Why Calories Count

Marion Nestle; Malden Nesheim

Published by University of California Press 2012

Why Calories Count

From Science to Politics

Marion Nestle and Malden Nesheim

In the series California Studies in Food and Culture

https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520952171

Overview
Contents

About this book

Calories—too few or too many—are the source of health problems affecting billions of people in today’s globalized world. Although calories are essential to human health and survival, they cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted. They are also hard to understand. In Why Calories Count, Marion Nestle and Malden Nesheim explain in clear and accessible language what calories are and how they work, both biologically and politically. As they take readers through the issues that are fundamental to our understanding of diet and food, weight gain, loss, and obesity, Nestle and Nesheim sort through a great deal of the misinformation put forth by food manufacturers and diet program promoters. They elucidate the political stakes and show how federal and corporate policies have come together to create an "eat more" environment. Finally, having armed readers with the necessary information to interpret food labels, evaluate diet claims, and understand evidence as presented in popular media, the authors offer some candid advice: Get organized. Eat less. Eat better. Move more. Get political.

Author information

NestleMarion:

Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health and Professor of Sociology at New York University. She is the author of What to Eat and, from UC Press, Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health; Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety; and Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine. Malden Nesheim is Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University. He is coauthor (with Marion Nestle) of Feed Your Pet Right: The Authoritative Guide to Feeding Your Dog and Cat and (with Ann L. Yaktine) of the Institute of Medicine report Seafood Choices: Balancing Benefits and Risks.

Topics

General Interest

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part One. Understanding Calories: It All Starts with the Science Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
Part Two. Why You Need Calories: Survival, Warmth, and Work Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	49
Part Three. Calorie Intake and Its Regulation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	77
Part Four. Too Few Calories Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
Part Five. Too Many Calories Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
Part Six. The Politics of Calories: A Closer Look Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
Conclusion: How to Cope with the Calorie Environment Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
Appendix One. Selected Events in the History of Calories, 1614 – 1919 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
Appendix Two. The Respiratory Quotient (RQ) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	230
Appendix Three. Frequently Asked Questions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	233
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
List of Tables Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	271
List of Figures Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	275
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277