Sick of the Bookstore Run-around

Sunsh1ne

I know that I don't know enough about the basics of nutrition, and I've set out to educate myself and I keep coming up frustrated. The library, the bookstore, wherever I go looking for info, I keep running into a million kinds of diets, every and magic trick you can imagine. Eat this, don't eat that, breathe only through your left nostril. I'm sick of all these quick-fix diet books that give out strict mandates without much in the way of reasoning behind them! I'm to the point where I'm just pulling my hair out thinking about it. I even looked into nutrition courses at my university, but they only offer them to graduate students. Can anyone recommend a book that is NOT a quick-fix but is instructional, preferably in plain English, about nutrition and meal-planning?

bonitabeca

I have found that my primary care doctor and ob/gyn are great sources of information. You can probably call their offices and ask to speak with a nurse, and they may give you some pointers or recommendations over the phone.

I'm with you--it's frustrating trying to find credible stuff. You could also try contacting a professor at a university who teaches nutrition.

Most of what I know, I learned from my mom since she took a lot of nutrition classes in college, and is now diabetic and has to know about how nutrients, sugars, carbs, etc interact.

Good luck on your search!

KLSimpson

I really like Dr. Andrew Weil. He has a great website (drweil.com) and several books. He's well-respected in the medical and alternative medicine communties. I like that he's not too radical or extreme in his advice. I think he does talk about practicing one nostril breathing though

LosingLizard

I'm afraid there really isn't a cut and dry answer. For every study that labels itself as "Finally, the real answer", two more people will come behind and refute it. The truth is, there is still so much to learn about nutrition, no one really knows the full story.

For the basics, try something like "Nutrition for Dummies". That's probably the best you can do for information without too much science or agenda.

If you're looking for more detailed, two of my recommendations are The China Study and Eat to Live. Very compelling information in those books.

Sunsh1ne

Well if anyone else is looking, I found some of what I'm looking for. SparkPeople.com has a nutrition tracker that also plans your meals for you, but lets you A. change the whole menu to other options of equivalent nutritional value, B. change individual items on the menu for equivalent items or C. opt out entirely. I joined the website for their recipe calculator, but I like this because it's helping me understand how to plan a balanced meal better.