Food Rules: An Eater's Manual [Hardcover]

I picked up Food Rules: An Eater's Manual, because I have been searching for just this type of book for many of my clients as a New Year's gift. I read the slim book quickly in a bookstore and it is the perfect present for my clients who are not eating healthy diets (but who have confessed they wish to.)

I am an interior designer/organizer and see how my clients eat all the time when I redesign and organize their kitchens. Pollan's In Defense of Food and The Omnivore's Dilemma are both excellent, but can be intimidating. Not Food Rules--it is short and easy to understand.

The book is divided into three parts and has 64 chapters or rules. The following will give you an good idea of what the book is about: Part I, What should I eat? Includes such chapters as "Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food", "avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients", and "avoid foods that contain high-fructose corn syrup".

Part II, What kind of food should I eat? Includes "Eat mostly plants, especially leaves", "eat your colors", and "the whiter the bread, the sooner you will be dead."

Part III, How should I eat? Includes "pay more, eat less," "eat less," and "limit your snacks to unprocessed plant food."

For those of you who desire a healthier diet, Food Rules is a terrific guide that makes understanding what to put into your body simple to understand and implement.

Finally, if healthy eating is a new concept for you, you will find the clever chapter titles easy to memorize, thus making the concept of healthy eating a simple one to learn.

Highly recommend.

By the author of the award winning book, Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify & Energize Your Life, Your Home & Your Planet.

If you were expecting a gastropolitical epiphany of the likes of The Omnivore's Dilemma, you will be sadly disappointed. Having said that, it is not to Pollan's discredit (in the least) that this latest book is not written in the same style or in the same context as his most popular book, or, even like his previous work, "In Defense of Food". There's no real narrative to follow and the theme, so simply reflected in the title, is to use common sense when deciding what to eat.

The book is organized as follows:

INTRODUCTION
PART 1: What should I eat? (Eat food.)
PART 2: What kind of food should I eat? (Mostly plants.)
PART 3: How should I eat? (Not too much.)

The first sentence of the introduction is, "Eating in our time has gotten complicated...". I bet most people would agree. And so, in an effort to simplify eating, Pollan brings us 64 tidbits of distilled common sense. Under each rule, there is a paragraph or two of explanation, insight, or context. In lieu of listening to the corporations, marketers, and vested nutrition experts, he puts forth a simple and empowering message: We have the wherewithal to decide for ourselves what we should eat.

Some of my favourite rules are:

-Avoid food products that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.
-Eat only foods that will eventually rot.
-If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't.
-It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car.
-Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does.

Is the point that you should go out and try to embrace all 64 rules? I really don't think so. Should you think about what you put in your mouth? Absolutely. Because if you aren't thinking about what you put in your mouth, someone else is. This is an excellent book to have with you while grocery shopping. Or to give to that time-strapped someone as a gift. The rules are bite-sized and easily digestible, and because of that, the common sense they embody will be palatable to a wide range of people, and hopefully, get those people thinking about what they eat.

This book is easily read within an hour. For all those who may complain about the book's length (or lack thereof), keep in mind that not everything that is simple is elegant but all things elegant usually embrace simplicity.

As a Physical Education student, I am required to take many practical courses including Nutrition and Performance. The instructor used Pollan's book "In Defense of Food" in our course as a required reading. Food Rules is a good book for those that are less educated about Nutrition and want to expand their knowledge. If you have already read "In Defense of Food" do not buy Food Rules. Pollan presents the same food rules in both books but "Food Rules" is an easier version to read. If you are interested about the logic behind each of the rules I suggest reading Pollan's "In Defense of Food" rather than this simplified handbook. Happy Reading!