Have you heard of Michael Pollan? Well, have you heard of his books: Food Rules, Omnivore’s Dilemma, and In Defense of Food? If you have not read these books, go over right now and check them out!
Michael Pollan really simplifies what you should eat so you can focus more on picking out great food rather than spend hours trying to figure out if this ingredient is better than this other ingredient for your health. Was this ingredient on the list of other names for MSG? There are just so many things to remember about what you should and shouldn’t buy!
Michael Pollan really illustrates a better way to go about remembering what to eat in 67 “Food Rules”. These rules are more like principles to guide your decisions on what to eat and how to eat rather than rules in the diet sense of the word.
Here are my 5 favorite “Food Rules” from Pollan’s book of the same name:
“If it came from a plant, eat it. If it was made in a plant, don’t.”
This rule makes it pretty easy to quickly decide what is better for you. If you are trying to decide between something that is a whole food that is from a plant such as vegetables, whole grains, fruits, etc and something that is packaged or produced in a factory, choose what comes from a plant. It will contain a much larger amount of minerals and vitamins that are essential for health that no packaged food can compete with.
“Eat your colors.”
There is not a whole lot of explanation that needs to come with this one. Be sure your daily food contains all sorts of colors. This does not mean eating every color of the rainbow when it comes to skittles means you are getting the vitamins and minerals that you need. You need to use this guideline along with the first. Choose whole foods that come from plants that represent all the colors!
“The whiter your bread, the sooner you’ll be dead.”
I thought this guideline was a funny way of expressing the need for whole grains. White bread and pasta are highly processed. They do not contain the full array of vitamins and minerals that are present in whole grains which really have the fiber and nutrients that are essential for your health. Are you getting whole grains or falling for the “made with whole grains” marketing gimic?
“Avoid food products containing ingredients that a 3rd grader can’t pronounce.”
When you pick up a packaged food, can you pronounce all the ingredients? Can your 3rd grader pronounce them? If the answer is no, just put it back. If you can’t pronounce it, chances are it comes from a science lab. Chances are this ingredient in the science lab would not look like something you could eat. You want to eat slimy goop that doesn’t even resemble food? I think not!
“Treat meat as a flavoring or special occasion food.”
This is a concept that is foreign to the majority of our society. We base pretty much every meal on meat. Try making recipes that have it as a light topping rather than the main course. The standard American diet consists of way too much protein. The average American gets about 150g of protein per day which mainly come from animal protein when our bodies only need about 50g of protein per day.
Numerous scientific studies have found a vegetarian diet is the healthiest possible diet with flexitarians (those who sometimes eat meat) coming in a close second. Don’t base your meals on meat but use meat as a flavoring or light topping.
These are some easy guidelines to remember and to start implementing into your daily eating plan. For more great guidelines check out Michael Pollan’s book “Food Rules”.
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