The Food Hourglass by Kris Verburgh

I’m always a bit hesitant to share books about a certain topic: food. It’s a difficult subject and of course I am not an expert. But I do think I’m here to inform you about the books I’ve read and found really helpful for me, because it might be helpful for you too. Today I want to share a book with you that I’ve read about four years ago. It’s called: The Food Hourglass by Kris Verburgh.

Books about food

Food is an immensely difficult subject. There are a billion diets out there which tell you what to eat and what not to eat. My experience is that everything is contradictory. I’ve read multiple books about diet and I’ve read several, so to say ‘opinions’ on food. And yes, everything is contradictory. But that does not mean we should give up. If one book tells me I should not drink tea and the other one tells me I should drink loads of tea, I am confused as well.

But this does not mean I give up food altogether and stop trying. The opposite! I start to experiment. And before I tell you more about The Food Hourglass I want to emphasize that besides relying on books, I experiment with food myself to see what works best for me. What does my body thrive on? What foods make me feel good? And so, I would urge you to do the same.

The Food Hourglass

I’ve always been interested in food and its abilities. What certain foods can do in the human body is extremely interesting to me. Besides that, I also have massive interest in the aging process and longevity. I’ve shared some information about longevity before, when I wrote about a book about the Blue Zones and about the series ‘Hoe word je 100?’. The Food Hourglass is the ultimate book that combines food and longevity. The Food Hourglass is a book that describes a diet which (the author thinks) is the best diet you should follow when you want to live the longest. That’s the basically it.

What foods do I need to eat to live the longest? When I say that it’s a diet I don’t mean a list of what you should eat every day but I mean guidelines. The diet looks like an hourglass. The top part lists the foods that you should eat less of and the bottom part lists the foods of which we should eat more. Simple as that.

These are the six categories of food you should eat less of: soda and dairy, starchy foods (bread, potatoes, pasta and rice), fast-food, sweets, omega-6 rich foods and medication.

These are the six categories you should eat more of: supplements, herbs and healthy oils, nuts, dark chocolate and soy products, fast fish, birds, egg, cheese, tofu and Quorn, oats, legumes, mushrooms, fruit and vegetables and water, tea, plant-based milk and coffee.

These are the basic guidelines from the book. I’ve not included every single thing, just the base lines. Throughout the book this diet is formed as multiple studies are named and explained. About 250 studies are mentioned and for this is such an interesting part of the book. Studies, studies, studies, I find them interesting. The overall message of this book was appealing to me. What effects does food have on our bodies and how can we slow the aging process? An externality from this is of course good health. But that’s what I like about this book, it’s main focus is not losing weight or health. These are side effects, but the core is about longevity.

Criticism

I really like this book and therefore recommend it. But that does not mean that I’m not critical. I can like a book and still be critical. I’m vegan and so I do not believe that eating eggs, cheese, fish nor poultry is healthy. Nor do I think it’s right and thus shall never promote it. I also have my doubts for supplements, I think a multivitamin is not something that I should include in my diet per se. But overall, more whole foods and less processed foods is what I like about this diet. It is something that makes me feel good too.

Besides critique from me this book has received a lot of critique overall from others as well. But that does not surprise me any longer, any book about food does. I think some interests want us to be ignorant (*kuchkuch* processed food industry, *kuchkuch* animal products industry). That’s why I like to draw my own conclusions. I compare it to other books I’ve read (this book it aligns quite a bit) and test it on my body. What foods make me feel good?

There is also a recipe book release from The Food Hourglass afterwards, which I think has some great recipes, but few are vegan. I’ve shared my favorite Quinoa Salad before on this blog and that’s a recipe from that cooking book! The author has also written another book, on which I plan to share more as well.

Have you read The Food Hourglass by Kris Verburgh?

Yours sincerely,
Romee