All right, here’s a good one. This book, Food Rules – An Eater’s Manual, by Michael Pollan, is the book we’ve all been looking for.
In this day of dietpalooza, there’s a new “ultimate” way of eating proclaimed every month, it seems. Eat meat, don’t eat meat. Eggs, no eggs. Beans are good, no they’re not. Grains, nope. Proteins and fats and carbs, oh my!
As a health coach, this is all very interesting to me. But it sure can get complicated.
Enter: Food Rules – An Eater’s Manual. Since I’m an eater (eating while I’m typing this, even), the title immediately appealed to me.
The author has uncomplicated things. Here are the three basic tenets (and the very-easy-to-read book expounds on each of these):
- Eat food.
- Mostly plants.
- Not too much.
The rest is just details. But they’re good details. Here are a few snippets:
Eat food.
As opposed to processed “foodlike substances” with long labels of items you can’t pronounce. As opposed to supplements and chemicals. “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food,” says the author. “Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.” That excludes the protein bars I love so much. “Eat only foods that have been cooked by humans.” Gah, that protein bar came from Costco, and ultimately from a factory. My great-grandmother may be turning over in her grave, I guess.
Mostly plants.
He’s not advocating veganism or diets high in animal products. He’s simplifying things by saying mostly plants, not only plants. “Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.” Yo, that means lots of leafy greens. These are super nutrient dense and health-promoting. And speaking of health-promoting, “Eat your colors.” All those different colors you see displayed at your farmer’s market or produce department in your grocery store? Those reflect the wide variety of antioxidant phytochemicals contained in them. Ah, but Skittles and M&Ms don’t count, nor does colorful breakfast cereal. “Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.”
Not too much.
Here’s a novel idea: “Stop eating before you’re full.” The Japanese advise stop eating when you’re 80% full; the Chinese say 70%; India says 60%. After all, it takes about 20 minutes for our bodies to register that we’re satisfied after eating. So, “Eat slowly.” Oh, here’s another gem that I struggle to keep: “Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored.” And I’ll add: don’t eat when you’re stressed or angry or sad. Oops.
If you’re looking for sound, non-complicated, easy-to-read advice, this book may be just the ticket. Your body will thank you.
Health coach way-approved.
What about you?
Do you find all the nutrition advice confusing?