Tired of complicated diets and looking for a few, easy rules for food? Author Michael Pollan’s new book, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual, breaks down the science into bite-size, easy-to-remember guidance. Diets low in vegetables and high in processed foods, meats, refined grains and added sugar and fats are associated with “Western diseases” of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer, Pollan writes. Getting off that diet, he argues, can reverse those effects. In addition to adding extra sugar, fat and salt, Pollan says that processing food can reduce its nutritional content, expose you to potential toxins in its packaging and make food easier to absorb, leading you to eat more than you need. “Most of these items don’t deserve to be called food—I call them edible food-like substances,” he writes. His conclusion: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” We’ve selected a dozen of our favorite Pollan rules—he suggests thinking of them as your “personal policies”—about what and how to eat.
Would Grandma Recognize It?
Are you eating food, or what Pollan would call a “foodish product”? Just a few generations ago, our ancestors didn’t eat food that was engineered in a lab to have an eternal shelf life. Nor were their diets based on highly processed foods containing extra helpings of sweet, salty and fattening ingredients—ones that humans naturally crave and often consume to excess, leading to obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases. As much as you can, buy food that exists in nature. It’ll contain the nutrients you need, and you’ll be unlikely to overeat it.
Look for Sugar by Every Other Name
Avoid packaged foods that have sugar listed among the top three ingredients, because it’s a sign that the food is highly processed. Pollan suggests looking for these sugary iterations (there are 40 forms used in processed foods): He lists barley malt, beet sugar, brown rice syrup, cane juice, corn sweetener, dextrin, dextrose, fructo-oligosaccharides, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, sucrose, invert sugar, polydextrose and turbinado sugar among the offenders. Even though some names look friendlier than others, any of them in high amounts—that is, among the first three ingredients—aren’t going to be healthy. Pollan simply says, “Sugar is sugar.”
Avoid Products That Make Health Claims
When was the last time you saw broccoli bragging about itself? (Dana Carvey singing “Choppin’ Broccoli” on Saturday Night Live reruns doesn’t count.) Think of plant-based foods as quietly confident. The only foods that boast are ones that come in packages, Pollan argues, and those are the processed foods you should avoid. “Don’t take the silence of the yams,” Pollan writes, “as a sign they have nothing valuable to say about your health.”
Stick to the Sides of the Supermarket
You’ve probably picked up on the fact that most supermarkets stock produce, meat, fish and dairy in the outer aisles. Stay there and you won’t be tempted to pick up the “immortal food-like substances” (again, processed foods) that Pollan notes are typically found in the middle aisles. Still, engineered foods such as high-fructose corn syrup—a common sweetener and preservative that some argue is responsible for the obesity epidemic by making sweet, calorie-packed foods cheaper to produce and buy—sometimes make an appearance along the supermarket periphery if they’re added to flavored yogurt or other dairy products, so read the labels.
Eat the Leaves
Maybe you’ve heard about the benefits of leafy greens? These veggies are chock-full of good-for-you vitamins B, C and K, as well as calcium, iron and fiber. What’s more, Pollan notes, vegetables are less “energy dense” than other foods. (Translation: They have fewer calories.) Vegetarians tend to live longer than meat eaters, and folks who eat fewer calories have fewer chronic diseases, he writes. A complementary rule, Pollan notes, is to eat “your colors” to ensure that you get the nutrition you need: the reds, yellows and greens of produce reflect the antioxidants (disease-fighting chemicals) they contain. Look for greens such as spinach, chard, bok choy, kale and lettuce, and other colorful veggies like carrots, tomatoes and red sweet peppers.
Save Meat for Special Occasions
We all love meat: Most of us eat it in two or three meals every day, Pollan writes. But red meat has been linked to heart disease and cancer, possibly because of its saturated fat content and tendency to form carcinogens (cancer-causing substances) when it’s cooked at high temperatures. (Another explanation: People who eat meat may eat fewer veggies that protect against disease.) You don’t have to eliminate meat altogether: so-called “flexitarians”—folks who eat meat once or twice a week—are as healthy as vegetarians.
Don’t Overlook the Oily Little Fish
Sold on boosting the amount of plants in your diet? Be sure to add some variety—and protein—with heart-healthy fish. Mackerel, sardines and anchovies all are bursting with omega-3 fatty acids, which promote a healthy heart and haven’t been overfished, Pollan writes. Omega-3s are associated with lower blood pressure and heart rate, and they promote brain development in fetuses. Pollan recommends staying away from tuna, swordfish and shark, all of which are threatened with extinction because they’ve been so commercialized. Swordfish, shark and canned white and albacore tuna also tend to have higher amounts of mercury, which can cause nervous system damage in developing fetuses and young children.
Have a Glass of Wine with Dinner
Here’s a rule you can toast to: Regular imbibers live longer and have less heart disease than those who never touch alcohol, Pollan writes. Any type of alcohol in moderation reduces the risk of heart disease, but the ingredients in red wine, like tannins and the compound resveratrol, may be especially protective by preventing blood-vessel damage, blood clots and production of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. But drinking regularly in moderation is healthier than bingeing on the weekend, Pollan notes. Limit yourself to one a day if you’re a woman and no more than two if you’re a man.
Stop Eating Before You’re Full
Pollan draws some of his rules from recommendations he solicited from more than 2,500 New York Times readers that have been passed down through cultural traditions. Many cultures, he found, recommend putting down your fork before you need to unbutton your pants. Whether it’s eating until you’re two-thirds sated, as recommended by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, or stopping when you feel 80 percent full, as they do in Japan, you’ll moderate your consumption by allowing your brain—which is about 20 minutes behind your stomach—to realize you’re sated.
Eat Only When You’re Hungry
Some people refer to this as “mindful eating.” Instead of being prompted to eat by visual temptations, emotional cues such as depression or boredom or as a reward, listen to what your stomach’s telling you (a companion Pollan rule is “consult your gut”). Ask yourself if you’re truly hungry, or if the urge to eat is being driven by something else, Pollan says.
Eat Slowly
By giving yourself time to savor your food, you’ll be aware of how full you are before you overeat (it’s about that 20-minute concept again). Two more Pollan rules provide strategies for slowing down: Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it, and try not to eat alone. Company makes eating a communal experience, and you’re apt to eat less when you’re with others because more is going on at the table than food consumption.
Eat Small Portions and Skip Seconds
Our idea of a healthy portion has evolved along with supersizes that promise us more for our money at supermarkets and restaurants. Research shows we’ll eat more than we intend to if the food is in front of us. Pollan offers a few simple tricks to figure out a healthy portion, including: Choose a piece of meat that’s no bigger than the size of your fist, and be sure a full meal is no larger than the size of your hands cupped together.
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