Eat This Not That! Supermarket Survival Guide by Matt Goulding and Dave Zinczenko (2008, Paperback)

I own both of the previous Eat This Not That books (Thousands of Simple Food Swaps, For Kids!), so when I noticed this one was about to come out I decided to skip it. What more could it offer than what was already covered in the other two?

Then, tonight, I went shopping for food with my teenage daughter at Target. We spotted this in the little book section and, at her urging, picked it up and glanced through it.

What a great book! So helpful! So useful! Yes, if it keeps my husband healthy and my daughter enthused about nutrition, it gets my vote as best nonfiction book of 2008. I read about every day, and no book in the past year has struck me as a Must Buy as much as this one.

The reason? It's ENTIRELY focused on foods sold at supermarkets -- every item on every page is something readily accessible to you. And since every item is captioned with its relevant nutritional information, you get the benefit, in essence, of having read every tiny ingredients list on every item at your grocery store, all of it right in front of you in a little book that will fit in a decent-sized purse. By comparison, the earlier titles had less detailed grocery sections, as well as lots of stuff about fast food chains and table-service franchise restaurants, material that is useful only if you frequent those particular places.

In this book, every page has valuable content for anyone who shops at a supermarket -- so much, in fact, it's tough to determine just what to highlight in this review. Every time I flip through the book I come across useful, surprising information. For example, right now I'll randomly open it a few times and learn why....

1) Fruit Loops are better for you than Apple Cinnamon Cheerios...

2) Regular Cheerios is a better choice than Smart Start...

3) Regular Quick 1 minute Quaker Oats is healthier than Quaker's Simple Harvest Multigrain hot cereal...

4) Dole pineapple cups are more nutritious than Dole mixed fruit cups...

5) Del Monte pear halves beat Del Monte sliced pears...

I could go on forever.

By the way, not all the pages are side-by-side product comparisons. One spread, titled "The Meat Matrix," compares the nutritional value of a variety of meats, everything from pork to ostrich. Another, titled "The Perfect Refrigerator," displays a perfectly stocked healthy fridge. My daughter was especially interested in a spread titled "The Snack Matrix," which shows which combination of snack items (fruit, peanut butter, cottage cheese) mix well together for both nutrition and taste. Another section discusses how to store fresh fruits and produce and explains why fresh food is better for you.

To the average American trying to lose weight, the supermarket can be a scary place. We usually dread the weekly trip there, thanks to the temptations in every aisle and the hours we seem to spend perusing overwhelming nutrition facts.

But the "Eat This, Not That" guys have officially taken the guess-work (and the candy-aisle scariness!) out of grocery shopping. The easy-to-digest spreads with colorful photos and info boxes make decisions simple so you can feed your family the right stuff.

In this book, every page has valuable content for anyone who shops at a supermarket -- so much, in fact, it's tough to determine just what to highlight in this review. Every time I flip through the book I come across useful, surprising information. For example, right now I'll randomly open it a few times and learn why....

1) Fruit Loops are better for you than Apple Cinnamon Cheerios...

2) Regular Cheerios is a better choice than Smart Start...

3) Regular Quick 1 minute Quaker Oats is healthier than Quaker's Simple Harvest Multigrain hot cereal...

4) Dole pineapple cups are more nutritious than Dole mixed fruit cups...

5) Del Monte pear halves beat Del Monte sliced pears...

I could go on forever.

By the way, not all the pages are side-by-side product comparisons. One spread, titled "The Meat Matrix," compares the nutritional value of a variety of meats, everything from pork to ostrich. Another, "The Perfect Refrigerator," displays a perfectly stocked healthy fridge. My daughter was especially interested in a spread titled "The Snack Matrix," which shows which combination of snack items (fruit, peanut butter, cottage cheese) mix well together for both nutrition and taste. Another section discusses how to store fresh fruit and produce and explains why fresh food is better for you.

This easy to carry bible of supermarket goodies is a great way to choose the healthier alternative. I took it to the store last night to do groceries and it was actually beneficial! It's not one of those books you will get, skim through and throw in the "I'll read them one day" pile. And a lot of the suggestions the book makes should be common sense such as the sugar in pop tarts or the sugar in cranberry juice cocktail! We just fail to see them because we are taken in by sassy labels claiming to be a healthy, smart choice! This book helps us avoid falling for the labels and encourages us to check for nutritional value! A suggestion, however, while using this book is to make sure the nutritional facts are accurate. A lot of foods come in many varieties and the values given in the book may not match because they are not of the same specific type; for example, better start english muffins, and light english muffins. While they are made by the same company, Thomas', they have different nutritional values. Once you know this book by heart, shopping for the healthy alternative will be a breeze! Plus, for the book's low price, it's worth buying! Surely, your health is worth more to you than the low price of the book! It's a definite yes for me!

I found this book on the web while looking for eating alternatives to loose weight, eat more healthy food, without having to be on diet. I like it because, it has a lot of illustrations and specific examples. This book guides you through the different healthy and savvy alternatives when going to the supermarket. It gives you ides on how to bring the best food to your table and cut unnecesary calories and fat!!

My wife got me this book as a gift and I was immediately impressed! The author did a great job on this book and the best thing is the pictures! I really enjoyed the eat this and not that pages in the book. There are great pictures along with captions explaining all the choices in food.

This is the kind of book you could even take to the grocery store with you. I probably will be buying the other books also. The book is definitely not boring as usual diet books and gives great information. Highly recommended!