"Food Rules" by Michael Pollan

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Added: Wed. Aug 25, 2010 1:22pm
Posted in: Nutrition

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In our journey toward healthy living, we sometimes encounter confusing or even contradictory advice. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the volume of information bombarding us daily in magazines, on television and online. At times, we may find ourselves wishing for a clear, straightforward set of tips to steer us in the right direction.

Enter Michael Pollan’s book, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual. In this helpful and humorous little book, Pollan lays out simple and playful guidelines.

Food Rules, which includes sixty-four rules for healthy eating, is essentially organized into three sections:

1. What should I eat? Eat food.
2. What kinds of food should I eat? Plants, mostly.
3. How should I eat? Don’t eat too much.

Pollan asserts that eating real food (such as fruits and vegetables) and avoiding processed foods dramatically improves our health and well-being. As Pollan memorably points out in rule #19: “If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't.”

Other rules, such as rule #7, “Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce,” humorously remind us to use common sense in our approach to a healthier lifestyle.

Our health is perhaps our most valuable possession. Pollan’s witty rules help us remember that achieving our health and fitness goals can be delightfully fun.

What kind of humorous food rules can you come up with?