the Book

I really like how Dr. Hyman structures the book. Each section starts with an enlightening quiz and ends with a geek alert (which I love). The information is presented in an easy-to-read way that is fun and will make you smile. Part I ends food confusion, fear and insecurity. The sections in Part II discuss different food groups, such as meat, poultry, fish and seafood, eggs, dairy, grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, fats and oils, even sugar and sweeteners. The good news is healthy fats are not the enemy.

He starts with the science and shifts to the experts — what they got right and what they got wrong. Parts III and IV show you how to use food as medicine to reset your body and to eat in a way that promotes health by talking about what else you need to know about food and what he calls the “pegan” diet – a sensible, inclusive way of eating that integrates all the current science while poking fun at the extremes of vegan and Paleo diets.

The good news is that he does not push one single way of eating, no one special diet. I really appreciate that, because no one diet works for us all. The guidelines are flexible and allow for a varied way of eating that fits you. And because the cure is not just in the shopping, but in the cooking and enjoying, Part IV ends with delicious recipes and menu planning to help make it happen. Think of Food: What the Heck Should I Eat as a balanced, inclusive eater’s guide to the world as we know it in 2018 and how to eat to live long, healthy lives. Order your copy on Amazon today.