noanana's review against another edition
5.0
This was the first kind of book I read with a different perspective on weight and health, and it totally changed my way of looking at it. Really revolutionary, recommend it to everyone!
nmaritsa's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
kalifer's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
4.0
I've actually read this one before, but I think it was before I joined here on Storygraph. While I did give it a 4 star, that doesn't mean it had any less of an impact on me than it did the first time I read it. Having a book that breaks down fatphobia and diet culture in such a detailed way is always important to me, just as it was the first time I read this. She really goes into depth about the way society shames and mistreats fat people and how it downplays the severity of such judgement. I wish I could show this book to the many people in my life that could use this book to remove some of their own perception of fat-shaming and diet culture.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Eating disorder
melissa_h's review against another edition
5.0
Very informative with stories sprinkled throughout to really make it more personal. Recommended to me by a body positive group and I would put it up there with Healthy At Every Size and Intuitive Eating books.
thequeeraunt's review against another edition
4.0
I'm breaking my self-imposed moratorium on the "self-help" genre to read this book, in large part because it was recommended to me by my therapist as we work on my own body-image issues and self-loathing.
Body of Truth: How Science, History, and Culture Drive our Obsession with Weight - and What We Can Do About It (yes, there is a different subtitle on my edition of this book) pairs very well with the podcast Maintenance Phase. Brown, like the co-hosts of that show, spends a fair amount of time pointing out the poor methodology that serves as the basis upon which a large portion of the research into diet and nutrition is built.
Did this book "cure" my YEARS of internalized fatphobia and self-loathing for not having the right body shape or skin or hair or teeth or (endless list of physical attributes)? It did not. But it did give me space to think a little more critically about the multi-BILLION-dollar diet industry.
Body of Truth: How Science, History, and Culture Drive our Obsession with Weight - and What We Can Do About It (yes, there is a different subtitle on my edition of this book) pairs very well with the podcast Maintenance Phase. Brown, like the co-hosts of that show, spends a fair amount of time pointing out the poor methodology that serves as the basis upon which a large portion of the research into diet and nutrition is built.
Did this book "cure" my YEARS of internalized fatphobia and self-loathing for not having the right body shape or skin or hair or teeth or (endless list of physical attributes)? It did not. But it did give me space to think a little more critically about the multi-BILLION-dollar diet industry.
vincci's review against another edition
4.0
Harriet Brown skilfully weaves in weight research with behind-the-scenes interviews with the researchers and personal anecdotes in this book. As a dietitian though, I had to give it four stars as at one point she paints virtually all dietitians/nutritionists as pro-dieting/weight loss with a broad brush. Trigger warning for those who are in recovery for use of o-words, fatphobic language (through quotes) and specific weight/calorie numbers.
mariaiswaycool's review against another edition
5.0
Easy to read and very well researched, I would recommend it to basically everyone!
laurab2125's review against another edition
4.0
Aside from some stuff that I would call "woo" in the beginning (about gmo's and other such things causing weight gain -- scientifically unproven statements), I really enjoyed this book. It makes the case that being overweight is not a disease. In fact, in and of itself, it isn't even unhealthy. Yes, it could be a symptom of other diseases, but there haven't been any studies that actually show causation (i.e. being fat means you'll get diabetes); the studies that people reference really just show correlation. Interesting and well-argued, this is a book that sheds light on how pervasive fat discrimination is in our society and how it can have ruinous effects on peoples' lives.