The Angry Chef: Bad Science and the Truth About Healthy Eating

Description

Never before have we had so much information available to us about food and health. There's GAPS, paleo, detox, gluten-free, alkaline, the sugar conspiracy, clean eating... Unfortunately, a lot of it is not only wrong but actually harmful. So why do so many of us believe this bad science? Assembling a crack team of psychiatrists, behavioural economists, food scientists and dietitians, the Angry Chef unravels the mystery of why sensible, intelligent people are so easily taken in by the latest food fads, making brief detours for an expletive-laden rant. At the end of it all you'll have the tools to spot pseudoscience for yourself and the Angry Chef will be off for a nice cup of tea - and it will have two sugars in it, thank you very much.

Anthony Warner is a professional chef and blogger. A regular contributor to New Scientist and The Pool, his blog has been featured in the Guardian, Mail on Sunday and other publications. In 2017, he was named on the Telegraph's Food Power List of tastemakers changing the way we eat and drink. He lives in Nottinghamshire, blogs at angry-chef.com and you can follow him @One_Angry_Chef.

'An entertaining expose of the 'bad science' behind food fads.' * Sainsbury's Magazine * 'A terrific and...much-needed book: both heartfelt and thoughtful, often funny and, above all, utterly convincing.' * James Walton, Daily Telegraph * 'One by one Warner demolishes popular food myths...this [is] a book that will allow you to enjoy food with less guilt; it might even save lives.' * Guardian * 'If you've ever wondered why kale, avocado toast and sweet potatoes are ubiquitous, or if you tear your hair out over the "clean-eating" fad, then the Angry Chef is your man.' * The Sunday Times * 'Funny and forensic.' * Financial Times Summer Books 2017 * 'The Angry Chef deserves to be widely read. It covers all the bases with aplomb. The world needs a popular science book to help people tell the difference between science and opinion.' * Spectator * 'Warner's dismantling of the faddists' fads, their gullibility and idiocy is precise, witty and more humane than I can find it in myself to be.' * Michael Bywater, Literary Review * 'As a restaurant critic, qualified chef and greedy person, I found the book fascinating...this is a thoughtful, forensically researched and referenced work on healthy eating and, more importantly, it's entertaining.' -- Lisa Markwell * Evening Standard * 'This is an important book, and a good one. It's ambitious and well-researched and timely...Food science can be a dry topic, but Warner manages to make it an entertaining one.' * Spectator * 'Pragmatic, funny and most important of all, true.' -- Tom Parker Bowles * Mail on Sunday * 'Warner has simply and emphatically decided that the time has come to expose and question the false assertions and bogus science propounded by nutrition experts, dieticians and public-health gurus who, given half a chance, would force-feed us exclusively on kale smoothies, quinoa bowls, lemon water, green juices and coconut oil.' * The Times * 'A tonic for those who've had their fill of the 'clean-eating' brigade.' * Irish Independent * 'Paleo, GAPS, alkaline, detox... so many diets, but do any of them actually work? With scientific rigour and a generous helping of expletives, Warner takes on the food fads one by one, and asks why we're so easily taken in by pseudoscience in the first place.' * BBC Science Focus, 70 best science books you need to read in 2021 * 'The health food industry has gone mad, but finally there has been an awakening. The Angry Chef is at the forefront, spewing out facts and exploding the wellness bloggers' "theories" with rock solid science.' -- Gizzi Erskine 'The popular understanding of nutrition is clouded by superstitions, primitive intuitions, conspiracy theories, and old spouses' tales. This irreverent and intelligent expose brings sanity and good sense to one of life's great pleasures.' -- Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of How the Mind Works 'If it wasn't for the fact that there is no God, I'd thank him for bringing us the Angry Chef. In this brilliant book he systematically demolishes every single piece of food-related faddery, hack science, nutritional fakery and clean-eating cobblers in a manner that should make every so-called "wellness" and "nutrition" guru hang their heads in shame.' -- Jay Rayner, journalist and broadcaster 'A wonderfully bracing and funny tirade against the harm and nonsense of food fads. If you've ever been tempted to go on "a detox" or try clean eating, you need this book. Yes, Angry Chef is angry, but he is also trying to get us back to the point beyond the crazy "superfoods" and guilt where eating is actually a joy.' * Bee Wilson, author of This Is Not A Diet Book and First Bite * 'Thank God for the outspoken, intelligent, well-informed Anthony Warner. Someone had to say it (the Clean Gut cult is tosh) and he does - forcefully, amusingly and, convincingly.' -- Prue Leith 'The Angry Chef provides a refreshing insight into the importance of academic and scientific rigour in the interpretation and communication of nutrition. I will reference examples from this text when teaching both students and practitioners of nutrition and dietetics about the fickle, unquestioning nonsense appearing online and in the media.' -- Kevin Whelan, professor of dietetics, King's College London