Michael Pollan's Food Rules

Michael Pollan has written some great books. If you haven't read them you need to. Food Rules, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and In Defense of Food should be on your must read list. See a full list of his books HERE

Here is a peek of his "Food Rules" that will help you stay happy and healthy:

1. Eat food

2. Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food

3. Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry

4. Avoid food products that contain high-fructose corn syrup

5. Avoid food products that have some form of sugar (or sweetener listed among) the top three ingredients

6. Avoid food products that have more than 5 ingredients

7. Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce

8. Avoid food products that make health claims

9. Avoid food products with the wordoid “lite” or the terms “low fat” or “nonfat” in their names

10. Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not

11. Avoid foods you see advertised on television

12. Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle

13. Eat only foods that will eventually rot

14. Eat foods made from ingredients that you can picture in their raw state or growing in nature

15. Get out of the supermarket whenever you can

16. Buy your snacks at the farmers market

17. Eat only foods that have been cooked by humans

18. Don’t ingest foods made in places where everyone is required to wear a surgical cap

19. If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.

20. It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car

21. It’s not food if it’s called by the same name in every language (Think Big Mac, Cheetos or Pringles)

22. Eat mostly plants, especially leaves

23. Treat meat as a flavoring or special occasion food

24. Eating what stands on one leg [mushrooms and plant foods] is better than eating what stands on two legs [fowl], which is better than eating what stands on four legs [cows, pigs and other mammals].

25. Eat your colors

26. Drink the spinach water

27. Eat animals that have themselves eaten well

28. If you have space, buy a freezer

29. Eat like an omnivore

30. Eat well-grown food from healthy soil

31. Eat wild foods when you can

32. Don’t overlook the oily little fishes

33. Eat some foods that have been predigested by bacterial or fungi

34. Sweeten and salt your food yourself

35. Eat sweet foods as you find them in nature

36. Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk

37. The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead

38. Favor the kinds of oils and grains that have traditionally been stone-ground

39. Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself

40. Be the kind of person who takes supplements – then skip the supplements

41. Eat more lie the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks.

42. Regard nontraditional foods with skepticism

43. Have a glass of wine with dinner

44. Pay more, eat less

45. Eat less

46. Stop eating before you’re full

47. Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored

48. Consult your gut

49. Eat slowly

50. The banquet is in the first bite

51. Spend as much time enjoying the meal as it took to prepare it

52. Buy smaller plates and glasses

53. Serve a proper portion and don’t go back for seconds

54. Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like pauper

55. Eat meals

56. Limit your snacks to unprocessed plant foods

57. Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does

58. Do all your eating at a table

59. Try not to eat alone

60. Treat treats as treats

61. Leave something on your plate

62. Plant a vegetable garden if you have space, a window box if you don’t

63. Cook

64. Break the rules once in a while

Alternative Milk Guide: coconut, almond, and sunflower

As far as milk alternatives the very best thing is homemade. The rice, coconut, almond, and other milks have gut irritating ingredients in them like carrageenan, gaur gum, and other preservatives. Home made should really just be nuts and water (and a little sea salt or sweetener if desired).  Synthetic vitamins are often added to these drinks, which our bodies don't recognize or metabolize and can cause nutritional imbalances over time. Carrageenan has been found to be a carcinogen and it causes major inflammation in the digestive tract. I see it in almost all dairy alternatives.

Cheesecloth never worked well for me so I switched over to this nut milk bag. I've never been able to find one in any stores so I just ordered it from amazon. The nut milk will be good in your fridge for a week.

I always add a pinch of sea salt, 1/4 tsp of vanilla, and a little sweetener. Honey, real maple syrup, or a few drops of liquid stevia (I like the nunaturals brand). This is completely optional.

The other thing to remember is to give the milk a little shake before using it. It will separate when sitting in the fridge, this is normal. the pulp can be spread onto a baking sheet and dried in the oven at 170 degrees. Then stick it in your blender and you'll have almond flour. The coconut flour I get makes the best chicken nuggets I've ever had and it's a fast meal to make. Plus you can make extra to keep in the freezer and warm up when you're hungry.

Almond or Cashew Milk: 1 cup almonds, 4 cups filtered water, plus water to soak in.

• Soak the almonds in water overnight. In the morning drain the water and rinse the almonds. Blend the almonds with 4 cups of filtered water. Pour into nut milk bag and squeeze out the milk.
• Dry the pulp to use in waffles, muffins, or anything else. You could even add the moist pulp to a batter adn use less liquid.
• Almonds $6-$8/lb

Coconut milk: 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut (I get mine out of the bulk/bins). 6 cups of filtered water.

• Add the coconut and water into the blender and let sit for an hour or two. Blend and pour into the nut milk bag and squeeze out the milk.
• coconut $4/lb

Sunflower Seed Milk: 1 cup raw hulled sunflower seeds, 4 cups filtered water, plus water to soak in.

• place the sunflower seeds in a skillet and slightly toast on medium heat. Stir the seeds about every 30 seconds. This gives the milk a nice flavor.
• Place the seeds in a glass bowl or pitcher and soak for 7 hours.
• Drain the water, rinse the seeds, and place in blender with filtered water. Blend and pour into the nut milk bag and squeeze out the milk.
• Sunflower Seeds $3/lb