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Thursday, April 8, 2010

What's for Dinner?

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

If you are torturing yourself over food choices, this line, from Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, pretty much sums it up. It really doesn't get any simpler than that. I love it, though I confess, I'm not 100% compliant with it. Still, I believe Pollan is right about this.

For the sake of convenience (and profit) we eat too many processed foods and it plays havoc with our health. How many times do we have to hear and/or read that nutritional supplements really can't adequately replace the fiber, flavor, and antioxidant values of food in it's natural state before we just choose the spinach salad and carrot juice instead of a burger and Coke?

In his latest book, Food Rules, Pollan sets forth 64 simple rules for eathing healthily and happily. While most of his "rules" are backed up by science, Pollan has gathered traditional and conventional food wisdom from a variety of sources, including readers of his earlier books, dietiticians and grandmothers. Food Rules is free of scientific jargon, thus, is easy to read and fun.

Rule #20  It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car.
Sorry, Mike. Mothers of toddlers with hectic schedules will not be giving this one up in the foreseeable future.