Food, We Need to Talk: The Science-Based, Humor-Laced Last Word on Eating, Diet, and Making Peace with Your Body

In this thorough offering, Gjata and Harvard Medical School professor Phillips (coauthor, Organize Your Emotions, Optimize Your Life) adapt for the page their eponymous podcast about health and dieting. Gjata and Phillips take turns diving into scientific insights on nutrition and weight loss to provide guidance on exercising and eating right. The research surprises, as when the authors explain that losing weight lowers metabolism because the body becomes more efficient at conserving energy, and that restrictive dieting primes the body to regain lost weight by creating more cells to store fat. Even when the science gets complicated, Gjata’s humor leavens the proceedings. Diving into how the sympathetic adrenal medullary system affects stress and weight gain, she describes a study that found sadness leads people to eat more and remarks, “This is the last time I will watch The Notebook with snacks anywhere in my vicinity.” Additionally, readers will appreciate the straightforward nutritional guidelines, which include exhortations to limit processed foods and eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Scientific rigor and lighthearted prose put this a notch above other diet manuals. (July)

Correction: An earlier version of this review mischaracterized some of the authors' nutritional guidelines.