Cover of Food Rules: An Eater

Those seven words in the title of this blog describe one author’s opinion on food and health. Michael Pollan has written several books regarding the food we eat and the policies and processes that drive that here in the United States. His most recent book Food Rules describes what he calls “a set of straightforward, memorable rules for eating wisely.”

The word rules can bring up red flags for anyone who has tried to follow a healthy eating plan and has not succeeded, so to put it in perspective we will think of these as suggestions. Pollan suggests that in America we are so caught up with healthy eating, yet we have one of the worst diets in the world. He provides these “rules” as ways to redirect our focus on the foods that we should be incorporating into what we eat.

Here are a few that I found interesting:

Stay out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter of the store.

Picture the store where you shop. Where are the foods we’ve talked about over the last few weeks—fruits and vegetables, lean meats, low-fat dairy. Foods that are whole and not processed so to speak are on the perimeter because they have to be close to the loading docks to be replaced when it goes bad. This is not saying you can’t veer into the middle to buy whole grains, dried fruit, etc., it’s just something to keep in mind when you shop!

Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.

Over time we have started to include more processed foods into what we eat and we don’t stop to think what’s in them. These foods often have added sugar and salt in addition to food additives for color and preservatives.

His suggestion here is to look at the label to see what you are actually eating. The lower the number of ingredients in the food you eat, the less likely it is heavily processed. Just for fun, go to your pantry and see how many things you can find with five ingredients or less, in America today this is difficult!

It is not just what you eat but how you eat.

“Always leave the table a little hungry,” Pollan says. He speaks of other cultures that have rules that you stop eating before you are full. Moderation is the underlying principle here,eating what you enjoy but knowing when to stop.

Another facet of this suggestion is eating together as a family. Think back to the Norman Rockwell painting of the American family eating together, this icon was true even ten years ago, but now we have leaned towards eating in our cars, around a tv, and alone. Eating with friends or family can help you plan meals, give an opportunity to encourage kids to try new foods, and you can learn to enjoy the meals you are eating instead of grabbing something for convenience.

Eating wisely, and eating healthy doesn’t have to be complicated, but it is important to stop and think. Think about the foods you eat, what’s in them and how and where are you eating them. It’s taking these small steps that will help you make healthier choices. So this week think about these suggestions and I encourage you to eat food, not too much, mostly plants, and eat together.

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Lauren Futrell Dunaway, MPH, RD, graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Dietetics.  She then completed her dietetic internship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. After becoming a Registered Dietitian, she began to pursue a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Lauren currently works at the Tulane Prevention Research Center as a program manager for their core research project focusing on the built environment and how it affects obesity. Contact Lauren at befitnolard@gmail.com