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Thursday, January 24, 2008
In Defense of Food
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
There, in seven simple words, is the diet you need, not just to lose weight, but to be healthy.
That’s the gospel of Michael Pollan, whose new book, “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto,” has been in the Amazon.com Top 10 bestsellers for the whole month of January. This book, which I devoured like a can of Pringle’s (my personal problem food; yours may vary), is a smart look at eating badly, eating well, eating smart, and eating healthy.
It is not a diet book. But if you do what he says, you will probably lose some weight.
Pollan is a journalist and author who has become a leading expert in nutrition, food culture and agribusiness. His last book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” was a grand tour of how food gets to be be food in this society, from the chickens that end up in a bucket of KFC to small family farms that will graze their cattle only on fine grasses. For people who care about food, it was eye-opening. And, at times, disgusting.
In “Defense of Food,” Pollan covers the rise of what he calls “nutritionism,” the notion that we need to be consuming specific nutrients rather than a balanced, healthy diet; the so-called “Western diet,” heavy on red meat and high-fructose corn syrup; and finally, his advice on how to counter those two.
There’s a lot to chew on in Pollan, but here’s an appetizer. When he says “Eat food,” what he means is eat real food, that came from plants or animals instead of a factory. “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.” (That would be those Pringles.) “Avoid food products that make health claims.” “Get out of the supermarket whenever possible.” And so on.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough. To get the commenting rolling, I’d like to hear stories about the food you eat that your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize, and/or food products in your pantry that make health claims that you don’t really believe (cereals are great ones for this). And go buy Pollan’s book and follow his advice. You’ll be glad you did.
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