Food Rules: Words to Live By?

Award-winning author Michael Pollan has written a new book, Food Rules, An Eater’s Manual, featuring 64 seemingly obvious “rules” for eating, but that’s the rub. The changes in way foods are grown, manufactured, marketed and sold and have changed so drastically over the last 50 years, that many people have lost sight of common sense when it comes to eating and what food actually is.

So Pollan boils down information from his widely popular books, In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, into a concise and easy-to-read set of rules. It’s a quick read and a great tool to help you stick to your new year’s resolutions regarding diet and a healthier way of eating.

Some of Pollan’s rules make me laugh but also cringe at the obvious good sense behind the rule. For instance, “Rule No. 36: Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk. “ I laugh because it’s just funny to me as obviously this cannot be healthy, but I cringe too since I ate such cereals as a kid and let my children have these types of cereals for a “treat” on vacation.

Here are a few of my favorites from the book:

• Rule No. 10: “Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not.”
• Rule No. 13: “Eat only foods that will eventually rot.”
• Rule No. 39: “Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself."
• Rule No. 16: “Buy your snacks at the farmers’ market."

For most of the rules, Pollan provides a short explanation. A few of the rules are so basic to eating well that he doesn't include any information, such as Rule No. 21: “It’s not food if it’s called by the same name in every language. (Think Big Mac, Cheetos, or Pringles.)”

In this short article written by Pollan, he explains that he wrote the book at a doctor’s request as a guide for his patients and touches on the health care problem in our country related to the way we eat. If you have an hour to spare, pick up the book. It’s good food for thought!