I read The China Study a while ago and it really changed the way I look at food. The short and dirty explanation of The China Study is that the ‘western’ diet of lots of meat, dairy and eggs is very unhealthy and is the major contributor to the health crisis we’re facing in the US right now. I didn’t really know what to think of this conclusion since it was completely against many of the ideas of what it means to eat healthy. I changed my eating habits dramatically after reading the book but still wasn’t completely convinced since my training as a engineer makes me constantly seek out the second opinion and I hadn’t found a convincing one yet.
Recently I watched a talk by Mark Bittman from the TED conference in 2007. He gives a great overview of many of the same points that are covered in The China Study and really solidified some of these viewpoints in my mind. I’ve included it below and encourage you to check it out.
If you’re interested in more information on this subject I’ve included some below. I’m sure there’s much more out there so please share in the comments if you have any other suggestions.Books:
- The China Study
- The Omnivore’s Dilemma
(in the middle of reading this but it has some of the same ideas as the other material so far)
Videos:
This was a really interesting post, and I enjoyed Bittman’s lecture. And I too am interested in changing some of my eating habits- though I don’t eat meat that often anyways. What modifications have you made to your diet?
Gracias for sharing!
Right now I just try to eat less meat. It’s tough to do sometimes since I go out to lunch with co-workers or have meat in my freezer from before I started changing my diet. Lunch with co-workers is especially tough since many times we’re at very meat-centric restaurants. I’m slowly moving towards no meat, but it will probably take some time.
Not sure I’ll ever be able to give up sushi.