Why We Should Eat Whole Foods
There are two great books I have read in the past few years that fire up my enthusiasm for eating whole foods (meaning foods in their natural state instead of processed and packaged). The first is Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma and the second is Daphne Miller’s The Jungle Effect.
Omnivore’s Dilemma was one of those books that spread like wild-fire between friends and family because it was so eye-opening in its revelations about American food production that you wanted everyone you knew to understand what you had just read. It really gave a boost up to the whole foods movement, inspiring college students to intern at sustainable farms for the summer and consumers to examine how far away their foods were originating from (ie. why are New Yorkers buying Washington apples when there are plenty of New York varieties being grown upstate?)
The Jungle Effect examined the traditional foods and recipes of indigenous cultures the world over, seeking out the preventive properties of these foods to answer why immigrants to the USA suddenly develop metabolic and cardiac illnesses when they adopt our American habits (something I witnessed over and over again at the community health center in New York City).
There are multiple take away messages from both of these books, but what strikes me the most is that if we focus on seasonal food that is grown locally, and prepare it in the healthy traditions of our ancestors, we can’t really go wrong. We evolved to eat this way over thousands of years, and yet the modern conveniences of the last century have nearly eradicated those practices here in the US, resulting in rampant obesity, diabetes, and cardiac disease.
As an illustrative example of this, imagine a pint of strawberries shipped up from California in winter. Even if you were to eat the whole container, it still wouldn’t give the tasty sweet satisfaction that just three strawberries picked at the end of June from the farm up the road would.
My trip to the farmer’s market this Saturday revealed only a few vegetables available that were truly in season, and thus I ended up with a vitamin-dense dinner of kale, beets, and sweet potatoes because my choices were not my usual standby of lettuce and tomato salad. The potency, fiber, and full flavors of this meal left me feeling quite full & satisfied after I had only eaten two-thirds of my plate!
Another insight of interest is that in contrast to the American love of fats, our ancestors would only add a teaspoon of lard or butter to their meals because it took such a large effort to obtain that lard or make that butter. Today we readily use large spoonfuls because it is cheap and plentiful, and meanwhile we’re not even thinking about the unseen amounts of these same ingredients (or their hydrogenated oil equivalents) that are added to all the pre-packaged foods we consume too.
I heard Michael Pollan say in an interview that “a great diet is to eat only what you have grown or made yourself”. So if those are homemade oatmeal cookies, go for it (but don’t forget that moderation in portions still count too!) He reasoned that the effort put into making it yourself will not only burn calories, it will make you think twice about scarfing it all down so quickly you don’t even taste it….you will want to fully take the time to appreciate the fruits of your efforts throughout the meal and still have some left over for a few days more as well (mostly so that less effort will be required later on in the week). After all, economizing our actions is an intuitive trait that runs deep in mankind!
So if you are balking at the idea of giving up desserts, Sunday roast dinners, and full-fat dairy because your doctor told you to lose some weight, consider weaving the concept of eating whole foods into your strategy too. Frequent your farmer’s market, choose foods with the highest nutrient content at the grocery store by looking at how far away your foods are coming from, and begin to make your own foods (whether via a garden or home-cooking). Eating this way is more likely to result in the healthiest ratio of carbs, protein, and fats without even having to think about it. There is still a lot of enjoyment to be had, and better yet these strategies will still nourish your body in the way it was meant to be.