Home > Feeding Frenzy > Archives > 2008 > April > 07 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USDo you eat food?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sounds like a pretty simple question, but after reading Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food” I realized I, like so many fellow eaters, had fallen into the trap of consuming “nutrients” instead of food.
It seems with the advent of the Atkins, South Beach and other diets, every element of a dish has been dissected into which nutrients it contains, determining whether it is a “good” or a “bad” food. Something simple, like a piece of pizza, becomes a slice of carbs and fats with a sauce of the antioxidant lycopene holding it together. Depending on the “diet de jour”, carb-o-phobics peel away the crust, while fat-o-phobics scrape away the cheese and blot excess oil.
When recommending the most healthful way to eat, Pollan encourages us to go back to eating “real food”…things our grandparents would recognize. The easiest way to do this is by breaking the dependency on overly processed food and eating more of the things we know are best for us, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Most of us would lose weight just by doing this.
It is an interesting concept to be able to enjoy food without overanalyzing each dish’s various components. Do you find yourself falling into the trap of eating nutrients instead of food? Can you just enjoy a meal or a sandwich, or are you always concerned about avoiding some element of it?
Comments
By Tryingtostaysane
April 7, 2008 2:21 PM | Link to this
I have tried all the diets to take of “the last 10 pounds.” Then I just decided to forget it all and just eat what I like - just not so much. I have taken off over 10 lbs. since the beginning of the year. The key for me is to listen to my body and stop eating when I feel full and not reward myself with food.
By Stan
April 7, 2008 4:53 PM | Link to this
Over the last few years I have gone form being a fast food junky, eating it about 10+ times a week, to cooking almost all food at home. I mean real food. I try to never eat processed food of any kind because I realized that it was not filling nor all that tasty. I’ve lost about 30 lbs this year.
I don’t give much thought to how many carbs I’m eating, sugar, salt really none of it. I just go by my gut (no pun intended for once). If something is too sweet then I try to eat less of it, too salty I try to cut it somehow. It comes down to just paying attention to what your body wants.
Stan
By john
April 8, 2008 1:40 PM | Link to this
I agree that going back to real food is a good idea. When you know what is in food you can make a better decision about what foods are healthy. Try to find staple foods that you enjoy which are healthy which can easily be prepared by your family. Moderation is the key, don’t be afraid of eating something you know isn’t a healthy food on special occasions. Just make it the exception instead of the rule. Like I said find things you can eat daily that taste great and are good for you.
Here is my daily treat, a health food smoothie that is awsome.
1 cup plain lowfat kefir or yogurt 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar 1 tablespoon flax seed oil 1/2 cup frozen fruit (or a little more) 1/2 cup water to help blend.
Go to the frozen food section and buy every different kind of frozen fruit you can find. I like to make smoothies with only one or two different fruits at a time so I can have the greatest amount of possible fruit combinations and flavors. I like kefir because it has more kinds of probiotics (cultures) than the yogurts I have seen. If I miss my smoothie on a day the next time I make one I am practically slobbering waiting for it to finish.
try these combos: mango-strawberry, cherry-blueberry, strawberry-peach, just strawberry, pineapple-cherry etc…..
By Noelle
April 8, 2008 2:22 PM | Link to this
A better description of “real” food might be “whole/fresh” foods: fresh/whole fruits and vegetables, fresh meats and dairy, whole grains and nuts, etc. Our primary consideration should be to choose, prepare, and eat foods with as little processing as possible — and especially processing done in a big corporate facility, instead of your own kitchen.
Sure, convenience foods are fine now and then, but if they’re the basis of your diet, then you’ll never be healthy (no matter how thin you may be).
By ATLmom
April 9, 2008 10:26 AM | Link to this
I hate to admit that with my two-year-old I’m a little obsessed with feeding him the right nutrients. (I’m not putting spinach in brownies yet … but he does eat a balance of fruits, veggies, whole grains and dairy.) My mom fed us fish-sticks and twiced baked potatoes practically every night, so I’m not sure that it matters too much in the end.