7 Words To Live By: Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.

Hello everyone!

Today I’d like to delve a little more into the world of ‘real’ food and relay onto you a very useful tip I learned this past weekend that helps to narrow down what ‘real’ food really is. While doing research for my paper, I picked up the New York Time Bestseller book, “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto,” written by Michael Pollan. For those of you who do not recognize his name or books, Pollan is an American author and journalist who writes books and articles (as well as give lectures) about our relationship with food and the destructiveness of the so-called “Western diet”. Pollan believes that over the years the more we worry about nutrition the less healthy we have become and he calls this the “American paradox.” Pollan explores and breaks down what he calls the “Western diet”, which by his definition consists of lots of processed food, meat, unnecessary added fat, sugar and a disappearance of fruits, vegetables and whole grains or ‘real’ foods. He also gives advice on how we can relearn how and what to eat. In his attempt to sum up everything he’s learned about food and health simple enough for everyone to remember he came up with a three phase sentence, seven word sentence that is the overall message and theme of the book. 

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Wow! That’s not too hard now is it? At first glance it’s almost a no brainer but Pollan goes on to explain that what, “…Americans now buy in supermarkets, fast food stores, and restaurants is not in fact food.” and that a practical tip when wandering the endless aisles of the supermarket laden with packaged, ultra-processed food is to imagine having your great-grandmother by your side and ask yourself if she would recognized whatever it is you are adding to your cart. Chances are she won’t recognize a huge portion of ‘stuff’ in your cart or basket. If this is the case, what exactly ARE we putting into our bodies three or more times a day I wonder? Sadly, the simple catchy phrase may not seem as easy or simple as we first thought, which says a lot. The endless miles of products being called food in the supermarket make this rule more easily said than done. But have no fear, Pollan is also of the opinion that a healthy lifestyle is never an all or nothing approach, we can’t and won’t be able to follow all his rules all the time (Oreos are extremely tempting especially paired with a glass of ice cold milk) but we can always try to incorporate these rules it into our lives as much as we can. Here is a recap of his three phase rule with a few selected examples summarized by myself.

·         Eat Food – Pollan describes this as eating real food, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fish and meat and to avoid “edible food-like substances”.

-          Don’t eat anything your grandmother would not recognize.

-          Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, ingredients that you cannot pronounce or will ever have stored in your pantry or fridge.

-          Don’t eat anything that will not eventually rot.

·         Not Too Much – Pollan clearly points out it’s not just what we are consuming but how much we are consuming as well.

-          Always leave the table a little hungry.

·         Mostly Plants - Eat mostly plants, especially leaves and while scientists may disagree on what’s beneficial, is it vitamins? mineral? One thing that they do agree on is that fruits and vegetables are probably really good for you and at the least certainly can’t hurt you.

-          A benefit to consuming more plants is that will consume far fewer calories as well.

While I haven’t read the whole book yet, the other tips I have come across, for example, “Shop only the perimeter of the store,” because that’s where ‘real’ unprocessed foods are kept have proved to be very valuable tidbits as I plan my trip to the grocery store. Overall, I feel like this book explains and relays to us (the reader) very important information in a non-confusing way and I will try my very best to read the book cover to cover in the coming week to use as reference for my research paper as well as to educate myself. I highly suggest that everyone who eats or likes to eat (yes that means everyone) read this book. It will help you to better understand our food system and how we as individuals can navigate the food world with a new perspective. Until next time…

Eat and be happy!

-Miss Sunshine