Calories—too few or too many—are the source of health problems affecting billions of people in today’s globalized world. Although calories are essential to human health and survival, they cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted. They are also hard to understand. In Why Calories Count, Marion Nestle and Malden Nesheim explain in clear and accessible language what calories are and how they work, both biologically and politically. As they take readers through the issues that are fundamental to our understanding of diet and food, weight gain, loss, and obesity, Nestle and Nesheim sort through a great deal of the misinformation put forth by food manufacturers and diet program promoters. They elucidate the political stakes and show how federal and corporate policies have come together to create an “eat more” environment. Finally, having armed readers with the necessary information to interpret food labels, evaluate diet claims, and understand evidence as presented in popular media, the authors offer some candid advice: Get organized. Eat less. Eat better. Move more. Get political.
Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health and Professor of Sociology at New York University. She is the author of What to Eat and, from UC Press, Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health; Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety; and Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine. Malden Nesheim is Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University. He is coauthor (with Marion Nestle) of Feed Your Pet Right: The Authoritative Guide to Feeding Your Dog and Cat and (with Ann L. Yaktine) of the Institute of Medicine report Seafood Choices: Balancing Benefits and Risks.
Table of Contents
Introduction Part One. Understanding Calories: It All Starts with the Science 1. What Is a Calorie? 2. The History: From Ancient Greece to Modern Calorie Science 3. Foods: How Scientists Count the Calories 4. Bodies: How Scientists Measure the Use of Calories Part Two. Why You Need Calories: Survival, Warmth, and Work 5. Metabolism: How the Body Turns Food into Energy 6. The First Use of Calories: Basic Life Functions 7. The Second Use: Heat Losses while Metabolizing Food 8. The Third Use: Physical Activity Part Three. Calorie Intake and Its Regulation 9. How Many Calories Do You Need? 10. Calorie Confusion: The Struggle to Estimate Intake 11. Secret Calories: Alcohol 12. Calorie Regulation: The Body’s Complex Weight Management System Part Four. Too Few Calories 13. Starvation and Its Effects on the Body 14. Individuals, Communities, Nations: Calories and Global Hunger 15. Could Restricting Calories Prolong Human Life? Part Five. Too Many Calories 16. An Introduction to Obesity 17. Calories and Weight Gain: Another Complex Relationship 18. Do Excess Calories Make Some People Gain Weight Faster than Others? 19. Are All Calories Created Equal? 20. Do Some Kinds of Diets Work Better than Others? Part Six. The Politics of Calories: A Closer Look 21. Today’s “Eat More” Environment: The Role of the Food Industry 22. More Calorie Confusion: Portion Distortion, Health Halos,and Wishful Thinking 23. Calorie Labeling: Science and Politics 24. Alcohol Labels: Industry vs. Consumers 25. Will Calorie Labels Help Fight Obesity? Conclusion: How to Cope with the Calorie Environment Appendix One. Selected Events in the History of Calories, 1614 – 1919 Appendix Two. The Respiratory Quotient (RQ) Appendix Three. Frequently Asked Questions Notes List of Tables List of Figures Acknowledgments Index
"The most succinct diet book ever written."—The Scientist
"People should read this book. They should read it if they are obsessive weight-watchers or serial dieters, or just concerned about what their children eat. They should read it if they work in public health, the food industry, catering, or education."—Times Higher Education
"Takes the science of calories and breaks it down for the rest of us."—San Francisco Chronicle
"This book will help dispel many of the commonly held myths we have about eating. An informative and interesting read for those who want to know the science behind calories, food and weight."
