Breast cancer. Apples. Olive Oil. What Is the Western Diet? Food Rules.

A Diet Rich in Fruits and Vegetables

Michael Pollan, author of Food Rules: An Eaters Manual, has summarized in this book his philosophy on eating.

He has written several previous books on food.  Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food were New York Times bestsellers. But, in this book he has pared down his philosophy to seven words.

Eat food, mostly plants, not too much.

Where Did He Come Up with This Philosophy?

Pollan condemns the Western diet, high on fats, salt, sugar and processed foods, for making us more susceptible to cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Is he making this up? Who is Michael Pollan?

Michael Pollan is a journalist and professor interested in food. His food rules outline a healthy, sustainable diet based on his research about how we produce food.

What Are the Rules?

Several rules you have heard before or are little disputed:

• Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dine like a pauper.
• Eat slowly.
• Treat treats as treats.

We know it takes about 20 minutes for your body’s signals to tell you it is full. If you eat faster than this, you will be tempted to keep eating past the time you are full.

And, then he throws in some unusual ones:

• Serve the vegetables first.
• If you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, you’re not hungry.
• Avoid ingredients that lie to your body.

The last one refers to artificial sweeteners that make your system think it is getting sugar and adjust accordingly.

• Don’t eat cereals that change the color of your milk.
• It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car.
• Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.

It took me awhile to understand the window of your car reference. He is talking about fast food.

What Is the Western Diet?

The Western diet, also called the meat-sweet diet for its emphasis on red meat and sugar, is noted for refined grains, sugary drinks and processed meats.

Medical literature has found a correlation between the Western diet and cancer, especially colon cancer.

By contrast, the medical literature discusses what is now called the Mediterranean diet as better for your health. It is high in fruits and vegetables. Dessert is typically fruit.

It is low in red meat and high in fish. It is known for its use of olive oil instead of butter.

And, this is where it gets interesting when it comes to cancer.

A researcher, Antonia Trichopoulou, used data gathered about 15,000 Greek women, followed for ten years, between 1993 and 2004, from a larger European study, and found that post-menopausal women who closely followed the Mediterranean diet were 41% less likely to get breast cancer than those who did not.

What Makes Michael Pollan’s Book Different?

Michael Pollan has developed an easy set of rules to follow for eating.

It is not a book of recipes. It is not an academic study. It is a set of simple practices that, if adopted, can improve health.

Although there was a study in 1948 with similar results, it wasn’t until the 1990s that medical literature confirmed that study on a large population.

Pretty powerful stuff.

Click here to order Pollan’s book from amazon, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual.

Do you remember the way your grandma cooked?

Do you serve her favorite dishes to your grandchildren?

Do you tell them the stories that go with those memories?

To you and the warm smells of your kitchen filling your grandchildren’s memories.

Carol Covin, Granny-Guru

Click here to order my book, Who Gets to Name Grandma? The Wisdom of Mothers and Grandmothers

http://newgrandmas.com

P.S. Click here to order this blog for your Kindle.