In yesterday’s New York Times, Michael Pollan asked people for examples of the food rules they grew up with or have today.
Here are some of the examples he shares:
- “Eat your colors,”… “citing the value of including as many different phytochemicals in the diet as possible.”
- “The Japanese say “hara hachi bu” (“eat until you are four-fifths full”).”
- “Germans advise eaters to ‘tie off the sack before it’s full.'”
- “the Prophet Muhammad recommended that a full belly should contain one-third food, one-third drink and one-third air.”
- His own Russian-Jewish grandfather used to say at the end of every meal, “I always like to leave the table a little bit hungry.”
- “It’s not food if it comes to you through the window of a car.”
- “Don’t eat at any restaurant of which there is more than just one.”
- “A snack is not the same thing as a treat.”
- “If a bug won’t eat it, why would you?”
The one rule he doesn’t mention is the one that was featured in a NY Times Magazine article in conjunction with his book “In Defense Of Food”:
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
Expanding on the not too much part, we’d add “In all things food, the focus should be quality over quantity”.
There are over a thousand individual quotes as of this writing, so check them out.
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