Michael Pollan's most recent food-inspired book gives an overview of the bumpy road leading to the obesity epidemic, and offers practical advice for eating well.  He begins with the words, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."  Then he observes that if the first concept was clear, he wouldn't have written the rest of the book.  Food in modern American homes doesn't resemble the diet of our ancestors, as the Wisdom of Mother gave way to the Superiority of Science. 

In the end, if you are in a hurry, you could skip to the book's third section, which is where the practical advice is.  Such simple concepts as, "if your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize it as food, don't eat it."  That means blue liquids, "fruit snacks," cereal bars with "milk" stripes, and processed foods in general.  Another adage, "if it has more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce, don't eat it."  So what should we eat?  Fruits and vegetables, locally grown is best, locally grown organic the ultimate.  Grow stuff yourself, if you can.  Find grass-fed beef. Eat wild game if possible (my hunter husband is the reason I can now do this). Think about the connection between the process and the product.  Think quality, not quantity.

And when you're tempted to eat a Twinkie, remember an additional bit of advice, "if it won't decompose, don't eat it."