Michael Pollan's Rules to Eat By
The interior aisles of the supermarket scare Michael Pollen. That's where the "new" food resides. Processed versions of what humans used to eat--Splenda with fiber, Froot Loops (now a Smart Choice!), frozen meals that are more chemicals than calories.
Since we clearly can no longer count on manufacturers having our best interest or our health at heart, Pollan turned instead to the "tribe." In an article in the New York Times Pollan writes:
All of us carry around rules of thumb about eating that have been passed down in our families or plucked from the cultural conversation. Think of this body of food knowledge as samizdat nutrition: an informal, unsanctioned way of negotiating our eating lives that becomes indispensable at a time when official modes of talking about food have suffered a serious loss of credibility.
So, in March Pollan turned to the Times Well blog and asked readers there to share their rules about eating. He plans to publish the cream of the crop in a new book he's writing.
I thought I'd share a few gems here first:
- If you only do one thing, let it be this: stay out of the fast food line - Antique Mommy
- A treat is not special if you have it every day - Janet Meyer
- Don't eat anything you see advertised on TV - wc
- Eat 5 fruits and vegetables a day. If you do, there won't be room for all the other junk - Jennifer Beinash
- Shop the perimeter of the grocery store: produce, fresh proteins, deli, bakery, etc. Avoid the aisles: cans, frozen, etc - Dbrown6941
- Eating delicious food is one of life's simple pleasures. Don't abuse that by using eating for recreation or emotional comfort - Amy
- The George Orwell Rule for Eating Meat: Two legs good, four legs bad! -Elizabeth
- Never eat in the car or standing up - LW
- Dinner does not come out of a sack - Tim
- If I want too much of something, it is not what I really want - epplein
What are your rules to eat by?
More like this in Food · Oct 11, 2009
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Eat REAL food. Real being fresh in its whole form. Not prepackaged, not 'processed', not cooked to death until its unrecognizable.
ReplyI love this one: A treat is not special if you have it every day - Janet Meyer
People make any occasion a "special occasion & then they wonder why they can't lose the weight or why they are putting on weight. If you celebrate every bday of a family member, child, friend OR eat "whatever" every time you go out to eat, you should not wonder why the weight is there. You should know.
Pick & chose your "special occasion" but don't make every occasion one or you are doomed to keep that weight on forever.
ReplyThese are great rules. My own rules for eating are that I don't really measure serving sizes of veggies because the more veggies, the better. I do measure the serving sizes of protein, carbs, and fat. Also, I don't eat any of those "frankenfoods" that didn't exist 20-30 years ago...things like slices of peanut butter or weird convenience foods. I also never drink beverages with calories in them unless I figure them into my daily calorie count.
ReplySLICES of peanut butter?? Never heard of such a thing! I have to admit the thought kind of makes me hungry...no, bad!!
That's the problem with these "frankenfoods" - they were designed with the sole purpose of making us want to eat too much of them! I never overdo it on broccoli...
ReplyYou know I wish Michael Pollan would just shut the hell up. I'm so tired of his pro-vegan agenda.
ReplyRead a book ArrowSmith . . . Michael is not even a Vegan
ReplyReally. He's not even a vegetarian!
ReplyHe eats McDonald's and hunts and eats a boar in The Omnivore's Dilemma. Definitely not vegan or vegetarian.
ReplyI'm not clear on why having an opinion is the same as having an "agenda." You clearly have your opinions and state them in no uncertain terms here all the time - do you have an agenda you are trying to push on the rest of us?
Reply"Shop the perimeter of the grocery store: produce, fresh proteins, deli, bakery, etc. Avoid the aisles: cans, frozen, etc - Dbrown6941"
Sorry i have to disagree with this one. there are healthy foods in he middle isles you just have to me really picky. Frozen veggies are a good way to get veg in the diet if you don't have the budget for fresh. Beans and rice are really healthy too. can vegetables can be salvaged by rinsing before you use them. Pastas are not that bad if they're whole grain. Nuts, popcorn are also found in the middle isle.
About the two leg four leg thing... eh I don't know. It won't kill you to have a slice of bacon once or twice a month and what about fish? They HAVE no legs!
ReplyThis tip is actually a regurgitation of Polan's concept in the Omnivore's Dilemma, and I think it's mostly meant as a generalization. There are good foods to be found in the aisles, but the majority of your cart should be filled with the whole foods like fruits, veggies, meats, fish generally placed along the perimeter.
ReplyI constantly see people online who equate frozen veggies with canned veggies... not the case at all! In fact, if you're not buying something that's in season locally (at a store that carries local produce to begin with), frozen veggies are actually often *healthier*. Since they're frozen as soon as they're picked, they can stay on the plant longer and get riper which = more nutrients. Whereas something that has to travel for two days to get where it's going has that much less time to stay on the vine, or it'll be overripe by the time it gets there. Frozen veggies also don't have the added sodium of canned. So many people are unaware of the goodness of frozen veggies!
I understand "avoiding the aisles" in general, but this seems to be a particularly common misconception.
Reply(Er, when I say *healthier*, I mean healthier than fresh veggies. Frozen is pretty much always healthier than canned!)
ReplyRULE - We are not here for the earth, the earth is here for us. Eath only what grows, and what grows organically.
Easy.
ReplyI like michael pollan's rule 'Eat (real) food, not too much, mostly plants'
ReplyI think Dr. Atkins used to recommend shopping the perimeter of the grocery store for low-carb dieting. However, I agree there are smart choices within the aisles.
Whole-grain foods are there as well as the frozen vegetables. Fresh is best, but frozen is pretty darn close.
The rule I prefer to live by, but often can't, is to prepare my own food and keep it simple. Then I know I'll be including great ingredients.
ReplyEating deli meats is OK, but not fresh beef? Gotta disagree with that.
And I'm sorry, but that 2-legged vs. 4 legged analogy put some bad thoughts in my head. Can someone please quickly tell me what animal outside of poultry has two legs? I gotta get these standing-sheep and standing-cow images out of my head.
And don't forget meats that have fins instead of legs or 8 legs and a pair of claws.
ReplyDon't eat anything that didn't exist 200 years ago.
Michael Pollan has the rule:
"Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food."
But I think most people's great grandparents were born after 1886, which is when Coca-Cola was invented. And even the original formulation of Coca-Cola was not food. Also, in the 1870s, refined bread became widely available to the masses, which of course, is not as good as whole wheat. So, I think we need to go back 200 years.
ReplyEat dinner with chopsticks.
For most foods it really slows you down. Bowl to mouth and scooping not allowed.
Reply"The George Orwell Rule for Eating Meat: Two legs good, four legs bad! -Elizabeth"
Does this mean I can add humans to my shopping list?
Reply"Avoiding the aisles" doesn't mean you never enter them. It means that the bulk of your diet doesn't come from the aisles. I would hope the average person trying to eat healthier would be able to go pick up dried beans, whole grains, and canned tuna, without getting side-tracked by boxed macaroni and cheese and sugar-laced cereal just because they are there.
ReplyYou can eat just about anything you want as long as you keep the portion size small. That way you don't have to feel deprived or put on the pounds.
ReplyPeople also need to know there is no shortcut or miracle cure or secret to weight loss...everyone seems to still be searhing for this myth and it doesn't exist. Yes there are certain things nutritionally that can work in your favour (eg. certain foods support metabolism, weights before exercise etc etc) but everyone is afraid of hard work and quite frankly unless you have the patience to drop only a few kj's per day in order not to work hard you'll lose the weight...it will take you five years though!!
Reply