I think the whole basis of the way I nourish myself is based on this tenet of the Life Delectable Manifesto. And I’ll tell you, it’s not earth shattering, it’s not new, and I definitely didn’t invent it myself, but it is the most important concept you can wrap your mind around when it comes to food.
I think it is probably best explained in Michael Pollan’s books where he says “Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants.” Simple. Makes sense, right?
But as he also says, it gets a little stickier after that. What’s real food?
Ah, there’s the problem. In today’s society, I think we’ve mostly lost a sense of what constitutes real food. Walk into a traditional grocery store and what you will find is mostly “consumables” but not necessarily FOOD. I don’t think there’s anything in a diet, low sugar, low carb, low fat cookie that constitutes sustenance for your body, actual food.
Real food isn’t sexy. It doesn’t require marketing claims. It won’t promise you anything. And it won’t give you double or triple or 8x the servings for a fraction of the calories. It’s just food, in all it’s natural glory.
So how can you recognize it? For one thing, it’s not shelf safe. It will go bad. It will rot. But it will also get ripe and have a peak time. It might have some spots. Real food isn’t perfect. But the spots (like those little black ones on bananas) might just make it delicious. And they probably mean it isn’t so highly treated by pesticides. Anyone seen an organic apple lately? Not pretty. Incredibly delicious.
The thing is this, “what to eat” is not a black and white issue. There are very few things that I’d say are either inherently bad or blanketly good. A few. Aspartame/ nutrasweet? Absolutely bad. Don’t eat it. Ever. Kale? Good. Eat it all the time, any way you can enjoy it.
But for the most part it’s not that black and white. White flour for example. I don’t think it’s great for you. But unless you have celiac disease, I don’t think it’s the devil. The occasional indulgence in a bowl of pasta will not kill you. But a daily dive into your local Italian joint might cause some unpleasant side effects and a slow decline in delectableness.
On the other hand, let’s take a look at dates. Sweet. Natural. Unprocessed. Delicious. FRUIT for goodness sakes. And yet, too many dates aren’t a great idea either. They’re sugary. They’ll send your blood sugar soaring if eaten in large quantities. They may add to a sugar addiction if you indulge too often (I’m not talking about a few dates here, no one freak out, just making an example).
So it’s not black and white. But what is very clear is that what’s in all those boxes and bags and cans in the middle of your local Stop & Shop is not really food. Sorry, all you folks who have been taken in by the added fiber, the lowered fat or calories, the fortified pasta, the vitamin D added to milk, but these packaged processed consumables are really not food.
Why not? Well, for one thing, you can’t separate the fiber, the vitamins, the macro and micro nutrients from the foods they come from and still get the same effect. Numerous studies have shown that the extracted nutrients don’t produce the same results. Vitamin C for example. When eaten in a fruit like cranberries, Vitamin C has been shown to prevent a whole host of illnesses, but when extracted or synthetically reproduced then added back into orange juice, it simply doesn’t work the same way.
I guess I should have qualified the “eat real food” statement to say “eat real whole foods.” I could go on about this forever, and will, but the simple fact is that when we monkey with foods, we confuse the body. The body no more knows what to do with soy protein isolate than it knows what to do with Styrofoam. Whole, organic, non-gmo Edamame? Great stuff! Soy protein Isolate (like what you’ll find in your old-fashioned protein bars and fake meats)? Close to poison. So you see, it’s all in the context. Even cream is a whole food. I wouldn’t eat a lot of it, but it is a real, whole food. Fat free half and half? Not food at all. A whipped concoction of chemicals, sugar and denatured cow’s milk that is no longer recognizable by the body.
I’m going a little bit far afield here, perhaps. This is a big subject worthy of hundreds of posts (or many books). But I really want to say it till you begin to understand, if you’re not already on my page: EAT REAL WHOLE FOODS.
So, what are they then?
Fruit, Vegetables, Nuts, Seeds. These things are unequivocally real whole foods. Find them on the outer edges of the supermarket, where the owners don’t really want you to look. Expect them to have a little dirt on them. Eat them before they go bad. Eat a wide variety of colors and kinds.
Meat (if you eat it, and organic, free of synthetic hormones and antibiotics, and humanely raised)
Fish (again, if you eat it, and check that it’s ecofriendly and not high in mercury or other chemicals. Wild is best)
Grains. Whole are best. Brown rice is better than white. Quinoa and millet are better than brown rice. The occasional foray into gluten-free pastas and breads is ok, but flour should not be an every day affair.
And that’s mostly it. It’s that simple. Of course then we get into the extras, the treats, the indulgences that make us happy, and how to have them be a healthful part of our lives. We get into portion sizes and how much of this and that and whether more animal protein is healthier or no animal protein is best for what ails you. And of course there’s the whole question of weight loss, which we as a culture are obsessed with. And that’s why Michael Pollan is right. It’s simple, but not that simple.
So I suggest this: keep reading. I’ll keep writing. And we’ll examine the wacky world of food in this crazy society together. Also, read others’ books and blogs. I suggest starting with Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food. Read it. Ask questions. Let me know if you find other great resources!
And, ask for help. It’s really really hard to go it alone. If you’ve got the time and inclination, I’ll be happy to help!
And, don’t agonize. Agonizing is not Delectable in any way. Just start, try, fail, try again and keep going. That’s what I seem to do.
And with that, I’m off to indulge in some frozen banana soft serve (1 ingredient, undeniably a whole food), and a slightly processed indulgence…a glass of red wine. I deserve it. I had two green juices and tons of other vegetables today!
Keep on keepin’ on!
-L
