Eating Healthy Options

[Hartmann]

I just finished "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan. He basically rips apart the idea of "nutrionism" pointing out that things like omega-3 pills are nowhere close to as good for you as just eating fish. How beta-carotene pills that were touted to prevent cancer actually cause it.

His whole point is that if we eat food we should eat mostly plants and not too much. He cites the French, the Italians, the Japanese and how their diets are completely different from each other but they're still healthier than us.

[Spectatrix]

I completely agree. Complex packaged foods like the ones you mentioned are harmful mainly due to excess added sugar, salt, fat, etc. Canned foods, not so much of a problem, though I generally can't stand no-salt-added veggies. Fresh = fantastic, frozen = fantastic, no-salt canned = crap, at least in my experience. Not sure why, since I don't necessarily add salt to my fresh/frozen veggies.

Also, whole foods like whole wheat flour, natural sugars, etc. are more healthful than refined white flour, white sugar, etc.

----

Oh, and even though I only listed one citation, the book has over 22 pages of sources. Just dug out the one I thought was most relevant. It really is a good read. I think you'd get a kick out of the first third of the book, which talks about the history of nutritional "science" and food fads.

This post has been edited by Spectatrix: Jun 6 2009, 09:56 PM