Comments (2)

By jamie, May 13, 2010 2:22 pm

Public confession #589: I ate breakfast at McDonald’s today. Obviously, I need some sort of intervention, so I am going to read another Michael Pollan book – maybe this time it will take. Actually, I’m not all bad – I DID plant a garden after all, which Pollan recommends at the end of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto.

More about my garden below, first let me say that this book is about where our food comes from. Today I read the introduction and the first chapter.

So what is the “omnivore’s dilemma” you ask? Well, it’s the idea that our species can eat anything we want, but no really, because some things will kill us. Our ancient ancestors were brave pioneers every time they tested a new mushroom or leaf, because sometimes they would drop dead after taking that fateful taste. Other times – an excellent new food source was discovered. Pollan is gearing up to make the case that, though we may know which mushrooms are poisonous, we are still brave pioneers when we test processed foods found in the grocery store because, though it will not likely happen immediately, these “foods” might eventually kill us.

We all know the saying, “you are what you eat.” If you have been following along with me, Jillian Michaels and Michael Pollan have probably given you a clue as to what most of us are made of. Can you guess it? Corn, of course. It turns out that scientists can actually tell what we are “made of” by analyzing our hair or fingernails. People in this country contain more corn than cultures that eat mostly “actual corn” because much of what we eat contains corn components. Yikes.

The first chapter provides a fascinating lesson on corn. Basically, it’s the only food that needs humans to continue growing – it self pollinates, but it cannot “plant” itself. Other plants can spread seeds around and grow without much help – I have a friend who has an “accidental garden” grown up out of her compost pile who can attest to this fact.

Oh, about my garden – it turns out that organic gardening is really difficult. I spend every morning examining leaves for bad bugs – today I found a giant caterpillar that likely single-mouthedly ate leaves from two of our cabbages and from our strawberry plant while we calmly slept last night. It was hiding in the grape tomato plant today, and I almost missed it! Natural camouflage, you know. Oh, and we have an armadillo hole in the middle of the watermelon patch. Armadillos eat bugs, but they can also dig up your entire yard (and garden) looking for their dinner.

Here is my garden (please ignore the date/time stamp – it’s a new camera and I haven’t figured out how to change the date yet):

Lettuces, tomatoes, peppers

Cucumbers, zucchini, and tomatoes

Damaged cabbage leaf

Damaged strawberry leaves

Baby girl watering watermelons.

Watermelon Patch - notice the hole in the center? Armadillos at work!

Close-up of armadillo hole

Other posts about The Omnivore’s Dilemma:

Post 1: The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan
Post 2: Even Fish Eat Corn
Post 3: Junk Food is Cheap Food
Post 4: Global Garden
Post 5: I Have a Garden. What’s Next, Chickens?
Post 6: Chickens and Pigs
Post 7: Honestly Priced Food
Post 8: Squash is not Poisonous
Post 9: Hunting, Vegetarians, and Animal Kindness
Post 10: Mysterious Mushrooms

Comments (6)

By jamie, April 22, 2010 1:35 pm

I used to eat boxed breakfast cereal every day. I used to keep at least eight or nine different kinds on hand at all times (usually only one “junky” kind), and would take note when new varieties were introduced so I could pick up the latest. After reading Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, I have cereal going stale in the pantry because it no longer has the appeal it once did.

Pollan makes the assertion that, in the Western world, we have adopted the ideology of nutritionism, or “the belief that food is foremost about nutrition and nutrition is so complex that only experts and industry can possibly supply it.” We reject whole foods in favor of processed foods that promise us better health. We read the labels that say “low fat” or “with added omega-3″ or “better than butter!”

Because we do not eat “food” (the unprocessed stuff), and instead eat “processed food-like products”, we as a society develop conditions such as type two diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, etc. Surprisingly, scientists have known for decades that we should not be eating the way we do, but we keep on making ourselves unhealthy while trying to do the opposite. One particularly surprising study – in the 1980s – took Aborigines who had moved to the city, adopted a Western diet, and contracted Western diseases (high blood pressure and diabetes, etc.) and moved them back to the bush. In seven weeks, these men lost weight, and returned their blood sugars into a normal range. Type two diabetics in this country are pill and/or insulin dependent, without any belief that they can become independent from these medications.

An examination of the history of food in the United States, shows that, in just a few generations, we have gone from eating whole foods to buying processed food products – many of these products are sold as being healthier than the “natural” stuff, yet years later we learn that they are killing us (margarine used to be the healthier alternative to butter, then we learned that trans fats were much more dangerous than the fats we were trying to avoid). Today’s grocery stores are filled with processed products, manufactured to make us want to eat as much as possible, while costing food producers as little as possible. We outlaw certain food components to keep ourselves healthy (fat and carbs are currently demonized), and eat the processed stuff (fat free ice cream, low carb bread) without regard to the potential dangers.

Aside from capitalistic motivations for selling us the food we favor, it is difficult to study human nutrition to determine what really is best for us. For one thing, we cannot put humans into a lab on a long term basis and monitor everything they eat – we rely on self reporting, which is iffy at best (not that we would ever LIE about what we eat , but we don’t always remember everything that goes into our mouths). People also may start out with the best intentions, but they they might eat something that they have agreed not to (even inadvertently – for example, many restaurants put pancake batter into omelets to make the eggs thicker, and we can’t really expect a restaurant to measure the oil used in cooking our meals).

One thing that does seem certain – the components of whole foods appear to have a synergistic effect on our bodies. In other words, taking the fiber out of the fruit or vegetable and adding it to our water does not give us the same nutritional benefit as eating the whole food – and no one is exactly sure why (it’s really impossible to test this).

The final section of the book provides us with several policies to adopt to improve our health and defeat the ideology of nutritionism. One of my favorites is that we should “eat like someone who takes a multivitamin” without actually taking that multivitamin (he does suggest that these supplements are probably a good idea for people over age fifty because evolution favors those who can reproduce, so our bodies might need extra nutritional help after we pass the reproductive years).

Some of the things Pollan says are controversial: some nutritional scientists are still in favor of one nutrient type over another (low fat over low carb, etc.,) and so it’s impossible for everyone, even experts, to agree with everything he says. One particularly disturbing assertion is that low- and nonfat milk products have powered milk in them (to improve their texture), because it contains “oxidized cholesterol” which is likely more harmful for us than other types of cholesterol. I attempted to fact-check this, and found that it was virtually impossible to do, because it all depends on what expert you listen to. (!)

Other advice Pollan gives amounts to plain old common sense, if we really think about it. We eat and drink products fortified with everything from fiber to omega-3s, without stopping to read the dozens of other (mysterious) ingredients used to make that “healthy” food taste good. That cereal in my pantry? I have always prided myself in not buying the “junky kind” (well, not often anyway), but my healthy varieties are heavily processed in order to not only make them taste good, but also to extend their shelf life. Then, because any real nutritional value has been processed away, and then liquid vitamins and minerals have been sprayed onto the finished product.

One thing I wish Pollan had done, other than advise us to purchase a freezer, is provide us with ideas for food storage, not for daily use, but to help us better prepare for emergencies (hurricanes, etc.) that keep us from buying food and may temporarily eliminate the availability of refrigeration.

It’s not Pollan’s fault, but will be difficult for some families without money or resources to buy only the foods he recommends, do all of their own cooking, and even grow their own food (working single parents, or those working multiple jobs, likely rely on the convenience of processed foods. He stresses that those who can should purchase better food, even if it costs more. I know that Pollan is actively working toward informing the public about what he has learned, which may encourage systematic changes that will make it possible for everyone to eat better, regardless of income or resources. Until that happens, I hope he gives people more suggestions to reject the Western diet even with limited time and money – we are listening.

Scroll down for other posts about In Defense of Food:

Other posts about In Defense of Food:
Review
Post 1: In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan
Post 2: Breakfast Cereal is not a Food?
Post 3: Chocolate Science
Post 4: “Hourly Yogurt Enemas?!”
Post 5: Hunting and Gathering
Post 6: Look Mom – No Cavities!
Post 7: Mainlining Glucose or “I’m Not an Addict!”
Post 8: Food is Religious and Political
Post 9: Whole Milk Sounds Almost Sinful
Post 10: I Don’t Like the Salad, Mommy
Post 11: Let’s Plant a Garden

Comments (4)

By jamie, April 17, 2010 12:17 pm

I like most foods, with a few exceptions. I’m not a big fan of plain yogurt, but I am fine using it was a substitute for sour cream. I don’t like arugula, persimmons, and I don’t like game meats, at least the ones I have tried (deer and rabbit). I can’t stomach sushi, but I think that’s more because of consistency than taste, because I do like seared tuna, and I love ceviche. I don’t like seaweed or fish eggs. I don’t like the taste of lamb.

I’m thinking about food likes/dislikes today because the penultimate chapter in the book is about what to eat. The main recommendation is to try to stay away from processed food as much as possible, which may be hard to follow if processed foods are mostly what you eat, as is probably the case in our home. Just about everything my daughter and hubby eat is processed food. They do eat meat and dairy, but evidently that sometimes counts as processed food, if the animal diet has been tinkered with (the same can be said of produce subject to pesticides and grown in non-nutritious soil, so my diet isn’t much better).

I will share a few of Pollan’s policies, and add my two cents:

“Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.”

Evidently, we don’t eat enough plants, and even when we do, we eat mostly seeds and not enough leaves, which puts us out of balance in some important nutrients, and can put us at risk for Western diseases. Pollan says that “[i]n 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.”

“You are what what you eat eats too.”

If the animals that become the meat we eat are fed mostly seeds, they tend to get sick, so they are given antibiotics. Not only are these substances passed onto us, the meat from these animals is less nutritious than that from animals fed a more natural diet. It’s not necessarily easy to get the right thing in the supermarket either – buying certified organic meat does not guarantee you are eating meat from animals that were fed leaves. The packaging must contain the words “grass finished” or “100% grass fed” in order for us to be sure. As for eggs, I buy free range ones, but “free range” doesn’t signify anything about the animal’s diet – it might just mean that the chickens are allowed to run around in the dirt. Here we have to look for the word “pastured.” (He acknowledges the increased cost involved in this kind of shopping, which, as you know, is something I struggle with because not everyone can afford to shop this way).

He mentions eating fish a couple of times a week, which I am afraid to do because of mercury. I know that fish is good for me, but I am in my childbearing years, and I want to have more kids, so I am afraid to eat too much of it. That’s one area I wish Pollan would have added to this chapter, because I’m sure a lot of his readers share similar concerns.

Okay, now I have to talk about alcohol. Someone asked me about this, and I said it would probably come up in this chapter, and it did. Here goes:

Have a glass of wine with dinner.”

According to Pollan, “the fact is that people who drink moderately and regularly live longer and suffer considerable less heart disease than teetotalers.” He says to drink with food and to have a little a day instead of a lot on the weekend. I say that, if you don’t already imbibe, you shouldn’t start just because he wrote this. Alcohol has mind-altering effects – to me, this outweighs the possible benefits. Also, just like caffeine (which I don’t remember Pollan talking about at all), it can cause dependency, which makes it not worth it to me. There is also abundant scientific evidence that genetics can predispose people to addiction, in which case the potential negative effects would surely outweigh the possible benefits of drinking alcohol. I’m believe in moderation, but a drink every day (two for men), to me, is excess. My two cents.

Scroll down for other posts about In Defense of Food:

Other posts about In Defense of Food:
Review
Post 1: In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan
Post 2: Breakfast Cereal is not a Food?
Post 3: Chocolate Science
Post 4: “Hourly Yogurt Enemas?!”
Post 5: Hunting and Gathering
Post 6: Look Mom – No Cavities!
Post 7: Mainlining Glucose or “I’m Not an Addict!”
Post 8: Food is Religious and Political
Post 9: Whole Milk Sounds Almost Sinful
Post 10: I Don’t Like the Salad, Mommy
Post 11: Let’s Plant a Garden

Comments (5)

By jamie, April 14, 2010 11:05 am

Public confession time again: While I was reading last night, I got to a paragraph that specifically called out “Go-Gurt Portable Yogurt Tubes” for containing “a dozen other things that aren’t remotely yogurtlike,” including HFCS. I looked over at hubby because I had just given one of those things to my kiddo, and she was still eating it! She loves those things. I had thought we had checked those for bad stuff! He checked the box and, sure enough – they contain HFCS (and God knows what else). I think it’s back to Yo-Baby yogurt for Baby Girl. Maybe I can freeze some with fruit.

Chapter 2 of section 3 is about “Eating Food” as opposed to eating “food products.” He gives us some rules to follow, a few of which I had read elsewhere, but in such a way that I don’t think it will be hard to remember them. Here are a few:

• “Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.”
• “Don’t eat anything incapable of rotting.”
• “Avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable, c) more than five in number, or that include d) high-fructose corn syrup.

I remember my great grandmothers. My Reyna’s mom used to bake her own bread and tortillas, dry fruit, and do all sorts of other things. She also cooked with lard (and you would have eaten it too – she was a very good cook). Great-Grandpa Ricardo used to have a garden, but he also used to take me to the grocery store and buy me candy. We are getting ready to plant a garden – I’m very nervous and excited about this. We have a bread maker – it’s not the same thing as the delicious bread that Grandma Zoraida used to make (I still remember both the smell and the taste, and I think I was five when she passed), but it’s a start, and I can also do a better job of checking labels.

As for the money concern I had when I posted yesterday – Pollan has this to say: “Yes, shopping this way takes more money and effort, but as soon as you begin to treat that expenditure not just as shopping but also as a kind of vote–a vote for health in the largest sense–food no longer seems like the smartest place to economize.” I wish he hadn’t said this, because it makes me feel as though this book is written only for people who have the luxury of choosing where to economize, instead of having to cut corners across the board. As I mentioned before, I don’t like clubs that don’t let everyone in (no – I didn’t join a sorority in college, and I wasn’t a Girl Scout either, even though I briefly wanted to be). Most of his tips actually seem like they won’t break the bank, but I wish he had acknowledged that some families might have to skimp a little, and maybe give advice about where to do so.*

One thing I am now concerned about – whole milk. He makes some scary claims about low fat milk, mainly that it contains “oxidized cholesterol, which scientist believe is much worse for your arteries than ordinary cholesterol.” I JUST decided to move my daughter to low fat milk, which is what we drink, because her doctor said we can choose now that she is two. Great job, Mama. I have not fact checked this (nor have I fact checked anything in this book), but I think we’re all going to be drinking whole milk around here as soon as we finish our gallon of 2%. It feels wrong to drink whole milk though – I guess I’ve bought into the low-fat craziness after all.

*I know this is off topic, so I’m footnoting it: I recently bought all-natural toothpaste for myself and my daughter (hubby has his own that he likes). Each tube cost over $6 each, and the only reason I bought them was because I had a buy one-get one free coupon. It was still a splurge that not everyone can make – I know toothpaste is not food, but after reading Master Your Metabolism, I realize that everything that comes into contact with our bodies matters (especially toothpaste, which two-year-olds are guaranteed to swallow).

Scroll down for other posts about In Defense of Food:

Other posts about In Defense of Food:
Review
Post 1: In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan
Post 2: Breakfast Cereal is not a Food?
Post 3: Chocolate Science
Post 4: “Hourly Yogurt Enemas?!”
Post 5: Hunting and Gathering
Post 6: Look Mom – No Cavities!
Post 7: Mainlining Glucose or “I’m Not an Addict!”
Post 8: Food is Religious and Political
Post 9: Whole Milk Sounds Almost Sinful
Post 10: I Don’t Like the Salad, Mommy
Post 11: Let’s Plant a Garden

Comments (4)

By jamie, April 13, 2010 7:17 am

Uh oh, Michael Pollan, you might lose me here – I have been with you all along. Section 3 is about what to do now that we have learned about the industrialization of food, and how the Western diet is bad for our health. In the first chapter of this section, he admits that it will be difficult, and hints that we must put more money into our food budgets. I get a little bit twitchy when I hear about solutions that are restricted by social class – if not everyone can participate, I don’t want to attend your party. He says that we should stop eating the Western diet, and that “the hallmark of the Western diet is food that is fast, cheap, and easy.” Oh dear. Some people can only eat food that is “fast, cheap, and easy” otherwise they would not be able to eat. I’m all for lobbying the schools to feed our kids healthier, and I will vote with my dollars when I can, but I am going to be very disappointed if there are no suggestions for those who do not have extra monetary resources at their disposal. You still have me captivated, Mr. Pollan, but I’m now holding my breath for the last few chapters.

He isn’t going to tell us what to eat, but he is going to give us a series of “policies” to follow when we purchase our food and prepare our meals. I can hardly wait to read them. One thing he mentions, which is something my husband also said – if we buy meat from animals that are fed the Western diet, according to Pollan’s logic, they do not really qualify as whole foods. That said, he is clear that he is not advocating a strictly vegetarian diet, though I am concerned that meat is going to be off the table for those who cannot afford organic choices (although, as Jillian Michaels mentioned, cheaper options are increasingly becoming available).

My favorite quote: “I have been specifically warned by scientist allied with the carbohydrate camp not to ‘fall under the spell of the omega-3 cult.’ Cult? There is a lot more religion in science than you might expect.”

Scroll down for other posts about In Defense of Food:

Other posts about In Defense of Food:
Review
Post 1: In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan
Post 2: Breakfast Cereal is not a Food?
Post 3: Chocolate Science
Post 4: “Hourly Yogurt Enemas?!”
Post 5: Hunting and Gathering
Post 6: Look Mom – No Cavities!
Post 7: Mainlining Glucose or “I’m Not an Addict!”
Post 8: Food is Religious and Political
Post 9: Whole Milk Sounds Almost Sinful
Post 10: I Don’t Like the Salad, Mommy
Post 11: Let’s Plant a Garden