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This is part three of a three post series summarizing Michael Pollan’s advice from his excellent book, In Defense of Food. The conclusions he reaches are: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. These are Pollan’s overarching guidelines for buying and eating food. But, since that’s not much to go on, our posts will deal with each in more detail. Here is “Mostly Plants,” a description of what to eat…

Mostly plants embodies the idea that diets rich in fruits and vegetables offer the greatest health benefits. This must not be confused with eating the individual vitamins and nutrients found in plants. What modern nutritionism fails to understand are the complex relationships between the components found in single foods. So until nutritionists can tell you what you need to eat with beta-carotene in order to get the full benefit, it’s best just to eat the whole carrot! In case you need extra incentive, consider this fact, “In countries where people eat a pound or more of fruits and vegetables a day, the rate of cancer is half what it is in the United States,” Pollan, 2008).

1. The leaves of plants are better than the seeds
2. Be conscious of what your food ate - Meat from grass-fed animals will have more “good fats”, more vitamins, and more antioxidants.
3. Eat a variety of types of fruits, vegetables, grains, and animals - This will ensure that you cover all your bases and get enough of all important vitamins and nutrients.
4. Eat well-grown food from healthy soils - The nutrient content of the soil on which plants are grown has a huge impact on the plant’s nutrient content. Industrial agriculture results in nutrient-depleted soil, which then leads to nutrient-depleted plants.
5. Beware of the word “organic” - Typically, organic whole foods are better for you and the environment than industrial whole foods. This is because they are typically grown on healthy soil and without pesticides or fertilizers. However, organic processed foods are just as bad as industrial processed foods and should be avoided.
6. Eat wild foods when possible - Wild foods often have higher contents of good nutrients and lower contents of bad nutrients.
7. Be the type of person that takes vitamins and supplements, but don’t actually take them - The people that take vitamins and supplements are often the people that exercise regularly and are concerned about health in general. There is no definitive evidence that vitamins and supplements offer health benefits, and you’d be better off getting those compounds in food because of the cooperative behavior of nutrients in their natural forms.
8. Base your eating behavior on traditional food cultures like the Italians, Greeks, Japanese, Indians, etc. - Traditional food cultures that have been around for thousands of years are evolved to be compatible with the human body. Therefore, even though they may go against modern nutritionism, they have proven the test of time, and are likely more healthy than the modern diet of most Americans.
9. Beware of nontraditional foods - If people haven’t been eating it for thousands of years, your body probably isn’t evolved to handle it.
10. Foods are more than the sum of their parts - There is not one nutritional health cure. Health is better sought after in a diverse diet of a variety of foods.
11. Drink a glass of wine a day - In moderation alcohol has great health benefits. No wonder people have been making fermented tastiness for years! On top of that, wine has lots of other nutrients. But, don’t have too much. Studies show that up to four drinks a day, depending on your size, can be beneficial. However, the recommendation is two drinks for men and one for women.

That’s the end of our three post series about Michael Pollan’s book, In Defense of Food.  We really hope you found it interesting and informative.

Tags: food, Nutrition, pollan