Overwhelmed by Food Advice?

Posted by Shirley Siluk Gregory Sep 22, 2007

With myriad books and Websites about how to eat healthier, how to eat in a more environmentally responsible way, how to eat locally, how to eat cruelty-free, etc., it's understandable if we feel overwhelmed by too much information and confused about how to eat.

I've found, though, that a single, simple concept usually helps me make the right choices. It's a concept that guides me every time I enter a grocery store.

That concept came to me in a quote from Michael Pollan, author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma." In an article in Time magazine in 2006, Pollan offered "Six Rules for Eating Wisely," and one of them in particular struck me as very wise indeed:

"Don't eat anything your great-great-great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food."

It's a simple rule, easy to remember and remarkably effective. It rules out most junk foods, processed foods and packaged foods, and reminds you to eat things that actually look like food: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, rice, beans ... you know, stuff like that.

So the next time you go shopping, try to remember Pollan's advice. It's easier than memorizing an entire treatise on good eating, but it works just as well.