Don’t Eat Foods that Can’t Rot

Posted by Andy - 03/11/08 at 05:03:00 pm

Michael Pollan’s new book, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, provides great insight into the types of food that Westerners eat today and what happened to bring our nutrition to such a processed state. Pollan argues that consuming processed foods (refined grains, high-fructose corn syrup) are much more dangerous than consuming, for example, foods that are high in cholesterol.

Here is a Q&A with the author that is a great read. The topics covered range from antioxidants to cloning livestock. He explains that the Western diet is causing diseases (diabetes, heart disease) because of the lack of natural foods.

Here are some of my favorite statements from the article.

“I mean, my basic philosophy of eating is, you know, if your great-grandmother wasn’t familiar with it, you probably want to stay away from it.”

“And, in fact, one of my tips is, don’t eat any food that’s incapable of rotting. If the food can’t rot eventually, there’s something wrong.”

When discussing how to shop at the grocery store Pollack said,

“All the processed foods, the really bad stuff that is going to get you in trouble with all the refined grain and the additives and the high-fructose corn syrup, those are all in the middle. And so, if you stay out of the middle and get most of your food on the edges, you’re going to do a lot better.”

Pollack contrasts the Western diet with other more traditional diets saying,

“Well, the interesting thing is that most traditional cuisines are very healthy, … the human body has done very well on the Mediterranean diet, on the Japanese diet, on the peasant South American diet. It’s really interesting how many different foods we can do well on. The one diet we seem poorly adapted to happens to be the one we’re eating, the Western diet.“

It’s not easy to be a part of Western society and not eat fast food and the plethora of other foods that are, more or less, terrible for you. However, it’s also important to keep in mind that our manufactured diet is a new phenomenon that can be detrimental to our health (we are starting to see the side effects more and more). With a little planning and some will-power we can all eat more naturally and lead a healthier life. Hmmm, I’m in the mood for some sushi…

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