In Defense of Food

Mark brought home this great book the other day; "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan. I've started reading it, and I really like it! It's all about food; something that has really been in the forefront of my mind the last couple years. With working at a recovery center for girls with eating disorders, being a new wife and attempting to cook, and learning the chiropractic ways of Mark and his family, it's been impossible not to think about it! It's crazy to me how differently food is interpreted within family cultures. With my anorexic gals it was generally associated with fear; with Mark's family it's largely associated with health; with my family it's mainly associated with tradition. (My dad is a regular Tevia, and that is no exaggeration. He is also part Jewish . . . makes sense. Love love love him.)

This book addresses all those things. I've been trying to learn a bit with Mark; going to some of his seminars and whatnot, and even though most of it is over my head, I really love the idea that health is a holistic thing. You can't look at it in parts; it's all too intertwined. Your emotions, you diet, your attitude, your activity, your perspective; everything plays a part. Our spirit and body need each other, and I think when one is suffering the other can't help but feel the effects.

The book doesn't exactly talk about that, at least I haven't gotten that far. (Perhaps I should read the whole thing before I tell you to read it . . . oh well. Just know that the first part is great.) My favorite ideas from his book include:

• Eat whole food; not processed. We don't ever seem to know quite enough to be able to duplicate foods accurately. We keep messing with processed foods depending on the diet fad of the day; no carbs, low-fat, high protein, vitamin C, etc. Our ideas keep changing on what are "good" nutrients and what are "bad".
  
• Food should be a complete experience instead of a hurried necessity. It should be enjoyed, our bodies let us know when we are satisfied and feel good.
  
• Food has been transformed into a sum of nutrients, instead of a whole. Our entire way of thinking about food is centered around its parts. We take vitamins, fortified food-like substances, and yet somehow it doesn't quite seem to be enough.

From that last thought, I kept going -- this is a little weird and might just be the product of my having way too much time to think these days -- and I started to think about how God created everything on this earth. We were all made from "intelligences" and created to have joy, so don't plants have a soul as well? When we take in a whole food, we are taking in its being as well . . . okay just writing that down sounds bizarre. A little too . . . Avatar, right? Maybe it's that microscopic bit of Native American blood coming out in me. :) It seems to hit me right, though, as weird as it sounds. There is just something man cannot duplicate in God's creations. So far anyway. Who knows what we'll be doing in the future.

Don't worry though, I still enjoy a good heaping pile of processed loaded cheesy fries; life's too short not to. But in general every-day eating, I really like the idea of eating as many whole things as possible. I will try it a bit more. Balance in all things, right?