Introduction: The Crystal Vase vii
Separating Food Fact from Food Fiction 1
Searching Out Imitation Foods 3
Don't Forget to Check What's Not in the Ingredients 15
Eat Like a Horse 21
The Caveman Diet 29
The Energy Balance 37
The Salt Paradox 47
Philosophical Eating Strategies 51
Nietzsche on the Nutritional Excellence of Industrial Meat Brothe 53
Blessed Are the Cheese-makers 59
The Paracelsus Principle: Eat Fat to Get Thin 67
Banquet Like a Pythagorean 73
Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Importance of Eating Fruits in Season 81
Philosophers Still Arguing over the Veggies 87
Food Myths and Legends 91
Sugar is Good 93
Drink More Water 99
In Praise of Not Eating 105
Eat Dirty 109
Eat Something While It Is Still Alive 117
The Economics of Eating 123
The Marxist Theory of Snacks 125
The Ethics of the Dinner Plate 131
The Economics of Obesity 139
Eat All Your Meals Out and Only Nibble Snacks at Home 151
"Mindful" Eating 159
Food Myth: Eat More Fiber 163
Futurist Eating 167
Inventing a New Cuisine 169
Back to the Future with the Slow-Food Movement 179
Counter-Revolutionary Eating 189
Food Myth: There is a Pill for That 193
Living in an Obesogenic Environment 199
The Future of Food Is Vegetables 205
Food Myth: Sugar is Bad, Chemicals are Good! 209
Secrets of the Chocolate Tree 215
A Believer's History of Chocolate 217
Chocolate Lovers 223
Chocolate for Stimulation and Reassurance 227
Food Therapy 237
Indulge Yourself 241
Chocolate Money Really Does Grow on Trees 244
Darker Chocolate 250
From Death by Chocolate to Survival by K Rations 253
Letting Logic Choose the Menu 255
The Method of Doubt 256
Correlation Is Not Causation 259
Afterword: Existential Reflections in a Fast-Food Restaurant 265
Biographical Notes 277
Appendices 301
"Like Cures Like"? Foods That Give Clues to Their Health Properties 10 Snack-Busting Foods 307
A Selection of Traditional Health Claims Made for Chocolate 315
How to Make a Chocolate Cake 317
Further Reading 319
Notes and Sources 325
About the Author 367