Now Hear This. And That, Too.

People trying to eat more healthfully or to lose weight fall into two basic camps: those who like to be told exactly what to eat and when, and those who bristle at being told what to eat and when.

I fall firmly into the second group. Telling me to chomp carrot sticks at snack time is the surest way to send me searching for the Cheetos.

So how to explain my strong attraction to three books with "Eat This, Not That!" in their titles?

Written by Men's Health editor in chief David Zinczenko and the magazine's food and nutrition editor, Matt Goulding, the first "Eat This, Not That!," published in December 2007, steers readers through the menus of fast-food and quick-serve casual restaurants, pointing out the worst and the best choices among their offerings. The second book, "Eat This, Not That! For Kids!," issued last summer, does the same, but with a focus on, well, kids.

The third in the series, the "Eat This, Not That! Supermarket Survival Guide," which just came out, takes readers on a romp through the grocery store, highlighting the best choices within each of about 75 food categories and noting the nutritional assets and pitfalls of common items. (Other books have taken similar tacks, of course, but Zinczenko's are graphically arresting and so jammed with detail that they're hard to resist -- and hard to put down. Just ask my kids, who have pored over each edition and now routinely set me straight when I stray from an ETNT! tenet. Don't even try to sneak a trans fat past those two.)

But the reason I find the ETNT! books so compelling is that they don't actually dictate what to eat and what not to eat, but rather offer information that help you make your own decisions, at McDonald's or in the grocery aisles.

I've written before, in this column and in The Checkup blog, about movements to improve nutrition labeling on packaged foods and to require restaurants to provide nutrition data to their customers. These are complicated issues: Who should decide what kind of nutrition information should go on packaging? The companies themselves? The federal government? The supermarket chains? Which aspects of a product's nutrition profile should we focus on? And will consumers actually change their buying habits if they have easy access to nutrition information?

While we wait to see those matters sorted out, Zinczenko gives us the tools to make our own decisions. And that's very empowering.

Apparently, others agree: According to Rodale, the books' publisher, the third ETNT! sold 40,000 copies in its first six days.

Zinczenko is bolstered by the success of the series and sees a new breed of consumers emerging -- and making their opinions known. The first book, billed on its cover as "The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution," is dedicated "to fast food and chain restaurants like Burger King, Chili's, and Panera, among others, that have made it a priority to provide comprehensive nutritional information for their products." The dedication prods others to follow suit, saying "we hope this book plays some part, small or large, in compelling you to provide what every diner in America deserves: full disclosure."

The ETNT! ethos emerges at a moment in nutrition history when experts are touting the benefits of whole, unprocessed or lightly processed foods over heavily processed foodstuffs. People like Michael Pollan (author of "In Defense of Food," whose key advice is to "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants"), Zinczenko notes, "have painted broad brushstrokes. We're here to provide exact specifics, general rules to apply to every level of your diet."

"It's become a movement and a mission for us," Zinczenko says.