Eating on the Wild Side by Jo Robinson

If you’re ready to take a healthy lifestyle to the next step, Eating on the Wild Side by Jo Robinson, needs to be on your reading list. Robinson’s book will show you that a diet of fruit and vegetables is a good start, but it’s just the beginning of getting the most out of your food. Phytonutrients, natural chemicals found in plants, are what consumers should be looking for when they buy produce and grains.

Unfortunately, most of the vitamins, nutrients, protein, fiber, and healthy fats have been bred out of the food you buy at the supermarket. What’s a consumer to do? This is where the ‘meat’ of the book begins and the author instructs the reader on how to purchase the most nutritious vegetables and grains. The example that stands out in my mind is carrots! Baby carrots found on most supermarket shelves today are misshapen mature carrots that have been scraped and trimmed down so they are a uniform size. Scientists now know that shaving off the outer part removes the greatest concentration of nutrients, which are in the skin and tissue right below it. To get the most sustenance out of this vegetable you must cook carrots whole in some type of oil or fat and then cut them.

Each chapter is a food, for example, such as apples, beets, citrus fruits, and lentils. Within each, Robinson gives you a history of its evolution into our diet with helpful do’s and don’ts, ending with a concise review that includes a description and comment.

Since reading this book, I’ve added beets, canned artichoke hearts, and grapes to my diet.  And I now bring this book with me to the grocery store to help me make wise and healthy eating decisions.

Find and reserve this book in the library.