The Angry Chef's Guide to Spotting Bullsh*t in the World of Food

March 19, 2018
Blogger and professional chef Warner’s fascination “with how our diet affects our health” informs his entertainingly acerbic, and reassuringly commonsensical, attack on the myths and pseudoscience behind fad diets and food trends. Faced with a proliferation of unregulated advice available from celebs and self-proclaimed health gurus, Warner investigates a world “where scientific principles are completely discounted.” Taking on familiar, popular food regimens and recommendations—including gluten-free, sugar-free, detox, alkaline and paleo diets, coconut oil, antioxidants, and the bogus “Paltrow Science” of Goop—he systematically and humorously cuts through empty promises of dramatic weight loss and other hoped-for changes. Forays into the darker side of “nutri-nonsense” reveal the risks and false hopes represented by nutritional cures for serious conditions like autism and cancer. In an appendix, readers are advised to beware “experts” who espouse a food “philosophy,” blame illness on the individual, cite ancient wisdom and anecdotes as fact, or try to sell something. Dieters will finish Warner’s spirited guide newly on guard against snake-oil salespeople posing as health experts, and armed with Warner’s own, typically pragmatic advice: to embrace variety, try not to feel guilty about one’s diet, and eat everything in moderation.