Integrative nutritionist and host of the Realfoodology podcast, Courtney Swan renders yeoman service with her latest book, Ultra Real Food. A manifesto for healthy eating, a checklist for prudent choice, and a rebellion against what she calls the impunity of corporate “Big Ag”, Ultra Real Food succeeds admirably in weaning the reader away from the lure of the standard American diet (“SAD”). The enthusiasm, exasperation, energy, and erudition of Ms. Swan find complete and uninhibited expressions on every page.

Ultra Real Food is replete with practical and implementable wisdom: food hacks, shortcuts to decode the seemingly esoteric jargon on product packaging, and pathways to sustainable procurement that benefit both the environment and small farmers. Armed with Ms. Swan’s tricks for resisting the relentless, concerted onslaught of the ultra-processed-food purveyors, the reader finds in her book a handmaiden to healthy living and beneficial eating.

In this age of abundance, an innocent shopper making her rounds of the supermarket aisle may find herself not merely inundated by choice but bewildered by the innumerable ingredients printed on the packaging. Ms. Swan informs her readers that there are at least sixty-one — yes, sixty-one — different names for sugar on food labels. Do you recognise any of these: high-fructose corn syrup, invert sugar, muscovado, turbinado…?

A mind-blowing piece of information stopped me in my tracks: the chasm between how food tastes and the nutrition it actually delivers. What does this mean? The fast-food era replaces real, natural ingredients with a wholly engineered substitute — an unhealthy blend of additives, artificial sweeteners, and “enriching” emulsifiers, tuned for flavour while stripped of nourishment. How does one escape this camouflage? Ms. Swan offers a splendid rule of thumb: would your great-grandmother recognise the product as food? If not, don’t go near it. Wonderfully helpful advice.

The unfortunate revolving door phenomenon that results in an inextricable linkage between regulators and producers often results in situations comparable to the appointment of a fox to guard a chicken coop. For example, Nancy Beck, who served as an executive at the American Chemistry Council also discharged duties as the Environmental Protection Agency’s principal deputy assistant administrator in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, while Lynn Ann Dekleva, formerly of DuPont and a lobbyist at the American Chemistry Council also doubled up as the deputy assistant administrator of the same EPA office.

In line with the warnings of prominent physicians, nutritionists, and health activists, Ms. Swan cautions her readers about the adverse effects of sugar. As she painstakingly explains, sugar is more than a mere metabolic toxin: it inflames the body, wreaks havoc on the gut, accelerates aging, and fosters addiction. Yet another occasion to remember the dreaded sixty-one!

The feature that appealed to me most is the wealth of resources Ms. Swan shares so liberally. Online platforms that deliver fresh, pesticide-free produce from farm to fork; farms committed to humane practices; podcasts that shed light on healthy consumption and beneficial substitution; a comprehensive inventory of “good” ingredients to stock your pantry; and a tantalising selection of easy-to-prepare recipes — this section of the book is an absolute pleasure to read.

Ms. Swan concludes her wholesome book by setting out the various ways in which we, as individuals, can usher in change for the better. Participation in council meetings, petitioning one’s elected representatives as an engaged constituent, forming active discussion groups — all merit attention in this closing chapter.

Ultra Real Food – targeting total transformation in the most fundamental necessity of life.  

Ultra Real Food by Courtney Swan is published by Rodale Books and will be available on sale beginning January 12, 2027.

Thanks, Net Galley for the Advance Reviewer Copy!