I was eager to listen to this book as I consider Dr. Campbell to be a great proponent of plant-based nutrition. However this book was quite disappointing in that the subject matter was not focused on the future of nutrition, but rather how nutrition research in the past was fraught with manipulation and wrongdoing. The author appeared to very much have a chip on his shoulder and the tone of the book was overall full of negativity.

Thank you, Blackstone Audiobooks and NetGalley, for an ARC audiobook.

I was so excited to receive The Future of Nutrition by T. Colin Campbell, but that quickly changed while listening.

Even though I agree with a lot of what Campbell says, I found him very whinny. Which made it hard to keep listening, even though the narration was good.

It also seems like Campell is living in the past. He talks a lot about his journey and the history of food and food science, but not a whole lot about the future, which I was expecting with the title. Also, from his past it seems he has a lot of people that either did not treat him right or he has a personal reason for wanting to slander them. I wonder how much of that plays into his views, and it made it hard for me to trust him. He just seems to want revenge on the beef industry and anyone associated with it.

Dan Woren is the reason I gave this book two stars instead of one. His narration was clean, and he kept me listening when I did not want to continue. I would listen to him again.

I received an advanced audiobook from Blackstone Audiobooks through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

I feel very badly to write this note, and it won't appear in public on any of my marketing sites.

Audiobooks are my number one most utilized reading mechanism. I don't blame the narrator of this book for its negative tone. It is the author's fault.

I am genuinely, and truthfully interested in this subject and open to all ideas. I have a tendency to favor nutritional ideas that lean heavily toward vegetarian and vegan lifestyles since those lifestyles saved my own life from obesity, disease, and self-imposed depression as well as a negative attitude.

My issue with this book is that the author, whom I respect and believe completely, spends far too much time talking about how he was abused by the 'powers that be' in the nutritional world, and that his message is both controversial and correct.

Great. I believe you. Get on with the message, already!

As I listened, and listened, and listened to this author whine, I kept telling myself that this is an important message and I need to "get through this' and receive the gift of the real message. But, finally, the complaining became overwhelming and I turned it off with the thought I'd go back to it when I had more patience.

After quite a while of putting this book off, I gave up. I really didn't want to hear the message of it anymore. My daughter is a dietician. She can let me know the future when it arrives.

It's too bad. I never did learn the future. I would have liked to have known. This book needs an omission in its front end - or a re-write that summarizes this author's battle more succinctly. Sometimes very intelligent people think others will somehow jump on board their ship if they meticulously review their plights and convince the public to take up their nutritional arms and defend him. And, sometimes very intelligent people make dumb, self-involved, seemingly narcissistic mistakes when it comes to how many average readers are willing to tolerate.

A re-approach would be welcome to me. I'd love to know what nutrition will look like in the future. Perhaps another time. Michelle Lovato michellelovato@live.com

A very dense book with way too much history and background. The science seems sound and I do support the message. Thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

So some of this was super interesting and important; some, however, seemed deeply dubious.


Review copy provided by publisher.

This book has an interesting concept and many truths but I wish it would have delved deeper. It never really talked about the future of nutrition, more about what the current state is. Also I wish he would explained more about what GOOD nutrition looks like more than just "here's what not to eat."

This book is extremely difficult to digest via audio. When requesting, I did not realize that the subject matter was so scientifically based. I would have appreciated less science and more applicable antidotes. Within the NetGalley format, I could not see the names of the chapter titles - which made it more difficult to navigate. It is an excellent book on the subject - just not my personal preference. I am an avid home gardener - and I thought this book would have been more applicable to my situation.

I was hoping that this book would be a science forward look at what the next advice might be for nutrition in the near future. Unfortunately that isn't what the book is about. This book focuses mostly on past nutrition advice and how those ideas have been rejected or ignored. He delves into a lot of details about each study and that felt repetitive so that got boring pretty fast. I do think that there was good ideas in the book but it wasn't presented very well,

I hate to say it but this book was really hard to digest.... I actually have a degree in food science and it was still pretty hard to take in and really understand. I feel like there is a lot of good data here but the entire time I was listening I was wishing I had a hard copy so I could highlight and reread or I was zoning out because it was so boring. I love food and nutrition so I don't see this book going over well with anyone who doesn't have a burning passion to know everything about what they are eating.

I really wish he had made this more accessible for the average person.

There are few branches of science (applied or theoretical) that are more confusing to me right now that nutrition. Totally opposed diets (Paleo vs. CICO vs. whole food plant based vs. etc. etc. to infinity) each have adherents that trumpets that this is the solution. This book, unfortunately, contributes to that confusion by eroding my confidence in the institutions that are shepherding that knowledge to the public.

Campbell is an insider's outsider, an Ivy League professor emeritus involved with many of the major academic and governmental institutions supporting nutrition research and recommendations. He also has a very strong view on animal protein, that it is the major (maybe only?) cause of heart disease and cancer. I find the strong version of that argument too extreme (especially when he discounts any impact of genetics), and while the weaker version sounds more compelling, this isn't the book that provides the evidence to judge it. So it mostly just left me feeling more confused.

His argument was more compelling when he takes a post-modern, slightly cynical, "science as a process" approach and shows the way that research is lost, scientific consensus, narratives, and paradigms are built, and the ways that dissenting views are discouraged and diminished. He's very convincing on the topics of regulatory capture and groupthink in institutions. The only problem is is that this leaves me with no one to trust when it comes to nutrition advice. It's enough to make me wan to throw up my hands and eat a donut.

The Future of Nutrition by T. Colin Campbell is a book that addresses how nutrition plays a role in disease. When I saw the title, I thought the book would be more farsighted with insights for consumers. Instead, it talks more about what has occurred in terms of research and how often doctors and scientists miss the link between malnutrition and disease and don't see the nutritional field as a resource for resolving health issues.

I listened to the audiobook. However, since Dr. Campbell gives an opinionated analysis of the research he's reviewed, I believe hearing his inflections and tone would have provided a more authentic expression and exciting read. He makes several thought-provoking points in his book. For example, even though advances in treatment have improved and responses to crises and living conditions allowed people to live longer, we are still struggling with underlying causes of disease and reversing disease. More people require care and, as a result, increase the burden on the healthcare system. So it's a "failure of success." Another point he made that resonated with me is how nutrition isn't often part of the medical school curriculum.

As I read the book, I felt like Dr. Campbell, a voracious reader of nutritional studies, took the opportunity to write a book to share his thoughts on all those studies and what it could mean for the future of nutrition. Dr. Campbell touches on COVID-19 toward the end, but I was hoping to hear his thoughts on what people should be doing to protect their health and the health of others.

I believe the book would be an excellent college textbook that would stir up very thought-provoking discussions on topics, such as the whole foods, plant-based diet, and the links between nutrition and cancer. It would also be a helpful read for health practitioners and, more specifically, nutritionists, dietitians, and professors of food science, nutrition, and the biological sciences.