"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
This is the advice of Michael Pollan, a celebrated food journalist, and author of many amazing books such as The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Food Rules, and, the topic of this post, In Defense of Food. Pollan contends that the rules for healthy eating are often overcomplicated, and they can be boiled down into the seven simple words above.
Of course, each phrase comes with some accessory advice: “eat food” means real food, the opposite of what Pollan calls the “edible food-like substances” most of us eat in a common Western diet: prepackaged, highly-processed stuff abundant in additives. I love this philosophy, of course; it is essentially the fundamental basis behind all of my blog posts and *most* of my recipes. In fact, I’ve been a proponent since day one of the blog with my definition of healthy eating and living: enjoy balance, and eat real food.
Part two of Pollan’s simple formula is straightforward: “not too much.” Oh, wouldn’t it be nice if eating “not too much” was easy? Unfortunately, lots of things get in our way, a few of which I talk about in my post on mindful eating: huge portion sizes, emotional eating, lack of willpower, and distractions during meals (for a very interesting view on lack of willpower as a scapegoat for weight gain, check out this link). The idea, as always, is to listen to your body to know how much to eat, and then chose real food to satiate your hunger, rather than processed foods to satiate your cravings. Well, let me back up. First, actively learn how to listen to your body. If you don’t, you might confuse “paying attention to your hunger signals” with “my body is telling me I want cookies, so that’s what I should eat.” Foods high in sugar can disrupt your hunger signals so that you crave sugar-y foods almost like a drug; that’s the business of adding sugar to everything to make you buy more. So when you start eating real food, you will also start to be able to understand your body better. And when your mind and body are in sync… well, that’s part of the definition of health, don’t you think?
Part three: it’s almost an unspeakable thing; vegetables (and plants and general) are so often vilified that we grow up with a knowledge that we should hate them and that they taste bad. I contend that if you dislike a vegetable, it’s probably because you’re cooking it wrong (sorry to be blunt!). Sweet potatoes and butternut squash, for example, are two of my favorites, and they also can be as sweet as candy. Nothing can surpass the freshness of a crunchy red bell pepper or a snap pea. Even Brussel sprouts, which I thought I hated before I even tried them only because they are incessantly denigrated (and maybe you do too), have a wonderful taste and texture when roasted in high heat. Yes, I love vegetables, and I promise you can love them too (at least some of them). We are born with an innate love of sweet-tasting foods (hello, soda industry) and hatred of sour and bitter foods (evolutionarily, this helped protect us against poisonous plants). This means that essentially everyone is born to love sugar and hate bitter green vegetables, but you are not restricted to your innate rejection of bitter foods: through social and attitudinal changes, you can learn to like vegetables and other not-so-sweet foods. (That’s right, liking kale is a learned behavior.) Still, start with the plants you are most likely to enjoy: fruit is often much more appealing, and vegetables like peppers, sweet potato, and carrots are often well liked. Try blending some spinach in a fruit smoothie (I swear you won’t be able to taste it) or toss some in with eggs in the morning.
I love Pollan’s simplified food advice, which also urges against the mindset that he terms nutritionism. Nutritionism is the reductionist idea that food is only as good as the sum of its parts; in other words analyzing food according to its nutrient components is a mistake. I certainly have subscribed to this dogma for most of my life, choosing items that blare their “low-fat” and “only natural sugar” claims as a guide to nutrition. If you want to learn more about nutritionism and the way it is leading us astray, I really suggest you read In Defense of Food, or watch the documentary of this book done by PBS. The documentary is less than 2 hours long, and it completely revolutionized my way of thinking about food and health.
In a tribute to Pollan’s simple formula for healthy eating, I offer you a simple recipe: homemade nut butter. It can seem intimidating, but making your own nut butter is so easy, and all you need is a food processor and about 15 minutes. When you make your own, you can customize it anyway you’d like, like I do here in my chocolate almond butter. Enjoy!
Chocolate Almond Butter
Serves 12 (about 2 tablespoons)
Ingredients
2 cups roasted almonds
2-3 tablespoons cocoa
1-2 tablespoons liquid sweetener (I like honey in this recipe)
Directions
1. Place cocoa and almonds in a food processor. Continually process for 15 minutes until it has the consistency you want. Occasionally scrape down the sides so that the butter is evenly blended. In the first few minutes, the nuts will become finely chopped and then ground, almost like a graham cracker pie crust texture. It will then start to form a ball of dough. As you continue to blend, the heat from the food processor will help to full a smoother, thinner nut butter.
2. Add the honey after about 12 minutes and continue to process. If the nut butter is too thin, add more cocoa; too thick, add more honey. If it is just too dry, you can add up to about a tablespoon of a neutral tasting oil.
3. Variations: you can make plain nut butter in any variety, or try adding in other spices to taste. Some of my favorites:
Cinnamon honey peanut butter: even better with a little vanilla bean or vanilla powder, if you can find it!
Spiced pecan butter: try adding a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger, or a pumpkin pie spice. Maple syrup tastes great as the sweetener in this one!
Sunflower seed butter: toast the sunflower seeds first for best flavor!
Nutella: hazelnuts, cocoa powder, and sweetener
You could even try a savory nut butter by adding dried herbs or savory spices such as chili, cumin, curry, rosemary… the options are endless!
