The Body: A Guide for Occupants
Ratings153
Average rating4.2
As someone who didn't think a think book about human biology would be that entertaining, this book blew me away (with one exception). It is written so fluidly with humour and is the perfect balance of covering all the important parts and systems of the body with fascinating facts, historical anecdotes and context, and practical information (with one glaring exception I will explain) so that it never becomes dry. It was absolutely a 10/10 for the majority of the book. My one criticism is that, despite writing a chapter dedicated to eating and frequently mentioning chronic diseases for which the main contributor is poor diet, the author grossly ignores the role of food in health and any real tangeable advice on this matter. Heart disease, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and obesity are all known to share the main contributing factor of diet and all come up multiple times throughout the book (though the author does focus on obesity disproportionately). Despite this, the most that is said about what one can do to avoid these terrible, often deadly conditions is the same vague thing you might hear from anyone off the street: don't eat too many calories, too much fat, salt, or sugar, eat more vegetables and fruit, and a SINGULAR, indirect reference to not eating too much meat (with absolutely no indication at all on how much might be too much). If you want the latest science on living a long, healthy life and preventing and reversing today's top killers, I highly recommend How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger or even just visit his incredible non-profit site, NutritionFacts.org for free videos and transcripts with accessible information on thousands of nutritional topics. Bill Bryson evidently did not want to rock the boat and provide the "hard truth" of life-saving information by saying just a little more in just a little more of a direct way and instead wrote a book anyone can read without feeling much personal discomfort (unless you are obese or have any fat you feel uncomfortable with, because he keeps going on about that). So, I would definitely recommend this book, but would just say it essentially has nothing at all to say about the current science on practical human nutrition and you can and should look elsewhere for that essential information.
As someone who didn't think a think book about human biology would be that entertaining, this book blew me away (with one exception). It is written so fluidly with humour and is the perfect balance of covering all the important parts and systems of the body with fascinating facts, historical anecdotes and context, and practical information (with one glaring exception I will explain) so that it never becomes dry. It was absolutely a 10/10 for the majority of the book. My one criticism is that, despite writing a chapter dedicated to eating and frequently mentioning chronic diseases for which the main contributor is poor diet, the author grossly ignores the role of food in health and any real tangeable advice on this matter. Heart disease, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and obesity are all known to share the main contributing factor of diet and all come up multiple times throughout the book (though the author does focus on obesity disproportionately). Despite this, the most that is said about what one can do to avoid these terrible, often deadly conditions is the same vague thing you might hear from anyone off the street: don't eat too many calories, too much fat, salt, or sugar, eat more vegetables and fruit, and a SINGULAR, indirect reference to not eating too much meat (with absolutely no indication at all on how much might be too much). If you want the latest science on living a long, healthy life and preventing and reversing today's top killers, I highly recommend How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger or even just visit his incredible non-profit site, NutritionFacts.org for free videos and transcripts with accessible information on thousands of nutritional topics. Bill Bryson evidently did not want to rock the boat and provide the "hard truth" of life-saving information by saying just a little more in just a little more of a direct way and instead wrote a book anyone can read without feeling much personal discomfort (unless you are obese or have any fat you feel uncomfortable with, because he keeps going on about that). So, I would definitely recommend this book, but would just say it essentially has nothing at all to say about the current science on practical human nutrition and you can and should look elsewhere for that essential information.
