This book by Dr. Walter C. Willett is the second of two very good books on nutrition I am reviewing. The first was `Nourishing Traditions'. Both works have fairly impressive documentation for their claims from scientific literature. I just wish they would agree on all major points. The irony of the disagreement is that both appear to be railing against the same establishment that is based on endorsing a diet heavy in empty carbohydrates and demonizing fats.
Dr. Willett differs from Ms. Fallon and co-authors in his recommending as small as possible an intake of animal fats from butter, eggs, and meat. The basis of their difference lies in the effect of dietary intake of cholesterol (in contrast to cholesterol manufactured by the body) and in the nutritional value gained from both animal proteins and fats. Dr. Willet's position, backed up by the authority of the Harvard School of Public Health seems more in accord with today's conventional wisdom. Oddly enough, Ms. Fallon's principle demon is another Harvard professor pictured as being in the pay of major American food processors.
The two authors agree on most other things, especially in endorsing whole grains, mono-unsaturated oils, and fish for their omega-3 fatty acids. They also agree on the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet. Dr. Willett goes further to clarify this issue by pointing out that it is not enough to concentrate on any regionally based diet. The Mediterranean diet happens to be healthy due to the conjunction of olive culture, seafood, and grape culture. Those Italians and Greeks just lucked out, I guess. I can confirm this observation by mentioning that two ethnic American diets, the Gullah diet of the Carolina islands and the Pennsylvania Dutch diet appear to be particularly unhealthy due to the high concentration of animal fat, butter, processed flour, and processed sugar in these diets.
While I have an enormous respect for Ms. Fallon's book and I would probably adopt it's recommendations wholeheartedly if I lived alone, the recommendations in Dr. Willett's book appear to be more conservative and easier to follow. Given the great complexity of any reasonable model for human nutrition, in a world of less than perfect knowledge, the simpler course certainly seems to be the more preferable. Happily, both authors agree that one secret to good nutrition is variety. While Willett doesn't say this in so many words, he comes close to characterizing the great American meal of red meat and potatoes as a step removed from poison.
Willet's great adversary is the US Department of Agriculture's food pyramid that he says, quite correctly, I believe, is simply wrong. The three greatest sins are:
Placing carbohydrates at the broad base of the pyramid with no distinction between valuable whole grains and nutritionally empty processed wheat and sugar.
Placing oils at the top of the pyramid with no distinction between harmful fats and healthy olive oil, fish oils, and other healthy lipids.
Placing potatoes, another source of empty carbohydrates in the large stage near the bottom with other, much more healthy vegetables.
The scariest thing about processed carbohydrates is not only do they provide no value, they actually steal things from your body and create dangerous situations. The author balances this warning with a wealth of information on alternate grains, starting with whole wheat and covering the entire repetoire of ancient grains such as spelt, millet, quinoa, flaxseed, and buckwheat.
In place of the USDA pyramid, Willett and allies create a new pyramid correcting these errors. It also adds a strong recommendation for exercise, an endorsement of a multivitamin, and a confirmation of the beneficial properties of small amounts of alcohol, primarily red wines. More of that Mediterranean thing!
As someone who has always been fond of both bread and pasta, my biggest puzzle over these recommendations is that how can, for example, the southern Italian diet be seen as being so healthy when it is literally loaded with these two sources of carbohydrates. I suspect the answer lies very much with portion size and the wisdom of several courses spread out over a longer time at the table than most Americans seem to afford.
Please read this book and consider its recommendations very carefully. I suspect some of these recommendations will change as science moves on and I hope the prospects for animal fats improve. But meanwhile, this is as good as it gets for recommendations on nutrition.
