The cover of Michael Pollan’s terrific book ‘In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto’ offers the tag line “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” With the help of the country’s leading food expert I am going to elaborate on that–although if you choose to only read this far, that tag line (if acted upon) will benefit you greatly.
What to Eat
1. Eat a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and legumes (organic and/or local is best).
2. Eat whole (not refined) foods.
3. Eat food (real food). Not too much (don’t overeat). Mostly plants (mostly plants).
What NOT to Eat
1. Don’t eat anything with more than 5 ingredients or with ingredients you can’t pronounce.
2. Don’t eat anything that won’t eventually rot (except honey).
3. Don’t eat meat–atleast, not too much (the environmental impact is alarming).
When to Eat
1. Eat fruits and veggies in season
2. Eat breakfast within an hour of waking.
3. Eat your larger meals when you are most active.
How to Eat
1. Enjoy meals with the people you love.
2. Eat slow and enjoy the preparation process.
3. Always leave the table a little hungry.
Why These Rules are Helpful
By using these rules we are focusing on the importance of:
1. Reducing the environmental impact of our food.
2. Eating food that will keep us healthy and full of energy.
3. Enjoying our food!
Enjoy your food…oh, and start a garden.
“We only have three meals a day. I hate to waste one.” ~Michael Pollan
Rules in bold are from Michale Pollan’s 7 rules to eat by.
Related Info
Executive Ramblings: Bill McKibben and Michael Pollan on Surviving Our Own Industrialization
Michael Pollan Interview
Michael Pollan’s website
image credit: Wikimedia Commons under the GNU Free Documentation License
About Joe Mohr
[...] even my stomach tell me that I need to ditch my current “Western diet” and just eat a well-rounded, balanced variety of unprocessed, natural foods. So why don’t [...]