Scan barcode
A review by forgottensecret
Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan
4.0
'But for all the scientific and pseudoscientific baggage we've taken on in recent years, we still don't know what we should be eating. Should we worry more about the fats or the carbohydrates? Then what about the "good" fats? Or the "bad" carbohydrates, like high-fructose corn syrup?... I learned that in fact science knows a lot less about nutrition than you would expect - that in fact nutrition science is, to put it charitably, a very young science.'
'Food Rules' is a distillation of the bulkier 'In Defense of Food', both by Michael Pollan. His whole food philosophy can be summed up in seven words:
'Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.'
The two books expand on these three sentences. His motivation to simplicity is by the comparison that the field of nutrition science is similar to the state of surgery in 1650. Promising, but hold off on any operations for a few centuries. I have shared his confusion at nutritionist's swaying recommendations of specific micronutrients and macronutrients. From reading both books, my philosophy is now to focus on eating nutrient dense foods. Fruit and plants supply that. From the 64 rules, my favourite are:
Rule 2: Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognise as food.
Rule 13: Eat foods that will eventually rot
Rule 14: Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.
Rule 16: Buy your snacks at the farmers' market.
Rule 21: It's not food if it's called by the same name in every language.
Rule 22: Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.
Rule 25: Eat your colors.
Rule 36: Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.
Rule 37: "The whiter the bread, the sooner you'll be dead."
Rule 40: Be the kind of person who takes supplements - then skip the supplements.
Rule 41: Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks.
Rule 45: ... Eat less.
Rule 46: Stop eating before you're full.
Rule 47: Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored.
Rule 49: Eat slowly.
Rule 53: Serve a proper portion and don't go back for seconds.
Rule 56: Limit your snacks to unprocessed plant foods.
Rule 57: Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does.
Rule 61: Leave something on your plate.
Rule 64: Break the rules once in a while.
I would recommend the two books of Pollan to anyone who is sceptical of nutritional science. He offers advice that undercuts this nascent field. Read the books in order to gain the most out of them.
'Food Rules' is a distillation of the bulkier 'In Defense of Food', both by Michael Pollan. His whole food philosophy can be summed up in seven words:
'Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.'
The two books expand on these three sentences. His motivation to simplicity is by the comparison that the field of nutrition science is similar to the state of surgery in 1650. Promising, but hold off on any operations for a few centuries. I have shared his confusion at nutritionist's swaying recommendations of specific micronutrients and macronutrients. From reading both books, my philosophy is now to focus on eating nutrient dense foods. Fruit and plants supply that. From the 64 rules, my favourite are:
Rule 2: Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognise as food.
Rule 13: Eat foods that will eventually rot
Rule 14: Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.
Rule 16: Buy your snacks at the farmers' market.
Rule 21: It's not food if it's called by the same name in every language.
Rule 22: Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.
Rule 25: Eat your colors.
Rule 36: Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.
Rule 37: "The whiter the bread, the sooner you'll be dead."
Rule 40: Be the kind of person who takes supplements - then skip the supplements.
Rule 41: Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks.
Rule 45: ... Eat less.
Rule 46: Stop eating before you're full.
Rule 47: Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored.
Rule 49: Eat slowly.
Rule 53: Serve a proper portion and don't go back for seconds.
Rule 56: Limit your snacks to unprocessed plant foods.
Rule 57: Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does.
Rule 61: Leave something on your plate.
Rule 64: Break the rules once in a while.
I would recommend the two books of Pollan to anyone who is sceptical of nutritional science. He offers advice that undercuts this nascent field. Read the books in order to gain the most out of them.