Book Review | Food Rules: An Eater’s manual, by Michael Pollan
My book notes from the New York Times Bestseller.
The essence of the book
The starting of the book quotes that eating has gone complicated over the past few years. With this book, the author brings a set of rules to ease our daily decisions about food. These rules for eating wisely are easily memorable.
The book highlights the seven words for our eating habits. Everything about food and health can be summed up in seven words:
Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.
Eat Food: The author suggests eating real food such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, and avoid “food-like substances”. Focus on eating whole food than focusing on a specific nutrient. This rule helps to filter out real food and food-like substance.
Not too much: The quantity of food also matters. This section focuses on eating habits regulating how much to eat and help you moderate and enjoy food.
Mostly plants: This set of rules help you to choose among real foods.
Later the book identifies the 64 easy rules over these 7 words or 3 paradigms.
Who should read it?
If you ever wondered “What should I eat?”, this is a perfect guide for you.
This book is a perfect guide on eating habits sharing wisdom gained from studying different cultures through the ages.
Throughout the book, you will find an easy rule accompanied by a concise explanation. There is a comprehensive set of rules designed to help you identify real food keeping moderation in check.
Summary Notes
“Foods are more than the sum of their nutrient parts, and those nutrients work together in ways that are still only dimly understood……Not only processing remove nutrients and add toxic chemicals, but it makes food more readily absorbable, which can be a problem for our insulin and fat metabolism.”
Part I — What should I eat?
- “Eat Food.”
- “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.”
- “Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.”
- “Avoid food with high-fructose corn syrup.”
- “Avoid foods that have some form of sugar listed among the top three ingredients.”
- “Avoid food products with the wordoid ‘-lite’ or the terms ‘low-fat’ or ‘nonfat’ in their names.”
- “Eat only foods that will eventually rot.”
- “Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.”
- “Buy your snacks at the farmers’ market.”
- “Eat only foods that have been cooked by humans.”
Part II — What kind of food should I eat?
- “Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.”
- “Treat meat as a flavoring or special occasion food.”
- “Eating what stands on one leg [mushrooms and plant foods] is better than eating what stands on two legs [fowl], which is better than eating what stands on four legs [cows, pigs, and other mammals].” — It is a Chinese proverb.
- “Drink the spinach water.”
- “Eat like an omnivore.”
- “Eat well-grown food from healthy soil.”
- “Eat wild foods when you can.”
- “Eat some foods that have been predigested by bacteria or fungi.”
- “Eat sweet foods as you find them in nature.”
- “Don’t eat breakfast cereal that changes the color of the milk.”
- “The whiter the bread, the sooner you will be dead.”
- “Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.”
- “Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks.”
Part — III How should I eat? (Not too much.)
- “…..Eat less.”
- “Stop eating before you’re full.”
- “Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored.”
- “Eat slowly.”
- “Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it.”
- “Buy smaller plates and glasses.”
- “Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper.”
- “Limit your snacks to unprocessed plant foods.”
- “Don’t get your fuel from the same place as your car does.”
- “Treat treats as treats.”
- “Cook.”
“Drink your food and chew your drink.”
“After lunch, sleep a while. After dinner, walk a mile.”
Rating: 10/10
Get your copy on Amazon.
