Title and author: In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
Contents synopsis:
In defense of food Michael Pollan has given us the most important book on nutrition of this decade. He fights back the deluge of diet and nutrition books that has confused Americans for two generations. It uses science to attack the “science” behind nutritionalism that has distorted the American attitude towards food and left Americans as the most overfed and undernourished in the world.
After poking generous holes in the various dietary theories and fads of the past 40 years, Pollan gives us a very decent guide to what we should eat and how we should think about food. His fundamental thesis is simple: we should eat food, not too much, and especially plants. By that he means:
Eat food: the evidence is overwhelming that we should eat food in as natural a state as possible. We should eat whole foods, not processed or refined foods. We should eat more like our ancestors of a century or more ago. If you can’t pronounce or recognize the ingredients on a package, don’t eat it. If there are generally more than five ingredients, don’t eat it. If it contains highly processed and refined foods, including grains, sugar, and oils, don’t eat them. If your great-grandmother hadn’t recognized it, don’t eat it. Eat everything else. Eat fresh and frozen (but unprocessed) fruits and vegetables. Eat meat that is not processed or full of hormones, chemicals, etc. There is more to it than that, but it captures the essence of eating “food.”
Not too muchAmericans consume an average of 700 more calories per day than 50 years ago. We are bigger, fatter, more obese, and have more diseases from poor nutrition than ever. We get more diabetes, heart disease, and cancer from eating junk food. We also have too much fat in our bodies because we exercise too little and eat too much. The portion sizes are too large and our food is more loaded with fats and sweeteners.
Mostly plantsAlthough it is not necessary to be a vegetarian to eat healthy, the more meat you eat, especially fatty and processed meats, the less healthy we are. Plants provide the healthiest nutrients and the fewest unnecessary calories for our bodies if they are fresh and healthy.
Pollan notes that various ethnic diets, especially in the Mediterranean and Asia, are much healthier because they follow these three simple guidelines. The modern American diet, on the other hand, with its processed foods, beverages laden with high fructose corn syrup, and fast pizza and hamburgers, is a short path to illness.
Our young people, who have grown up on this diet and will exercise less than traditional Americans, may be the first generation to live shorter lives than their parents.
Pollan is not a radical. It doesn’t say you have to eat tofu and raw foods all day. There are many delicious and very healthy foods that you can and should eat. His accusation is against the highly processed and inappropriate foods that dominate our diet today.
This is not the first book to send this message, but Pollan does a very good job as a careful journalist in bringing us the facts to support the position he takes. By following the simple guidelines he suggests, we can regain health and waistlines. Your arguments are compelling and reasonable.
Readability / Writing quality:
This is very well written. Write in an attractive style, yet provide the footnotes and sources that support your position.
Notes on the author:
Michael Pollan is an accomplished author and journalist and is the Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley. Writes for NY Times Magazine. He was also the author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, among others.
Three great ideas you can use:
1. Eat healthy foods, as natural and complete as possible and with as little processing as possible. Stick to the outside of the supermarket, if you must buy groceries in supermarkets, look for seasonal produce, fresh unprocessed meats and dairy with the least possible processing. Avoid artificial ingredients and “prepared foods.”
2. Make sure you exercise every day.
3. Eat slowly and intentionally, and only eat until you are full or almost full. Cut down on the portion sizes that are all too common in today’s Western diet.
Publication information:
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
(c) 2008 by Michael Pollan. Published by Penguin Books. 205 pages not including sources and index.
Rating of this book:
Overall Rating: Excellent
Writing style: very good
Application: Very timely; very applicable.
Technical difficulty: moderate