In Defense of Food
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollanby Michael Pollan
Ranked 3 of 5 health books by recommenders
Readers recommend it as a short, memorable guide to eating well, summed up as eat real food, not too much, mostly plants.
Readers recommend it as a short, memorable guide to eating well, summed up as eat real food, not too much, mostly plants.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Simple, concise eating advice
“are a good answer to how we should eat if we can't eat McDonald's”
Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Food processing influences metabolism and brain activity” “Extremely well phrased for my minimalist brain.”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “The seed oil panic is hurting my cardiac patients” “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “How the Tobacco Industry Drove the Rise of Ultra-Processed Foods (2025)”
Other health books people recommend
The four most recommended other health books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outliveby Peter Attia | 7 | 3 | 70% | 6 | — | — |
| Starting Strengthby Mark Rippetoe | 6 | 2 | 75% | 5 | — | — |
| In Defense of Foodby Michael PollanThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
| Where There Is No Doctorby David Werner | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Body By Scienceby McGuff and Little | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“are a good answer to how we should eat if we can't eat McDonald's”
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
“Extremely well phrased for my minimalist brain.”
“It covers all the changes in nutritional science and food packaging that have led to the poisoning of the populace by the food industry”
“A brilliant "not diet" book about not eating crap and enjoying chocolate cake with your friends.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.