Eat well and cook for yourself
A simple to remember guideline for how to eat comes from food journalist Michael Pollan in his book, “In Defense of Food”:
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.1
Using Pollan’s guidelines as a starting point, here’s more on how you can eat healthy and well:
Eat food
Take yourself back to the early 1800’s. If you lived in this time, what would you have recognized as foods? Vegetables? Yes. Whole grains such as rice, wheat, oats and legumes such as black beans or lentils? Definitely. Eggs, cheese, yogurt, meat? Sure. A bag of cheese puffs? Nope! Depending on your ethnic group, you may or may not have traditionally eaten the foods above, but you would not have been eating foods from a plastic bag or a box, with ingredients such as monosodium glutamate, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, or maltodextrin.
As we learn more about nutrition, it becomes increasingly clear that the foods that are best for us, highest in nutrients, antioxidants, good fats, etc. are the simple, unprocessed foods such as vegetables, whole grains and legumes, and authentically free range eggs and meat. Ideally these are organic, and for environmental reasons, local. “Wait a minute”, you may say, “Aren’t these foods expensive?” Yes and no. High-quality organic foods are usually more expensive than their conventional counterparts. However, cooking whole foods at home often averages out to be less than buying expensive processed foods or eating out. You should also see benefits in your energy, feeling of well-being, and in the long run, fewer chronic health problems for you and your family. If you find it difficult to carve out time to cook every day, choose one or two days a week where you have the time to make a big, tasty meal with lots of leftovers, and eat these throughout the week. This ensures that you will have home tasty cooked meals even on the busiest of days.
Mostly plants
What do most of the whole foods on the list above have in common? Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes? Plants, plants, plants and plants. Aim high, for 5-7 servings of vegetables of all different colors, 1-3 servings of fruit, 1 serving of nuts, 3 tablespoons of healthy vegetable oils, 3-5 servings of whole grains, 3-4 servings of fruit. Eating meat is still o.k, but best in smaller quantities: 2-3 servings of high quality protein per day.2
What should you avoid? Sugar (especially high fructose corn syrup) and processed foods which may be high in salt and sometimes undesirable additives. A good rule of thumb is that when looking at ingredients, if you don’t know what the ingredient is, avoid it.
Not too much.
Eat smaller quantities of higher quality food. Enjoy your food. Think of where each part of your meal came from. Savor each bite, and the way different foods and flavors combine. Eat sitting down, with friends and/or family if possible, or quietly alone. Chew. Allow your meals to become a meditation, a calm island within your life, a chance to catch up with loved ones or with yourself. If you slow things down you will give your body time to digest, and a change for the parasympathetic nervous system (the “rest and digest” state) to take over from the sympathetic nervous system (the “fight or flight” state that we are often in when we are stressed). If you eat slowly, your body is also better able to know when it is full, and you will end up eating less. Additionally, if you are able to eat smaller quantities at each meal, you don’t have to buy as much–making high quality foods a much more affordable option.
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References:
1. Pollan, Michael (2008). In Defense of Food: an Eater’s Manifesto. New York: Penguin.
2. Pizzorno, Joseph & Michael Murray (2005). Textbook of Natural Medicine. Churchill Livingstone. Appendix 8.
