Audiobook Review: Food Isn't Medicine by Dr Joshua Wolrich

I received a copy of this audiobook from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

Publisher: Ebury

Published: April 2021

Duration: 5 hours 23 minutes

Summary

Losing weight is not your life's purpose.

Do carbs make you fat?

Could the keto diet cure mental health disorders?

Are eggs as bad for you as smoking?

No, no and absolutely no. It's all what Dr Joshua Wolrich defines as 'nutribollocks' and he is on a mission to set the record straight.

As an NHS doctor with personal experience of how damaging diets can be, he believes every one of us deserves to have a happy, healthy relationship with food and with our bodies. His message is clear: we need to fight weight stigma, call out the lies of diet culture and give ourselves permission to eat all foods. 

Food Isn't Medicine wades through nutritional science (both good and bad) to demystify the common diet myths that many of us believe without questioning. If you have ever wondered whether you should stop eating sugar, try fasting, juicing or 'alkaline water', or struggled through diet after diet (none of which seem to work), this book will be a powerful wake-up call. Drawing on the latest research and delivered with a dose of humour, it not only liberates us from the destructive belief that weight defines health but also explains how to spot the misinformation we are bombarded with every day.

Dr Joshua Wolrich will empower you to escape the diet trap and call out the bad health advice for what it really is: complete nutribollocks.

My Thoughts...

I rarely read and review non-fiction, and even more rarely do I listen to audiobooks, but I decided to make an exception with Food Isn't Medicine because the premise sounded just too interesting not to. At a time when we're bombarded by diet messaging, adverts and fake news surrounding nutrition, the idea of listening to a doctor setting the record straight really appealed to me. And boy, did he do a good job of it!

Food Isn't Medicine is the book on nutrition I never knew I needed. It unpacks so many of the lies we've been fed over the years (pardon the pun), debunking several myths and exposing diet culture for what it really is. Backed up with actual science, this book was also eye-opening to me in explaining how all those studies that claim so many conflicting things actually come about, and what some of the flaws behind the research processes can actually skew results. 

I found the author's reflections and integration of a social perspective fantastic as well. Inequalities and privilege play a massive role in nutrition (and health in general) and have so far often been missing from public discourse. I was amazed at my own ignorance in this respect, as I really had no idea at what massive inequalities still exist in our societies in terms of access to fresh food and appliances that I have so far taken for granted. In this, Food Isn't Medicine reads as a critique of modern Western society as much as an informational book on nutrition.

Joshua Wolrich is a brilliant narrator for the audiobook, going at just the right pace for me to try to convince myself that I can actually keep up with all the more sciency bits. Everything is really clearly explained and he included a handy glossary right at the beginning. My only issue is that listening to this as an audiobook I couldn't easily go back to reread a passage that particularly resonated with me, look up a word in the glossary again, or take notes. This is an issue I have with audiobooks in general, but I really felt like this one would have worked better for me as a physical book.

Overall, Food Isn't Medicine is an informative, entertaining and eye-opening look at food, nutrition and diet culture delivered with kindness and empathy. I also loved the fact that the author included trigger warnings throughout! Definitely a book I'll refer to again in the future.

Rating: 4.5/5