Unjunk Your Junk Food: A Book That EVERY Family Should Own

Do you ever see a product and think “I have to have that RIGHT NOW?”  I recently did that with the book Unjunk Your Junk Food: Healthy Alternatives to Conventional Snacks.  Except I decided that I wanted it before the book was actually released.  No big deal, I ordered it on Amazon and it was delivered to my door a few days ago.

I am a little compulsive about a few things – mostly chemicals and things that lead to death.  Two quick stories.

In high school on a career fair we talked to the mortician.  One of the high school guys I was with (it really may have been my husband) asked what happened if you drank embalming fluid.  The mortician said that you would feel drunk for a few minutes and then die from the formaldehyde.  Two key words there.  Die.  Formaldahyde.

Also in high school our kitty drank antifreeze and died.  One of the ingredients in antifreeze is propylene glycol.  Let’s think about this – if it is a substance found in antifreeze then I probably really don’t want it in my body.  Three more key words.  Died.  Propylene Glycol.

So when I read what Unjunk Your Junk Food was about I was instantly intrigued.  I have a (big) problem with junk food and mainly the problem is that I love it.  My husband doesn’t understand why I don’t buy it often.  The simple answer is that I have no self control and will eat an entire bag of Oreos in four days.  Good thing I like running as much as I do – I literally count the miles that I have to run as I gobble cookies.

Being completely honest, when I opened Unjunk Your Junk Food my first thought was that it was going to be a biased book that was paid for by the “approved” foods.  I read the note and found this sentence to be interesting: “Further, references to specific brand-name products, companies, or trade names do not imply that the owners of said companies have endorsed this book.”  This sentence does not refute that some of those companies may have actually endorsed the book.  Catch my drift?  I thought it was going to be a tad bit biased, but I craved the information that was between the covers. I was ready to read my new book.

Then the strangest thing happened.  I couldn’t find it!  Turns out my husband thought it looked interesting too.  He read the whole book before I did!  I rarely talk about my husband and tend to leave him out of my blog posts, but this one is an exception.  Over the years my husband has started caring more and more about the food we eat.  This is a man who lived on Ramen and Doritos in college.  We butt heads on organic products, but I am now very hopeful that soon we will be on the same page.  Anyway, my husband kept asking me questions “Did you see THIS about diet soda?” and “Are you really going to eat those two Oreos?  I can’t eat them anymore.”  He asked how much we would need to increase our grocery budget to eat healthier.  This book made him be on board with a healthier lifestyle.

Unjunk Your Junk Food is a book that teaches you about eating better.  You still get to have your cake and eat it too, but the authors list healthier choices for the snacks you crave.  The authors list what ingredients you should look for as well as dangerous additives to avoid.  It isn’t a book that says “you can’t do this!” instead it is a book that says “eat your treat, but eat this one instead.”

There are comparison pictures in this book.  I LOVE that!  But each product is broken down and areas like calories and sodium are highlighted.  Your attention is called to the important things.  Those words that I highlighted earlier are both in this book – formaldehyde and propylene glycol.  That’s right – chances are that you are eating foods that contain one or both of these ingredients.

If there is one book that I think everyone should read in 2012, THIS is it.  There are so many things to learn from Unjunk Your Junk Food.

Disclaimer: This review is in no way related to Unjunk Your Junk Food or Naturally Savvy.  I purchased this book with my own money.  All opinions are completely honest and my own.  This post does contain an affiliate link.