I love food. The problem is that most of the food I love is not particularly healthy, so I am on a constant quest to eat less and eat healthier.
In Defense of Food,
An Eater's Manifesto, by author and journalist Michael Pollan, is eye-opening in many ways. Pollan seems to be fascinated with the topic of food and has written several books on it, along with others which dwell on our relationship with the natural world. Go
here to read some pithy descriptions of his books. If you like what you read, check out the tab at the top of his website, "Today's Link". Fascinating stuff.
In today's world, but especially as Americans, we tend to live and eat by the latest findings of the scientific community. I seem to have a bit of an instinct for such things, because I never did buy into the "eggs and butter are evil" fad, nor did I ever think the Atkins diet could be a healthy way to eat. Maybe because I never fully adopted margarine as a good fat, the trans fat issue resonated with me the very first time I read about it. As Pollan illustrates many times over, science's dictates are more often proven to be wrong, as the decades go by, as they are validated.
We are also heavily influenced by labels, reading about sodium levels and fat and protein contents and all those lovely additives such as antioxidants and vitamins. With all of the science that goes into our food supply, Americans should be healthier and fitter than ever, and yet we are not. Quite the opposite.
Pollan maintains that we and the food we eat need defending from scientists on one side and food marketers on the other. They may be well-meaning, but they are prone to error. With the help of the government they have constructed an ideology of nutritionism that has convinced us of three pernicious myths:
1. What matters most is not the food but the nutrients.
2. Because nutrients are invisible and incomprehensible to everyone but scientists, we need expert help in deciding what to eat.
3. The purpose of eating is to promote a narrow concept of physical health.
Here are some things I have absorbed from the book:
There is no one right way to eat. Almost any indiginous culture's way of eating produces a healthy population, from Eskimos to Aborigines. It's when they adopt the "Western diet" that they run into trouble.
Eating should be pleasurable. It is sensual and promotes community .
It's not just about the separate nutrients that make up food, it's about the food itself. Broccoli is good for us, not just because of the anti-oxidants, but because of all the other complex chemical interactions in that green stalk of goodness. You can't add anti-oxidants to frosted flakes and expect them to do the same thing as broccoli.
We should patronize small farms and co-ops for the diversity and nutritive values of their food crops.
Our bodies have not evolved to handle the sugar in high-fructose corn syrup and we should avoid it like the plague.
If a packaged food at the supermarket contains more than five ingredients, don't buy it. Food shouldn't need added vitamins.
We need to get back to whole foods and eschew processed food.
Here are Pollan's rules of what to eat, in a nutshell:
Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.
You are what what you eat eats too.
If you have the space, buy a freezer.
Eat like an omnivore.
Eat well-grown food from healthy soil.
Eat wild foods when you can.
Be the kind of person who takes supplements.
Eat more like the French, or the Italians, or the Japanese, or the Indians, or the Greeks.
Regard non-traditional foods with skepticism.
Don't look for the magic bullet in the traditional diet.
Reading this book has validated a lot of my concerns about the way we eat.
It has also changed my shopping habits.
Now, if I can just learn to eat less!
In Defense of Food is easy to read and packed with good information and a steady dose of humour. I hope this little review has piqued your interest enough that you will take the time to read it.
Now, go and eat some
real food.
And let's enjoy it, while we're at it!
