Ingredients

The Strange Chemistry of What We Put in Us and on Us

By: George Zaidan

Narrated by: George Zaidan

Cheese puffs. Coffee. Sunscreen. Vapes. George Zaidan reveals what will kill you, what won’t, and why—explained with high-octane hilarity, hysterical hijinks, and other things that don’t begin with the letter H.

INGREDIENTS offers the perspective of a chemist on the stuff we eat, drink, inhale, and smear on ourselves. Apart from the burning question of whether you should eat that Cheeto, Zaidan explores a range of topics. Here’s a helpful guide:

Stuff in this book:
- How bad is processed food? How sure are we?
- Is sunscreen safe? Should you use it?
- Is coffee good or bad for you?
- What’s your disease horoscope?
- What is that public pool smell made of?
- What happens when you overdose on fentanyl in the sun?
- What do cassava plants and Soviet spies have in common?
- When will you die?

Stuff in other books:
- Your carbon footprint
- Food sustainability
- GMOs
- CEO pay
- Science funding
- Politics
- Football
- Baseball
- Any kind of ball really

Zaidan, an MIT-trained chemist who cohosted CNBC’s hit Make Me a Millionaire Inventor and wrote and voiced several TED-Ed viral videos, makes chemistry more fun than Hogwarts as he reveals exactly what science can (and can’t) tell us about the packaged ingredients sold to us every day. Sugar, spinach, formaldehyde, cyanide, the ingredients of life and death, and how we know if something is good or bad for us—as well as the genius of aphids and their butts—are all discussed in exquisite detail at breakneck speed.

*Includes a PDF of the author’s illustrations as well as the appendix about prayer and death.

A fun and timely urge to value science more

This was a fun audiobook for a science oriented topic! Normally, I end up focusing too much on the details and get frustrated that I don't get it. None of that concern here.

The author's voice carries you through the 280+ pages like your really smart best friend just wants you to understand something really valuable. This will help me indirectly be more aware of how information and news that tends to be sensationalized for our consumption can really help us manage our sanity, especially as we navigate this time of SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19/Coronavirus.

Topics covered are chemistry, nutrition, statistics, the scientific method, Harry Potter, and sunscreen. Reading this won't make you an expert but you should definitely have slightly smarter conversations after it. Who can say no to that?

Irreverent, seriously funny serious science book

You can listen to this book just for fun, whether or not you care about the ingredients you put in you or on you. George Zaidan is an entertaining narrator with a droll delivery of a science book with an attitude. I am looking forward to reading all his future books whatever their topic. He could write a great book on tree bark or moss if he wanted to.

Get the facts

The effects of foods and products on the human body are a complex subject. There is no simple answer like something being good or something being bad. The author goes into great detail about how research can be incomplete, inconclusive, or plain wrong. There are a lot of examples of how experiments can be designed in such a way to get significant results. This is why coffee, wine, and eggs are both good and bad for you. My takeaway from this book is to be aware and do your fact-checking, especially the foods and medication you ingest.

Got a lot from this book

I bought this book thinking it would be a breakdown of things that might poison me, aka things to avoid. Instead, the author broke down the scientific process and the complexities thereof. For me this was unexpected but I appreciated it. As someone who is always striving to understand science more deeply, I gained valuable knowledge in how to think about food and ingredients vs. a no-no list. Plus, the author is funny and a lively narrator.

Solid science

Although this mix of science, xkcd, and Malcolm Gladwell leaves you with an unsatisfying conclusion, he works very hard to support it. In so doing, Zaidan teaches much needed and solid scientific and statistical rigor.