In Defense of Food

I am currently reading a book called "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" by Michael Pollan. Michael Pollan is an author and journalist who has been described as a "liberal foodie intellectual." This is the second book I have read by him, the first being Food Rules (a set of 60-or-so easy to read, simple rules that eaters should follow, for example, don't eat food whose ingredients you can't pronounce). "In Defense of Food" elaborates on Pollan's eating theory: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. He dedicates many of the book's pages to talking about the science of nutritionism, that is, thinking about food from a reductionist viewpoint and only seeing food for the nutrients it holds. Pollan argues that this kind of view of food has hurt us instead of helping us. We may think that since food commercials and wrappers started including words like saturated fat, antioxidants, and carbohydrates, this must mean that we now understand more about food and can use that information to bless our health. The truth is that scientists still don't understand a lot of things about nutrients, and the resulting creation of food-like substances jam-packed with nutrients and vitamins have done us more harm than help. Pollan debates, and I agree, that our ancestors had it right a long time ago, and I'm not sure what made us think we could do it better. There are lots of examples of native peoples that have eaten far more saturated fat (found in almost all animal products) than us, yet they have very little incidence of heart disease. So maybe we should stop making such a fuss about nutrients and just start eating real foods. Who knows why a carrot does what it does? Or why apples can give you just as much a kick as caffeine. The truth is science hasn't really answered those questions yet. All we do know is that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and very low in highly processed foods is protective against cancer, diabetes, and a whole slew of other chronic diseases. Real, whole foods remain almost entirely untouched by machinery or technology, created by God to sustain life and make life as healthy as it can be. So, since a cucumber cannot bear a wrapper exclaiming that it REALLY WILL do amazing things for your health, I'll give a plug for it! Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.