In Defense of Food November 7, 2008
If you are trying to lose weight or get healthy, maybe the solution is just to eat…real food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
Those are the opening lines of Michael Pollard’s new book, “In Defense of Food.” An awesome read, especially for anyone interested in their family’s health.
Nobody loves a good, old, unhealthy, engineered food more than I do. I am from the midwest, afterall, so what else would you expect? Didn’t we invent Doritos?
Anyway, I’m probably not the first person to whom the masses would rush when seeking dietary advice. HOWEVER…not to toot my own horn, but I AM what a lot of folks rushing to someone for dietary advice are seeking to be…to wit:
-My Body Mass Index is perfect
-my cholesterol is not only low, but my good/bad ratio is “the best my doctor has ever seen”
-my body fat percentage is 19% - not low enough to win any body building contests, but low enough to ensure I’m healthy and hormonally balanced
-my physique rating is 8 (= thin and muscular athlete)
-my bone mass is perfect
-my visceral fat rating is the healthiest/lowest it can possibly be
So how can this be? Why, when I don’t eat low-fat, low-carb, high-protein, yada, yada, yada?
Here’s why. Because as a scientist myself, I know “scientific” bunk when I see it. Every day a new “study” comes out, proclaiming they’ve found the perfect vitamin or nutrient. The miracle food. Then quietly, later, they take it back. For years, they’ve been marketing fake foods under the guise of “nutrition science.” I may eat fake foods…but they’re the REAL fake foods…what we’ve always known were fake and called them what they were…junk. And when you know it’s junk food, you may occassionally eat it as a splurge like I do, but you aren’t likely to stock your cupboards with it hoping to get healthy and lose weight.
Instead, we’ve begun engineering fake foods and telling people that eating them will make them healthy. Avoid saturated fats…eat low-fat foods (many of which, like margarines, contained transfats instead). Avoid carbs…eat packaged, high-protein foods instead. Etc. etc.
Kind of like hanging out getting jiggled by one of those “fat burning” machines used to be all the rage in the ’70’s. It just ain’t gonna work.
And now we’re learning that it may be the opposite…the more we engineer our food, the unhealthier we get. The more we try to “diet”, the more weight we gain.
The antidote, in the end, may be common sense. Did your ancestors eat it? Did it come out of a plastic package (also not good - microwaving in plastic)? Do you think the Omega-3’s added to that Dora the Explorer yogurt outweigh the 21 grams of sugar? Do we have to add things like DHA to our breastmilk? No matter how much you want to believe, do you really think Cocoa Puffs is healthy since it’s made with “whole grains?”
But common sense doesn’t address it all. When cream isn’t cream but is manufactured from corn starch, it can be hard to make sure that you are buying what you think you are buying. But here are a few tips:
- Everyone who knows me, knows I hate to cook. But making it yourself is one of the few ways to KNOW exactly what you are getting, and to get exactly what you need. It’s also a great way to save money. So buy whole, real, unpackaged foods and spend a day making your salads, soups, and entrees for the week. Chop your veggies ahead of time…then all you need to do is steam, heat, and eat. At least you’ll save money, even if you can’t save time.
- If there are more than five ingredients, or you can’t pronounce one of the five, don’t buy it.
- Eat mostly plants. Whole grains like quinoa, couscous, barley (as Vicki and I laughed over this morning), oats. Nuts and beans. Vegetables. Fruits.
- Try to buy as close to the source as you can so you can have a say in your food. Buy your meats from a local butcher shop where you can ensure they are free-range (ethical and environmental) and chemical free (for your health) in more than name only (labels are misleading on many national brands). Buy dairy and veggies from a local, organic farm stand - no wax, no genetic engineering, no chemicals if you do your homework.
Like working out, it ain’t easy. But it’s worth it. I definitely have some changes to make in my family’s diet, but not too many, mostly because we have deliberately chosen to eat close to the earth for environmental and community reasons.
So once again…if you are trying to “diet”, maybe the solution is just to eat…real food. Not to much. Mostly plants.
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