Eat This Not That

A few months ago Barack Obama was on the cover of Men’s Health magazine and I bought it. Partly because Barack Obama was in it, and partly so I could have an excuse to inhale the “guyness” of such a magazine. My husband read that issue, too, and found out about the Eat This Not That serious of books. Next thing I knew, we had the three Eat This Not That books in our home, and copies on the way to certain family members.

Since I cook most of my meals from scratch and rarely eat out at chain restaurants, the bulk of the content of these books is of limited use to me, but I can appreciate how helpful they are for many. Especially for men and children (their aversion to the written word is part of their charm), who prefer to learn from full color photographs.

The premise is so simple even my three year old understands it: on the left side of the page are the “Eat This” foods, while the “Not That” foods grace the right side of the page. In fact, my daughter was paging through the book and saying things like, “Oh no, Mommy. Our favorite salad dressing is BAD” and “Oh, Mommy, my favorite bar is good for me!” (Clif-Z chocolate bar?) I try to explain that even though there are things like candy on the “Eat This” side, it doesn’t mean you “should” eat candy.

Some of the suggestions may surprise you, like the recommendation to eat Breyer’s YoCruch Light Yogurt Cookies n Cream (containing Oreo cookies) instead of Horizon Organic Fat-Free Strawberry. But if you look at the ingredients and calories, lo and behold…the latter contains more calories and sugars than the former.

And some of the information is sobering, like the knowledge that the orange chicken from Panda Express is one of the worst things on the menu for you health wise (500 calories, contains trans fats). Dang, we’ll have to steer clear of that place for a while…the orange chicken is Ravenna’s favorite.

My favorite parts of these books for me are the magazine article style tidbits:

-- Eat This Not That contains suggestions on what food to eat to help you sleep (nonfat popcorn, sesame seeds, or oatmeal with bananas and walnuts, cherry juice) and how to decode restaurant menus. I admit I gloated when they came down on people who mix wasabi with soy sauce and drench their sushi in it.

-- Eat This Not That Supermarket Survival Guide has information on how to choose vegetables at the market, and how to determine if you are lactose intolerant.

Check ‘em out from the library and see what you think.