The Bad Food Bible: How and Why to Eat Sinfully Hardcover – Illustrated, November 7, 2017

I am writing this review because my cousin wanted me to read this book and, having done so, I figured I might as well make my comments public. I am a clinical endocrinologist in Hawaii in practice for 30 years, with a slightly academic bent.I would give this 4.5 stars, if possible---my overall recommendation is that many people should read this book! I am sympathetic to the author's main points as they apply to people who do not have a metabolic disease: Many of the recommendations for dietary restriction that are made by health care professionals for people in general are lacking in a solid scientific foundation. When there is evidence for potential harm, the actual risk for an individual is often exaggerated. And when we think about the potential harm to a person's health from consuming a particular food or drink, that should take place within the context of a person's life, the pleasurable aspects of eating or drinking that particular item as well as the social context.Now for some criticisms, which are probably more meaningful to someone who has already read the book:1. The author tries to convey to the reader the importance of looking at the type of evidence that is reported, whether a study is retrospective or prospective. The strongest evidence comes from (prospective) randomized double-blind placebo-controlled studies. When looking at outcomes such as a coronary event or death it is difficult or impossible to design such a study for alcohol, coffee, meat, eggs, etc. Doing any prospective study comparing consumption vs non-consumption is a challenge. Consequently he relies very heavily on what are called meta-analyses of retrospective studies in which an author selects studies from the medical literature that meet certain criteria and then pools the results in some way. While doing so is better than cherry picking studies to support a preconceived viewpoint, the decision about what criteria to use may introduce bias. Also, putting together data from a lot of weak studies does not make a strong study.2. The author says that his recommendations are for healthy people without metabolic problems, but if one looks at the American adult population, that excludes a very large number of people. Many people do not even know that they have metabolic issues. Also, many of the studies that inform us regarding the effects of various foods and drinks are based on data that include people with metabolic disorders.3. The author seems to lack a larger perspective on the issue of cholesterol metabolism and misrepresents a few issues, I believe. He says that serum triglyceride levels are associated with heart disease, but he does not mention that they are also inversely correlated with HDL-cholesterol levels, which are together a part of what is called "the metabolic syndrome." It is this (genetic) disorder of metabolism rather than the triglyceride levels themselves that is bad for heart health. Second, he lumps monounsaturated fats into the same category as polyunsaturated fats, which is incorrect because monounsaturated fats have a positive effect on cholesterol metabolism, not the same for polys. Moreover, he fails to discuss the strong support (including prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled studies) for the cholesterol hypothesis that higher LDL-cholesterol levels cause coronary disease and that lowering these levels reduces risk.4. In the Introduction he claims that the obesity epidemic of the late 20th century was caused by the shift from intake of fats to carbohydrates. In his chapter on Butter he states: "There is one thing we do know about fats, however. Fat consumption does not cause weight gain. To the contrary, it might actually help us shed a few pounds." I believe the obesity epidemic is more accurately related to an increased total calorie intake available through fast foods, etc. To state that fats do not cause weight gain is on the face of it ridiculous, but what I believe he means to say is that substituting equal calories of carbohydrate for fat will not achieve the desired goal. The problem with a quick lunch of hamburger, french fries, and a soda is neither the fat alone nor the carbohydrate alone, but the total calorie intake as it affects weight.I learned a lot from reading this book and plan to look up some of the studies that he references. This is a very worthwhile read.

When I was a kid, there was a seasoning called Accent. Both its TV commercials and its canisters featured a little horn with the slogan: “Wake up the flavor.” We poured that stuff on everything (except for our Captain Crunch), often accompanying our culinary adventures by making little horn sounds.It turns out Accent was pure MSG. Who knew? And yet we lived to tell the tale. Neither me nor my siblings ever got headaches as kids. Or ever get headaches as adults. Indeed, we seem to have acquired some headache immunity from using this stuff. (Correlation, not causation, a good researcher would say.)The reason, as you’ll learn in The Bad Food Bible, is that MSG isn’t bad for you, even apparently in the quantities we devoured. (Yes, we know – you get a headache when you go to a Chinese restaurant. That could be your imagination, or you may be one of the few people with a sensitivity to it, just like a few people have sensitivities to other foods.)MSG isn’t the only maligned food. Is butter good for you or bad? Milk? Artificial sweeteners? Organic foods? Sugar? Meat? Red meat? Tuna? Coffee? Wine? Eggs? Salt?Oh, and don’t forget gluten. Turns out, virtually every one of these foods has been studied in depth…and here the studies in both directions are summarized and sourced.I feel like this book plays it right down the middle and that the thumbs-ups and thumbs-down can be trusted.

Very entertaining and informative book about nutrition and diets. I am a retired nurse and have always felt that common sense was the basis of a good diet. And I have also cast a skeptic eye on any research studies that banned one kind of food or diet. Dr Carroll deals with these and other issues. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a balanced and sane diet. I also recommend is YouTube channel, "Healthcare Triage." I'm a regular watcher. This is the kind of book you want to read more than once but you also want to shave with friends and family.

I really enjoyed this book. So many times the media rushes to cover the latest and "greatest" in food research. So much of it is contradictory.As a researcher, Carroll explores the studies and also explains which are better than others in terms of the style of study and what that type of study could actually prove. Among the topics he covered: butter/fats, carbs, artificial sweeteners, sugar and alcohol. He made a good point that if fear drove all our decisions the way it does sugar, we'd never get in a car. Lots of good, sensible advice in all the topics.

May favorite revelation in the book is that being fat, along with it's related health issues, causes diet soda, not the other way around.

I was constantly annoying my spouse while reading this book by randomly interjecting with details from this book. I feel like I've learned more about personal nutrition (and statistical analysis... Who knew!) by reading this one book than I have in actual nutrition and health classes. I also feel much better now about trying to maintain my family's ethnic foodways as I cook for my children, knowing that most of the food-shaming I'd encountered growing up isn't necessarily backed up by research. Thanks, doc!

Loved this book, the most significant thing I got out of this book is how nutrition research is lacking at best, how things become trends from small sample size studies, I know people are always looking for the magic bullet, we want to be able to eat anything then take a pill to negate the calories. Deep down I think most people know how they should be eating, there is no great revelation, eat anything in moderation.

Really enjoyed this book, and I admire the author's reliance on studies and research to inform his readers, rather than anecdotes - he also does the work of letting you know what weight certain research carries and whether the results should be taken with a pinch of salt - just one foodstuff he delves into, alongside other controversial foods and food components like meat, dairy, fats, MSG and alcohol.It was an easy read and the way the book was structured, you can read a chapter and leave it down again, since each chapter is about one particular foodstuff. Liked the personal touch of the author's own experiences with friends, family and colleagues too.Well worth a read if you're interested in nutrition or cooking.

His introduction is devoted to explaining the different types of scientific studies. This is helpful and made me appreciate the many hours he must have spent sorting through reams of research of variable quality to come up with conclusions that are supportable. Each chapter examines the research surrounding a particular food type. He covers, butter/animal fats, meat, eggs, salt, gluten, GMO's, alcohol, caffeine, diet soda, MSG, and organic foods. Unfortunately, sugar is left out, except by inference in comparison to artificial sweeteners.Well written, well explained, with practical advice.

I 'm a medical student in Germany (you don't have to be one yourself to understand the book ;) ), following Health Care Triage and thought i give this book a go. Dietary Habits are becoming an ever more growing part of the peoples life. The media knows this fact very well and utilizes it perfectly. Even more you need a book like that, which gives a very good overview about the most controversial foods and eating habits. It approaches the problems very scientifically and embraces the, maybe most valuable, philosophy in medicine : moderation is key.Definitely worth reading!

I have and will cite and quote this book! It dispels many food 'myths' and clarifies good eating habits without fads and confusing advice. Eat! Eat right! Be mindful and balanced and don't overdo anything.

well thought out and well referenced. Maybe a little overpriced for what it is, but supports a good cause so factor that in.