Description

Fully updated throughout and with a new foreword for this edition.

Why do most diets fail? Why does one person eat a certain meal and gain weight, while another eating the same meal loses pounds? Why, despite all the advice about what to eat, are we all still getting fatter?

The answers are much more surprising – and fascinating – than we’ve been led to believe. The key to health and weight loss lies not in the latest fad diet, nor even in the simple mantra of ‘eat less, exercise more’, but in the microbes already inside us.

Drawing on the latest science and his own pioneering research, Professor Tim Spector demystifies the common misconceptions about fat, calories, vitamins and nutrients. Only by understanding what makes our own personal microbes tick can we overcome the confusion of modern nutrition, and achieve a healthy gut and a healthy body.

Publisher Review

A great book ... a lovely, easy, urbane read ... And it's very convincing. I'd advise anyone pondering a diet this season to read it first -- Alex Renton * The Food Programme, Book of the Year, BBC Radio 4 * Tim Spector carefully explains that we are NOT what we eat, but rather that our trillions of microbial inhabitants have a thing or two to say. Lucidly written, The Diet Myth provides a first-class education about the conjunction of our microbes and our health He makes a brilliant case * EVENING STANDARD * It's not often that a book changes my life in a mere three chapters...given my usual reluctance to jump on any nutritional bandwagon, I reckon this makes Tim Spector's work a rather compelling read. It's truly eye-opening stuff, and we owe it to ourselves and the 100 trillion friends inside our bodies to read this book * LITERARY REVIEW * I don't read diet books and I certainly never plug them, but The Diet Myth is a worthy exception that provides new insight into why we should think twice about what we put in our mouths * THE TIMES * Ground-breaking -- Bee Wilson The Diet Myth is fascinating, and I'm now obsessed with microbes! Completely fascinating -- Sheila Dillon A fascinating and original look at the impact of food on our bodies underpinned by cutting-edge research