Eat Food, Not too Much, Mostly Plants

Finally got around to writing again... long story but apologies to anyone that logged on. Quick word about Michael Pollan's new book "In Defense of Food"(click to view it on Amazon) which I finished this week. Pollan's previous book "The Omnivore's Dilemma " was a fascinating and bang up to date account of the dilemmas faced by those of us surrounded by the western diet - particularly those unfortunate enough to be poor and living in the US. While OD was concerned mostly with the way we eat and where the food comes from, the latest book is more of an idiots guide and probably more use to a US audience. The book is a counter argument to the nutritionist and food processors argument that nutrients are all we need not foods (handy for the industry as they can keep coming up with new products to match the latest fashionable nutrient (fibre is out, omega 3 is in).

US and European Health Authorities, nutritionists and dietitians are often far more concerned with what Pollan calls "nutritionism" than with food - a reductive focus on the chemicals and nutrients in a food at the expense of the actual whole food. Pollan demonstrates how study after to study shows that it is always healthier to eat actual food rather than processed "food-like substances", (no matter how many vitamins they have been engineered to contain).

The first two thirds of the book are a heart warming (to me) evisceration of the food industry and their willing allies the USFDA who have systematically destroyed the way we eat by demonising innocent traditional foods such as butter and potatoes (imagine Ireland without these two staples - doesn't bear thinking about!) while promoting pseudo-foods such as margerine - which apart from being vile tasting is over 2 times worse for you heart than butter (thanks to the trans fats).

The last part of the book which distills the current thinking on what is best to eat (actual foods, not too much, mostly plants) rather than what nutritionists tell us, was a little disappointing for me as it seemed so obvious - but then it is my business to know most of this stuff already. For example: that a glass of wine with a meal seems to help (tee-totalers die younger), small quantities of high quality food is far better for you even if that food is theoretically high in fat (as the French do), dont snack, eat at a table in company, dont buy any processed food no matter how fortified with vitamins it is (in fact the healthier the packet claims to be, the more suspicious of it you should be), eat more green plants (lettuce etc.) and less seeds (white rice, bread etc.).
Certainly buy this book but buy the Omnivore's Dilemma first.

P.S. - "In Defense of Food" is an expansion of a new york times article Pollan wrote a while ago and can be viewed on the new york times website here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?ex=1327640400&en=a18a7f35515014c7&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss