In Defense of Food Part 10 of 10: Eat Less
August 27, 2009 by dr. lam
What I found enlightening was the reason Pollan proposes to eat less. It has been found that individuals who eat less also tend to have less risk of heart disease, cancer, and aging. By eating a lot in a gluttonous fashion, we encourage our cells to enter a state of unbridled replication that in turn can accelerate our aging.
The French Paradox of eating saturated fats and drinking wine without the risk of heart disease found in America may not be related to the polyphenols in red wine or some other mystical factor. Instead, it might be related to how the French eat. Most French take their time to eat. They eat far smaller amounts than we Americans do, and they hold a taboo about eating seconds. They also do not snack; whereas Americans are chained to a lifeline of endless drinks and food on their desk at work and at home near the television.
Americans stop eating when the plate is empty or when the television program is over, which are external cues. Interestingly, the French respond that they stop eating when “I am full”, an internal cue. Not very complex on that one. The reason the French can eat smaller portions and be full than their American counterparts has to do with the speed of their eating. It has been known that it takes 20 minutes for the brain to realize you are full. Unfortunately, most American meals are well over by that time interval. If you slow down your meal, you will eat less.
Further, the French have built a culture around eating at the table. Americans today do not prepare meals but shovel them. The Normal Rockwall painting of the family dinner is now splintered into the kids eating a different meal from the parents at a different time at a different location while doing different other activities. The cohesive social element of food in the American family has been torn asunder.
I hope all of you have learned as much as I have from this fantastic book, In Defense of Food. It has changed the way I think about food and nutrition, and it has facilitated a revolution in my own life, as much as my recent trip to Europe has reinforced these concepts.
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That’s interesting that unbridled replication of the cells causes aging. I thought that eating a lot, like a lot of metabolism boosting foods, was supposed to increase the metabolism and in turn make someone more youthful, but maybe that’s doesn’t cause the cells to replicate faster and I’ve got the whole concept off…lol Shows how ignorant I am…lol
Great point about eating slowly and getting fuller. Man, Americans are sure messed up!…lol
Funny, one of my best friends and I went shopping last weekend with her three kids, and for lunch each kid chose a different fast-food restaurant, so we ended up driving around getting one kid a hamburger, the other a taco, and the other chicken nuggets from a specialized restaurant…lol Then while they were munching on their lunch and text messaging at the same time, we drove around and got them all their sugar loaded, high fructose corn syrup slushies…lol I let her know my opinions on that…lol I told her I thought her kids were spoiled rotten…lol She said that she does that everyday…lol I guess our society is all about fast-on-the-go meals and family meals and nutrition are just a thing of the past, although I like to think that I can resurrect that at least for my future family. I think that it is all based on our culture and the direction that our culture wants to move based on convenience without really considering the whole picture. Anyhow I think that family meals make a family more connected anyway and cause people to eat slower. Well, I think our society is just wrapped up in our modern lifestyles and liberal movements that we forget to step back and contemplate that maybe a little bit of “old fashion” is better. Maybe it’s better for health, well being, the culture, the family, etc. JMO
Here I go again!…lol
Heather! Oh wow, you just described on of my biggest pet peeves–the whole notion of letting the kids dictate like that . It’s a contentious issue; I know many of my relatives and friends would do same and I think it’s detrimental in so many ways!
Oh-you know, we went to Japan last summer and I was so taken by something I saw on train. (Green car, Dr. L-uh huh.
Little toddler eating a fast food meal his mother’d brought with them. It was made up like some version of Happy Meal, only it was SUSHI rolls. There ya go.
Love your comments, Nord!!! Way to go!! Wow, Japan seems a little more concerned about their kid’s health and well-being…lol
Likewise, Heather. Love your thoughts here.
whoops, i noticed finally that i made a couple of typos, which i have corrected in the main text. i agree with both of you. according to Ominvore’s Dilemma, the life expectancy for children born after the year 2000 may actually be less than that of their parents. 1 in 3 children are expected to get diabetes and 2 in 5 African-Americans will. scary stuff.
i was talking to my brother in law Matt who said that people who are restricted to some insane 500 cal daily diet lead much longer lives. now, i hope i am not encouraging some kind of anorexia here. i enjoy food too much to do that. just interesting info.
I didn’t see typos, but then, FCOL, I am the person who recently claimed to have no “intellects” in her family. O.k. , that’s funny. Maybe true, too. Oh no!
But we will have good nutrition!
haha. cool.
I didn’t see any typos either, Dr. Lam.
I don’t understand. If someone ate only 500 calories per day, that individual would starve to death. Long life! LOL But I do know that for older people that are in their 80s + they really should hardly eat anything because their metabolisms are so low. When I worked as a CMA and dietary editor at the hospital, the older people really live off nothing for weeks on end and most of them were not starving in the sense that it wouldn’t hurt if they lost a few, so mainly it has to do with metabolism. I guess if someone’s metabolism was really low, they could survive on 500 calories a day. I personally eat 1,200 to 1,500 a day on average, but I guess I must have a high metabolism.
yes, 500 is ridiculous in my opinion too. hope no one gets crazy and follows my blog comment. your calorie intake seems normal. i just don’t count calories but enjoy eating in a more european way now that i have read Pollan’s work.
Yes, it’s a good thing not to count calories. I think the European lifestyle is the way to go. I just have this awareness of how many calories I consume or I subconsciously calculate it. Weird! lol