Most Delicious Poison: The Story of Nature's Toxins―From Spices to Vices by Noah Whiteman

 

It's been a while since I picked up a book that would make my FBI handler itchy, and MOST DELICIOUS POISON seemed like just the ticket. It's written by a biologist who has a fascination for poisons, and, to quote Paracelsus, it's the dose that makes the poison.

Discussing everything from cocaine to capsaicin, MOST DELICIOUS POISON is a pretty exhaustive book that discusses some of the toxic compounds that hide inside the things that we ingest. He also points out, repeatedly, that all natural does not necessarily equal "good for you." A reminder I think a lot of people could use in the age of wellness influencers dispensing medical advice without medical degrees.

I'd give this a higher rating if not for a couple things. (1) I didn't feel like the book was organized all that well, and the overall effect was a grab bag of miscellaneous information. (2) The author really inserted himself into the narrative and sometimes this works, but a predominant theme of the book was the death of his father from alcohol use disorder (AUD). He brings it up repeatedly, even when it doesn't always makes contextual sense. As someone who just their father to brain cancer, I was sympathetic, but this was also very triggering and I wasn't expecting to see it in a book about poison food. (3) There's a single reference to autism spectrum disorder being listed with a bunch of diseases that could be potentially treated with mustard oils. I thought that was odd and something that could be potentially upsetting to readers.

Overall, this felt like a passion project and it did contain a lot of fun and interesting information, but the tone wasn't toning and I do think that the execution fell a little flat (which is probably why it has such mixed reviews for a nonfic book, which generally tend to skew high).

2 to 2.5 out of 5 stars