Eat left to eat right

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bigraccoon <bigraccoonMon, Feb 1, 2010 at 2:47 PM[EF!] Eat left to eat right

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The whiter the bread, the sooner you will be dead

This blunt bit of grandmotherly advice is a reminder of the health risks of

white flour. People who eat lots of whole grains tend to be healthier and

live longer.

 

 Avoid foods grandma wouldn't recognise

There are now thousands of food products in the supermarket that our

ancestors wouldn't recognise. They are processed in ways designed to get us

to buy and eat more by pushing our evolutionary buttons (such as our inborn

preferences for sweetness, fat and salt).

 

If it came from a plant, eat it; If it was made in a plant, Don't

It makes sense.

 

Don't eat cereals that change the color of milk

Such cereals are highly processed and full of refined carbohydrates and

chemical additives.

 

Eat your colors

The colors of the many vegetables on your plate reflect the different

antioxidant phytochemicals they contain. Many of these chemicals help

protect against chronic diseases but each in a slightly different way, so

the best protection comes from a diet containing as many different

phytochemicals as possible.

 

Eat when you're hungry, not bored

We eat out of boredom, entertainment, to comfort or reward ourselves. One

old wives' test: If you're not hungry enough to eat an apple, you're not

hungry at all.

 

Eat slowly

Eat slowly enough to savor your food: you'll need less of it to feel

satisfied. One strategy: " Put your fork down between bites. "

 

Drink the veggie water

The water in which vegetables are cooked is rich in vitamins. Save it for

use in soups or add it to sauces.

 

Avoid long lists of ingredients

The more ingredients in a packaged food, the more highly processed it is. (A

long list of ingredients in a recipe is not the same thing; that's fine.)

 

Avoid ingredients you don't recognize

Enhoxylated diglycerides? Cellulose? Xanthan gum? Calcium propionate?

Ammonium sulphate? If you wouldn't cook with these additives, why let others

use these ingredients to cook for you? The food scientists' chemistry set is

designed to extend shelf life and make old food look fresher and more

appetising than it really is. Whether or not any of these additives pose a

proven hazard to your health, many of them haven't been eaten by humans for

very long, so they are best avoided.

 

Avoid food labeled Å’low-fat'

Removing fat from foods doesn't necessarily make them non-fattening.

Carbohydrates can also make you fat and many low-fat and non-fat foods are

more sugary to make up for the loss of flavor. You're better off eating the

real thing in moderation than bingeing on " light " food products packed with

sugars and salt.

 

Shop at the edges of a supermarket

Most stores are laid out the same way: Processed foods dominate the center

aisles while fresh foods ‹ meat, fish and dairy ‹ line the walls. The more

processed a food, the longer the shelf life and the less nutritious it is.

Real food is alive ‹ and, therefore, should eventually die. (One of the few

exceptions is honey, which has a shelf life measured in centuries.)

 

Only eat food cooked by humans

In general, mass-produced food is cooked with too much salt, fat and sugar,

along with preservatives, colorings and other biological novelties.

 

Eat like the French, The Japanese, The Italians, or the Greeks

People who eat according to the rules of a traditional food culture are

generally healthier than those who eat a modern Western diet of processed

foods. Pay close attention to how a culture eats and what it eats ‹ small

portions eaten at leisurely communal meals; and no second helpings.

 

It's not food if it has the same name in all languages

Think Pringles or Big Mac.

 

Include some pre-digested food

Eat foods that have been pre-digested by bacteria or fungi, such as yogurt

or soy sauce.

 

Buy smaller plates and glasses

The bigger the portion, the more we will eat. Supermarkets supersize

portions to get us to buy more. But we don't have to do this at home. One

researcher found that just switching from a 12-inch to a 10-inch dinner

plate caused people to reduce their consumption by 22 per cent. Food sold at

petrol stations (except perhaps for the milk and water) is all highly

processed ‹ imperishable snack foods and extravagantly sweetened drinks.

 

Try not to eat on your own

When we eat alone, we eat more. The shared meal elevates eating from a

biological process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community.

 

Treat treats as treats

There's nothing wrong with special-occasion foods, as long as every day is

not a special occasion. Chips, pastries, and ice-cream offer some of the

great pleasures of life, so we shouldn't deprive ourselves of them but the

sense of occasion needs to be restored. One way is to start making these

foods yourself; you won't go to that much trouble every day. Another is to

limit your consumption to weekends or social occasions. Some people follow a

so-called " S policy " : " No snacks, no seconds, no sweets ‹ except on days

that begin with the letter S. "

 

Break the rules once in a while

Obsessing over food rules is bad for your happiness and probably for your

health too. There will be special occasions when you will want to throw

these rules out of the window. All will not be lost. What matters is not the

special occasion but the everyday practice ‹ the default habits that govern

your eating on a typical day. " All things in moderation " : It is often said

but we should never forget the wise adendum, sometimes attributed to Oscar

Wilde: " Including moderation. "

 

Stop eating before you are full

We think it is normal to eat until you are full but many cultures

specifically advise stopping well before that point is reached. The Japanese

say you should stop eating when you are 80 per cent full while the Chinese

specify 70 per cent. Thus the traditional advice: " Leave the table just a

little bit hungry. "

 

 

Adapted from Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan.