I am so happy that Michael Pollan wrote Food Rules. If you have read my review of The Omnivore's Dilemma, you know that I found it to be quite thought-provoking and brilliantly written. Sadly, I have many clients who just can not dedicate time toward reading something so "dense." Food Rules is an awesome solution for those people. It is a wee 140 pages comprised of 64 rules and some pages have no more than 15 words on them! I swear!
Pollan's introduction is the only portion of the book that requires sit-down time. It's about 11 pages. Here, he sets the premise for the rules based on two truths.
FACT 1: Because of packaged foods, lots of meat, lots of sugar, and lots of refined flours (the main components of the Western diet) along with very little vegetables and fruit, populations who eat a Western Diet invariably suffer from Western disease including by not limited to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer.
FACT 2: Populations eating an extraordinarily wide range of traditional diets don't suffer from these diseases.
All of the rules throughout this book are fairly-easy-to-implement things to remember as far as what you should and shouldn't eat in order to get back to basics and achieve a healthier lifestyle.
Some rules I particularly like are:
Rule 19: If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't.
Rule 27: Eat animals that have eaten well. Animals that have access to green plants (grass) are much healthier--as it turns out, so are their meat and eggs!
Rule 39: Eat all the junk food you want, as long as you cook it yourself! I've lived by this rule for years and as it turns out, I'm rarely in the mood to cook junk food b/c I've come to love healthy food so much!
Rule 51: Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it. Slow down my friends! Savor it!
All and all, this book is a quick, informative read for beginners on the journey to sustainable eating and it serves many great reminders for those who have been on the journey for many years!
Thank you Michael for getting this news out there!!!
1 comment:
Hi Shannon! I'm glad you posted on my blog - it's always nice when someone else from the "medical" field agrees with what you've said! lol I am on the wait-list for "Food Rules" at the local library - can't wait to read it! The whole rule about from/in plants in hilarious. :)
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