Nowadays, slapping the golden word "diet" on the cover of a book is practically a guarantee that the volume will be a best-seller. Fat has not been fashionable for centuries, but now it has become dangerous to one's health as well.
We've all heard the daunting statistic that 60 percent of Americans are overweight and at risk for diabetes, heart disease and premature death, but no one seems to know how exactly to solve the problem--except those Dr. Atkins wannabes who are voicing their opinions faster than you can say "super-size, please."
But this summer, beyond promising to send the reader on the express track to Skinny Land, several books dare to dig deeper to the issues at the core.
Food Politics by Marion Nestle
Nestle takes on the oft-vilified demon of capitalism as he examines the ways corporate America influences our personal eating habits through a bombardment of advertisements for sugary food and other power plays. In Food Politics, the fast food culture is compared to Big Tobacco, as obesity is replacing smoking as the leading preventable cause of death. He argues that this generation is treating food as the new sex, seeking pleasure above all else. Add food companies' obsession with profit turning to the mix of our vulnerable taste buds, and obesity almost seems like an inevitable result. Nestle ultimately arrives at one beautiful, simple truth that the media won't tell you: If you are obese, please, just eat less.
The Hungry Gene: The Science of Fat and the Future of Thin by Ellen Shell
Shell's insightful observations and amusing, narrative style transform the dullest of obesity research into dramatic, little episodes starring saucy fat cells. While the true story of an average mouse turning into a giant blob in the absence of hunger-regulating genes reads like a literary soap opera, Shell spends an equal amount of time focusing on public health issues and consumer junk consumption. Shell ultimately arrives at the conclusion that, in the end, the consumer has the power to decide between cake and celery.
Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critiser
No one is as brutally candid about America's delusion about the merits of sugar and fat as Greg Critiser, who takes readers on a journey into the social, political and economic reasons America has transformed into a land of lard in a few short decades. Every aspect of American life is dissected until another blame factor for obesity is found. No one escapes from Critiser's culprit list--not fast food marketers, schools or even religion. Although Critiser's exposé contains a few glaring blunders, most of his ideas are well researched and presented in a format that appeals to even the most unsophisticated of audiences. So alarming is his tale, readers will tremble next time they stumble into the snacks section of the grocery store.
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