Fed Up: What Evolution Reveals about Food, Diet and Eating Well

‘Wise, witty, and full of unexpected insights ― a perfect book for anyone who cares about living well’ Bill Bryson

Why is it so hard to decide what to eat? We are bombarded with conflicting advice on weight and health, fad diets and food pyramids. No wonder so many of us feel confused and guilty.

In Fed Up, Daniel Lieberman tackles this confusion head on with his trademark blend of lively storytelling and myth-busting science. Drawing on evolutionary biology, anthropology and physiology, he explains how humans first evolved to eat; how fire, farming and industrialization transformed our diets; and what that history combined with rigorous medical science can – and cannot – tell us about what to eat today to stay healthy and manage our weight. In each chapter, Lieberman explores what different diets – from Paleo to veganism to intermittent fasting – tell us about nutrition and health, even putting these diets to the test himself. His conclusion is liberating: there is no optimal diet. What matters instead is variety, moderation and finding out what works for you.

Clear-eyed, humane and always entertaining, Fed Up gives us the tools to make wiser, kinder choices about what we eat.

Daniel Lieberman is Edwin M. Lerner II Professor of Biological Sciences and a professor of the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. He is a leading figure in the field of human evolution and its relevance to health. He is especially renowned for his research on the evolution of running, which he also enjoys himself. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles, many of them in Nature and Science. His previous books include The Story of the Human Body and Exercised. He lives in Massachusetts.

This could ― should ― be the last diet book you will need. It’s colourful, readable, personable, richly informed, expert and just, well… right... demolishes diet myths and brings some much needed rigour to the healthy eating debate -- James McConnachie ― The Times

Wise, witty, and full of unexpected insights ― a perfect book for anyone who cares about living well -- Bill Bryson

A terrific book that cuts through the noise of fad diets and nutrition advice by turning to the most reliable guide we have: the deep history of the human body. The result is a wise, accessible, and evidence-based framework for eating well in a world that has made eating badly all too easy -- Michael Moss, author of Salt, Sugar, Fat