Nutrients vs. food « Simple Living Book Club

Simple Living Book Club » In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan » Part I: The Age of Nutritionism

Nutrients vs. food

(20 posts)

Tsh
Lead Reader
Thinking Reader

"Speak no more of food, only nutrients." -pg. 24

A general idea in this entire section of the book is the idea that in our modern history, we have broken down whole eating into nutrient eating.

In your opinion, what affect does this change of thinking have on you and your family as you shop at the grocery store, eat at a restaurant, menu plan, or simply eat?

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Posted 4 months ago #
kmcclain77
Member
Reader

Indeed we have broken down to "nutrient eating"! I find that my husband and I seek out the nutritional information in restaurants before ordering our meal - what are we looking for, you ask? - how many fats, carbohydrates, and proteins are in each meal? I can't say that I pay much attention to which vegetables, grains, and meat I'm ordering, so long as it has the right "numbers".
The boxes at the grocery store with advertisements that jump out, saying "30% Less Fat!" have drawn my eye.
As I have read through this section of the book, I am challenged to alter my thinking - focusing more on eating whole foods...ACTUAL food! And remember that I have a responsibility in choosing the food my family will consume.

Posted 4 months ago #
cscott
Member
Thinking Reader

I have felt guilty for not being more conscious of nutrition. I don't really eat a lot of processed food - not because of the nutrition - but because I don't like them. I just want to eat what I like. I love Pollan's simple guidelines: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Part of it is that I've been around long enough to see foods being demonized and then there's a 180-degree change a few years later. Eggs, carbs, fat, bacon, margarine, sugar substitutes, white flour, and the list goes on.

My husband totally demonizes food, and it drives me nuts. He won't eat ice cream, potatoes, pasta, etc. because they're so bad for you. He's bought into nutritionism, but he struggles with guilt because he loves food more than anyone I know. I'm going to get him to read this book as well so he can see how he's been hoodwinked.

Posted 4 months ago #
Kris
Member
Reader

I was surprised to learn what an infant science nutrition is. We really don't know that much about it and a lot of what we've been told changes. Remember when coffee was good for you then bad for you? And, red wine? It's good for your heart but can also increase breast cancer?

After reading this book and some of the others I've read on topic, I now take everything I hear and filter it through the knowledge that the experts really don't know. The human body is so intricate and complex and they do not have it figured out yet.

Posted 4 months ago #
volleyt47
Member
Reader

I can say that I'm guilty of breaking foods down into nutrients. I think this whole idea of focusing on healthy foods instead of nutrients is liberating and will (hopefully) help to simplify healthy meal choices.

Posted 4 months ago #
kmaffeiwood
Member
Reader

This idea struck me as I'd focused on carbs heavily while pregnant, as I had gestational diabetes. This got me buying "Light," low-carb, low-net carb items, and finally, I just couldn't do the processed garbage (even if it was "better" for me). I think it was the tortillas that turned me. They just smelled like chemicals. I made my own instead, out of real ingredients, and then ate one (balanced with lots of veg, some meat and fats). I agree that focusing on nutrients only is dangerous and limiting.

It was amazing what happened with my blood sugar when I just focused on balancing my plate with mostly produce, a little meat and a little whole-grain carbs. By tossing the "rules" of sugar-free, low-carb, my blood sugar went down, naturally, easily, and I continued to manage my GDM with "diet" and moderate exercise.

Posted 4 months ago #
kcoleman
Member
Reader

I've always had a tendency to demonize fat. I always bought lowfat or skim milk, yogurt, sour cream, and salad dressings. Anytime I bought popcorn or crackers I looked for the reduced fat kind. There was even a time when I bought into the need to buy egg beaters instead of regular eggs. What I never realized was that all of these items have extra sugar, HFCS, and/or tons of chemicals added to make them palatable.

I have finally made the switch to full fat dairy products (whole milk yogurt is actually harder to find!), cut out the snack foods all together (except popcorn, but I buy the kernels instead of microwave bags), and have started buying farm eggs. Not only do I feel better about cutting out all of the gross unpronounceable ingredients, but I enjoy my food much more!

Posted 4 months ago #

Private
organizedmama
Member
Thinking Reader

I am always shocked at my friends who read and count and order based on nutrients. My friends will never eat fat if they can avoid it. They were both raised in households where dieting was a big factor as was body image. We didn't have that in my household, so nutrients don't mean as much to me. For many years when I was working my husband and I would be eating out or eating prepared foods which were convenient. Now that I am a mom I try to make food myself, like my grandmother did. I try to buy fruits and vegetables so we know what is in our food. It's amazing how again something like food technology was probably such a great thing for many people at the time, but now we are really starting to look at what it has done to us as a culture on the whole.

Posted 4 months ago #
nikkimoore
Member
Reader

It was really very relieving to read that we don't have to worry so much about the unseen nutrients and vitamins in food. There is no way I could ever keep track of all the different vitamins and things that we're supposed to have certain amounts of every day! (This is also why I take a daily women's multivitamin.) It makes perfect sense, though...foods are their own entity and can't be simply reduced to a list of nutrients. Which is a huge relief to me, and strengthens my resolve to eat unprocessed, whole foods.

Posted 4 months ago #
ladycop79
Member
Reader

As the daughter of a very food-oriented "health-nut" dad of the 80 and 90's nutrition crazes, I grew up very worried about sugar and fat. As an adult, I went on Weight Watchers, so I learned to associate everything with calories/fat/fiber content. The first time I was on WW, I was eating lots of low "point" things but they were all crap (100 calorie snacks, fat-free cookies, etc.) I wasn't eating any vegetables/fruit, working midnight shift as a police officer and while my body lost weight, I ended up developing symptoms of Multiple Sclorosis. I now have the chapter title "The proof is in the low fat pudding" written and stuck up in my pantry!

Posted 4 months ago #
FroggiLady
Member
Reader

There was a time in the past when I was bad about wanting nutrient info. before I would buy/eat something. To the extreme of not wanting to by produce because it didn't tell me what nutrients were in it. Silly, I know. A couple years ago, after some health issues, I started reading labels for the ingredients ... not the nutrients. If it has more than about 5 listed I put it down because it probably has something I cannot eat. Also, if I can't pronounce it and don't know what it is, I put it down too.

Now I mostly try to eat "real food." Fruits, veggies, grains that I can tolerate (I have to eat gluten free), and meats that have not been altered or seasoned with unknown items. I try to look at as .... if it was around 2,000 years ago ... it's probably okay to eat.

However, as a mother I have a hard time passing along to my daughter ... and veggie-hating hubby .... the real food/whole food habits. It was fairly easy for me to change because I was wasting away the way I ate before. For them, they feel it's punishment to eat healthy. I'm hoping to get creative somehow and get over this hurdle.

Posted 4 months ago #
FruggieHippie
Member
Thinking Reader

My husband and I had made the decision about 1 year and a half ago to stop buying process food. And for the most part, we don't anymore... sure, ok, the yogourt is technically processed - haven't made the leap to making my own yet. :) But we've completely eliminated prepackaged food, frozen meals, and the like (I don't include frozen veggies & fruits in that category, although we will freeze out own during the summer, and buy some more when we run out at the end of winter). We pretty much make everything from scratch, and our now 22 mo old has gotten only a handful of prepared jars - we mostly pureed all her food too. We already eat lots of produce, don't include meat at every meal, and I usually make a batch or two of healthy snacks on the weekend to freeze for the week.

I also don't believe in health claim on packages, and that, if you take out something (whether it be low-fat, low-carb, low-cholesterol), than you have to add something else for it to still taste good. Low-fat usually means intense-sugar overload. Whenever I can, I try to buy the "standard" whole food - and if it's something really worth only eating once in a while, then I simply eat a bit less of it.

However, it was very interesting to read about the whole culture over nutrients, and how shaky that whole culture is. It makes sense: how can you objectively study something so complex & subjective as eating and how any one body metabolizes said food? As the author points out, it's near to impossible. Very eye opening indeed. It does make deciding what to eat a bit easier when you just focus on whole food rather than parts of food.

Posted 4 months ago #
JenT
Member
Thinking Reader

I guess I was lucky as a kid, because my mum always served homemade meals (okay we had the occasional frozen pizza or whatever, but that wasn't standard) and she had a "rainbow" rule - that a meal is balanced if it has at least 4 different colours in it (okay, not really a rainbow, but you get the point). For some reason that stuck with me more than concerns about fat, cholesterol, etc, although I did go through a sort of low-fat stage in my late teens/early twenties. Both kmaffeiwood's and and ladycop79's comments really struck me. Here are two examples of exactly how poorly nutritionism works and how well eating real food does. Way to go ladies!

Posted 4 months ago #
loreejo
Member
Reader

This way of thinking is kinda hard to break. While I haven't had much trouble switching to whole foods and eliminating a lot of our processed food purchases in the past few months....it is hard not to THINK about what nutrient I'm supposedly getting from which food choice. I think it's important to eat a variety of foods, but it seems in the back of my mind I'm still calculating something...or feeling like I should be. :) I'd rather just be THINKING about it less, but don't seem to feel confident trusting my own body for intuitive eating cues. Anyone else feel this way or have suggestions for me?

Posted 4 months ago #
tryityoumightlikeit
Member
Reader

This has definitely changed the way that I shop for food. I am avoiding processed food more and buying more fresh produce. The idea that food is more than just a sum of it's parts was such a change for me. I had bought into the advertising on vitamins and antioxidants and my choices were influenced by that. It is still hard to avoid that but I repeat to myself that the corporations love to have health claims because it makes them money not necessarily because they want us to be healthy. That part is up to me.

Posted 4 months ago #
FruggieHippie
Member
Thinking Reader

@loreejo - I know what you mean, I feel the same way. It's one thing to know something in your head and believe it to be true, and another to change ingrained habits & culture! I still read nutritional labels, and I still think in terms of "this food is high in so and so" based on the ingredients or what not.

My daughter (currently 23 mo) is very VERY picky and will consistently only eat cheese, yogourt, bread, and some fruits, and I find myself fussing over her nutrient intake in the long run (she's been on this "diet" for, oh, about a year now :) ). However, when you look at her, she's growing well, gaining weight, outgrowing her clothes, LOTS of energy, not lethargic, no dark circles under the eye... she's obviously fine! It's so hard to escape the mindset we grew up and still live in. We don't force feed her, and we don't say TO her "you're missing out, please please eat!" so hopefully we will help in not transferring some of our society's anxiety to her...

One thing we DO do though, is sometimes "mix" thing... like flaxseed in her yogourt, grounded chicken in her prunes, sweet potato muffins, French toast which has eggs on them... We don't "lie" to her and tell her "No it's just yogourt", but of course she doesn't really ask either being only 2 :) If she did, we'd tell her the truth (and cross our fingers).

Posted 3 months ago #
Tsh
Lead Reader
Thinking Reader

@JenT -- What a cool mom you had! Love the idea of the rainbow rule. I know the concept, but I can really see my kids grasping that idea.

Posted 3 months ago #
gidget
Member
Reader

This was a pretty radical idea for me. It just makes sense! Over the years it has always puzzled me how much nutrition has changed with what is the trendy nutrient and what is the most recent villan. I love the idea of "eating food" instead of processed "food-like substances." I'm really devouring this book. Thanks for a great selection as usual, Tsh!

Posted 3 months ago #
lindsaye
Member
Reader

After reading this section, I really took away the idea that I should choose foods that don't NEED to make health claims and use attention-grabbing marketing ploys to convince me that they're healthful. I'm reminded that actual food---real, nonprocessed food---doesn't need to convince you it's good for you.

Posted 3 months ago #
MomOf4
Member
Reader

I felt really good after reading this section - it is very confusing which way to go - but I always use whole milk and pay no attention to the fat content in cheese, etc, unlike most people I surround myself with,,,, I also do not buy cookies and junk for my kiddos- and sometimes feel bad about that. I do like to cook and this section was encouraging to get back to basics and cook like my grandma did!

Posted 3 months ago #