The Story of Food Part III: The Simple Truth

There is a lot to know out there about "eating right". In learning about nutrition you will find contradictions, inapplicable facts, and a lot of confusion. I have been working to figure out how to build up your knowledge about nutrition without overwhelming you.

So let's simplify things.


"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." - Micheal Pollan

The only rule is - there are no laws in eating: there are guidelines. I can't stress enough that this is intended to improve your life, not restrict you so much you can't breathe. Trying to eat "right" can be a very consuming activity and it should take some time and effort, however, it should equally be enjoyable and fun.

Eat Food

Most of what is on our shelves are food substitutes trying to convince us they are food. To expand on "eat food" are the following guidelines. Don't eat anything that:

• has more than 5 ingredients

• contains ingredients you don't recognize

• contains ingredients you can't pronounce

• contains high fructose corn syrup

• your Great Grandmother wouldn't recognize as food

What counts as food? The best definition for food is what we commonly think of as "whole foods". Whole foods are foods that are in the same form in the grocery store as they are in nature. We could substitute the word wild for whole. Whole grains can be confusing because the term is applied to highly processed foods that contain "whole grains". If you look at the ingredients list on most of these "whole foods" they fail the 5 ingredient and pronounce-ability tests and thus are unqualified as "food". Finding these foods in grocery stores is easy. Stick to the outer edges of the grocery story and avoid the inner isles. Careful though - these days not all items on the outer edges are whole foods.

Not Too Much

Okay, I know I said there are no laws but if there were this would be the one. Eating in moderation just can't be beaten as a great standard to live by. Numerous studies have been done showing that regardless of nutrient content eating fewer calories can be the single best diet intervention to improving health in the United States. The good news is I can still eat ice cream some of the time; the bad news is I can't eat it everyday. I will take 'sometime' over 'never' any day.

If we do begin to restrict our caloric intake it is all that much more important the foods we do eat have the most nutrient bang for their buck. Guess what foods those are? You got it, whole foods!

Mostly Plants

About one thousand years ago humans made a dramatic shift in the source of their calories from mostly leaves to mostly seeds. One thousand years may seem like a long time but in the context of our evolutionary history its is actually pretty short. If we condensed human evolution into one year we began to eat a diet heavy in grains (seeds) about 2 days ago or 43 hours. The reasons for this change are more complex than I want to get into or that you want to read about here. (If you do have an interest, read "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared Diamond). The relevancy to us here is - was it the best change for our health?

Grains have a relatively high glycemic load (amount of glucose released into our blood per gram of food eaten) and although marketed as a high fiber food the actual best sources of fiber are fruits and vegetables that grow above ground (i.e. not potatoes). Sixty-five percent of our daily caloric intake should be made up of plants and the majority of that should be fruits and vegetables. Grains aren't bad for you, per se, but we have to return to the whole food recommendation and ask ourselves if we have ever seen a bagel tree in nature.

In the simplest summary I repeat, "Eat Food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants" - MP.


References: Anyone who has read Micheal Pollan's book "In Defence of Food" will find this information very familiar and I want to credit him for the phrases, "Eat Food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants" and "More Leaves than Seeds". However the information provided here, and in his book, are the standard recommendations of the majority of Naturopaths.

All recommendations suggested here are purely for your own information and education. The information is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Sarah Marshall is a candidate to graduate as a Naturopathic Doctor in June 2009. She is currently practicing as a medical intern at the Natural Health Center Portland, OR. If you would like to schedule and appointment for a personalized health consultation with her call (503) 552-1551.