Wellbeing Lifelong

Eat food. Mostly plants. And not too much.

This is pretty much how Michael Pollan summarises the key Food Rules in his fun and quick to read book. Nice and simple!

For those who are not fans of long nutrition theories, here are my favourite rules from his entertaining book:

Eat food

1. Don’t eat anything your grandmother wouldn’t recognise as food
2. Avoid food that have some form of sugar among the top three ingredients
3. Avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients
4. Avoid foods containing ingredients that a third-grader could not pronounce
5. Eat only foods that will eventually rot
6. Eat foods from ingredients you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature
7. Eat only foods that have been cooked by humans
8. It’s not food if it’s called by the same name in every language (i.e. Big Mac, Cheetos, Pringles… Crap, I love Big Macs!!)

Mostly plants

1. Treat meat as flavouring or special occasion food
2. Eating what stands on one leg (mushrooms or plants) is better from what stands on two legs (poultry), which is better from what stands in four legs (pork, beef or other red meat)
3. Eat your colours
4. Drink the spinach water (or veg water)
5. Eat animals that have themselves eaten well
6. If you have space, buy a freezer
7. Eat some foods that have been pre-digested by bacteria or fungi
8. Sweeten and salt your food yourself
9. Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the colour of the milk
10. Eat all junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself

And not too much

1. Pay more, eat less
2. Stop eating before you are full
3. Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored
4. Eat slowly
5. Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it
6. Buy smaller plates and glasses
7. Serve a proper portion and don’t go back for seconds
8. Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper
9. Do all your eating at a table
10. Try not to eat alone
11. Treat treats as treats
12. Cook

What do you think? Do they make sense to you? Does following guidelines help you when it comes to eat healthier, or do you prefer setting your own rules?