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In the second edition of
Food and Nutrition: What Everyone Needs to Know®, Harvard- and Columbia-trained scientist and food lover Dr. P.K. Newby applies a multidisciplinary lens and ecological paradigm to shine a spotlight on today's food problems, farm to fork and far beyond, while sharing the keys to creating healthy and sustainable diets for ourselves and the planet we share. Updated chapters reveal striking new data on plant-based diets, longevity, and sustainability; food and mental health; diet, COVID-19, and immunity; mega-factory-farming and climate change; and ultra-processed foods and chronic disease.
List of contents
- Preface: Confused About What to Eat for Good Health and a Green Planet? The Truth Is Out There
- Acknowledgments
- Part I. Introduction: The State of Food, Nutrition, and Our Environment
- 1. Setting the Stage: Who Grows Food, What Are We Eating, and Why Is Science So Important?
- 2. Diet and Disease: New and Continuing Public Health Threats
- 3. Big Food Costs: Environmental Damage, Resource Depletion, and Climate Change
- Part II. Dining Throughout Human History: Science, Technology, Eater, Environment
- 4. How Revolutions, Discoveries, and Inventions Shape Our Diets: Paleo to Present
- 5. Contemporary Food Production and Processing
- 6. Pop Nutrition and Buzzwords: Fact or Fiction?
- 7. Diet Drivers in Today's Food Environments: Why, How, When, and Where We Eat
- Part III. Nutrition 101: Essential Building Blocks, Ecological Context
- 8. Water: Hydration, Fluoridation, and Plastic Contamination
- 9. Vitamins, Minerals, and Phytochemicals
- 10. Carbohydrates, Sugar, and Fiber
- 11. The Facts on Fats and Environmental Impacts
- 12. The Truth About Protein and Amino Acids
- 13 Alcohol and Health: Cheers!?
- Part IV. Food, Glorious Food: The Powers and Pleasures of Plant-Based Diets
- 14. Spilling the Beans on Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate
- 15. Vegetables and Fruits: Devour the Rainbow
- 16. The Whole Truth: Cereal Grains, Grass, and Gluten
- 17. Beautiful Beans and Other Plant Proteins
- Part V. All About Animal Foods: Mega-Factory-Farm to Fork and Beyond
- 18. Making the Meat You Eat: There's Nothing Natural About It
- 19. Meat and Eggs: Are Some Choices Better than Others?
- 20. Milk, Dairy, and Yogurt: Nutritional Benefits and Risks
- 21. Fishy Matters: Wild Caught, Farmed, and Health Considerations
- Part VI. The Food Revolution: Creating Healthy and Sustainable Diets for All
- 22. Solving Food and Nutrition Problems: Strategies, Goals, and Gaps
- 23. Best Evidence for Losing Weight and Living Longer
- 24. Step Up Your Food Game and Stay in the Know
- 25. The Intertwined Future of Food and Nutrition
- Notes
- Selected References
- Index
About the author
P.K. Newby, ScD, MPH, MS, is a Harvard- and Columbia-trained scientist and thought-leader whose multidisciplinary background creates a richly textured view on why what we eat matters, farm to fork and far beyond. Dr. Newby is an expert on diet, chronic disease prevention, and sustainability, bringing deep knowledge and sound scientific evidence into today's critical conversations--and fights misinformation in all the ways she can. Dr. Newby has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications as well as multiple books and e-books, including National Geographic's
Superfoods (2015) and
Foods for Health (2014). She previously served on the faculties at Tufts, Boston University, and Harvard, where she won multiple research, teaching, and leadership awards.
Newby's passion for nutrition stems from a life-long love affair with food, from cooking, baking, and gardening to working in the restaurant industry. She was one of the "best undiscovered cooks" on ABC's
The Taste(2015), where she created plant-based, globally-inspired cuisine rooted in her Healthy Hedonism philosophy. In 2019, Dr. Newby launched her second company, Food Matters Media, with the mission to build a kinder and more just food system that promotes health, longevity, and sustainability while protecting people and the planet and all its inhabitants.
