Food Fix: How to Save Our Health, Our Economy, and Our Planet- One Bite at a Time by Mark Hyman, MD

Our current state of affairs is uh…terrifying, but we there is hope in this book.

Updated November 22, 2021

So this book opens up on a rant about climate change, which was not totally what I was expecting. But after I finished reading, it made me mad as hell and reinforced one of my hardcore beliefs- the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) is killing us slowly, and there is lots of corruption.

I love how Dr. Mark Hyman exposes some of the corruption and gives lots of ways we can find more information or get involved in organizations to save our health and our communities. You can find some of the resources mentioned in the book here.

Not Your Typical “Food Book”

If you are familiar with Mark Hyman, you may think this is similar to his other books. But it’s not really. It’s basically part “how to eat better” and part exposé on the lengths at which big food and big agriculture work to mislead customers, and destroy the planet because they just care about profits.

For example, who know that money from the SNAP program makes up about 20% of Coca Cola’s annual revenue in the United States? Ever notice that in America, we don’t use the metric system, but our nutrition facts are measured in grams and milligrams? Did you know that 1 teaspoon of sugar is 4 grams of sugar ? A Food Fix solution would be to change nutrition facts of sugar in teaspoon units- that might make consumers more aware of how much sugar they are eating.

Did you know Cuba now has a higher life expectancy that the U.S.? And why do most of the subsidies our government doles out go to big farms and the production of unhealthy food like corn, wheat, and soy, instead of fruits and vegetables? Why would companies pay millions of dollars to fight laws telling consumers if their products contain GMOs or not?

Okay, my rant is over. But seriously, if this doesn’t make you upset, then you must work for big food companies. I don’t want to leave you with the wrong impression.

As much as we are screwed, as much as your are angry that we’ve been hoodwinked by the food and agriculture industries- our obesity rates pretty much prove this – we have a lot of hope to make changes to save ourselves and our planet. So I’ll include some other resources at the bottom of this post. Or you can just read the book yourself or check out the book’s website. I hope you enjoyed my Food Fix Hyman review.

How Many Stars

4.5 🙂

My Biggest Takeaway From Food Fix

I’ve been interested in dieting, exercise, fitness, and our food system for a long time. This book reinforces my belief that in order to lose weight or to eat healthy, it’s not just “calories in, calories out”, and that big food companies intentionally mislead the consumer. But books like Food Fix allow more people to see the light, and there are changes being made every day. So with that, let me leave you some more resources to check out.

–>Check out Food Fix Here<–

Some More Resources- Some Here and Many More in the Book

Book Details one more time

Title: Food Fix: How to Save Our Health, Our Economy, and Our Planet- One Bite at a Time
Author: Mark Hyman
Publish Date:  February 25, 2020
ISBN: 031645317X  ISBN-13: 978-0316453172

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Amazon Affiliate Disclosure:
Ryan’s Reading Reviews is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection by A.J. Jacobs

Updated November 21, 2021

A.J. Jacobs in the house!

This book was not on my short list, but I picked it up for 50 cents at a local book sale. Go me.

I had heard of The Year of Living Biblically, which is on my list, and Drop Dead Healthy’s novel concept of someone trying to live as healthy as possible in a constant N-1 experiment seemed interesting. And it was.

Tell Me More

I think Drop Dead Healthy was pretty good. I liked how Jacobs often cited both sides of a controversial medical topic to explore all angles. An example was when he interviewed a (sort-of) germophobe physician and a physician who wasn’t so hygienic. This allowed readers to see the good and the bad of certain situations.

The book was also really funny, I think A.J. Jacobs is a great writer. It was similar to Emergency in that both of the authors really like to leave their comfort zones and grow as a person. And they are both excellent writers.

How Many Stars?

3.5 😐

I gave it 3.5 stars because I don’t think this is a mainstream topic. Sure, health is mainstream, but this is just one person’s story of trying out new diets and exercises and writing chapters about hands, the bladder, and the brain, among other things. It was a very entertaining read, however. But it wasn’t a specific diet or exercise book, per se. Ya know what I mean?

–>Buy it here <–

My Biggest Takeaway from Drop Dead Healthy

A.J. Jacobs is funny, and not afraid to put himself out there in terms of writing, experimenting, and trying to get healthy. And for that, I applaud you, Mr. Jacobs!

book details one more time

Title: Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection
Author: A.J. Jacobs
Publish Date:  November 3, 2012
ISBN: 1416599088  ISBN-13: 978-1416599081

Book | Audio | eBook

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure:
Ryan’s Reading Reviews is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson

Updated June 12th, 2023

What the fck is this book about?

Honestly it wasn’t the orange cover or the profanity that got me into this book. What got me was one of my friends who isn’t an avid reader posted this book on his Facebook, saying this was his “favorite piece of literature.”

That, and I got a gift card to Barnes and Noble from my aunt for Christmas. So I bought Mark Manson’s book, read it in like a day, and here I am posting about it. Cool story, Ryan!

To Give or Not to Give (A Fck)?

This is essentially what the Subtle Art is about. Kind of. It’s a lot deeper than that and pretty damn awesome. We only have a certain amount of fucks (pardon my language) to give, and we must choose what we care about and forget about the rest.

Mark Manson doesn’t lie in the subtitle: this book has a lot of counter-intuitive arguments and thoughts.

One of my favorite ideas from the book that I’ve never thought about is that while everyone has problems, some problems are better to have than others. Rich people have money problems (hmm, should I buy or sell my shares of Tesla?…What should I do about taxes?), and poor people have money problems. Clearly, “rich” money problems are better problems to have if I had to give you my own two cents!

Speaking of problems, I thought this was a brilliant call by Manson: Successful people are willing to enjoy the process and put up with pain and problems. So if we want to be successful, instead of focusing on the pleasures, we should ask ourselves which problems we can endure. Successful office workers are willing to endure long hours at the office and playing corporate politics. Entrepreneurs are willing to take risks and put out “fires” every day, like when your supplier suddenly quits on you or how to make payroll. It’s literally the reverse of, like, how everyone in society thinks!

My Biggest Takeaway from The Subtle Art of Not Giving a…

Is that most people are entitled. There are different categories of entitlement as well. I can’t do Manson’s explanations of entitlement justice, so you’ll have to just take my word for it, or check out the book to see for yourself. Maybe me writing this is a sign of my entitlement? I don’t know.

–>Check out The Subtle Art Here<–

How Many Stars?

4 🙂

His arguments, viewpoints, and ideas are very unique. But I just can’t put it in the very best books I’ve ever read, but 4 stars out of 5 ain’t bad!


BOOK DETAILS ONE MORE TIME

Title: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
Author: Mark Manson
Publish Date: September 13, 2016
ISBN: 0062457713 | ISBN-13: 978-0062457714

Book | Audio | eBook

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure:
Ryan’s Reading Reviews is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Comments?

I didn’t put The Subtle Art in the best books I’ve ever read category. But many people did, like my friend in the beginning of this post. Did you love this book? Let me know in the comments.

The Four Agreements: A Toltec Wisdom Book by Don Miguel Ruiz

Updated November 21, 2021

I am not a spiritual or religious guy really, but I needed a good spiritual book to read, and I had recently remembered that years ago a college roommate of mine use to always talk about The Four Agreements. Here is my quick review of it.

Don Miguel Ruiz’s Four Agreements

A Wise and Practical Spiritual Book

The Four Agreements is a short book- I read it in a day, and you can too.

It’s a short spiritual guide about four ways in which you can change your attitude in the world around you and to improve your health, happiness, and relationships with others.

The Four Agreements: What are they?

  • Be impeccable with your word
  • Don’t take anything personally
  • Don’t make assumptions
  • Always do your best

How this Book Changed my Life

Recently, I’ve noticed myself being grumpy and stressed out. Through reading this book, I realized that I was taking things personally. When you take everything personally, you make everything about you, when it isn’t, and that is selfish.

I’ve noticed my stress levels have gone down after reading The Four Agreements. I also realize, as Ruiz says in the book, sticking to these four agreements is not easy!

–>Click Here to Purchase The Four Agreements<–

How Many Stars?

5 🙂

With a life-changing book like this, I had no choice but to give The Four Agreements 5 stars.


BOOK DETAILS ONE MORE TIME

Title: The Four Agreements: A Toltec Wisdom Book
Author: Don Miguel Ruiz
Publish Date: November 7, 1997
ISBN: 9781878424310 | ISBN-13: 978-1878424310

Book | Audio | eBook

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure:
Ryan’s Reading Reviews is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.