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

When your hand reaches for a packet of chips, should you hold back and refuse the pleasure—or can you eat a couple more after all? When going to the beach, how much sunscreen should you apply to your skin, and how does SPF work in general? Is coffee actually useful or harmful? In the book “Ingredients,” written by chemist and science communicator George Zaidan, all the variety of chemical substances that end up in the human body by different routes is examined. Are processed foods really a true poison, and how do they provoke obesity and other diseases? Why do we burn in the sun, and what are the consequences of overindulging in sunbathing? What happens when chemicals from food and the environment come into contact with the chemicals in our bodies? You’ll learn why processed foods exist in the first place, and then, together with the author, explore the chemical substances you face every single day.