How to Eat Smart

Forget about diets. Just eat smart. Michael Pollan is changing the way that millions of Americans regard food with his passionate, sensible, no-nonsense rules about what and when to eat. Here are some of his deceptively simple commandments.

Eat Slowly Sit down in a group and eat well-grown, well-prepared food. Enjoy meals at leisure. Think about all that was involved in getting food onto your table, and become involved when possible – growing herbs or vegetables, visiting a local farm. Eat with deliberation instead of compulsion. 

Eat Meals This is no longer an obvious dictum. A meal is not just about consuming: it is a time to socialise. And for parents, a time to civilise children and watch what they are eating. Sit-down meals were a key element in how our species developed language and culture.

Try Not to Eat Alone We’re far less likely to gorge ourselves in the presence of others. When we eat mindlessly or alone, we eat more.

Never Eat Snacks They’re no good for you. Yet snacking has replaced three square meals – one-fifth of all eating now takes place in the car. Offices have stocked-up kitchens, and at every meeting and social occasion we are presented with food and drinks.

Do All of Your Eating at a Table – note: a desk is not a table

Go French How we eat is just as important as what we eat. Nutritionists are baffled by the fact that the French eat fatty foods and wash them down with red wine. They fail to notice that the French rarely snack, they eat small portions and they take their time. It’s more common to share food than to wolf down a three-course meal. Portion sizes are smaller, not only in restaurants but in supermarkets. French people consume fewer calories than us, yet enjoy food more. This may explain why the French are slimmer and healthier than we are.

Pay More More and more chains are churning out endless quantities of mediocre food, wrapping it in spectacular packages and selling it at a spectacular price. Fact: good food costs more, mainly because it has been grown or reared with care. If you can afford to spend a bit more on food, you should. Paying more also means you won’t eat in such great amounts.

Go Japanese In france, it is taboo to eat a second helping. In Japan, the people of Okinawa practice the principle of hara hachi bu, or eating until they are 80 per cent full. In the West, more attention is paid to external cues – the plate is clean, the box is empty – than internal signs that your body has had enough. So ask yourself: Am I really still hungry? It takes 20 minutes for the brain to send the message to the tummy that it’s full. By eating meals slowly, we have a far better chance of eating less.

Cook and, If You Can, Plant a Garden The amount we eat is also related to the money and effort we spend preparing our food. How often would you gorge on chips if you had to peel, wash, cut and fry them yourself – and then clear up the mess? Becoming aware of, and taking part in, how our food is made is the best way to escape the culture of fast food. It keeps us in touch with what’s important: nature. And when we cook from scratch, we are not reliant on ingredient labels or health claims – we know exactly what is and isn’t in lunch. Health goes without saying and food becomes what it once was: part of life’s rich bounty, not fuel or a commodity.

Don’t Get Your Fuel from the Same Place Your Car Does In the US, petrol stations now make more money from selling food and cigarettes than they do from selling petrol.

Work on the External Clues Put smaller portions on smaller plates; use vertical glasses rather than horizontal (people pour more into squat glasses); hide unhealthy food; keep healthy food in view; keep leftover food away from the dining table.

Comments

[Grannymar]

Great article!

Bring back family meals around the table!

[Paul]

Great article!!

I just discovered this Food & Wine Network. www.garlicoon.com - Also a nice one. Cheers, Peter