Eat This, Not That! by David Zinczenko

This is the book you’ve been waiting for. We all know how important diet is if you’re looking to lose weight and get healthy, but trying to figure out what’s good and what’s not can be an overwhelming experience. In this appealing little book, David Zinczenko, Editor-in-Chief of Men’s Health Magazine, shows the reader how to take small but important steps towards eating better. In the chapters on supermarket foods and famous fast food restaurant chains, Zinczenko explicitly tells the reader not to eat one item, and to instead swap it for a similar, healthier substitute. He includes the reasons why -- usually the foods to avoid have high calorie counts, too many grams of fat, or they’re surprisingly high in sodium. Thankfully, the alternatives he suggests often look and sound just as appetizing, and somehow, becoming informed about what’s really lurking in the unhealthy choice can make that food much less appetizing. For instance, did you know that the innocuous Multi-grain Bagel at Dunkin’ Donuts is one of the unhealthiest options they have? Surprisingly, you’ll find fewer calories in their Ham Egg & Cheese English Muffin Sandwich.

Also informative are the notes and sidebars full of tips, and the chapters on beverages, foods to eat every day, menu decoding, and what to eat when. This book (and others in the series) was a perfect complement to last week’s ELA Media Unit focusing on analyzing food media.  --Anja Kennedy