Book Review: In Defense of Food

I would like to expound a little on my previous post about Michael Pollan's Book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.

Before jumping into the book, you might ask yourself: "Is this a book that I want to read?" Some people are like I used to be and scared to take the plunge. I now believe that it's best to have all of the information and then make the choices you deem right for your family. You can find people much more extreme about the food they eat than I am, but I have found a balance for my own family. People that we stay with when we travel sometimes worry about what to feed us, but we always reassure them that we eat whatever they do. We do not do this to burden anyone else. We simply chose to make a change in the way we eat at home, which is a majority of the time. So don't be scared, just be informed and make the changes that are best and conceivable for your family.

The premise of this book is very simple: "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants." The main thing that I like about Pollan's book is that he takes a large amount of information and food cycles and presents it in a way that is very clear to understand. He follows the trends of nutritionism and eating habits which helps to see how we have been so easily deceived. Nutritionism is simply buying a product based on one nutrient, such as a sugary cereal that advertises more fiber instead of focusing on the countless whole food products that offer an array of natural nutrients that our bodies are able to recognize. Have you ever noticed the constant change in margarine? Whatever the "hot topic" nutrient happens to be at the time, it has it, such as omega 3's. This is just one example of a food that is chemically altered to increase sales. Whole foods have the same nutrients all the time, no matter what the fad.

Pollan also focuses on what he calls the Western Diet, which is the way American's eat. All the fast "food" and processed "food like products" that we consume are having a negative effect on our health. Diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer are plaguing our nation. Not to say that our country is the only one suffering from these diseases, but as the Western Diet infiltrates other countries, studies have shown that the rates of the health problems also rise.

One thing that I like is that it is not about what "diet" you choose, it's about the lifestyle changes you make to consume real food. So it fits into everyone's taste. You don't have to adhere to a traditional cultural diet such as the Mediterranean diet or eat like the French do. They are all healthier than we are, and God created our bodies wonderfully. Our bodies can quickly begin to undo all of the damage we have previously done when we begin to remove processed products from our diet.

Another thing that I like about this book is that it's not just a book of what to do and what not to do. It helps you to understand that what you eat has an impact on your health. This book ends with simple rules for how to change your diet, such as, "Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize." This makes it very easy to take what you have learned while reading the book and put it into practice.

This book helped me understand better what I was putting into my body and also helped me to recognize how blinded I have been by advertising and marketing.

I hope that this review of The Eater's Manifesto helps you and your family make informed decisions about the food you eat. This book is what spurred my husband and I to begin eating better.

How it all started

I used to be a couponer. Having just gotten married and living on a graduate student salary, I found it critical that we reduce our grocery budget as much as possible. I would come home with a trunk full of groceries for just dollars. I had a friend who liked to coupon with me but was more particular about what she purchased for her family's health. I said that I just had trouble spending money that I didn't have to. She kindly pointed out that it was my health that I was paying the price for. That got me started thinking but I wasn't ready to take the plunge. I had the curiosity but didn't know how to get started. Once you make one change, there is always something else and I thought it would lead to such a financial burden.

It turned out I was helping my family financially but realized it was not worth the health risk in the long run. My job is to care for my family and so I was going to find a way to provide for my family in a healthy and frugal way. While some things did cost more, I found that if I focused on one thing at a time and determined what was most important it was feasible and didn't break our budget.

So what was the turning point? I kind of stepped into all this without realizing it. I saw a book recommendation on one of my blogs for Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto. The title sounded intriguing but I had no idea what the book was about. The title gives this book away because he is defending food. The thing that I didn't realize was how much of the things that we were consuming were not really food. Once I became aware of what we were really eating I couldn't help but change our ways.

A little disclaimer: I hesitate to recommend this book because the author is an evolutionist. I do not support the views of this author but if you are looking for information this book is well written, research paper style, and provides a lot of good information that makes you think. While he thinks that all of his findings support his evolutionist theory and it's a little tough to read through, it is amazing to see how God gave us everything we needed through the food He provided for us naturally.