Preface

“Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are”

-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826); French author of “The Physiology of Taste”

You and I are bombarded with food-related messaging throughout our days. There are television programs and social media posts that show where to find the best dinners, pizzas, and cakes, and the restaurants that serve the biggest and juiciest burgers. Others feature chefs battling to prepare meals, and the top places to burst your belly from consuming chicken wings and deli sandwiches longer than a foot. Celebrities (and others) post photos of their meals. It’s almost impossible to drive down an urban thoroughfare without seeing an advertisement about food or beverages or signs for restaurants encouraging us to pull in.  There are also media that feature unusual foods from cultures around the world. How do you use the information from popular media to build a nutritious meal? The short answer is – You don’t – these are posted for entertainment. The construction of a nutritious meal requires learning how to distinguish between foods that are healthy and foods that are not, how foods and nutrients function in your body, and how to use scientific resources. This text is designed to provide you with the information necessary to make sound nutritional choices that will optimize health and help prevent disease.

How do you fill your plate?