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  • Published: 29 March 2022
  • ISBN: 9781529112733
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $24.99

Spoon-Fed

Why almost everything we’ve been told about food is wrong




One of the world’s leading scientists of food and nutrition reveals why so much of the current advice about food and nutrition is dangerously inaccurate, misleading and often downright wrong.

THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE LEADING GUT-HEALTH EXPERT, FOUNDER OF ZOE AND AUTHOR OR FOOD FOR LIFE

* As seen on ITV's LORRAINE and heard on THE DIARY OF A CEO *

This ground-breaking exploration debunks food myths, from what we should be eating for breakfast to whether we should really avoid ultra-processed foods.

Is breakfast really the most important meal of the day?
Is there any point in counting calories?
Is there any evidence that coffee is bad for us?

Through his pioneering research, Professor Tim Spector busts these and many other myths about food.

Spoon-Fed explores the scandalous lack of good science behind many diet plans, official recommendations, miracle cures and ultra-processed foods, and encourages us to rethink our whole relationship with food - not just for our health as individuals, but for the future of the planet.

'Hugely enjoyable' Michael Mosley

'Illuminating and so incredibly timely' Yotam Ottolenghi

'This book should be available on prescription' Felicity Cloake

'Will actually help you decide what to add to your next grocery shop' Bee Wilson, Guardian

* Tim Spector's new book Food for Life: Your Guide to the New Science of Eating Well is out in paperback 4th January 2024*

  • Published: 29 March 2022
  • ISBN: 9781529112733
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $24.99

About the author

Tim Spector

Tim Spector is a professor of genetic epidemiology at King's College London and honorary consultant physician at Guy's and St Thomas’ Hospitals. He is a multi-award-winning expert in personalised medicine and the gut microbiome, and the author of four books, including the bestselling The Diet Myth. He appears regularly on TV and radio around the world, and has written for the Guardian, BMJ, and many other publications. He is the lead researcher behind the world’s biggest citizen science health project, the COVID Symptom Study app. This free tool has been used by nearly 4 million people in the UK, US and Sweden to diagnose themselves without testing. It has confirmed new symptoms and risk factors for the virus, allowing scientists to monitor its progress and warn health authorities.

Also by Tim Spector

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Praise for Spoon-Fed

A hugely enjoyable and critical look at common food myths... A worthy successor to his previous best seller, The Diet Myth.

Michael Mosley

The nutrition revolution is well underway and Tim Spector is one of the visionaries leading the way. His writing is illuminating and so incredibly timely.

Yotam Ottolenghi

Sacred cows fall thick and fast in this slim but densely packed volume... A clarion call for change... This book should be available on prescription.

Felicity Cloake, Literary Review

Will actually help you decide what to add to your next grocery shop... This is one of the clearest and most accessible short nutrition books I have read: refreshingly open-minded, deeply informative and free of faddish diet rules.

Bee Wilson, Guardian

Spoon-Fed is the gastro-science literature flavour of the month.

Niall Toner, Sunday Times

A remarkable book... It's a smoothie-dropping read.

Michael Odell, The Times

Dispelling decades of misinformation...Spoon-Fed is a fascinating read.

Tony Turnbull, The Times

There is much to savour in Spector's breezy demolition of the claims of both the greedy food corporations and the joyless "food police".

Jonathan Prynn, Evening Standard

The bestselling author of The Diet Myth, Tim Spector has built a reputation as a culinary demystifier. In his latest, Spoon-Fed...he dishes up a...correction to the nonsense routinely peddled by self-appointed diet gurus.

Rachel Farrow, Express and Star