Last month I tried to take Frankie on an outing. I had wanted him to hear a lecture by Michael Pollan, the how-to-eat-right guru and author of several best-selling books about food, which I had read, but Frankie did pay attention to. I also heard Mr. Pollan as a guest on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me and he was a hoot.
The Santa Clara County and City of San Jose Public Libraries along with the Commonwealth Club of Silicon Valley sponsored the “One Book, One Community Kickoff Event.” Usually CCC events require paid admission, but this one was free. I figured the free-factor might draw a larger-than-usual crowd. But I also thought the possibility of a larger crowd might be negated by the fact that Pres. Obama was set to deliver his first State of the Union Address that night.
However, I took no chances. I left plenty early and arrived at the auditorium 75 minutes before show time. The crowd waiting in line to go inside was ginormous! The parking lot was full and so jammed with lookie-loos it took fifteen minutes just to get out of it. The parking lots on either side were also full. Street parking was full. Residential side streets were full.
This Michael Pollan must be some popular guy! Even if I had found a spot within a mile or so of the auditorium and then walked to the back of the line, the chance that there would still be a seat left by the time I got inside was slim to none. I made an executive decision. Disappointed, I aborted the plan.
Because I had to leave so early my dinner consisted of a peanut butter sandwich and apple. Since we weren’t going to the lecture after all, Frankie suggested an after-a-skimpy dinner snack at Taco Bell. What the heck…
But in our little booth, I silently read to Frankie the 64 titles of the mini-chapters in Michael Pollan’s book, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual.
For those of you who think the old adage “You are what you eat” isn’t true, you need a new brain. I can’t help you there.
But if you get the principle of this concept as a “garbage in = garbage out” truism, you are on your way to better health and a better you.
[Note: One caveat. The “You are what you eat” doctrine really should be: "You are what you digest"—which is a whole other discussion, usually involving the use of probiotics. But I’ll save that for later. With this blog, let’s stick to the basics.]
If you value your health and you eat poorly (for whatever reasons), you must read this book and practice what it preaches. The book is dinky in size, short on text, but humongous in valuable content.
The book is divided into three parts:
1.. What should I eat? A. Eat food.
2. What kinds of food should I eat? A. Mostly plants.
3. How should I eat? A. Not too much.
In each section there are terrific eating tips. Here are a dozen of my favorites:
+ Avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients.
+ Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.
+ Avoid foods that are advertised on TV.
+ Don’t ingest food made in places where everyone is required to wear a surgical cap.
+ It is not food if it arrived through the window of your car.
+ It is not food if it is called by the same name in every language—like McDonald’s, Cheetos, Pringles, etc.
+ Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.
+ Eat sweet foods as you find them in nature. (Note to Frankie: Cookies don’t grow on a tree.)
+ Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.
+ Stop eating before you are full.
+ Eating what stands on one leg (plants) is better than eating what stands on two legs (fowl), which is better than eating what stands on four (cows, pigs, etc.).
+ Breakfast like a king; lunch like a prince; dinner like a pauper.
The book that could save your health.
Food Rules costs $5.00 on Amazon.com. If you want more in-depth no-nonsense nutritional information including a commentary on the problems with the “Western” diet (i.e. what we Americans eat), read Mr. Pollan’s book: In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto.
I’m still training my Frankie to eat right. He needs all the help he can get. If your Frankie needs help, too, you need to apply the wisdom in this book. Not easy to do. But you’re worth it, right?
Why is Michael Pollan smiling? He LIKES to eat plants!
