The Handy Nutrition Answer Book offers reliable information, the latest scientific discoveries, and the history of food and diet. It will help you understand the nutritional benefits--and pitfalls--of what you eat and how your body processes food, and it equips you with the tools you need to make good diet choices.

Table of Contents

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• PHOTO CREDITS
• INTRODUCTION
• THE BASICS OF NUTRITION: MICRONUTRIENTS
• Nutrient Basics
• Micronutrients
• THE BASICS OF NUTRITION: MACRONUTRIENTS AND NON-NUTRIENTS
• Macronutrients
• Proteins
• Fats and Fatty Acids
• Carbohydrates
• Antioxidants
• Bioflavonoids (Flavonoids)
• FOOD CHEMISTRY AND NUTRITION
• Foods Defined
• Inside Meats
• Inside Vegetables, Fruits, and Legumes
• Cooking Foods
• Cooking Vegetables and Legumes
• Cooking Meat
• NUTRITION IN EATING AND DRINKING CHOICES
• The Basics of Eating
• Seeing, Chewing, and Tasting
• Digestion
• Is It Good for You?
• Herbs, Spices, and Nutrition
• Beverages and Nutrition
• Water and Us
• FOOD PRESERVATION AND NUTRITION
• Early Food Preservation
• Preserving Foods by Cold Storage and Freezing
• Preserving Foods by Drying, Smoking, and Salting
• Preserving Foods by Aging, Fermentation, Yeasts, Pickling, and Curdling
• Preserving Foods by Canning
• Other Food Preservation Methods
• NUTRITION AND ALLERGIES, ILLNESSES, AND DISEASES
• Nutrition and the Immune System
• Food Allergies and Intolerances
• Overweight Problems and Obesity
• Foodborne Illnesses
• Digestive Illnesses and Diseases
• Cancer, Diabetes, and Other Illnesses
• Nutrition and Your Organs
• Nutrition and the Mouth
• Foods and Certain Interactions
• NUTRITION THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES
• The Food Chain
• Early Human Ancestors and Food
• Later Foods and Nutrition
• Nutrition in Religion and Cultures
• Nutrition and Crisis
• MODERN NUTRITION
• Food Safety
• Food Labeling
• Nutrition, Food, and the Future
• CONTROVERSIES WITH FOOD, BEVERAGES, AND NUTRITION
• Problems with Additives and Drugs in Food
• Genetic Manipulation and Food
• Major Controversies with Foods
• Problems with Beverages
• Water Controversies
• Major Problems with Nutrients
• Problems with Supplements
• NUTRITION THROUGHOUT LIFE
• General Nutrition
• Nutrition for Infants and Pregnant and Lactating Women
• Nutrition for Children, Teens, and Young Adults
• Nutrition in Adulthood and Older
• NUTRITION AND YOU
• Your Nutrition, Health, and Numbers
• You and Supplements
• Nutrition and Food Myths … or Not
• How Foods Affect You
• You, Nutrition, and the Internet
• APPENDIX 1: FOOD SAFETY WEBSITES
• APPENDIX 2: NUTRITION WEBSITES
• APPENDIX 3: COMPARING DIETS
• FURTHER READING
• GLOSSARY