Vanilla Orchid wrote:Do any of these books have a plot? I like books with a plot.
Yes! Clary mentioned one plot. Another plot is how the marketing, food, and drug industries interact to make and keep the populace of developed countries ill. As the SAD has been exported more and more widely across the world, the plot has come to affect more and more of the world's population.
I recently read
The End of Overeating by Dr. David Kessler, former head of the Food and Drug Administration. In it he explains how modern processed foods consist of layers of sugar, fat, and salt, and how those substances trigger our central nervous systems in ways that make the foods "hyperpalatable". He does a good job of explaining why such foods are so difficult to resist, why "you can't eat just one."
I was disappointed toward the end where he suggested that once one has escaped slavery to such foods, it's possible to eat them in moderation. I am convinced that for me, it's not. Every time in the past, when I have tasted a little, I have always wanted more. So I find it easier to keep it clean.
Also, he advocates eating meat and dairy.
However, I found most of the book very helpful with regard to understanding how modern restaurant and processed foods interact with our brain circuitry to push us into behaviors we don't want to be doing. As long as you don't take his food recommendations seriously, the science he presents is interesting and helpful.