Metabolical, by Dr. Robert Lustig, is one of the most consequential books I’ve read in several years, and I strongly encourage you to put it at the top of your to-read list.
Dr. Lustig covers the waterfront when it comes to how nutrition affects health, particularly metabolic health, and how the food industry impacts our world. His argument basically boils down to the premise that it’s our food system itself that contributes to so many metabolic disorders and health problems, not our character or lack of willpower. In turn, Dr. Lustig takes on the federal government for subsidizing sugar, corn, soy, and wheat; the food industry for taking food and transforming it into non-food; and even the pharmaceutical industry. He also connects what we eat with impacts on climate change. If there is a sore spot or controversial topic related to what and how we eat, I’m pretty sure that Dr. Lustig has confidently trod upon it.
What he has to say about what he describes as three immoral hazards to our way of life is also powerful, full of details, and well worth all our time to consider.
His book is also a call to eat real food. I love his argument that there is no such thing as junk food; there is junk that can move through our bodies and there is food. In a podcast interview that was promoting this book, I heard Dr. Lustig say that he sometimes speaks at churches, and his nutrition advice breaks down to: eat God-man food, not man-made junk. And, he points out that the truth about the quite confusing argument among the keto/paleo crowd and the vegetarian/vegan crowd is that as long as one is consuming real food and not processed junk (goodness knows there’s quite a bit of keto and vegan junk on the market), a person is likely to be healthier adopting either strategy than eating the Standard American Diet. His advice reminds me of Michael Pollan’s advice to eat real food, mostly plants, and not too much.
This topic is of interest to me because the public is increasingly become aware of the link between what we consume and how we feel, both physically and mentally. In addition, I have experienced that my clients who improve their diets improve their physical health, mental health, and outlook on life.
As usual, if you are a client of mine, you are welcome to borrow my copy of this book. If you’re not, please go find a copy. You may not agree with everything Dr. Lustig has to say, but you will be better informed about a system that is broken and harmful.