Michael Pollan Debunks Food Myths

I received a very interesting and informatie article in my email from AlterNet, and it is an article about Michael Pollan, the author of In Defense Of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. It is a six page article, but it is a quick read, and I think you shall find much important information.

The human digestive tract has about the same number of neurons as the spinal column. What are they there for? The final word isn't in yet, but Michael Pollan thinks their existence suggests that digestion may be more than the rather mundane process of breaking down food into chemicals. And, keeping those numerous digestive neurons in mind, Pollan's new book In Defense Of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, entreaties us to follow our knowledgeable guts when it comes to figuring out what to eat.


Nutrition science and the food industry have been changing their minds about what Americans should eat for years. Low fat, no fat, low carb, high protein. In In Defense Of Food, Pollan argues that all of these fixations amount to a uniquely American disease: orthorexia -- an unhealthy obsession with eating. And as statistics on diabetes and obesity can attest, obsessing doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere. Pollan takes the reader on a journey through the science of food and reveals how it is that we've ignored our guts and followed the ever-changing tune of food science. At once a scathing indictment of the food industry, and a call for a return to real food, Pollan's latest book reveals how Americans have been dangerously misled into adopting "low fat" as a fundamental food mantra, and how most of the products on our supermarket shelves should be called "imitation."

A large issue in reporting on food, is that the very nature of journalism and the nature of food don't make a good fit. Food is a really old story. The foods that we do best on are the ones we evolved eating over many thousands of years. But journalism needs a new story every week, and so we tend to play up novelty and surprise. The classic methods are to eat more fruits and vegetables. How are you going to interest an editor in that story? But in fact, that is the story. Nutritionists haven't changed their points of view nearly as much as you would gather from reading the journalism about them.

This article will definitely have you looking at what you eat, and why, in a different light. Enjoy and Have a Great Evening.

**Remember tonight at 9:01 p.m. Central Standard Time, we will have the last, Full Lunar Eclipse until 2010, and hopefully, it will not be cloudy, so we can all get a good look at it!! Take Care!!


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