Just Eat, Barry Estabrook
Just Eat, Barry Estabrook
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Just Eat
One Reporter's Quest for a Weight-Loss Regimen that Works

Author: Barry Estabrook

Narrator: Jonathan Todd Ross

Unabridged: 5 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/02/2021


Synopsis

The New York Times bestselling author of Tomatoland test drives the most popular diets of our time, investigating the diet gurus, contradictory advice, and science behind the programs to reveal how we should—and shouldn’t—be dieting.
 
“Essential reading . . . This will completely change your ideas about what you should be eating.”—Ruth Reichl, author of Save Me the Plums

Investigative journalist Barry Estabrook was often on the receiving end of his doctor’s scowl. Realizing he had two options—take more medication or lose weight—Estabrook chose the latter, but was paralyzed by the options. Which diet would keep the weight off? What program could he maintain over time? What diet works best—or even at all?

Over the course of three years, Estabrook tried the regimens behind the most popular diets of the past forty years—from paleo, keto, gluten-free, and veganism to the Master Cleanse, Whole30, Atkins, Weight Watchers—examining the people, claims, and science behind the fads, all while recording his mental and physical experience of following each one. Along the way, he discovered that all the branded programs are derived from just three diets. There are effective, scientifically valid takeaways to be cherry-picked . . . and the rest is just marketing. Perhaps most alarming, Estabrook uncovered how short-term weight loss can do long-term health damage that may go undetected for years. Estabrook contextualizes his reporting with an analysis of our culture’s bizarre dieting history, dating back to the late 1800s, to create a thorough—and thoroughly entertaining—look at what specific diets do to our bodies, why some are more effective than others, and why our relationship with food is so fraught.

Estabrook’s account is a relatable, pragmatic look into the ways we try to improve our health through dieting, revealing the answer may be to just eat.

About Barry Estabrook

James Beard Award-winning journalist Barry Estabrook was a contributing editor at Gourmet magazine for eight years, writing investigative articles about where food comes from. He was the founding editor of Eating Well magazine and has written for the New York Times Magazine, Reader's Digest, Men's Health, Audubon, and the Washington Post, and contributes regularly to the Atlantic Monthly's website. His work has been anthologized in the Best American Food Writing series, and he has been interviewed on numerous television and radio shows. Barry lives and grows tomatoes in his garden in Vermont.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Alicia

This was an enjoyable read, even though it fell short for me in a few areas. The author is a journalist who had health and weight problems that led him to try a variety of popular diets and interview the "experts" in most of them. He starts with a fascinating look at the early diet books, which were......more

Goodreads review by Leith

I found this book fascinating in some places and boring in others. The author was personally motivated to lose weight. He tried just about every diet yesterday can think of, with various degrees of success. It was an enlightening read, but keep in mind that we all react differently to diets, and wha......more

Goodreads review by Aileen

Lots of— pardon the pun— food for thought here. Having tried a great deal of the diets and eating plans Estabrook researches here, it is interesting to see the tidbits we pick up from each that lead to a more healthful way of life.......more

Goodreads review by Rachel

*thank you to Netgalley, Barry Estabrook and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review* 4 stars. Is this yet another typical 'diet' book where the author swears that 'this' diet in particular is the cure all? No. Instead this book goes over a whole heap o......more

Goodreads review by Lynne

As a dietitian, I was very interested in reading this book. It is written by a reporter who was told by his physician to lose weight. He explored several different weight loss programs, trying them out to see if any worked for him. It was well-written with a lot of good information. Both scientific......more


Quotes

“The problem with many diets, as Barry Estabrook points out in his excellent new book, Just Eat, is that they ‘play down or completely ignore the important, sensual role’ of food.”—Hannah Goldfield,
The New Yorker

 
“ . . . deeply reported, page-turning . . .”—Matt Rodbard, Taste

“Fascinating . . . beautifully written . . . deeply researched . . . just so good.”—Dorie Greenspan

“. . . an enlightening first-person account focused on the diets that Americans attempt to follow and the cultures that seem to have found a healthy relationship with food.”—Matthew Rees, Wall Street Journal

Just Eat is unlike any diet book I’ve ever read. It is exhaustively researched, yet is an accessible, witty—sometimes laugh-out-loud—read that shines a light on the real reasons it’s so hard to lose weight and what the science shows can actually work.”—Shaun Dreisbach, nutrition and features editor of EatingWell
 

“Estabrook explores and simplifies a confusing diet landscape.”—Philip Ades, MD, Endowed Professor of Cardiovascular Prevention, The Robert Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont
 

“This will completely change your ideas about what you should be eating and whether you should even think about trying to lose weight.”—Tommy Tomlinson, author of The Elephant in the Room

“Estabrook packs a lot of highly useful information into a narrative that’s also enjoyably snarky. A lively tour of paunch and pantry that proves the adage that less is more.”—Kirkus Reviews