Food Rules Read online

  1 For a discussion of the research on the Western diet and its alternatives see my previous book, In Defense of Food (New York: Penguin Press, 2008). Much of the science behind the rules in this book can be found there.

  2 The diet specified in this analysis is characterized by a low intake of transfats; a high ratio of polyunsaturated fats to saturated fats; a high whole-grain intake; two servings of fish a week; the recommended daily allowance of folic acid; and at least five grams of alcohol a day. The lifestyle changes include not smoking, maintaining a body mass index (BMI) below 25, and thirty minutes a day of exercise. As the author Walter Willett writes, “[T]he potential for disease prevention by modest dietary and lifestyle changes that are readily compatible with life in the 21st century is enormous.” “The Pursuit of Optimal Diets: A Progress Report,” Nutritional Genomics: Discovering the Path to Personalized Nutrition, eds. Jim Kaput and Raymond L. Rodriguez (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2006).

  3 D. M. Sheehan, “Herbal Medicines, Phytoestrogens, and Toxicity: Risk: Benefit Considerations,” Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine217 (1998): 379-85.