Food and Nutrition : What Everyone Needs to Know

321 Pages·2018·11.52 MB·English

by  P. K. Newby

FOOD AND NUTRITION
WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW®

FOOD AND NUTRITION
WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW®
P.K. NEWBY, ScD, MPH, MS
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“What Everyone Needs to Know” is a registered trademark of
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Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
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© Oxford University Press 2018
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Newby, P. K., author.
Title: Food and nutrition : what everyone needs to know / P.K. Newby.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2018] |
Series: What everyone needs to know |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018013010 (print) | LCCN 2018015508 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190846657 (Updf) | ISBN 9780190846664 (Epub) |
ISBN 9780190846633 (paperback) | ISBN 9780190846640 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Nutrition—Popular works. | Food—Popular works. |
Health—Popular works. | BISAC: MEDICAL / General. | COOKING / General.
Classification: LCC RA784 (ebook) | LCC RA784 .N482 2018 (print) |
DDC 613.2—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018013010
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Paperback printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
Hardback printed by Bridgeport National Bindery, Inc., United States of America
When you get right down to it,
food is practically the whole story every time.
— Kurt Vonnegut, Galápagos

CONTENTS
PREFACE: WHY IS NUTRITION CONFUSING, AND
WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT? XV
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS XIX
Part I Why What We Eat Matters: Farm to Fork
1 Framing Today’s Food and Nutrition Issues 3
What’s this book about? 3
Who should read this book? Is a science background necessary? 4
How do traditional and contemporary diets differ around the world? 8
Who runs the food system? 12
Who produces and provides our food? 15
What are the major food and nutrition challenges impacting human and
environmental health? 17
How can we solve food and nutrition problems? Revolution, or evolution? 19
2 Global Food and Nutrition Challenges:
People and Planet 22
Who is affected by hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition? 22
What is obesity, and why is it a health problem? 24
viii Contents
Who suffers from chronic diseases, and what are the leading causes of
death globally? 25
What are the causes of food poisoning, and how can it be reduced? 27
How do agriculture and food production contribute to climate change? 29
Are fertilizers farming friend or foe? 31
What’s the problem with pesticides? 33
What is agriculture’s role in water pollution and dead zones? 37
What is the state of seafood, and why does overfishing matter? 38
What are the causes and impacts of food waste? 40
Part II Dining Throughout Human History: Science,
Technology, Eater, Environment
3 How Revolutions, Discoveries, and Inventions
Shape Our Diet: Paleo to Present 45
What is the Paleolithic diet? What did hunter– gatherers actually eat? 45
What is the Neolithic Revolution, and how did diets change after the birth of
agriculture? 47
How and why did the Industrial Revolution impact food production? 49
What is the Green Revolution, and how did it impact human health and the
environment? 50
What is the Genetic Revolution, and how did it affect food production? 51
How have the Digital Revolution and Information Age impacted our diet? 52
What are the top food inventions and technologies that have shaped how
we eat and drink throughout human history? 54
4 Contemporary Food Production, Buzzwords, and Pop
Nutrition: Fact or Fiction? 56
What are “processed” foods, and how do they fit into a healthy diet? 56
Do red and processed meats cause cancer? 60
Are canned and frozen foods inferior to fresh? 61
Are “natural,” “raw,” and “clean eating” concepts science, or nonsense? 64
Contents ix
What’s the difference between “organic” and “conventional”? 66
Is “eating local” important for human health and the environment? 70
OMG GMO!? Why is food genetically engineered? 72
Is “grass- fed” beef healthier and more sustainable than “grain- fed”? 74
How does “wild- caught” salmon compare to “farmed”? 75
Is sugar addictive? 77
What are “good bacteria,” and how are they related to “probiotics,”
“prebiotics,” and the “microbiome”? 78
Why is breastfeeding important? 80
How does infant formula compare to breast milk? 83
5 Diets and Food Environments Today:
Why We Eat the Way We Do 85
What are the influencers and major drivers of eating behavior and food
choices in today’s world? 85
What exactly is taste, and why does it differ across person and place? 86
How does the foodscape shape how we eat? 89
Does food advertising impact diet? 90
How have cooking and dining changed in the 21st century? 91
Does snacking or meal timing matter? 94
How do restaurants, cafeterias, and other “away- from- home” options
impact diet? 95
What roles do street food and food trucks play? 97
Part III Essential Food and Nutrition: Separating Science
from Junk Science
6 A Brief History of Nutrition: Scientific Discoveries
and Applications 101
How do we know what we know about food and health? 101
How did the study of food become the science of nutrition? 102