Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

Comment: With the over proliferation of diet books and "food wisdom" suffocating our culture Michael Pollan's books are a breath of fresh air. Written as a follow up to The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, Food Rules: An Eater's Manual is a collection of common sense eating guidelines for people who want to remove themselves from the industrial food chain and move towards a more traditional way of eating actual food. Pollan breaks down his philosophy of eating into seven simple words, "Eat food, not too much, mostly vegetables." The three sections of this book are structured around this statement and offer the reader bits of advice and simple practices to help them change the way they eat. Not all of the 64 pearls of wisdom are Pollan's alone. Many of them come from people he interviewed or from his readers who submitted advice via a website created by Pollan. The advice in this book is extremely easy to understand and to put into practice. If you desire a different way of eating and relating to food this book is essential reading.

Comment: Unlike many thin books which are also thin on ideas, "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual" suggests one big idea: that Americans would benefit from a return to our hunter-gatherer roots when it comes to eating. Humans of thousands of years ago ate meat, but surely depended on seasonal fruits and vegetables for many meals. They did not have Twinkies. Meat appeared at the table when available but could not be relied upon. If they had had antibiotics, Stone Age people surely would have lived longer lives.

Michael Pollan has given us three simple guidelines to more healthful eating: (1) Eat food. (2) Mostly plants. (3) Not so much.

Try it, you'll like it!

Comment: This book is a tremendously helpful guide on how to eat in today's world of junk and fake food. A must have guide.

Comment: Most educated folks have heard of Michael Pollan's famous aphoristic summation of dietary advice:
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Food Rules fleshes that out a bit, though in a fashion that is both padded and redundant. It is mildly amusing, and some of the 'rules' are likely to stick in the memory: Don't eat cereal that colors the milk. I think the book could find an excellent niche as a departure point for discussion in high school Home Ec and Health classes. College students could profit from it, too. But for those purposes, the 'book' will need to be repackaged in a slimmer and way cheaper form. It's full content should fit nicely in a paperbound pamphlet that could be sold in bulk for less than a dollar a throw.

For adults who want the straight skinny, here is what I was able to extract from Food Rules:

= = = = =
Eat whole foods, as fresh as possible, of known, high quality, local origin - preferably your own garden, prepared in your own household.

Eat plants, especially green leaves, from healthy soil, in great variety, some fermented (eg, sauerkraut). Eat little meat, from healthy-fed/free-range/wild animals, especially small oily fish (eg, sardines).

Consult eating patterns from established cultural traditions (eg, Italian, Japanese), including use of wine. Be wary of novelty (eg, textured soy protein).

Eat actual meals, at mealtimes, at table, with others.
Eat only when you are hungry, eat slowly from small dishes, stop as soon as you stop being hungry.
= = = = =

A food is 'whole' to the extent it has not been messed with. For example, an orange is a whole food; orange juice is not. A food is 'high quality' to the extent it has been produced with relevant skill and care. The rules are not intended to be rigid, but to serve as guidelines to move toward.

Comment: Food Rules, Bringing back what we've lost. This book is great because it doesn't confuse the reader with high-tech food terms.Something I'm not too familiar with. The book is very simply laid out. It has 46 simple rules that any one can understand,And has a brief description to these rules,which adds to the simplicity. He also mentions the dangers of our food culture and why other cultures lived healthily with out food science.He also intends to bring back what we've once had. The book is short and can be finished with in 1 hour or 2. I borrowed food rules from my local library,however for 5$,this book is a steal. I would recommend this book to any one and everyone, and remember he doesn't want us to follow all of them strictly and wants us to take a relaxed approach to his rules.