Nutritionism : the science and politics of dietary advice / Gyorgy Scrinis.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Popularized by Michael Pollan in his best-selling In Defense of Food , Gyorgy Scrinis's concept of nutritionism refers to the reductive understanding of nutrients as the key indicators of healthy food--an approach that has dominated nutrition science, dietary advice, and food marketing. Scrinis argues this ideology has narrowed and in some cases distorted our appreciation of food quality, such that even highly processed foods may be perceived as healthful depending on their content of "good" or "bad" nutrients. Investigating the butter versus margarine debate, the battle between low-fat, low-carb, and other weight-loss diets, and the food industry's strategic promotion of nutritionally enhanced foods, Scrinis reveals the scientific, social, and economic factors driving our modern fascination with nutrition.

Scrinis develops an original framework and terminology for analyzing the characteristics and consequences of nutritionism since the late nineteenth century. He begins with the era of quantification, in which the idea of protective nutrients, caloric reductionism, and vitamins' curative effects took shape. He follows with the era of good and bad nutritionism, which set nutricentric dietary guidelines and defined the parameters of unhealthy nutrients; and concludes with our current era of functional nutritionism, in which the focus has shifted to targeted nutrients, superfoods, and optimal diets. Scrinis's research underscores the critical role of nutrition science and dietary advice in shaping our relationship to food and our bodies and in heightening our nutritional anxieties. He ultimately shows how nutritionism has aligned the demands and perceived needs of consumers with the commercial interests of food manufacturers and corporations. Scrinis also offers an alternative paradigm for assessing the healthfulness of foods--the food quality paradigm--that privileges food production and processing quality, cultural-traditional knowledge, and sensual-practical experience, and promotes less reductive forms of nutrition research and dietary advice.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

We've all heard the phrase "you are what you eat," and whether you agree with the sentiment or not, it does imply that we know what we are eating. However, scholar Scrinis illustrates that that's not necessarily the case. Rejecting a concept he calls nutritionism ("the reductive understanding of nutrients as the key indicators of healthy food"), Scrinis lays out a framework for considering the evolving and sometimes divisive findings on what we should eat and why, how the body processes foods, and how governments, scientists, corporations, and marketers impact our understanding of all these concepts. This title examines the social, scientific, and cultural issues surrounding our comprehension of food, nutrition, and health and points out that those factors-and our knowledge-change over time. VERDICT While fascinating, the complex subject matter often makes for rather heavy reading; this academic text will likely be of most interest to scholars and others with a serious interest in the topic.-Courtney Greene, Indiana Univ. Libs., Bloomington (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Nutritionism, according to Scrinis (Univ. of Melbourne, Australia), the originator of the term, focuses on nutrients as the basis of most nutrition research and much of the dietary advice that is promulgated by the academic field of nutrition science, with support from the food industry. Seeing food as a delivery system for known nutrients tends to ignore the issue of food quality, which emphasizes whole foods in place of the highly processed foods that most Americans eat. "Real food" can be thought of as locally and/or organically grown without synthetic fertilizers, hormones, pesticides, and antibiotics; this food is eaten fresh or with minimal processing and no added chemicals, even if the chemicals are essential nutrients. The margarine versus butter debate is used as an illustrative example. Many have championed margarine since it (unlike butter) is low in saturated fat and usually lacks cholesterol; however, as the author argues, it is artificially processed and contains additives. Low-quality food, i.e., highly processed, may be consumed more quickly and easily, but is less satiating and thus more likely to be eaten in excess. Scrinis's well-researched and documented scholarship will stimulate debate, inviting readers to seriously reconsider what is best to consume to promote optimal health. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals/practitioners. A. P. Boyar CUNY Herbert H. Lehman College