The author of this book is Dr Robert Lustig, who explains that the title is a combination of the words ‘metabolism’ and ‘diabolical’.

I listened to his talk on a Zoe podcast, and I thought I’ve got to read that book!

Robert H. Lustig, M.D. is Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at University of California, San Francisco, and Director of the Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health (WATCH) Program at UCSF.

A native of Brooklyn, NY, Dr. Lustig went to Stuyvesant H.S. in Manhattan, graduated from MIT in 1976, and received his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College in 1980. He completed his pediatric residency at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in 1983, and his clinical fellowship at UCSF in 1984. From there, he spent six years as a post-doctoral fellow and research associate in neuroendocrinology at The Rockefeller University. He has been a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Tennessee, Memphis. Dr. Lustig has authored 85 peer-reviewed articles and 30 reviews. He has mentored 20 pediatric endocrine fellows, and trained numerous other allied health professionals. He provides endocrinologic support to several protocols of the Children’s Oncology Group. He is the former Chairman of the Ad hoc Obesity Task Force of the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society, a member of the Pediatric Obesity Practice Guidelines Subcommittee of The Endocrine Society, a member of the Obesity Task Force of the Endocrine Society, a member of the Pediatric Obesity Devices Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and a member of the Steering Committee of the International Endocrine Alliance to Combat Obesity. He also consults for several childhood obesity advocacy groups.

Dr Robert Lustig

Dr Lustig’s book is 378 pages in length, so there is plenty of space to cover the subtitle: The Truth About Processed Food and How It Poisons People and the Planet.

In fact, this book covers a lot of ground: He says, about ‘modern medicine’ “Treatment is not a cure; it is not even treatment, and modern medicine treats symptoms, not disease.” He says that doctors need to unlearn nutrition; dietitians have lost their mind, dentists have lost their way, because Big Pharma was their teacher. He debunks ‘chronic diseases’ and discusses diseases that aren’t diseases. He assembles some clues to self diagnosis. Nutrition is unwrapped, and he asks what healthy really means. There is a section in which we discover what and how humans of various ages eat. This is followed be a section on food classifications, adulterations, additions, subtractions, addictions and fraud. The question, ‘Where are the food police when you need them?” is asked. He makes the assertion that the USDA and the FDA don’t actually kill people; they let them die. He says that real food is good for the wallet and for the planet, and he makes the case for Real Food. There is a section about unprocessing our food supply. There is a very enlightening discussion on what the gut biome is, how it works and its relationships to other body systems, including the brain.

What’s to like about this book is that Mr Lustig explains, in detail, everything one needs to know about food, including processed food, how it nourishes us, or makes us ill, and what we individually and collectively can do to make things better. He has a good glossary and makes frequent cross references to a section of the book where he has discussed a related subject in detail. Lustig is a detail man and he backs up his scientific assertions with references to the proofs. At one point in my reading, I was lamenting the fact that I don’t have a degree in organic chemistry, but seriously, his writing is reader friendly and revealing. This is a must read book for anyone who is concerned about their health and what they eat.