An Apple a Day: The Myths, Misconceptions and Truths About the Foods We Eat
Author: Joe Schwarcz, PhD
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Price: $32.95 hardcover
Dr. Joe Schwarcz is Director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society. He applies nutrition and chemistry to real life with a sprinkle of humour through his courses, presentations and in the media. An Apple A Day is his fifth book.
The book is divided into four sections, each covering a key issue:
- Naturally occurring substances in our food supply (such as lycopene in tomatoes and vitamin D in cod liver oil);
- Manipulating our food supply (such as iron fortification and organic farming);
- Contaminants in our food supply (such as pesticides and PCBs)
- Tough to swallow” (such as goji juice and DHEA).
Pros
An Apple A Day is a “pick-up, put-down” guide book on nutrition in the news. Its 66 short, easy-to-read chapters have the added bonus of no-nonsense advice at the end of the chapters. The index makes it easy to use as a reference book.
The tone adds lightness to the science of nutrition as Schwarcz connects Popeye with spinach, and relates WWII pilots to eating carrots.
There is matter-of-fact guidance on who to believe when it comes to nutrition andnutrition and also a helpful conclusion putting the book intobook into perspective and applying the information to daily eating. We also like the practical tips e.g. buy Ceylon cinnamon because it contains less coumarin, a naturally-occurring compound that can cause liver and kidney damage if taken in high doses.
Schwarcz is not afraid to take a stand on issues and he supports his opinions with science. For example, he states that mostthat most people can benefit from reduced salt intake. Also, he supports his opinion on the controversial issue of aspartame with scientific facts.
Cons
At times, Schwarcz verges on letting humour get in the way of communicating science clearly. With certain topics, we wanted him to go into more detail with his information. For example, what would he tell consumers about purchasing organic meat? Also, when he recommended that women should reduce large fish consumption, he needed to mention young children and breastfeeding moms.
Science keeps advancing and when the book was written in 2007, he states that stevia was not approved as a food additive in Canada and the US. In September 2009 Health Canada approved stevia as an ingredient.
The Bottom Line
We recommend this book because we are confident in Dr. Schwarcz’s science-based opinions. It serves as a useful reference book for health professionals and is handy for consumers who are looking for the bottom line when they feel confused about all the latest food issues in the news.
His comment “there’s more to life than worrying about every morsel of food we put in our mouths” sums up his approach. He puts things in perspective, when he states ” there are no safe substances, only safe doses”.