Michael Pollan's Opinions on Food

I was lucky enough to turn on National Public Radio during their weekly Science Friday and hear an interview with author and "food opinionist" Michael Pollan. Pollan was discussing a book published in 2001, The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World, but hearing his interview reminded me of a book I would like to share with all my clints: Food Rules. Released earlier this year, Rules is more or less a ten commandments of eating. EB Nutrition's principles or more Organic and natural products and less food with a ton of ingredients can be summed up in a few of Pollan's "rules." For example,

1. It's not food if it's called by the same name in every language. In other words, Coke, Cheetos, Big Mac. You get the picture.

2. If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't. Interpreted, this means eat more vegetables and whole grains and less food coming out of a package or bag.

To read more about Pollan's principles on food and eating, check out:

• The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World,
• The Ominivore's Dilemma,
• In Defense of Food, or
• Food Rules: An Eater's Manual.

And let us know what you think!

Recommended Reads

Here is a list of some of the recommended reads we offer to clients. You may find them inspirational, beneficial, etc. Share these reads and let us know what you think!

• The Writing Diet by Julie Cameron

This inspiring weight-loss program, which can be used in conjunction with Cameron's groundbreaking book on the creative process, The Artist's Way, directs readers to count words instead of calories, to substitute their writing's "food for thought" for actual food. Using journaling to examine their relationship with food-and to ward off unhealthy overeating -readers will learn to treat food cravings as invitations to evaluate what they are truly craving in their emotional lives.

• The Gabriel Method by Jon Gabriel

It's based on the fact that your body has an internal logic that determines how fat or thin you will be at any given time. The way to lose weight is not to struggle or to force yourself to lose weight but to understand this internal logic and work with it so that your body wants to be thinner.

When your body wants to be thinner, weightloss is inevitable and becomes automatic and effortless. You simply crave less food, you crave healthier foods, your metabolism speeds up and you become very efficient at burning fat, just like a naturally thin person.

• The Locker Room Diaries by Leslie Goldman

In her fascinating, tell-all locker room confidential, Leslie Goldman reveals just how driven American women have become in their constant quest for perfection, when really they need only look to themselves for the “perfect” body. Often dressed in no more than a towel, Goldman spent five years talking with women of all shapes and sizes about their bodies, from taut twenty-somethings to heavyset seniors. Using her own stories as a springboard, she asks them what goes into shaping not just their bodies but their body image.

• You Are What You Eat by Dr. Gillian McKeith

You Are What You Eat, is a diet program that teaches you to listen to the needs of your own body in order to create a healthy diet and lifestyle. It has now spun-off into a book, written by show host, Dr. Gillian McKeith.

All those aches, pains, sleeplessness, cravings and illnesses mean something. Learn to identify that all of these things indicate certain deficiencies in the body. For instance, a sore tongue could be a lack of iron. In that case, start eating more leafy greens like fresh spinach.

Share with us what has inspired you!