Once upon a time, people simply sat down to dinner, eating to fill up an empty stomach or just for the pleasure of it. No longer. Today, the dinner table can be a battleground between health and pleasure. You plan your meals with the precision of a major general moving his troops into the front lines, and for most people, the fight to eat what"s good for you rather than what tastes good has become a lifelong struggle.This book is designed to end the war between your need for good nutrition and your equally compelling need for tasty meals. In fact (listen up, here!), what"s good for you can also be good to eat – and vice versa. Nutrition For Dummies, 2nd Edition, is for anyone who wants to:Prepare quick, nutritious mealsUnderstand why some diets work and others don"tInterpret nutritional labelsDistinguish "good" fat from badNutrition For Dummies, 2nd Edition, isn"t going to overwhelm you with a strict regimen of what to put on the table every day from now until you are 104 years old. Instead, this book means to give you the information you need to make wise food choices – which always means choices that please the palate and soul, as well as the body. This book covers all these topics, and more:Figuring out how many calories you needHow your body uses protein, fat, and carbsWhether or not to take vitamin and mineral supplementsMaintaining the right amount of water in your bodyUnderstanding why you eat when you eatHow an allergic reaction occursUsing food as medicineThis book will also introduce you to the newest flash in the nutrition sky: phytochemicals, a group of fascinating compounds in plant foods. You may already be familiar with one such substance, carotene, the deep yellow pigment in fruits and vegetables that your body can convert to a form of vitamin A. Nutrition For Dummies, 2nd Edition, can help you become more aware of this and other areas of the latest nutritional research.