It Starts With Food Book Summary - It Starts With Food Book explained in key points
Listen to the Intro
00:00

It Starts With Food summary

Dallas Hartwig and Melissa Hartwig

Discover the WHOLE30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways

3.6 (75 ratings)
15 mins

Brief summary

It Starts With Food by Dallas & Melissa Hartwig discusses the connection between food and overall health. Through a 30-day plan, it aims to change eating habits for improved physical and mental wellbeing.

Table of Contents

    It Starts With Food
    Summary of 7 key ideas

    Audio & text in the Blinkist app
    Key idea 1 of 7

    The food you eat has a big impact on your mental state and the health of your immune system.

    Have you noticed that certain foods make you feel weak or stressed out? Food can have a profound impact on how people think and feel.

    This is why diets don’t work unless they fundamentally change your food cravings. If you find yourself returning to junk food after a phase of dieting, it’s not necessarily because you lack willpower – it’s because certain foods really mess with your brain!

    Humans have evolved to appreciate three basic flavor categories: sweet, fatty and salty. Sweet foods give you energy; fatty foods give you calories; and finally, salty foods keep you hydrated.

    The fact is that humans are hardwired to like these flavors. Food producers know this and have used this fact to their market advantage.

    Processed foods such as the hamburgers and french fries from your favorite fast food outlet, chocolate bars and even frozen meals offer a supernormal stimulus, meaning these foods are either sweeter, saltier or fattier (or all three) than non-processed foods. This extra boost makes us crave such foods even more.

    When you eat a chocolate bar, for instance, your brain releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter that gives you feelings of pleasure. The more chocolate you eat, the more your body craves the effect of dopamine; and this feedback loop makes you want to eat more chocolate in the future.

    Yet food doesn’t just scramble your brain, convincing you that another cheeseburger can’t be all that bad. It also affects your immune system, potentially causing inflammation.

    Inflammation in the body usually happens as a normal response to an injury or illness, but chronic inflammation is different. Chronic inflammation occurs when your immune system gets confused and your body starts attacking itself, as it can’t differentiate between “you” and a foreign invader, such as a virus.

    A lot of processed food today contains chemical compounds that can be difficult for your immune system to process. Such chemicals can stress your body, leading to chronic inflammation and even serious illness.

    Want to see all full key ideas from It Starts With Food?

    Key ideas in It Starts With Food

    More knowledge in less time
    Read or listen
    Read or listen
    Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
    Find your next read
    Find your next read
    Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
    Shortcasts
    Shortcasts New
    We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

    What is It Starts With Food about?

    It Starts With Food (2012) gives you the inside scoop on the profound effects food can have on your body and well-being. Importantly, these blinks explain how you can alter your diet to both lose weight and feel better, body and soul.

    It Starts With Food Review

    It Starts With Food (2012) is an insightful book that delves into the connection between the food we eat and our overall health and well-being, making it a worthwhile read. Here's why this book stands out:

    • With its science-backed approach, the book provides readers with practical knowledge on how to nourish their bodies and achieve optimal health.
    • Offering a step-by-step plan, it guides readers in transforming their relationship with food and making sustainable lifestyle changes for long-term wellness.
    • The book's engaging and accessible writing style keeps readers captivated, ensuring that the topic of nutrition remains interesting and relevant.

    Best quote from It Starts With Food

    Theyve turned real food into Frankenfood.

    —Dallas Hartwig and Melissa Hartwig
    example alt text

    Who should read It Starts With Food?

    • People interested in improving their overall health
    • Dieters who have tried everything
    • Busy executives seeking to eat more healthily

    About the Author

    Melissa Hartwig is a sports nutritionist who has been featured in several publications, including The Wall Street Journal. Dallas Hartwig is a physical therapist and sports nutritionist. It Starts With Food is their second bestselling book.

    Categories with It Starts With Food

    Book summaries like It Starts With Food

    People ❤️ Blinkist 
    Sven O.

    It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

    Thi Viet Quynh N.

    Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

    Jonathan A.

    Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

    Renee D.

    Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.

    People also liked these summaries

    4.7 Stars
    Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
    30 Million
    Downloads on all platforms
    10+ years
    Experience igniting personal growth
    Powerful ideas from top nonfiction

    Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,000+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.

    Start your free trial

    It Starts With Food FAQs 

    What is the main message of It Starts With Food?

    It Starts With Food provides guidance on how to use proper nutrition to improve overall health and well-being.

    How long does it take to read It Starts With Food?

    It takes a few hours to read It Starts With Food, but the Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.

    Is It Starts With Food a good book? Is it worth reading?

    It Starts With Food is worth reading because it offers valuable insights and practical advice for improving your relationship with food.

    Who is the author of It Starts With Food?

    Dallas Hartwig and Melissa Hartwig are the authors of It Starts With Food.

    What to read after It Starts With Food?

    If you're wondering what to read next after It Starts With Food, here are some recommendations we suggest:
    • Head Strong by Dave Asprey
    • Deep Nutrition by Catherine Shanahan and Luke Shanahan
    • Food and Nutrition by P.K. Newby
    • The Whole30 by Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig
    • Brain Food by Lisa Mosconi
    • 28-Day FAST Start Day-by-Day by Gin Stephens
    • Always Hungry? by Dr. David Ludwig
    • Grain Brain by David Perlmutter
    • The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
    • The Intelligence Trap by David Robson