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Sunday, October 14, 2012

The Food Rules by Michael Pollan



The Cover Page
This book by Michael Pollan came to my attention while reading Daphne Osena-Paez' blog. I checked the book review and excerpts before deciding to buy a copy. I got the 2011 hardbound edition. Earlier editions of the same book would have the 'pea in a pod' cover art.

I must say it's a must read for people who care about their health!  I am no health expert but I daresay that what goes into our system significantly affects the outlook of our health.   Not so many years ago, I learned this the hard way.   For moms like me, it is never too early -- or too late -- to imbibe good eating habits to our children (and yes, to our spouses as well!).  Fortunately, my two kids have no qualms about eating green, leafy vegetables.  Something I could have benefitted from when I was growing up.

And, I really hate to say this, but let's face it --  at a certain age, we have to put extra attention to our health if we want to live long enough to enjoy life (and for my husband and I, hopefully long enough to enjoy our grandchildren, if not beyond). 

If those are not great motivations to begin with, I don't know what is!   I am personally guilty of having too many excuses for sticking to healthy eating and this book is exactly the extra jolt I needed.

"The Food Rules" are centered on 83 simple rules to live by for a lifetime of good health, good food.  It's a fun, lightweight read, if not quite chatty. Reading it is like having an afternoon chit chat with an old friend over coffee.  My kind of reading.  I hope you get the drift.   As a bonus, the refreshing illustrations by Maira Kalman were a joy to see.

The 83 rules actually condense into 3 main concepts / chapters:

Eat Food.

Mostly Plants.

Not Too Much.

After finishing the book, I realized there is nothing rocket-science about the food rules presented.  We learned most of these were stuff we learned from grade school sciences and home economics. But it doesn't hurt to be reminded from time to time.   There were also new ideas I've extracted from this book that I've decided to immediately put into good use and I must say I'm pleased!


Rule 76: Place a bouquet of flowers on the table
and everything will taste twice as good.
I agree!!!