"Ultimate Food Rules"

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Eat food.

This seems like the most simple of the three dot points, yet in my opinion it is the most complex. Today we have supermarkets that are at least 10 aisles wide, filled with products that we identify as food. Yet are they really? Pollan calls any food or processed product designed in a laboratory, as “foodlike substances.”

Rule 1: Don’t eat anything that your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
Imagine strolling the supermarket aisles with your great grandmother. Chances are she will not be able to distinguish food products from toiletries or laundry products. Stick to foods that she would recognize, wholefoods, without preservatives, additives and flavourings.

Rule 2: Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the
top three ingredients.
Labels list ingredients in order of weight, with the most prominent ingredient appearing first. If sugar or one of the 40 sugar substitutes is in the top three ingredients, then there is too much sugar and not enough of anything else.


Not too much.

While the WHAT is important, the HOW MUCH is equally so. Over the years, western society has encouraged us to eat more of everything. Food can be purchased in abundance everywhere and anywhere and in convenient, ready to eat forms. In reality, the reason we live in an obese society is because we eat too much of the wrong foods.

Rule 3: Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks.
As a rule, people who eat according to their native culture have a healthier diet than those who eat a western diet. Pay attention to both what a culture eats and how they eat. More often than not a family will sit down to a communal meal, small serves and no second helping.

Rule 4: Stop eating before you’re full.
How many times have you been asked, “are you full?” The fact is that you should stop eating before you are full. In fact the Japanese have a saying, hara hachi bu, meaning eat until you are 80% full. So next time you are eating, ask yourself “am I still hungry?” Not “am I full.” Hunger will disappear before fullness sets in.

Rule 5: Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored.
Eating has become so much more than a hunger satisfier. In today’s society it appears to be an anti-depressant, a stress alleviator and a way to celebrate. Try to increase awareness as to why you are eating. If it is not to satisfy hunger, then maybe food isn’t the answer.

Rule 6: Limit your snacks to unprocessed plant food.
Snack food appears to be a major factor in the rise in the obesity epidemic. If you are going to snack, try to ensure that it is on unprocessed nuts, fruit and vegetables.

Rule 7: Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does.
Petrol stations in the States now make more money on food than they do on petrol. This statistic is truly alarming. Now consider that the only unprocessed food in a service station is milk and water and it is no surprise that the USA is the fattest nation in the world. The scary part about this is that Australia is not far behind.


Mostly plants.

The idea behind this is that if you are eating plant based foods, then you will be not be eating processed, foodlike substances. There are plant-based foods that are high in fat and others that are high in carbohydrate. None of this matters as long as they are wholefoods.

Rule 8: The whiter the bread the sooner you’ll be dead.
Both the Italian Nonna and the Jewish Bubba recognized the health risks of white bread for generations. In terms of the body, white bread is recognized as a sugar as it has few vitamins or fibre. Opt for wholegrains in order to get the benefits of b-group vitamins and fibre.

Rule 9: Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.
Humans have eaten sweet foods for many generations without getting fat. They would bake a cake using wholesome ingredients that took time to rise and cool. Today, food manufacturers have made eating junk food too affordable and accessible. So go back to the good old days. If you want hot chips, that is fine, but make them yourself. First, you will know exactly what goes into them and second it is such an effort that you will most probably only eat them every now and again.

Rule 10: Break the rules once in a while.
We all know that rules are meant to be broken and food rules are no exception. Obsessing over food has left us in our current predicament. There will always be special occasions, where you want to indulge. As long as these are only every once in a while, enjoy the moment and forget the rules.