Better Not Burn Your Toast, Dr. Joe Schwarcz
Better Not Burn Your Toast, Dr. Joe Schwarcz
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Better Not Burn Your Toast
The Science of Food and Health

Author: Dr. Joe Schwarcz

Narrator: Joel Richards

Unabridged: 9 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/04/2025


Synopsis

If you have an appetite for digestible science, you will find plenty of tasty morsels here.

Discover why some people see red over red food dyes, why Sherlock Holmes was interested in jellyfish, why King George III was plagued with purple urine, and why phrenology is a pseudoscience. You will learn about the links between the Pope, Lionel Messi, and yerba mate, Harry Potter and the mandrake root, and how Bicycle Day came to commemorate the first use of LSD. Have you ever wondered whether negative ions have positive effects, if memory supplements work, if performance-enhancing supplements really enhance performance, or if taurine in Red Bull is a lot of bull? Look no further. Are you confused about ultra-processed foods, free radicals, calcium propionate in your daily bread, endocrine disruptors, preservatives, rejuvenation, aspartame, Ozempic, Oxycontin, or whether you can eat to beat disease? You've come to the right place.

You will also find out why Woody Allen's "orgasmatron" in Sleeper was a parody of an actual device created by Wilhelm Reich, how time-restricted eating works, why kimchi traveled to outer space, and where not to stick a magnesium rod. Then, of course, you will also discover why you should not burn your toast!

About Dr. Joe Schwarcz

Dr. Joe Schwarcz is the director of McGill University's Office for Science and Society, which has the mission of separating sense from nonsense. He hosts a radio show, appears on television, and writes a regular newspaper column. Dr. Joe is also an amateur magician and lives in Montreal, Quebec.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Blaine on January 09, 2026

Interesting book with short simple chapters in which the author explores Chemistry on everyday items, from Toast, to Tomatoes and Yerba Matte tea. All in all over 40 chapters. Does a super job correlating fun facts but the actual chemistry is going to be difficult for many to follow. But I love how......more

Goodreads review by Kyla on November 11, 2025

I learned so much, the author makes chemistry entertaining! Could not put it down......more

Goodreads review by Sarah on June 08, 2025

Book Review: Better Not Burn Your Toast: The Science of Food and Health by Joe Schwarcz As a public health practitioner, I found Better Not Burn Your Toast to be a compelling and accessible exploration of the intersection between food science and health. Dr. Joe Schwarcz masterfully breaks down compl......more

Goodreads review by Elisa on September 09, 2025

Anyone interested in learning about the science of nutrition can stomach a long, boring technical manual, or they can just read this fun volume. Being a chemist, Dr. Schwarcz has the tools to debunk misinformation and, even when he is not sure whether something is true, he explains the different the......more

Goodreads review by Sekar on November 10, 2025

When I first looked at the table of contents, I was genuinely surprised by how detailed this book is. It opens with a topic I rarely see handled well, science and uncertainty. As someone who works around science, I know how uncomfortable people can feel with the idea that certainty is rare. Even pro......more