Product Description

With tens of thousands of products crammed into the walls of the local supermarket, trying to find a reliable snack, pantry product, or frozen dinner can be a serious challenge for the time-strained consumer. But the "Eat This Not That Supermarket Survival Guide" changes all of that, offering discerning shoppers everywhere a simple plan for finding the healthiest foods for them and their families. Beyond homing in on the best and the worst in the world of packaged foods, the "Eat This Not That Supermarket Survival Guide" scours the aisles to help you pick the most nutrient-packed produce, the leanest, tastiest cuts of meat, exotic cheeses that double as healthy snacks, and the best contaminant-free fish the ocean has to offer. Features of this title include: the 20 worst foods in the supermarket; the ultimate supermarket label decoder; 17 secrets the food industry doesn't want you to know; shop once, eat for a week; and, how to stock the perfect pantry.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #223595 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Customer Reviews

You Need Two Copies of This Book--One in the Car for Shopping Trips and One for the Kitchen

Food and beverage marketers focus on what causes you to buy more. If you are like me, you are attracted to labels that tout things like "low fat," "natural," "multi grain," and "light." Let the buyer beware. Those labels often cover up for high calorie, high sugar, high salt, high trans fat, and high glycemic items that aren't good for your health or your waist line.

In simple terms, David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding point out the advantages of getting rid of extra calories, sugar, salt, trans fat, and high glycemic ingredients where you can have a healthy, tasty alternative (almost always).

After the general introduction, the book dives into a specific look at how to evaluate foods and beverages at the supermarket, produce, meat, fish, refrigerated foods, pantry staples, snacks, sweets, frozen items, beverages, and ways to spend less. In those sections, you get an explanation of what to look for and what to avoid. Then, one page of "better" items is compared to one page of "worse" items. The differences in content are pretty large in some cases, and not so large in others. This gives you a sense of where to pick your fights. The book ends up with some recipe and meal ideas.

It also made me realize that I need to find stores that stock these healthier (and yes, they are often more expensive) items. Many of the "better" choices are ones that I don't remember seeing a store.

Like all brief books, this one has weaknesses. It doesn't mention carcinogens, for instance. Some "natural" foods like alfalfa sprouts have natural carcinogens in them while some "not so natural" foods like baked bread have anti-carcinogens in them through the preservatives used. They also like the quicker versions of some foods (such as oatmeal) where the slow-cook version is much less glycemic.

I was embarrassed to realize that I've fallen for many of the things that food and beverage marketers like to offer. I was even more embarrassed to see that some of my "indulgences" are way too much for what I should be doing.

I will make a number of changes based on this book, but I'll need to keep two copies around to get the full benefit (one for the car to take shopping with me, and one for the kitchen when I'm thinking about fixing something to eat).

Well done!