Michael Pollen 64 Food Rules You Should Know

michael pollen 64 food rules
Have you read Michael Pollen 64 Food Rules? You see, I am a big follower of author Michael Pollen's books, like "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto", "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals" and "The Botany of Desire".

Recently I got this wonderful 137-page book "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual". It is a simple, sensible, and easy to use guide on eating real food wisely.

This book is divided into three section:-
1. What should I eat? (Eat real food)
2 - What kind of food should I eat? (Mostly plants)
3 - How should I eat? (Reasonable amount)

Anyway, here are the 64 food rules found in Michael Pollen's book "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual".

1. Eat food

2. Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food

3. Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry

4. Avoid food products that contain high-fructose corn syrup

5. Avoid food products that have some form of sugar (or sweetener listed among) the top three ingredients

6. Avoid food products that have more than 5 ingredients

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

8. Avoid food products that make health claims

9. Avoid food products with the wordoid “lite” or the terms “low fat” or “nonfat” in their names

10. Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not

11. Avoid foods you see advertised on television

12. Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle

13. Eat only foods that will eventually rot

14. Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature

15. Get out of the supermarket whenever you can

16. Buy your snacks at the farmers market

17. Eat only foods that have been cooked by humans

18. Don’t ingest foods made in places where everyone is required to wear a surgical cap

19. If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.

20. It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car

21. It’s not food if it’s called by the same name in every language (Think Big Mac, Cheetos or Pringles)

22. Eat mostly plants, especially leaves

23. Treat meat as a flavoring or special occasion food

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].

25. Eat your colors

26. Drink the spinach water

27. Eat animals that have themselves eaten well

28. If you have space, buy a freezer

29. Eat like an omnivore

30. Eat well-grown food from healthy soil

31. Eat wild foods when you can

32. Don’t overlook the oily little fishes

33. Eat some foods that have been predigested by bacterial or fungi

34. Sweeten and salt your food yourself

35. Eat sweet foods as you find them in nature

36. Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk

37. The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead

38. Favor the kinds of oils and grains that have traditionally been stone-ground

39. Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself

40. Be the kind of person who takes supplements – then skip the supplements

41. Eat more lie the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks.

42. Regard nontraditional foods with skepticism

43. Have a glass of wine with dinner

44. Pay more, eat less

45. Eat less

46. Stop eating before you’re full

47. Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored

48. Consult your gut

49. Eat slowly

50. The banquet is in the first bite

51. Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it

52. Buy smaller plates and glasses

53. Serve a proper portion and don’t go back for seconds

54. Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like pauper

55. Eat meals

56. Limit your snacks to unprocessed plant foods

57. Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does

58. Do all your eating at a table

59. Try not to eat alone

60. Treat treats as treats

61. Leave something on your plate

62. Plant a vegetable garden if you have space, a window box if you don’t

63. Cook

64. Break the rules once in a while

If you want to know more details about the list of 64 food rules, then get Michael Pollen's book" "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual".

Enjoy Your Life Today And Enjoy Every Sandwich

enjoy your life todayYes, it is true that the more we read about the latest findings in the medical world, the more we are stressed out and the more we are confused. Coffee was bad (caffeine), then now it is good (antioxidant content). And many other confusing and conflicting medical studies coming out each day.

Again and again we are told, if we consume mostly fatty foods and foods high in bad cholesterol aka low density lipoprotein (LDL) and saturated fats, there’s a great chance for us to develop chronic heart diseases when you reach your middle years.


But then we also have heard about the so-called The Cholesterol Myths; which says that there is no strong evidence that too much animal fat and cholesterol in the diet promotes atherosclerosis or heart attacks.

Recently, I read that according to a study which appeared in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, suggests that having a parent with a history of heart disease doubles a person chance of getting heart disease as well. It reveals that the risk is the same whether it was from the father or mother who had the heart attack before the age of 50 years old.

If you are one of those unfortunate folks (myself as well), sad to say that, even if you try to live a healthier lifestyle, is still no guarantee to protect you from having the same deadly disease as your parents. Some may even argue that it doesn't really matter about those unhealthy foods like canned soda, sweet glazed doughnuts, fried processed food, etc which we are told to avoid at all cost.

One of my friends Roselin (in her 50s) who also has family history of dying of heart attacks, told me to enjoy every sandwich, savor life in the present moment and not to be too worried over having age spots or liver spots, as one might not even have the chance of seeing them.

Just live your life to the max and enjoy yourself today while you still can. Anyway, check out my selection of life is beautiful quotes and you know what I mean.

Everyday Dance Of Life To Good Health

everyday dance of life to good health
Do you know that by being aware the way our body moves and our feeling every day, it can help us to maintain the health of our being? Have you heard of "Everyday Dance of Life"?

According to Zuleikha, an American 'movement artist', our daily movement or what she called it "the 'everyday dance' of life begins the moment we wake up from our bed and continues when we take our morning shower, sip our morning cup of coffee; rush out of work or whatever activity you would be doing.
But frankly, how many of us actually pay full attention to our everyday movements?

The way we walk or hold an object while walking and at the same time, etc. Very few, if not none of us take the time or focus our attention to remember this so-called "everyday dance".


Because of our hectic-paced lifestyle, these days many people have started adopting The Slow Down and The Slow Food Movement. They employ contemporary techniques of slowing down and becoming more aware. By controlling our tempo of life makes one healthier and happier. In a long run, it leads to a more rewarding and productive lifestyle.

You can read more about slowing down from internationally acclaimed bestselling author Carl Honore's books "In Praise of Slow" and "The Power of Slow: Finding Balance and Fulfillment beyond the Cult of Speed".

To start practicing of this kind of awareness, you can begin by observing the sequence of everyday functions. For instance, watch or rather observe how you slip into your pair of shoes on. Notice how your body moves along in this simple movements.

I know many, if not all of you would say that we have more important things to attend to, rather than to spare for observing to everything in our daily lives.
As Zuleika said, if you don't have the time, it is still important to know that our ordinary movements we make everyday can help reach greater awareness of our health.

When we begin to be more aware of the way our own body moves, we become informed. This understanding brings more awareness of physicality and feeling, leading to greater wellness and encouraging a lighter sense of being.


You can read more about Everyday Dance of life from
here