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marcostorin's review
informative
fast-paced
5.0
I know I'm buying several copies of this book to gift out to my friends and one for myself to re-read. This book is amazing and breaks down several myths about food and health, while being completely respectful to people from different backgrounds and belief systems. I think that if you or someone you know is interested in what changes you/they should do to their diets to be healthier, you should absolutely buy this book. It doesn't tell you "do this and you'll be healthy", it tells you "don't believe people who sell you miracle cures, health is complex and multidisciplinary, your relationship with food is the most important aspect of a personal diet, the BMI is full of shit". I stumbled upon it on accident and couldn't be happier about it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Medical content
ntsha's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Terminal illness, and Medical content
kimberleyb's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Fatphobia
Minor: Body shaming and Cancer
erenreads12's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
I've followed Joshua for years on Instagram and I was so looking forward to the release of this book - it did not disappoint. I made enough annotations on the text to fill a book myself. This book is profoundly useful in healing disordered eating, unlearning pervasive diet culture laws, rules and traps, and spotting faux science and charlatans where they emerge. Food Isn't Medicine may not be am artistic triumph, but it is packed with information and science, structured and formatted in an incredibly accessible, nuanced and sensitive way. This is the breath of fresh air we need in the realm of nutrition and medicine.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming
loudgls89's review against another edition
challenging
informative
4.5
“Would you rather be healthy and fat or unhealthy and thin?”
Wolrich poses that the fact that you hesitate when you’re faced with that question is part of the problem which has lead to such huge problems of weight stigma in the western world. Fat is somehow seen as a problem not just a descriptive word, no matter the health. And thin is hailed as the goal no matter what.
In the first part of the book, Wolrich debunks some of the common arguments for this stigma, including an enlightening history of the BMI scale. This section really made me think about my relationship with my body and how I talk to myself. It’s so easy to internalise what society tells you without thinking about it and we don’t deserve to do that to ourselves.
The second part of the book then turns to debunking some common myths about food, what Wolrich calls ‘Nutribollocks’ – my new favourite word.
He talks in detail about how people praise this or that food and claim it can heal you from certain illnesses because of the nutrients they have in them. But as Wolrich says, we eat food not nutrition. Just because a food has a nutrient in it doesn’t mean it has those properties. Monster drinks have a chemical in that can help with PCOS, but that doesn’t mean monster is prescribed as a cure and you would never think it did, so why do we (as a society) fall for this with so called ‘healthy’ foods and miracle cures.
Food is not medicine.
I’ve been following Dr Wolrich on Instagram for a long while now, and he’s such a recommended follow, calling out posts for being misleading or just downright lying, and bringing a voice of reason into a field of shouting buffoons.
The audiobook that I listened to (thanks to NetGalley) was narrated by the author and I was so glad for this, he has such an easy voice to listen to, presenting everything clearly and in a really straightforward manner, which must have been difficult given the nature of the book and some of the more complex topics being discussed.
I was given this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review, but I’ll be heading straight out to buy a copy of this as I think it’s so important.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia
bookforthought's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
I rarely read and review non-fiction, and even more rarely do I listen to audiobooks, but I decided to make an exception with Food Isn't Medicine because the premise sounded just too interesting not to. At a time when we're bombarded by diet messaging, adverts and fake news surrounding nutrition, the idea of listening to a doctor setting the record straight really appealed to me. And boy, did he do a good job of it!
Food Isn't Medicine is the book on nutrition I never knew I needed. It unpacks so many of the lies we've been fed over the years (pardon the pun), debunking several myths and exposing diet culture for what it really is. Backed up with actual science, this book was also eye-opening to me in explaining how all those studies that claim so many conflicting things actually come about, and what some of the flaws behind the research processes can actually skew results.
I found the author's reflections and integration of a social perspective fantastic as well. Inequalities and privilege play a massive role in nutrition (and health in general) and have so far often been missing from public discourse. I was amazed at my own ignorance in this respect, as I really had no idea at what massive inequalities still exist in our societies in terms of access to fresh food and appliances that I have so far taken for granted. In this, Food Isn't Medicine reads as a critique of modern Western society as much as an informational book on nutrition.
Joshua Wolrich is a brilliant narrator for the audiobook, going at just the right pace for me to try to convince myself that I can actually keep up with all the more sciency bits. Everything is really clearly explained and he included a handy glossary right at the beginning. My only issue is that listening to this as an audiobook I couldn't easily go back to reread a passage that particularly resonated with me, look up a word in the glossary again, or take notes. This is an issue I have with audiobooks in general, but I really felt like this one would have worked better for me as a physical book.
Overall, Food Isn't Medicine is an informative, entertaining and eye-opening look at food, nutrition and diet culture delivered with kindness and empathy. I also loved the fact that the author included trigger warnings throughout! Definitely a book I'll refer to again in the future.
I received a copy of this audiobook from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.
I received a copy of this audiobook from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.
Content Warnings
Minor: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia