Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

I'm a busy person but am concerned about what I eat and put into my body. Yes, much of the advice is practical once you read it but not necessarily something I would have thought of on my own. I am a very busy person so I appreciated that it is a quick read and a great book to pass to friends and family.

I thoroughly enjoyed Michael Pollan's latest book. He has condensed his research and given it to us in an easy-to-swallow and remember listing of guidelines broken out under his main three headings: Eat Food, Mostly Plants, Not Too Much.

He left out the more detailed scientific factoids that can be found in his other books and just gave the headlines here. You can read it in an hour and carry the knowledge forever. Brilliant!

Food Rules is an excellent little book that made me think about what I eat. I first saw a copy in my doctor's office, I decided to buy it.

I'm glad I didn't buy this and just borrowed it from a friend. While this book is what it says it is (a list of 64 rules for every-day eating habits), they seem to be rules that don't need a book to know. Fast food is bad. Fresh produce is good. Don't over-eat.

For those whom these kind of rules are not obvious to them, then this book will be useful. Otherwise, it is not a substitute for nutritional knowledge. Some advice is a bit incomplete too. For instance, eating like another country (example: eating like an Italian or a Japanese) is more tricky than simply changing the diet. Climate, daily activity level, genetics, etc, have a lot to do with what works for each of those cultures.

However I am a supporter of healthy eating and the reduction of processed foods in the diet. But perhaps Pollan's other book "In Defense of Food" would be a better alternative then.

I rented this at the library. It is a good book with sound advice. The only thing is, if you've already read in defense of food, you are just rereading the same info in a condensed, simpler format. I still enjoyed it to reinforce what I had already read from him awhile ago. The concept is simple. "Eat real, unprocessed food. Mostly plants. In small portions." He goes on to shortly explain each principle.

As simple as some people feel this is, the majority of Western culture doesn't do it! I really liked his advice. I had been eating a lot of pre-packaged foods and artificial sweeteners to keep my calories down, but after reading Michael Polan I realized it's about how you treat food not what you eat that matters in the long run. He references great arguments, like how certain cultures don't suffer from the diseases Westerners do because they have a different ATTITUDE about food. They don't demonize one thing (fat, carbs, etc) and stick Non-fat or low-carb labels on it to be healthy.

Overall opinion: Great info for people who want it short and sweet, if looking for a longer read get In Defense of Food, or do what I did and rent at library!