Food Rules: An Eater's Manual, by Michael Pollan--9/10

Everyone should read this book. It took me maybe an hour--it's hard to tell because it was spread out over the course of an afternoon. It's only 139 pages, the pages are tiny, there's only text on every other page, and there's hardly any text on half of the pages that do have text. It's the easiest thing in the world to read, but full of so much information--basically everything you need to know, period, about what you should eat to be the healthiest you can be.


Michael Pollan's food philosophy is seven words: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. It's sad that this seems like a pretty radical idea in our Western culture, but it really does, and you should read the introduction to this book for his explanation of why something so simple needs explaining. Ever wondered about that so-called "French paradox?" This is the answer.


Here are some of my favorite rules:


3. Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry. 
Ethoxylated diglicerides? Cellulose? Xanthan gum?


4. Avoid food products that contain high-fructose corn syrup. 


5. Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients. 


9. Avoid food products with the wordoid "lite" or the terms "low-fat" or "nonfat" in their names.


10. Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not. 
Imitation butter--aka margarine--is the classic example... The same rule applies to soy-based mock meats, artificial sweeteners, and fake fats and starches.


19. If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't.


20. It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car.


Michael Pollan, if you were wondering, is my food hero. The diet he describes is the one my family has been trying to adopt for the last few years, and though I obviously haven't quite made it there yet, the change is in the works. I honestly can't wait.