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In Defense of Food Part 9 of 10: The Rules

August 26, 2009 by  

530316492_6626d205e7Concluding In Defense of Food, Pollan outlines general guidelines for a prospective shopper of food to stay out of the treacherous waters he has discussed earlier in the book.  He cites the principle problem is that Americans are eating faster, cheaper, and more prepared foods than most other countries.  In the past, Americans would eat less processed foods that were more expensive and that actually required time to prepare.  Here are some of his guidelines:

  1. Don’t eat anything that your great-great grandmother would not recognize.
  2. Don’t eat anything on the label that you cannot pronounce or cannot recognize, especially anything with high-fructose corn syrup.
  3. Avoid food that makes health claims.
  4. Stay away from the center of the grocery store (where processed food reigns) and circumscribe the periphery (where fresher food flourishes but still can be invaded by refined foods today.)
  5. Better yet stay away from grocery stores, and go to farmer’s markets or be involved with community-supported agriculture (CSA).
  6. Eat more leafy plants.
  7. Eat well-grown food from healthy soils.  Pollan argues that the word “organic” is important in that the food was not subjected to chemical fertilizers, but it is not the last word on quality.  Organic oreos are not healthy, and some farmers who are not certified organic still grow exceptional food.  In Omnivore’s Dilemma (which I shall be covering a couple of months from now), he goes into great detail of how a lot of organic food is truly not organic but a quasi “industrial organic” served up in reputable establishments like Whole Foods…frightening!.)
  8. Eat wild foods when you can like wild animals (which dine on leaves) and sturdier, wild plants that may have more nutritional value.
  9. Be the kind of person who takes supplements (not that you have to take supplements but just be in the mindset of those individuals who care enough that they would).  Most nutrients should come from food but if you don’t eat a lot of fish consider taking fish oil capsules (see last Friday’s blog), or if you are getting older and need more to supplement your diet, then do so if need be.
  10. Eat more like the French, Italians, or traditional food cultures. This means as much of what we eat as how we eat it:  slow, social, and relaxed.
  11. Have a glass of wine with dinner.

These are great rules to live by.  Tomorrow we conclude our series on this wonderful, inspiring (and perspiring) book!

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4 Responses to “In Defense of Food Part 9 of 10: The Rules”

  1. Nord3 on August 26th, 2009 6:36 am

    I bought quality fish oil and flaxseed oil on Monday. The flaxseed oil I’m bravely taking straight. It’s oily! Not as bad as imagined, dug out some leftover mini candy canes to chase it down. (helps ;)

    Saw a guy in our town walking to the bank. It was a distance and it was hot. I was impressed. Reminded me (and I know you’ve addressed it here in re:gard to when you lived in NY) it’s best to work toward that mindset where we eat as well as we can and choose to MOVE in as many ways as possible.

    Love this and again, thank you for doing the previews for us here.

  2. dr. lam on August 26th, 2009 7:43 am

    good job nord!!!!

  3. Heather on August 26th, 2009 9:00 pm

    Great tips here, Dr. Lam. My sister, Heidi, is one of those organic “freaks”…lol Or rather an anti-chemical activist…lol She tells me that half of what I do is killing me, and the funny thing is I think I’m being healthy…lol I just try to be as healthy as I can be without getting too much OCD over it, because for some reason if I get too OCD about something like only eating organic foods, I have the all-or-nothing behavior and I like to be leveled out.

    Nord! Love your style! lol

    I think red wine was supposed to be the best kind of wine to drink for healthful reasons and there are some other ones too. I googled all the benefits of red wine and it is good for one’s bones, boosts the body’s defense system, monitors blood sugar levels, is good for the brain, boosts the metabolism, etc. Sounds like pretty healthful stuff…lol My sister, Hannah does this “What would Jesus eat?” diet and apparently that’s the thing to drink and what to eat to as far as health…lol

    Great advice, Doc! Thanks! :-)

  4. dr. lam on August 27th, 2009 11:18 pm

    thanks heather! in Omnivore’s Dilemma, we will explode the organic myth and discuss a category called “beyond organic”. that will blow heidi’s mind!

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