http://www.jsonline.com/features/food/84419842.htmlBy now, most everyone knows Michael Pollan's seven-word eating directive:
"Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much."
He wrote a whole book around this philosophy, "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" (Penguin, 2008), a follow-up to his bestselling 2006 tome, "The Omnivore's Dilemma."
Late last year he boiled down his eater's how-to into a slim paperback called "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual," 64 short, sometimes flip Pollanisms that on the face of it mostly make sense but that, if taken too seriously, can drive you to the nearest confessional for a purging of past eating sins - or make you reluctant to ever set foot again in an American restaurant or supermarket.
I read it. Three times. It's a fast skim.
I came away feeling pretty good about the diet I already follow, but alternately intrigued, amused, annoyed, baffled or charmed by its pages. As I suspect most ordinary Americans would.
I was intrigued by rules like No. 21: "It's not food if it's called by the same name in every language. (Think Big Mac, Chee-tos or Pringles.)" Hadn't thought of that before, though I'm not convinced it's 100% true.
And by No. 52: "Buy smaller plates and glasses." Switching from 12- to 10-inch plates, one researcher found, caused people to eat 22% less.
I was amused by rules like No. 51: "Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it." Ha - has Pollan ever spent three hours making dinner? How about those times when I microwave a plate of leftovers? (But I get his point.)
I was annoyed by the frequently elitist oversimplification ("If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't") and the unrealistic nature of some of his rules, such as "Eat wild foods when you can."
And I was baffled by statements like this: "Vegetarians are notably healthier than carnivores, and they live longer."
Really? Longer than my meat-eating grandma, who died a month short of 100? Let's remember, vegetarians can eat poorly, too. I know some who do.
But I was charmed by rules like "Eat your colors" and "Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself" - and whenever Pollan invoked ancient proverbs or grandma wisdom.
For example:
"The banquet is in the first bite." (i.e., don't overeat)
"A land with lots of herring can get along with few doctors." (i.e., eat oily fishes high in omega-3s)
"Eating what stands on one leg is better than eating what stands on two legs, which is better than eating what stands on four legs." (A Chinese proverb that basically means plants are healthier than poultry, which is better than beef and pork.)
This look back reinforces, for me, that none of what Pollan says is really, truly new. It's just new packaging for the times we live in.
My least favorite section of the book is the first, in which Pollan tells us largely what not to eat. His forbidden list includes: foods you see advertised on television, food products with more than five ingredients, those with high-fructose corn syrup. . . . The negativity is disquieting; perhaps in part because it's a reminder of how many highly processed foods we have access to in our culture.
But it's the very idea of rules that gives me the most pause.
Many of us have been down this rule-rutted road. I once went through a phase when I wouldn't eat potatoes because I viewed them as fattening.
For a time I used only honey as a sweetener, only whole-wheat flour in baking; and I let no refined grain products into my house.
Too many rules are a set-up for failure, and worse, they're a clear culprit on the path to the far more serious problem of eating disorders.
In all fairness, Pollan does allow for exceptions, and he acknowledges that obsessing over food is "bad for your happiness and probably for your health, too."
He leaves room for occasional treats, he advocates wine with dinner.
His last rule, No. 64, not surprisingly, is among my favorites, an "ism" I never have any trouble following, at the dinner table or anywhere else:
"Break the rules once in a while."
RULES TO EAT BY
Here's a sampling of the 64 rules in Michael Pollan's paperback book "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual."
• Eat like an omnivore (in other words, a wide variety of foods).
• Treat treats as treats.
• Eat slowly.
• Do all your eating at a table.
• Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored.
• Eat meals (and not snacks).
• Have a glass of wine with dinner.
• Cook.
