Two things I love: The New York Times and Michael Pollan. Put them together and I’m a pretty happy camper. If you aren’t familiar with Michael Pollan, he is best-selling author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and more recently In Defense of Food – I highly recommend both books. He has gained a strong following by encouraging his readers to change the way they think about food.  

The other day I stumbled upon his NY Times Magazine article Food Rules: Your Dietary Do’s and Don’ts. He asked readers to submit their own “rules” about eating and after receiving about 2,500 responses, he published his top favorites. Just like with any other articles or books written by Michael Pollan, this got one got me thinking…

 

We may not carry a list of rules around with us and cross check our food in question against the list  every time we think about taking a bite, but we all have our own “rules” that we apply every time we eat. Have you noticed that they usually start with “do not”? Do not eat after 8pm. Do not eat food with white flour. Do not eat food from fast food restaurants. These rules are restricting and limiting and in my opinion, this is why so many of us yo-yo diet. Ever notice that as soon as something becomes unavailable your desire for it increases 10 times? Well, this applies to food too. 

Why don’t we create rules that encourage us to enjoy our food? No really, I mean it – instead of focusing on all the things you “can’t” or “don’t” eat, think about what you CAN and DO eat. Did a light bulb just go off? Perhaps an “ah-ha!” moment? 

The average person would say that I have a very restrictive diet which I follow in order to keep my UC under control. In the beginning, I struggled with accepting that most of the food I ate at the time would need to be replaced. Coffee, gummy peaches (my old favorite), and turkey and swiss sandwiches – just to name a few. With these 3 staples gone, what could I eat? It was panic at its finest. My health counselor helped me realize that I wasn’t on a restricting diet – I was on a healing diet. There were tons of foods that I could eat – I just had to try them! My eyes and stomach discovered so many new foods that year – and even today I continue to discover new foods and recipes that are filling and nourishing. It’s all about attitude and sometimes tweaking yours is all it takes to see things in a whole new light!

Try some of these on for size. Some are reworded (or shortened) from Michael Pollan’s article to make them “do” friendly, and others are my own.

* Do eat foods that take more energy to grow than ship.

* Do eat foods that don’t pretend to be something else. Eat the real thing!

* Do burn your rice! Don’t take food so seriously – it can always be fixed or remade. 

* If you are not hungry enough for an apple, than you are not hungry! – Emma Fogt

* It’s better to pay the grocer than the doctor. – John Forti

* Do seek out and try vegetables that you haven’t tried or look like a unique variety.

* Do eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds.

* Try new recipes, experiment with new flavors and always remember to eat food made with love.

They sound better, huh? What are some of your food rules?

 

 

Tags: Books, Ulcerative Colitis

Posted on 10/27/09 6:51 AM
Filed as Books, Ulcerative Colitis
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