What to Eat When

I picked up this book off a shelf out of pure curiosity. Thinking how I habitually eat oranges for vitamin C when facing a headcold, or have chicken soup when recovering from the flu or even just the daily cup of tea in the morning (coffee for my husband)- this book purports that when you eat certain foods is just as important for your body’s health and optimal function as what exactly you’re eating. The main takeaways I got from the little I listened to (DNF), was: front-load your daily calories ie eat a big breakfast, a lighter lunch and a small supper. Don’t indulge in late-night snacking. And the usual no-brainer: eat less processed stuff, more whole foods, more vegetables, etc. There’s a lot more info but I kept tuning out because it went on and on about things I purposefully avoid, so I had trouble listening to more. Frequently says how great walnuts are- well, I have an alarming reaction to walnuts. He purports how good oatmeal is for dinner (and cold to boot) but oatmeal gives me stomachaches. (Also kept saying you should eat potatoes cold, I’m not sure I understand why). And of course there’s constant touting of the benefits of whole grain bread- but I’m still adamantly gluten-free. It’s not too hard to mentally stick amaranth cereal or sorghum in my head every time he said whole grains but that alongside the frequent references to excellent walnuts just made me feel tired. So I quit listening to this one for personal reasons, not because I think it’s full of poor or unsound advice. (Although this is the first time I’ve heard that egg yolks are bad for you- really?) I didn’t get far enough to assess it that way.

Borrowed from the public library in audiobook format, 7 hours narrated by Lloyd James. I made it through 3 discs of 8 or 10 (don’t have it in front of me now and can’t recall exactly how many were in the case).