If you had a mission statement for how you want to eat, what would it be? How do you think about food?
Tackling the subject of diet is always a weighty topic. However, what are your food rules? I am thankful to a few food evangelists over the years, including authors and friends across the country, who have helped me completely change the way I think about food. These individuals—such as Budge Collins who has shared hundreds of copies of The China Study with our family and others—helped fuel a personal obsession with nutrition, food books, and food documentaries.
Michael Pollan is also an author who has had an impact on my life. I read Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food years ago and have borrowed his “eater’s manifesto” for this blog title. It is brilliant in its simplicity. “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” The first two words are really important. Eat real food. Whole foods (not whole pizzas or whole bags of Doritos.) Real food from the perimeter of the grocery store, not from a bag or box. Just enough. Mostly fruits and vegetables.
In all of my reading throughout the years, there is a message, as well. And the message isn’t gimmicky—it’s not about being skinny or losing weight. It’s not about finger-wagging, or inciting a nanny state (i.e., having the government telling you what to do). It’s not about taking on the sugary beverage industry, demonizing certain foods, or even the marketing of food to kids. Those are just distractions to make us forget about the real benefits of eating healthy. It’s about personal choice. We get to choose foods that we know are good for us. We get to reduce the chances of chronic disease and optimize our own health.
Eating whole foods, mostly plant-based foods, can help us feel better and avoid, reduce, or reverse the development of numerous diseases.
- 39.8% of adults are obese, affecting 93 million Americans
- 69% of adults are overweight
- 18.5% of children are obese, affecting 13.7 million children and adolescents
- 115 million Americans are diabetic, or pre-diabetic
- More than one million people die every year from heart disease and cancer, referred to in the medical profession as “lifestyle diseases”
- The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the United States was $147 billion in 2008 US dollars; the medical cost for people who have obesity was $1,429 higher than those of normal weight.
- Only 5–10% of all cancer cases can be attributed to genetic defects, whereas the remaining 90–95% have their roots in the environment and lifestyle. Of all cancer-related deaths, almost 25–30% are due to tobacco, as many as 30–35% are linked to diet, about 15–20% are due to infections, and the remaining percentage are due to other factors like radiation, stress, physical activity, environmental pollutants etc.
This means that cancer and heart disease are preventable diseases for many. Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. And this is coming from a southern girl who used to eat Cheetos and Diet Coke as food staples and was teased about her enthusiastic love of bacon at her wedding! Today, chopped vegetables and/or fruit are offered at nearly every breakfast, lunch, and dinner we have, and fresh foods are loaded into our shopping cart. We’re not vegan, but we’re aware of what is good for us and what really isn’t.
Don’t let “perfect” get in the way of good. It’s an evolution—modifying your diet, little by little, until you crave mostly healthy foods. In all, I can’t tell you how much I have changed on the subject of diet, and it has changed my life and changed the way our family eats. Still not convinced? Let’s expand some of these concepts.
Eat food.
Essentially, try not to eat anything that would make your Grandmother ask, “What is that?” and don’t buy food where you buy gas. Try to avoid eating processed foods. This can be tricky for a family on the go, but once you start eating more and more whole foods, your body will crave whole foods. Serve oatmeal and blueberries for breakfast, instead of sugary cereals, and the pickiest of kids will catch on. Serve salmon, broccoli, and mashed potatoes for dinner, instead of eating fast food, and everyone can feel better and healthier.
Not too much.
Think about the eating habits that make you oblivious to portion sizes—grazing in front of the TV or computer, eating chips straight out of the bag, not putting your food on a plate. I am guilty of all of the above, and these are hard habits to break.
Our visual perception of appropriate portion sizes can be affected by our habits and environment, too. Food commercials and restaurant offerings want to make us feel like we’re getting value. Abundance is good! More is better! With that, one meal at The Cheesecake Factory normalizes portions for one that should be feeding a family of four. Good thing they offer unlimited bread, too.
Moreover, a sensible portion of meat is about 3 to 4 ounces, or the size of a deck of cards (or the palm of your hand.) Yet ordering Prime Rib at Outback Steakhouse will get you 12 ounces of meat, 1085 calories, and 89 grams of fat. And that’s without any of the sides! Portion distortion is alive and well in restaurants and at home.
Here are some portion guides for foods that we eat every day, reminding us that it’s not just “what we eat” but “how much” we are eating. So, how much should we be eating?
- 1 1/2 – 2 cups of fruit and 2 1/2 – 3 1/2 cups of vegetables.
- 5-8 ounces of grain, half from whole grains.
- 3 cups of nonfat or low-fat dairy foods (or non-dairy products)
- 5-6 1/2 ounces of protein (meat, beans/plant protein, and seafood) each day.
- No more than 5-7 teaspoons of oils, mostly from plants, fish, and nuts.
How many Americans are getting 3 and 1/2 cups of vegetables per day?
Mostly plants.
I love this topic because it gets people fired up! Billionaire couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z started a controversial contest challenging fans to go vegan with the ultimate prize of winning concert tickets for life. In the meantime, the respondent non-vegans (Team Meat), sat back, chomped on a steak, and made fun of the whole process on social media with stinging comments. Who knew people were so defensive about their right to eat meat?
Where are you on the spectrum from vegan to proud flesh eater? My position is somewhere in the middle, with the advantage going to eating your greens. Let’s look at both sides.
Team Vegan
- Sometimes just the word “vegan” can be off putting (is that a planet?) And celebrities touting “clean” eating sound so uppity. Are the rest of us not eating locally-sourced, chef-prepared meals—dirty?
- Cutting up fruits and vegetables is time-consuming and perishable foods are expensive. You can get a cheeseburger at McDonald’s for $1, and a Bacon McDouble for $2. Yet today, a red pepper at price-leading Walmart costs $1.50 (and you have to cut the thing up.) This is how busy families understandably get away from eating fruits and vegetables.
- FInally, how do we help close the socio-economic gap with fresh foods?
Team Meat
- I get it. It’s much cooler to brag about the delicious brisket you just sizzled to perfection than to tout the broccoli you just steamed. But then I think about everything that I have read, how we are made, and what we were designed to eat? Mostly plants.
In Dan Buettner’s, The Blue Zones (a book sharing secrets from the world’s longest-lived people), it is suggested that we eat a mostly plant-based diet and try viewing meat as a condiment, or to be used for special occasions, as is the prevailing attitude in many of the healthiest populations around the globe.
If meat is your plate’s anchor (and we all have that choice), try to focus more on the “adding” part (veggies) and less on the “subtraction” part. Add dark, leafy greens and fresh vegetables to as many meals as possible. Swap a veggie tray in as your family’s favorite appetizer. The point of this whole discussion is that we all need to eat more fruits and vegetables and less processed, fast, convenient food for a longer, healthier life.
Team Longevity
- Now that’s a team that everyone can join!
Thoughts on food for you? Would you like to change some of your eating habits?