Recommended Reading: ‘Food Rules, An Eater’s Manual’

There are loads of books on food, and even more on healthy eating. It’s become a national (and international?) obsession. But despite the wealth of information available to us, most people are still confused about what they should or shouldn’t be eating.

Michael Pollan’s excellent book ‘Food Rules’ contains 64 ‘rules of thumb’ that simplify the understanding of food, and help you make sensible and healthy choices.

His message is simple, and and he says in the introduction, can be summed up in just 7 words: ‘Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants’

‘Eat Food’ means avoiding chemicals and additives, as well as manufactured food-like substances  – rules in this section include ‘avoid food products containing ingredients no ordinary human would keep in the pantry’ and  ‘eat only food that will eventually rot’.

We are also urged to ‘pay more, eat less’ to ensure the best quality, and avoid cheap processed food. The context and surroundings that we eat in are also neatly considered: ‘Try not to eat alone’ and ‘Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does’!

Each of the 64 rules gets its own page. Normally there follow a few paragraphs of explanation. Even with a brief introduction, that makes ‘Food Rules’ a slim book, and you could easily read it in one sitting.

These rules make a lot of sense to me. These concise little nuggets of wisdom are easy to understand, remember, and apply. And it’s hard to argue with Pollan’s simple message of a natural diet based on real food.

This lovely little book really got me thinking about food, and has some lovely simple ideas that can really help when it comes to choosing what and how to eat. Clever, well written and concise, I recommend it to anyone interested in either food or health, or both!

It is, of course, available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com