Down and Dirty Food Thoughts


I picked up this little gem at the library last week and finally got around to reading it. It's a down and dirty rule book for making basic, healthy food choices. Broken up into three sections, it talks about what to eat, what kind of food to eat, and how to eat.

Excerpts:

#2 : "Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. Imagine your great grandmother at your side as you roll down the aisle of the supermarket.  You're standing together in front of the dairy case. She picks up a package of Go-GURT Portable Yogurt tubes and hasn't a clue what this plastic cylinder of colored and flavored gel could possibly be. Is it a food or is it toothpaste?"

#7 : "Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce."

#10 : "Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not. Imitation butter - aka margarine -  is the classic example."

#12 : "Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle...Processed food products dominate the center aisles of the store, while the cases of mostly fresh food...line the walls."

#13 : "Eat only foods that will eventually rot."

#19 : "If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't."

#24 : "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)."
This is my favorite. It's a Chinese proverb that summarizes healthy eating very nicely.

#43 : "Have a glass of wine with dinner." 

#50 : "The banquet is in the first bite." As a Weight Watcher leader once pointed out, she really only wanted the first bite of that cookie, or brownie, or piece of cake. After the first bite, you stop tasting it.

#54 : "Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper."

#57 : "Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does."

#63 : "Cook."

Check it out at your local library. But not if you're coming to my library. I have it. It will be back in one week.

Comments

  1. Love this book. My mom is a devoted follower of Michael Pollan. I have Omnivore's Dilemma on my bedside table to read next.
    # 63 simply says it all, doesn't it?

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  2. I've heard #54 before - it makes sense to eat lightest at night, but not so easy. Who's home at midday to be able to eat so much?

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  3. this is great! love it. excellent rules!
    wondering what he says about portions?
    MBC

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  4. MBC - #53 "Serve a proper portion and don't go back for seconds...One adage says you should never eat a portion of animal protein bigger than your fist. Another says that you should eat no more food at a meal than would fit into the bowl formed by your hands when cupped together."

    I'm hoping that doesn't include dessert.

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  5. This is great! I just started up Weight Watchers again, but I think this book might have to be an additional resource ~ simple is good!

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