Food Sense: What to Eat and Why

In a world flooded with conflicting diet advice, how do we choose what to eat? Renowned Stanford nutrition scientist discusses the findings of his over two dozen studies to end the diet wars, debunk myths, and provide health insights to inform our everyday food choices.

Diet is the most under-appreciated, underutilized factor in preventing disease. The food you consume each day has a direct impact on how you feel in the short-term and on your long-term health, but so many of the health claims for food and nutrition can be confusing and contradictory. At the same time, food also means a lot more than sustenance to people. We need to enjoy it, and it needs to align with our sense of who we are; otherwise, the dietary choices we make are not going to last. This includes health, taste and pleasure, culture, and our values such as climate and environment, animal welfare, and the conditions of workers.

For decades, Stanford nutrition scientist Dr. Christopher Gardner has been on the front lines of nutrition research, leading groundbreaking clinical trials that cut through the noise and uncover what truly supports long-term health. Now, in this accessible and myth-busting guide, he addresses your nutrition questions on everything from weight loss to cholesterol, seed oils, plant-based meats, ultra processed foods, protein, GMOS, fads, fibers, fermented foods, and much more. Plus, he shows you how to put all this knowledge together in the kitchen by providing some of his favorite recipes. Food Sense will inspire you to change your diet to include more plants and less processed food and sugar and, most importantly—to enjoy your food.

Christopher Gardner, PhD, is the director of nutrition studies and professor of medicine at Stanford University conducting more than twenty large scale randomized clinical trials (RCTs) with over two thousand participants. RCTs are the most challenging and expensive and trustworthy research designed to cut through confusion and find clarity in some of the most controversial food topics today. Dr. Gardner’s leadership in nutrition extends beyond clinical research as chair of the American Heart Association Nutrition Committee. He received his PhD in nutrition at UC Berkeley and his BS in philosophy at Colgate University.