Diet Myths that Keep Us Fat

I just wrapped up reading the book Diet Myths That Keep Us Fat (and the 101 truths that will save your waistline-and maybe even your life) by Nancy Snyderman, MD. If you've heard her name before, it's probably because she's the medical correspondent for NBC news. She's a doctor, a correspondent, a TV personality...so I suppose that qualifies her as being an authority, certainly moreso than the numerous names that are slapped onto books without any verifiable backgrounds for the majority of us to find.

Nancy apparently has a real love of commas...I don't know why that stuck out to me, but it did. I thought she totally overused commas.

As for the content, though, it was a good summary of a number of the little floating bits of information and misinformation floating around out there. It reviews carbs. It review fats. It reviews pills and supplements and sugars found in foods and all sorts of wonderful things. It also has plenty of "truths" written in colored boxes that review things like, "You can lose more weight in cold weather" (sure!), "Belly fat has been linked to dementia" (yuppers), and "Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat" (a pound is a pound, dude...)

There was one item that I was skeptical of. On page 158 there is a blink bit about certain OTC painkillers helping muscle development in workouts. Being someone who has been having trouble seeing any results in my workouts, I thought this might be worth following up on...only to find that every hit of the keywords "advil muscle growth" is coming up with the opposite information. They inhibit growth! Yikes! I don't see any information in the back of the books, the notes, about where she would be citing information from what study. She has plenty of citations, just not for that "truth" I was looking for. I don't think after doing some quick Googling that it's a good idea to try taking the painkillers for a boost in results.

Otherwise it's a good book. Quick read, just took me a few nights to get through. I did skip the section on Nancy Snyderman's own dieting plan, though. Just stick to checking out her take on the 10 myths and see how many misconceptions she clears up for you!