“Imagine yourself standing at a crossroads. In the middle is a road sign with two arrows pointing in opposite directions. If you follow one arrow, you can eat this and die. But if you follow the other, you can eat this and live….”
Finally got my copy of the book “Eat This And Live” by Don Colbert from the library. It was suggested to me by one of my FB friends, and I was on the waiting list for months.
Bottomline: this book is NOT recommended. Let’s start with the positive.
The book is bright and colorful, with heavy thick pages, beautiful photos and easy to read text. One initial chapter focuses on the religious reasons to take better care of your body. Treat your body like a gift from God. If you abuse your gift, then you are hurting God. It also references passages about vegetarianism and God’s plan for our diet….less meat, more vegetation.
I really do agree with his recommendation that we all should be eating a lot less meat products! On the “Why meat is a caution food” (pg 98): he explains how humans are omnivores and what the difference is vs being a carnivore.
I also was intrigued by a form of brown rice I hadn’t heard of before, called germinated or sprouted! I will have to check into finding some germinated brown rice!
It’s helpful that they list important nutrients and the foods that contain them. Easy for a newbie to make healthy choices. Each also includes the recommended dose of each vitamin and mineral.
A lot of what he says makes sense, and it won’t necessarily harm you to follow his recommendations, but all the positive aspects of the book are overshadowed by a lot of inaccuracies. It really bothers me that the book is riddled with misinformation and that his supporters are just blindly believing everything he says.
The first thing I noticed was that he cited Dr Mercola as one of his noted references. Dr Mercola is NOT highly regarded in the medical world, so giving credit to him for anything, just makes me question Dr Colbert’s overall trustworthiness. But I was willing to overlook that.
The further I read, the more I realized that some errors just couldn’t be ignored.
He states that broccoli contains higher levels of pesticides. Not true according to EarthEasy and the The Enviromental Working Group (EWG). Sure, it won’t hurt you to purchase organic broccoli, but if you are watching your food budget, it can make a difference.
On his whole grains page (pg 56), he warns “watch for corn”, and while it’s very true that you should stay away from most all refined corn ingredients in processed food, he didn’t say anything about choosing organic corn as an alternative. Organic corn will not be genetically modified, and in most cases, local farm fresh corn will not be either. It’s not necessary to stay away from fresh corn or frozen organic. Just one more overblown statement to scare people over to his side. That’s not the way to get people to eat healthier!
There is inconclusive evidence to support his claim that freezing meat will lose nutrients (pg 143). How impractical is it to never freeze meat. A lot of people purchase a large quantity, and freezing it allows it to stay fresher than keeping it for days in the refrigerator.
All this misinformation makes me wonder how much real truth is in his other claims.
He refers to many studies, and I admit, I don’t have the time to dig into every cited study to figure out if it’s a relevant source…but with just the few errors I have found, it ruins the book for me. It’s almost like Dr Colbert’s main objective is to prove his point, and it doesn’t matter if what he suggests is truthful or thoroughly proven with reputable research. I mean really! I could find a study online for just about any argument, and then I could probably find another study stating the exact opposite. Just because there is a study doesn’t mean it was reliable! Doctors should know better!
Of course, I’m all for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but there are much better book choices to learn about making the right decisions in regards to food.
#1 on my list of recommendations is “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” by Michael Pollan. Another fantastic choice is Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.
Watch the movie “Food Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer-And What You Can Do About It” and you will learn more about the food we eat. It will open your eyes to good and bad choices! So much more helpful than a book like “Eat This And Live“