BACK TO THE BASICS: FOOD RULES 3 & 4

RULE #3

AVOID FOOD PRODUCTS CONTAINING INGREDIENTS THAT NO ORDINARY HUMAN WOULD KEEP IN THE PANTRY

                 According to Michael Pollan it is best if you try to stay away from the foods that are hard to pronounce such as ethoxylated diglycerides, cellulose, xanthan gum, calcium propionate, ammonium sulfate, etc. If you wouldn't cook with them yourself, WHY let others use these ingredients to cook for you? These types of chemicals are placed into foods to enhance shelf life, make old food look fresher then it actually is (practically tricking you into eating more!). All in all whether or not any of these additives pose a hazard to your health or not you must realize that these types of chemicals that can be found in many processed foods HAVEN'T been eaten by humans for very long, so it is suggested that they are avoided.

 

 

 

WHAT DOES YOUR PANTRY LOOK LIKE?

 

RULE #4

AVOID FOOD PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP.

 

                 Not because high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is any worse for you than sugar...but because it is, like many of the other unfamiliar ingredients in packaged foods. Michael Pollan states that HFCS is actually a pretty reliable marker for a food product that has been highly processed. It typically is added to hundreds of foods that are not usually sweetened--breads, condiments, and many different snacks--therefore if you avoid products that contain it you will cut down on your sugar intake. NOW on another note Michael Pollan also suggests that we do not fall for the bait or the latest industrial scam: "products reformulated to contain no HFCS or real cane sugar." Somehow they make these claims trying to say that certain foods are healthier, but they are not. SUGAR is SUGAR!!





Referring back to Rule #1 and Rule #2 do you think that these RAINBOW pancakes would be something your great-grandma would recognize as FOOD?!

 

BACK TO THE BASICS: FOOD RULES

 

SELF-QUIZ

 

a. WHAT IS FOOD RULE #1?

 

b. WHAT IS FOOD RULE #2?

 

c. EAT OR NOT TO EAT...

DEL MONTE CANNED FRUIT or a FRESH BANANA?

 

 

KEEP CHECKING IN AS MORE FOOD RULES WILL BE COVERED!!

 

 

 

 

* FOR MORE INFORMATION CHECK OUT MICHAEL POLLAN'S BOOK: FOOD RULES

BACK TO THE BASICS IN 2013

FOOD RULES!!

 

 

A New Year has just begun and instead of analyzing all the different diets out there why not try going back to the basics. Michael Pollan offers some great food rules that won't eat your wallet or leave you hungry. Following his advice in his book "Food Rules," I would like to share some fun and inspiring ways to simply EAT!

 

 

PART 1

 

QUESTION: WHAT SHOULD I EAT?

 

ANSWER: RULE #1...EAT FOOD

 

 

This is easier said than done...right? Especially when there are thousands of new products that show up in your local supermarket/grocery store each year, all of which are trying to take your hard earned money. As Mr. Pollan states in his book, "most of these items don't deserve to be called food--I call them edible foodlike substances. They're highly processed concoctions designed by food scientists, consisting mostly of ingredients derived from corn and soy that no normal person keeps in the pantry, and they contain chemical additives with which the human body has not been long acquainted." Therefore most of the challenge today is how to tell between real food and industrialized foodlike items.

 

 

RULE #2

 

DON'T EAT ANYTHING YOUR GREAT GRANDMOTHER WOULDN'T RECOGNIZE AS FOOD.

 

Michael suggests that one should imagine their great grandmother or grandmother at your side as you walk down each aisle of the supermarket or grocery store. You stand together in front of the dairy case when she decides to pick up the Go-GURT Portable Yogurt tubes and has no idea what the plastic cyclinder of colored and flavored gel could be. Is it food or is it toothpaste? This is just an example of the foodish like products on the shelf that our ancestors would not recognize anymore as food. Therefore you want to try to avoid eating such complicated food products; go beyond the various chemical additives and corn and soy derivatives that they contain and search for something that great-grandma or grandma would put in her cart. Now if your great grandma or grandma was a terrible cook or eater you can substitute someone else's who you envy. :)

 

In the series of blogs to come I will cover more food rules  by Michael Pollan; starting off with how to navigate through the INGREDIENTS LABEL. So be sure to check back in!

 

We wish you a very Happy, Healthy, and Successful New Year!

 

All the BEST IN

 

 

Yours Truly,