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tombuoni 's review for:
Food Rules: An Eater's Manual
by Michael Pollan
A follow-up to In Defense of Food, this slim volume contains a list of simple (sometimes ancient) advice of how to eat in the modern world, as a challenge to the corporate food advertising and industrial processing and packaging and bad eating habits that are all around us. Throughout these simple adages, Pollan reminds us of his guiding principles: to eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Here are some of my favorite passages:
“Nutrition science is, to put it charitably, a very young science… but - as nutritionists themselves will tell you - they're not there yet. Not even close. Nutrition science, which after all only got started less than two hundred years ago, is today approximately where surgery was in the year 1650 - very promising, and very interesting to watch, but are you ready to let them operate on you? I think I'll wait awhile.”
“As the author Walter Willett writes, “The potential for disease prevention by modest dietary and lifestyle changes that are readily compatible with life in the 21st century is enormous.”
“The healthiest food in the supermarket - the fresh produce- doesn't boast about its healthfulness, because the growers don't have the budget or the packaging.”
“Vegetarians are notably healthier than carnivores, and they live longer.”
“Many traditional cutures swear by the health benefits of fermented foods- foods that have been transformed by live microorganisms, such as yogurt, sauerkraut, soy sauce, kimchi, and sourdough bread. These foods can be a good source of vitamin B12, an essential nutrient you can't get from plants. (B12, is produced by animals and bacteria.)”
“5 - Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients.”
“13 - Eat only foods that will eventually rot.”
“51 - Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it.”
“53 - Serve a proper portion and don't go back for seconds.”
“56 - Limit your snacks to unprocessed plant foods.”
“58 - Do all your eating at a table.”
“59 - Try not to eat alone.”
“60 - Treat treats as treats.”
“61 - Leave something on your plate.”
“65 - Plant a vegetable garden if you have the space, a window box if you don't.”
“Nutrition science is, to put it charitably, a very young science… but - as nutritionists themselves will tell you - they're not there yet. Not even close. Nutrition science, which after all only got started less than two hundred years ago, is today approximately where surgery was in the year 1650 - very promising, and very interesting to watch, but are you ready to let them operate on you? I think I'll wait awhile.”
“As the author Walter Willett writes, “The potential for disease prevention by modest dietary and lifestyle changes that are readily compatible with life in the 21st century is enormous.”
“The healthiest food in the supermarket - the fresh produce- doesn't boast about its healthfulness, because the growers don't have the budget or the packaging.”
“Vegetarians are notably healthier than carnivores, and they live longer.”
“Many traditional cutures swear by the health benefits of fermented foods- foods that have been transformed by live microorganisms, such as yogurt, sauerkraut, soy sauce, kimchi, and sourdough bread. These foods can be a good source of vitamin B12, an essential nutrient you can't get from plants. (B12, is produced by animals and bacteria.)”
“5 - Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients.”
“13 - Eat only foods that will eventually rot.”
“51 - Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it.”
“53 - Serve a proper portion and don't go back for seconds.”
“56 - Limit your snacks to unprocessed plant foods.”
“58 - Do all your eating at a table.”
“59 - Try not to eat alone.”
“60 - Treat treats as treats.”
“61 - Leave something on your plate.”
“65 - Plant a vegetable garden if you have the space, a window box if you don't.”