Food marketing are often very confusing. With numerous competing health claims (“Fat-free!”…“Essential healthy fats!”) and constantly revolving lists of do/don’t eat (“Whole wheat!”…“Wait, less gluten!”), it’s hard to stay it all straight and understand what it really means to eat well.
At Four Wellness Co. we don’t practice one-size-fits-all dietary guidelines—for example, animal protein, dairy or gluten work well for a few people and not also for others—but we do share one major overarching nutrition tip that applies to all or any of us:
EAT FOOD. NOT an excessive amount of . MOSTLY PLANTS.
This adage was originally coined by Michael Pollan (award-winning journalist, author and professor at UC Berkeley) in In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, his book contesting America’s obsession with nutritionism (a specialise in eating nutrients instead of on eating food). Since then, “Eat food. Not an excessive amount of . Mostly plants.” has become a well-liked rule of thumb for following a healthful diet.
Many food cultures have rules about moderation. The Okinawans of Japan follow a Confucian teaching, “Eat until you’re 80% full,” and that they have the very best anticipation within the world.
Eat food. Don’t eat edible food-like substances; they’re edible, but they’re not food.
Avoid anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce, or ingredients no ordinary person would keep in their pantry. Or high fructose corn syrup.
Don’t eat food that won’t eventually rot.
Avoid products that make health claims.
Stay out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter of the store, where real, fresh food is kept near loading docks. Also, get out of the supermarket whenever you can. Shop at the farmers’ market and eat locally and seasonally when possible.
Eat like an omnivore. Diversify. Eat foods of many (natural) colors. Eat wild foods when you can.
If you eat animals, eat those that themselves have eaten well. (Also, eat animal products from animals that have eaten well.)
Cook. Eat junk food if you want, just cook it yourself.
It is not just what you eat but how you eat. Choose small portions, communal meals, and food culture over food science.
At Four Wellness Co. we don’t practice one-size-fits-all dietary guidelines—for example, animal protein, dairy or gluten work well for a few people and not also for others—but we do share one major overarching nutrition tip that applies to all or any of us:
EAT FOOD. NOT an excessive amount of . MOSTLY PLANTS.
This adage was originally coined by Michael Pollan (award-winning journalist, author and professor at UC Berkeley) in In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, his book contesting America’s obsession with nutritionism (a specialise in eating nutrients instead of on eating food). Since then, “Eat food. Not an excessive amount of . Mostly plants.” has become a well-liked rule of thumb for following a healthful diet.
Here’s what it means:
EAT FOOD.
There’s a difference between real food and “edible food-like substances.” Real food are some things your great-grandmother would recognize (she was probably not too conversant in Go-Gurt, for example). you ought to be ready to imagine real food in its natural form (e.g. a cow, an apple tree). And, for baked or prepared foods, you'll expect to acknowledge all of the ingredients and would probably have them in your own pantry (flour, olive oil, salt, etc.)… most folks don’t have Yellow 6 or butylated hydroxyanisole in our home kitchens.NOT TOO MUCH.
“Calorie restriction has repeatedly been shown to slow aging in animals, and lots of researchers believe it offers the only strongest link between diet and cancer prevention.”Many food cultures have rules about moderation. The Okinawans of Japan follow a Confucian teaching, “Eat until you’re 80% full,” and that they have the very best anticipation within the world.
MOSTLY PLANTS.
(And many leaves.) Your gastrointestinal system evolved to eat many plants, and infrequently meat when a search was successful. (Anthropology tidbit: although the fat from meat made our brains big and made us the humans that we are, killing a mastodon with handmade tools wasn’t that easy, and it wasn’t something we did 3 times each day . For early humans, meat was a supplement to a plant-based diet.)CORE PRINCIPLES OF HEALTHY EATING
Here are some of our favorite tips for healthy eating, articulately described by Michael Pollan’s Food Rules:Eat food. Don’t eat edible food-like substances; they’re edible, but they’re not food.
Avoid anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce, or ingredients no ordinary person would keep in their pantry. Or high fructose corn syrup.
Don’t eat food that won’t eventually rot.
Avoid products that make health claims.
Stay out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter of the store, where real, fresh food is kept near loading docks. Also, get out of the supermarket whenever you can. Shop at the farmers’ market and eat locally and seasonally when possible.
Eat like an omnivore. Diversify. Eat foods of many (natural) colors. Eat wild foods when you can.
If you eat animals, eat those that themselves have eaten well. (Also, eat animal products from animals that have eaten well.)
Cook. Eat junk food if you want, just cook it yourself.
It is not just what you eat but how you eat. Choose small portions, communal meals, and food culture over food science.
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