Glen Merzer offers an unusual disclaimer in his new book, Own Your Health: before you adopt any of the recommendations in this book, consult your plumber.
Making the point, via parody (or is it irony or sarcasm, I'm never sure) that most medical doctors know little more than plumbers do about nutrition. Or it is, they know as little about nutrition as they do about plumbing? Probably the first one…
Glen's come out swinging, arguing that the case for whole food plant-based eating as the optimal diet for human health has been closed for a while, and it's marketing and greed, not science, that's keeping the debate open.
And while the meat, dairy, and junk food industries haven't yet booked the parking lot of Four Seasons Landscaping to hold a press conference insisting that animal-based foods and processed foods are the try winners of the diet wars, their actual tactics aren't much more convincing.
Glen wraps the science in funny and endearing anecdotes. The one I'll tease you with tells how his mom fired her doctor because it was less hassle than divorcing her husband (they had just bought new furniture).
We talked about why he decided to write this book, and what he hoped it would accomplish. We also chatted about writing in general, and the media culture that makes it so challenging to share simple and powerful truths.
Chef AJ, who created the recipes for the book, joined the conversation, and we talked about their collaboration, and how (if at all) the tone and content of a book influence her choice of recipes.