FoodDefense

I recently read In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan (2008). 

 

MP makes a strong case in this book that a traditional diet, rather than the modern western diet of fast and highly processed food, is a better way to eat and live. He also embeds within it some simple and pithy guidance on how we can eat healthier.

 

My top takeaways:

·       “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” (p. 1)

·       Even the simplest natural foods (e.g., carrots, potatoes, etc.) are immensely complicated things.

·       Our digestive tract has roughly as many neurons (yep, neurons) as our spinal column. 

·       Much of science is reductionist; scientist study what they can see and measure.

·       The human brain craves glucose – aka SUGAR. 

·       When industry figured out how to transform the seeds of grasses into the chemical equivalent of sugar, the train left the station.

·       The modern western diet is made up predominantly of processed corn, soybeans, rice, and wheat.

·       Shop the perimeter of the supermarket; stay out of the middle aisles.

·       Don’t get your body’s fuel from the same place your car does.

 

My favorite quotes:

 

“What would happen if we were to start thinking about food as less of a thing and more of a relationship?” (p. 102)

 

“Our personal health cannot be divorced from the health of the entire food web.” (p. 103)

 

“An American born in 2000 has a 1 in 3 chance of developing diabetes in his lifetime; the risk is even greater for a Hispanic American or African American.” (p. 137) 

 

“Cult? There is a lot more religion in science than you might expect.” (p. 140)

 

“Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.” (p. 148)

This book, like most of MP’s writing, is easy to read and “digest” (pun intended). You won’t regret reading it.