What to Eat: The Ten Things You Really Need to Know to Eat Well and Be Healthy

I just finished reading this book and was amazed at the incredible amount of information contained between its covers. Not only does Dr. Light discuss "what to eat" as the book's title tells us, it also engages us with eminently readable accounts of the influences of government and the food industry on what ultimately gets presented to the American public in the form of things like the food pyramid and other nutrition related reports. Add a mind boggling chapter on nutrition related illness, as well as another on obesity and diet and you have all the basics you really need to know in one book. It may well be that the recipe for hummus included in the short, sample menu section is alone worth the price of the book...yum!

Dr. Luise Light offers a fascinating under-the-covers look at what happens when government agencies climb in bed with big business. Did you ever wonder how our U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1980 came up with a food pyramid that encouraged people to pig out on 6-11 servings of bread, pasta, bagels, cereal, crackers and other cheap, starchy carbs every day? Did you know that this recommendation differs little from the USDA's advice to farmers on how to fatten pigs? No wonder the U.S. is in the midst of an obesity epidemic! Dr Light once worked for the USDA. She and other experts had proposed a far healthier, science-based food pyramid that would have encouraged real, whole foods only to see it deconstructed by higher-ups kowtowing to the greedy grain cartel and processed food industry. The FDA,too,has forgotten its mission as America's "foremost consumer agency" as shown by its approval of lethal drugs like Vioxx, neuro-toxic ingredients like aspartame and a spurious health claim for soy protein. Unhappily, she has plenty more evidence of government corruption and industry arm twisting. What to do? Dr. Light recommends grass-roots, local and personal solutions. We the people must not only speak out and join up but vote with our dollars in favor of real, live, whole, organic and slow foods. If her ten commandments for healthy eating seem obvious, the bottom line is that common sense is uncommon. How else can we explain the fact that 250 million Americans are sick, tired and malnourished yet continue to gorge daily on packaged, processed, damaged, dead and fast foods? Clearly, a whole lot of people need Dr. Light to hold their hands as they learn the ABCs of real food and take those difficult first ten steps. For those able and willing to go the distance, Dr. Light wisely and generously refers readers to the Weston A. Price Foundation and other independent, courageous and forward-thinking nutritional and environmental organizations.

This book is a welcome change of pace from the common diet mentality. Dr. Light exposes the hidden fact that our processed food has little nutritive value. She explains why, as a nation, we literally can't get enough of this high priced low value commodity. Unlike other exposés, she doesn't just leave us hanging seeking answers. The book contains hands on advise on how to cleanup our act as well as clean out out cupboards of this insidious junk food. Next we discover the joys of `real' food and there is a wonderful array of recipes thrown in to sweeten the pot. This book is an honest, refreshing and much needed look at why we eat what we eat. After reading it, you will be eager to make the life changes Dr. Light outlines.

I first met Luise Light several years ago after I wrote a paper criticizing the USDA's Food Pyramid. Perhaps it was to be expected that the "Department of Agriculture" would come up with a diet guideline based on a foundation of "6 to 11 servings" of starchy grain products a day. This "advice," I wrote, seemed to be both ridiculous and dangerous to one's health. Luise saw my article and dropped me a note introducing herself as the nutrition expert hired by the USDA to create the Food Pyramid. I was momentarily taken aback, but Dr. Light quickly reassured me that she agreed with what I had written. She explained that the Food Pyramid given to the unsuspecting public bore little resemblance to the real Pyramid she and her team of experts had created. The real Pyramid called for a diet based on fresh vegetables and fruits. Instead, this Pyramid was altered prior to being published. The altered Pyramid suggested a cheap, starch-filled diet, but the resulting protests from Luise and her team fell on deaf ears. While the starch-based diet would create healthy profits for the grain and cereal industry, the Americans following such diet guidelines would pay for it with something more than mere dollars. They would pay for it with their health. Luise's information was stunning and it served as somber affirmation of a long-denied suspicion: that "official government approval" was indeed being swayed by corporate interests. Here was evidence that, in its official capacity, the government had participated in one of the most monumental and far-reaching lies in US history - a lie that predictably resulted in the current epidemic of obesity and ill-health in America. Luise Light's timely book, "What to Eat," not only bravely exposes the corruption she witnessed, but it does so in a constructive and informative manner. Her book contains the simple ingredients necessary for a healthy diet to truly live by, and shining through this book are the kindness and integrity of a woman who has devoted her life to teaching others the simple rules of proper nutrition so that they might enjoy the good health that is their birthright. It seems that the old saying is true: we are what we eat. At this time, approximately two-thirds of American adults have eaten their way into a state of ill health or obesity, through no particular fault of their own. "What to Eat" should be in every household in America, it should be used as a teaching tool in all schools, used as a planning guide in all cafeterias and lunch rooms, and it should be required reading for all healthcare professionals.

Is it any surprise to learn that American consumers are being conned by the USDA? Dr. Luise Light's book, "What to Eat; The Ten Things You Really Need to Know to Eat Well and Be Healthy", reads like a detective novel, exposing scathing secrets of corporate and government malfeasance. During her career as the nutrition director for the USDA, Light witnessed the blatantly cozy relationships that existed between the USDA and the food and agricultural lobbies and lobbyists. Not only did she witness the cover-up of an important study linking diet with major chronic diseases, she also witnessed dangerous changes that were made to the 1992 US Food Pyramid Guide to satisfy corporate interests rather than to protect the public's health. In fact, she warned the USDA that those very changes would cause an epidemic of obesity and diabetes, a warning that looks more like prophesy, today. According to Light, "One thing I learned working in the government was that there are no gratuitous acts. Actions and reactions are designed to control the agenda, limit public access to potentially dangerous (to lobbyists) information, and protect under-the-radar arrangements between commercial interests and government agents." In her new book, Light explains the connection between nutrition and many of the life-threatening chronic diseases prevalent today. Now that she is no longer held back from exposing the truth, she describes the numerous illnesses that are connected to what she calls, "nutritional malaise," including memory loss, loss of balance, depression, sadness, anxiety, pessimism, "road rage", low energy, "mind freeze", eye strain, generalized aches and pains, migraines, abdominal discomfort, frequent colds and flu and massive weight gain. According to Light, these are all indications of "biochemical chaos" that can be corrected with good nutrition. The choice is clear -- you can start eating a balanced diet, based on real food, or you can let your symptoms progress and develop into devastating chronic conditions such as, heart disease, obesity, gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, osteoporosis, asthma, arthritis and many others. Light has her own testimonial to share about her struggle to regain her health after collapsing with a chronic, disabling illness. Her very inspirational story helps to reinforce her message about the interconnection between nutrition and physical and mental health. Her story will resonate with many individuals struggling today with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, hypothyroidism, depression and unexplained, massive weight gain. Even though the book tackles a very serious subject, Light manages to imbue it with humor, pointing out the irony of conventional medical approaches. "Don't worry about your diet, we have a pill for that!" Light's book offers practical advice not placebos to cut through the confusion about what's good to eat. Light assures you that you're not alone if you're having problems un