Before I start, you should know that I have failed on my reading a different book each month New Year's Resolution. While I don't feel bad for failing, I do feel bad that at this point I will have 10 books under my belt instead of 12. Oh well, maybe next year.
Anyway, I read this book and found it to be quite interesting. At first I thought, this guy is going to give lip service to the modern fad diets and then sneak in one of his own. Well technically he does, he does in a very interesting and thought provoking manner. We are given a history of the current dinner table, Pollan does so in a way that allows us to know where to place the blame.
Now this is not to say that one person is guilty of the dietary situation of the citizens of the United States or the world for that matter. The blame goes to all of us. We are all to blame for this because we did it to ourselves and Pollan tells us so in a way that is in our face but doesn't make us want to runaway. Pollan offers us some great ideas on how to recapture what we lost the moment we our first sip of high fructose corn syrup.
On the cover of the book are seven words or three sentences that sum up the entire book: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." That's it, that's the book. Michael Pollan delivers a recipe for good food, good health, and good living that one wonders why didn't somebody else think of it before now?
Just because I took a long time to finish the book doesn't mean I didn't try things along the way. The first week of March I ate food exclusively from the perimeter of the supermarket. Think about what you will find in the perimeter of the supermarket. That is where you will find the fresh vegetables, fresh meat, dairy products, and eggs. Hmmm, this reminds me of a logic question I had in college "why are eggs found in the dairy section of the grocery store?" Eggs are not dairy products, cows don't lay eggs, and certainly eggs don't taste like milk. But I digress.
So how did my experiment go? I will have to say it was a great success. While I did not lose a lot of weight, I did start to feel better. You could say I almost felt lighter. It was interesting to eat salads as opposed to eating starches (Rice, potatoes, corn). After the first week, I was craving rice and potatoes, so I gave in. I did not completely submit but I did give in, in that I flipped my starches and vegetables. Meaning that when I would normally eat a lot of mashed potatoes I have now flipped that and eat more greens thus less of the starches.
The book is actually now helping me achieve other of New Years resolutions, that is to lose weight and lower my blood pressure (without medicine). Please understand that In Defense of Food, it is not a heavy read it does have a lot to offer. if you're looking for something to quickly sink your teeth into, then this is the book for you. Looking for recipes and quick fad diets this is not the book for you.
I can finally begin, microtrends by Mark J. Penn. You may recall microtrends was the book that I wanted to buy and read before In Defense of Food. However, an NPR interview with Pollan got me hooked and I bought his book first. Luckily, it was the good people over at 800-CEORead that had an awesome offer that I could not refuse. They were giving away three books for $20 which was donated to the Room-to-Read organization. Call it karma, I bought into the Mystery Box program over at 800-CEORead and when my box arrived right on top was microtrends.
Taking a quick peek of the books read so far:
- Join the Conversation by Joseph Jaffe
- Be, Know, Do: Leadership the Army Way, Adapted from the Official Army Leadership Manual by J-B Leader to Leader Institute/PF Drucker
- In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
Let's tell Technorati to tag this with:
Dave Guerra, Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food,
Green Leafy Vegetables, Microtrends, Mark J. Penn, 800 CEOREAD, Room-to-Read
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