I'm sure you groan (as I do) at the sight of nutrition books written by 'experts' such as airline pilots, actors and celebritychefs. I should therefore warn you that the author of this book has been a greaser and a donut maker. He has also helda personal chair in nutrition at University of New England, directed a major poultry R & D Centre, and produced some450 research papers in human and animal nutrition (for non-academics among you, that's awesome). He has also made a major personal contribution to agriculture in developing countries, and last year was made a Fellow of theNutrition Society of Australia (their highest honour). On balance, these later achievements compensate for his earlycareer choices.He identifies the book's target audience as 'those primarily concerned with mankind's future direction and how we are being manipulated by politicians, scientists, spin doctors and greed' and hopes it will be 'of interest not only to scientists but to enquiring lay persons' (priv comm). It is not intended as a nutrition textbook in the conventional sense-so don't discard your treasured and well thumbed current textbook. It does cover many of the standard topics: e.

g. overweight and obesity; environment and energy; disease and dietary fibre; fats: the good the bad and the unhealthy; glycaemia, the glycaemic index and diabetes; weight-losing regimes. But it also delves into topics our textbooks often shy away from: GM foods; organicfarming; the palaeolithic diet; health care, the medical profession and drug companies; food and the food industry. So, a wide-ranging focus, as David prods you into thinking more critically about some of today's trendy nutrition concepts.To give you the flavour of his conclusions, his summary of healthy eating on p 226:. There are simple steps that need to be followed in ahealthy diet. Fruit, vegetables and pulses are at the top of the list. Refined carbohydrates (sugar and white flour) should be avoided as far as possible and wholemeal and natural products favoured.

Reduce intakes of fats and oils, particularly the polyunsaturated oils in all forms. Use butter in reasonable amounts. Monounsaturated oils are recommended. Animal protein, particularly fish and poultry products, are in. Red meat is limited. Processed foods are on the restricted list. Take away foods are a treat. I think that many of us would agree with much of thepreceding quote, although (like me) you may quibble on a couple of points.

He takes eloquent, and not always approving, aim at various targets:- professional nutrition conferences (on p viii: 'No longer are meetings held in modest surroundings, such as on university campuses and participants housed in college accommodation, but have moved into plush five-starhotels on the assumption that everyone is rich and wishes to embrace such luxury')- the medical establishment, the Heart Foundation, the pharmaceutical industry, the food industry and FAO- sugar, glycaemic index, red meat, the CSIRO diet, salt, omega-6 fats and trans fats (although he sees omega-3s as very good). He's sceptical about the claimed benefits of GM crops, organic farming and (at least for twenty-first century humans) the palaeolithic diet. The book is a stimulating journey with a richly informed nutritionist who writes in a clear and lively way, and provides extensive citations of the research literature (from both the twenty-first and the twentieth century). There were remarkably few typos. On several points, I found myself disagreeing with his conclusions, but his writing forced me to take a fresh look at the evidence base for my professional convictions. So, it was well worth reading-I learned a lot, and I thought a lot. (From an academic, that is a high accolade indeed!) I encourage you to read it yourself, and hope you derive similar benefit.Perhaps I should add that proceeds from the sale of this book will go to a project to help disadvantaged children in Cambodia.