Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss( 5 out of 5)

I put off reading this book for a while. Why? I was in the process of re-vamping my entire eating pyramid. Then I found out about the gluten intolerance. I started all over again. Now I have even more appreciation for this book than I did.

If you are the type of person who will read a book, have it scare them into doing something about it rather than lamenting and then never changing, then skip this entire review and skip the book. If you are me and you are already in the process of flipping over the gluten bushel, then this will just drive a bunch of horrible truths home for you. Too bad this book didn’t come out right after Fast Food Nation, maybe it would have scared enough people straight out of the drive-thru and into their nearest gym. Of course, they would also have to adopt a healthy way of eating all the time and a whole lifestyle do-over also—and not many people can do that. I certainly cannot do all of it, but if you told me that at 40 I’d feel better than I did at 30, I would have called you insane, it’s true. This disclaimer is leading up to the review.

This book won the Pulitzer Prize, and I see why. Once I got my concentration cap on straight, I could not put it down. I was shaking through half of it, reading that executives at major food companies(Kraft and Coca-Cola, among others) knowingly putting all this sugar, salt, and fat into the foods they market as safe—and not giving two shits about the national epidemic they’re helping to feed into. Holy shit, was I pissed off reading this. The same way I was reading Fast Food Nation ten years ago. It makes me even more determined to not eat that shit anymore. I don’t eat all that shit anymore that I did. How do I feel? A million bucks better. This book is an expose, make no mistake. I am so happy that Mr. Moss has penned this. I hope more people pick it up, read it, take it seriously, and pass it onto others who will take it seriously and also pass on that message. I think that will do Mr. Moss justice almost as much as the much-deserved praise I hope he gets for this book. 

~ by generationgbooks on March 31, 2013.