Food rules, M. pollan

front load the day

"Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper."

chinese proverb

"Eating what stands on one leg [mushrooms and plant foods] is better than eating what stands on two legs [fowl], which is better than eating what stands on four legs [cows, pigs, and other mammals]."

the first bite is the sweetest

"The banquet is in the first bite."

grains white bread

"The whiter the bread, the sooner you'll be dead." Favor the kinds of oils and grains that have traditionally been stone-ground.

rules

"no snacks, no seconds, no sweets - except on days that begin with the letter S." Break the rules once in a while. "All things in moderation," it is often said, but we should never forget the wise addendum, sometimes attributed to Oscar Wilde: "Including moderation."

eat less

. . . Eat less. Stop eating before you're full. Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored.

ingredients

Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce. Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature.

simple

Avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients.

claims

Avoid food products that make health claims Avoid food products with the wordoid "lite" or the terms "low-fat" or "nonfat" in their names. Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not (margarine) Avoid foods you see advertised on television.

sugar

Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients. Avoid food products that contain high-fructose corn syrup.

supplementary person

Be the kind of person who takes supplements - then skip the supplements. ppl who would take supplements tend to be health conscious (exercise, whole grains), but most supplements don't do anything. (except fish oil,

shrink

Buy smaller plates and glasses.

cereal

Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.

oily little fishes

Don't overlook the oily little fishes.

veggie water

Drink the spinach water

Real

Eat food. Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food

diversity

Eat like an omnivore.

how to eat

Eat meals. (with people) don't graze Try not to eat alone. (When we eat alone, we eat more) Do all your eating at a table. Leave something on your plate. "Better to go to waste than to waist."

plants

Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.

humans, not corporations

Eat only foods that have been cooked by humans. Don't ingest foods made in places where everyone is required to wear a surgical cap. If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't. It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car. It's not food if it's called by the same name in every language. (Think Big Mac, Cheetos, or Pringles.)

it should go bad

Eat only foods that will eventually rot.

slow down

Eat slowly. Consult your gut -- So slow down and pay attention to what your body - and not just your sense of sight - is telling you. This is what your grand-parents were getting at with the adage "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach."

fungi made

Eat some foods that have been predigested by bacteria or fungi.

origins

Eat well-grown food from healthy soil. Eat wild foods when you can. Eat sweet foods as you find them in nature.

colors

Eat your colors.

wine

Have a glass of wine with dinner

Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks.

as much as their food habits: small portions eaten at leisurely communal meals; no second helpings or snacking. Pay attention, too, to the combinations of foods in traditional cultures: In Latin America, corn is traditionally cooked with lime and eaten with beans; what would otherwise be a nutritionally deficient staple becomes the basis of a healthy, balanced diet

hmm

claims that the more focused Americans become on nutrition, the less healthy they seem to become cultivating a relaxed attitude toward food is important

meat

Treat meat as a flavoring or special occasion food. Eat animals that have themselves eaten well.

market, super & farmer

Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle. Get out of the supermarket whenever you can Buy your snacks at the farmers' market.

honor the cook, eat slow

Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it.

sweet it yourself

Sweeten and salt your food yourself Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.

freeze bulk

If you have the space, buy a freezer

Pay more, eat less.

If you spend more for better food, you'll probably eat less of it, and treat it with more care. And if that higher-quality food tastes better, you will need less of it to feel satisfied. Choose quality over quantity, food experience over mere calories. Or as grandmothers used to say, "Better to pay the grocer than the doctor."

snacks

Limit your snacks to unprocessed plant foods. veggies, fruits, nuts Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does. Treat treats as treats.

make

Plant a vegetable garden if you have the space, a window box if you don't. Cook.

don't need innovative foods

Regard nontraditional foods with skepticism

portion

Serve a proper portion and don't go back for seconds.