On Mon, 29 Jan 2007 20:59:26 -0700, Philip <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Tom Bri:
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?_r=2&
>> ref=magazine&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
>>
>> AN excellent article on food. The guy has some odd notions about meat
>> eating, but otherwise is spot-on.
>>
>
> Pollan makes a lot of the same points as T. Colin Campbell. Both Pollan  
> and
> Campbell criticize "nutritional reductionism" and advocate a similar  
> diet:
> whole foods--lots of fruits, vegetables (including legumes) and whole
> grains--and very little animal foods (none in the case of Campbell). The
> language and philosophy and the type of diet advocated are very similar  
> to
> the macrobiotic philosophy and diet.

I read the article, and I do think he has a lot to say.  In a nutshell,  
his rules:
1. Eat Food (natural, unprocessed; foods your great-grandmother would  
recognize)--I
    think we all agree with that
2. Avoid food products with health claims--good point
3. Avoid food products with HFCS, lots of ingredients, unpronounceable  
ingredients--yes
4. Get out of the supermarket when possible--yes
5. Pay more, eat less. In other words, buy quality foods, eat smaller  
portions--I think
    most of us agree on the quality foods, at least.  And eating less of  
high-quality
    foods is basically good advice for most of us, within reason.
6. Eat mostly plants, especially leaves--that's farther than I or most of  
us would go,
    though many believe eating more leaves, without compromising basic  
nutrition, is good
7. Eat more like the (you name it: traditional cuisine)--and less like a  
lab rat.  All
    strong traditional cuisines have been tested through centuries, even  
millenia.
    (And all strong traditional cuisines, except perhaps for Hindu, are NOT  
vegetarian).
    Paleos just carry it further, eating more like a hunter-gatherer, as  
much as can be
    done these days.
8. Cook, and plant a garden if possible.--yes; I don't believe you can be  
healthy
    without cooking, by eating only packaged foods and restaurant meals.   
Take
    responsibility for your food.
9. Eat like an omnivore. Add greater diversity to your diet in terms of  
species.--yes;
    this directly follows what we know of H-G and paleo eating.

So, in a nutshell, most of this is not contradictory to Paleo eating.   
Rules 5 and 6
need a little reinterpretation, though not a lot.  And I think this  
approach is where Atkins, as presently constituted, fell off the wagon.   
Eating tons of highly-processed meats and pseudofoods made to look and  
taste like carbs CAN'T be good for you.

	Lynnet