Name: In Defense of Food
ISBN: 9780143114963

Michael Pollan

Cites the reasons why people have become so confused about their dietary choices and discusses the importance of enjoyable moderate eating of mostly traditional plant foods.

The Myth of Nutrition and the Pleasures of Eating

In Defense of Food

Trip Dunham 

 So now the trans fats are gone, and margarine marches on, unfazed and apparently unkillable. Too bad the same cannot be said of an unknown number of margarine eaters.

The cook in the kitchen preparing a meal from plants and animals at the end of this shortest of food chains has a great many things to worry about, but "health" is simply not one of them, because it is given.

An Eater's Manifesto

Michelle Dsouza

This book genuinely changed how I look at food. In Defense of Food is one of those rare reads that doesn’t just inform you, it rewires your brain a little. Michael Pollan takes a brutally simple approach to a topic we’ve all managed to make wildly complicated: eating. The core message sounds almost too basic to be revolutionary, but after you read the book, you realize how far modern food culture has drifted from common sense. Pollan’s biggest win is how he explains why we’re so confused. He goes after “nutritionism” (the obsession with nutrients over actual food) and shows how we’ve been trained to shop for health claims and microscopic components instead of meals. It made me realize how often I’ve eaten “products” while telling myself I was being healthy. Loved the insights for eg. Food vs. food-like products: If it’s made in a factory and engineered to be irresistible, it’s probably not “food” in the traditional sense. Or don’t outsource your diet to marketing: Health halos (“low-fat,” “high-protein,” “immune boosting”) can be noise that distracts from what’s actually in the box. Traditional diets weren’t perfect, but they were coherent: Pollan makes a strong case that food cultures and habits often beat modern “optimised” eating plans, because they’re sustainable and human. If your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize it as food, skip it. (This one is weirdly effective.) What I loved most is the tone: it’s smart, slightly skeptical, and feels like a friend grabbing you gently by the shoulders and saying, “You’re not failing at food. The system is confusing on purpose.” If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by diet rules, trends, or contradictory health headlines, this is the reset button.

Patrick Book

Some books deliver on the capsule review contained in their introduction. This is one of them. That’s all you need, but there’s more detailed explanations of you want them.

Timeo Williams

NoTry to go to Farmers market. Shake the hand that feeds you. Eat food in season, it in subscription packages .


The more diverse the food, the less likely the use of pesticides.


Aim to eat whole foods. Rule of thumb - if you're grandmother can't recognize it, it ain't food.



Aim to have a plant based diet. Eat more plants. Antioxidants work to eliminate toxins. 


You are what you eat too. Aim to purchase pasture raised eggs. Aim to buy fresh produce in bulk and keep in freezer to live on budget. 


Soils rich in organic matter have plenty of benrfits. Eating wild foods as much as possible. Wild greens.


Be the kind of person that takes supplements.


Adopting food habits is also another great idea - no snacks, meals with friends, smaller portions, more time spent eating food. Also have taboos on taking seconds. 


Pay more for higher quality food, and eat less. 


Cook and if you can plant a garden.

#1 New York Times Bestseller Food. There's plenty of it around, and we all love to eat it. So why should anyone need to defend it? Because in the so-called Western diet, food has been replaced by nutrients, and common sense by confusion--most of what we’re consuming today is longer the product of nature but of food science. The result is what Michael Pollan calls the American Paradox: The more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we see to become. With In Defense of Food, Pollan proposes a new (and very old) answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven simple but liberating words: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Pollan’s bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we can start making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives, enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy, and bring pleasure back to eating. "Michael Pollan [is the] designated repository for the nation's food conscience." -Frank Bruni, The New York Times " A remarkable volume . . . engrossing . . . [Pollan] offers those prescriptions Americans so desperately crave." -The Washington Post "A tough, witty, cogent rebuttal to the proposition that food can be redced to its nutritional components without the loss of something essential... [a] lively, invaluable book." --Janet Maslin, The New York Times "In Defense of Food is written with Pollan's customary bite, ringing clarity and brilliance at connecting the dots." -The Seattle Times Michael Pollan’s most recent book Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation--the story of our most trusted food expert’s culinary education--was published by Penguin Press in April 2013, and in 2016 it serves as the inspiration for a four-part docuseries on Netflix by the same name. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Jeff Sexton

Enlightening. This book makes its case well, and taught me much I genuinely didn't know - not something I often admit. Very intriguing read, and one I'll likely use as a general guide to healthier eating. No matter what you think about food or weight loss or anything related to the very basic act of eating and the more elaborate structures of cuisine, this book should teach you something and/ or challenge any beliefs you may already have.

Erik Wallace

An excellent read, a bit too technical in some parts, but really informative and enlightening.

Meghan Navoy

really interesting and informative! want to read more of pollan's work.

Morgan Holland

Great, simple overview of basic rules to live by to eat healthy and why, highly recommended along with all of Pollan's books.

Fabio Bracht

Esse livro é uma absoluta revelação! Eu quero plantar couve, comer fruta depois dela já não estar mais tão bonita, ir na feira só pra olhar as comidas todas. Eu penso em Cheetos e Coca-Cola e quero distância. Comida boa é comida boa! 

Empolgação à parte, recomendo esse livro a todo mundo que já se pegou parado entre as prateleiras no meio do supermercado, pensando, "eu gostaria de comer de maneira mais saudável, mas é tão difícil!" 

Não é, amigo. Parece que é porque o mundo (e particularmente o supermercado) é deliberadamente configurado pra fazer parecer que comer bem é difícil. Porque eles querem que você coma as porcarias coloridas que eles vendem. 

Mas não é. É bem mais fácil — e bonito, e poético — do que parece. 

Leia esse livro.

Jayme Bosio

We listened to this on the way to Atlanta and we were both captivated by it. I am one of those eaters who does not pay attention to what foods I'm putting in my mouth - nor am I even conscious of eating at times. So this book made me think about my relationship to food and how it needs to change. Also, Scott Brick is an excellent reader and I look forward to listening to his other works.

Melanie Richards

Though Pollan's views do admittedly align with some notions I already had, I have begun to feel myself make even better choices about what I put into my body. This book is one of the few which I truly feel will inspire massive, lasting change. Go, Pollan, go!

well researched.. well terrifying.. made me wanna live in a hut somewhere with a small garden and no distractions..

Melody Izard

Highlights the same principals as PN coaching. Eat for enjoyment. Eat real food. Eat slowly. Eat less. Eat mostly plants. Mostly leaves. Drink wine. But not much.

Laurel Ann Smith

I really enjoyed the format of the book. Very well researched. It has definitely encouraged me to take control of our eating habbits.

In Defense of Food The Myth of Nutrition and the Pleasures of Eating