We're baa-a-a-a-ck!

Well, I can't believe I've been away from The Stream for the past month. Spring has sprung since our last post to the blog!

Of course, the spring season appeared on March 20 with nine inches of new snow on the ground in Santa Fe. It began snowing on Friday afternoon, as we awaited the arrival of Spring and the arrival of my younger son Lukas (age 24), who was stuck on I-40 in the last blizzard of Winter 2010. Today the Santa Fe sky is crystal blue and slowly warming with the brilliant, fiery Sun.

During the past few weeks, I've not only avoided writing at The Stream, but also I've avoided the too-long winter by burying my head in books, entertaining guests, and traveling to the Oregon Coast. Ah! What lovely escapes!

But this first Monday of Spring, with the yearly return of anticipated growth and explosion of green, I'm feeling a nudge of new determination to stay on the path--THE path. The Path of Holistic Health. The Path of Integration. The Path of Synthesis.

My determination to stay on The Path includes my resolve to eat "real" food. Whether traveling, entertaining guests, staying warm by the fire, spending hours in research & writing, or gathering with friends in circle, I have found that my greatest temptations are fat-free saltine crackers and Diet Coke. I ease any nagging sense of shame or guilt with the excuse of "Well, at least it's not buttery Ritz crackers and REAL Coke"...but it's still not REAL food.

There's something that happens when we eat real food--food that our great-grandparents would recognize, food that contains only whole ingredients which a first-grader could pronounce. There's a grounding, consolidating spirit that connects us to the food, the plant, the earth, our ancestors and, ultimately, to the Divine Spirit of Creation. This Spirit is the true essence of Real Food and the true essence of Life.

That oughta' inspire us today! Celebrate Spring! Celebrate Life!

I promise to write again soon and return to Food Rules.

Wordoids and Health Claims

This is a 2-for-1 Monday, as I’m starting this week with renewed resolve. Pollan’s next two rules, Rule 8 and Rule 9, cast a spotlight on my dismal pattern of eating processed foods that promote all kinds of health claims, while I fantasize about being healthier because I’m losing weight.

Rule 8: Avoid food products that make health claims.

AND

Rule 9: Avoid food products with the wordoid “lite” or the terms “low-fat” or “non-fat” in their name.

Let me guess why…because these food products are highly processed??

Yes; but also, as Pollan explains, “by demonizing one nutrient—fat—we inevitably give a free pass to another, supposedly ‘good’ nutrient—carbohydrates in this case—and then we proceed to eat too much of that instead.” And of course, most packaged foods that boast new FDA-approved health claims have been afforded such by a big food manufacturer. Pollan reminds us that only a few decades ago, the food industry was promoting margarine as healthier than butter, yet it “turned out to contain transfats that give people heart attacks.”

Wait! I thought the food-science industry was taking care of us and giving us healthier choices.

Pollan reminds us that “the forty-year-old campaign to create low- and non-fat versions of traditional foods has been a failure: We’ve gotten fat on low-fat products. Why? Because removing the fat from foods doesn’t necessarily make them nonfattening (Food Rules, p.21).”

Hmm...I suppose my self-deception of eating 15 "low-fat" crackers would crumble under the scrutiny of Rule 9. Not only am I consuming too many carbs and calories with the delusional habit of eating low-fat foods, but I’m also buying-in to the food industry’s ceaseless campaign to fill my cupboards with cardboard fillers, addictive sugars, anesthetizing carbs, and chemically-enhanced FrankenFoods.

Pollan assures us, “You’re better off eating the real thing in moderation than bingeing on “lite” food products packed with sugars and salt.”

As I begin another week and dig deeper into Food Rules, I suppose I should be comforted by knowing my choices are narrowing and becoming more focused. Eat real food.

Seems easy enough, although my addiction to low-fat cereal bars and Slim-Fast snack bars is tempting me with every TV commercial I watch. Ah! There’s another idea--turn off the TV and go for a walk!

Pollan's Rule 7

Food Rule #7 starts with another “Avoid…”

Maybe that’s why I avoided writing yesterday. Maybe I avoided being responsible for following my own advice. Maybe I avoided feeling the need to be honest, with admitting…ok, here it is—

I drank half of a 20 oz. Diet Coke yesterday.

So shoot me, all you rule-followers; but I have to give myself a little grace. That was the first sip of Diet Coke I’ve had in a week, and I used to drink 3 or 4 cans of Diet Coke daily. Again, that was a grace-thing, as I pardoned my Diet Coke addiction with “well, at least it’s not real Coke.”

Then I read Vandana Shiva’s Water Wars, in which she explains how the Coca-Cola and Pepsi corporations are quickly stripping India of fresh water resources, and I was so convicted of my attachment to Diet Coke (and a wide assortment of Coke-owned products) that I was able to break my addiction. I immediately stopped buying the weekly case of Diet Coke I consumed and, after several days of online-research, I refused to buy anything Coke owns.

But then time passes, and I occasionally indulge and buy a 20 oz Diet Coke to keep in the fridge, to frequently glance at it and torture any sense of resolve I may have…which takes me back to Rule 7.

Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.

A smart third-grader could probably pronounce the ingredients in a Diet Coke, but Rule 6 would apply (avoid more-than-5-ingredient products).

Maybe a third-grader could read 'Potassium Benzoate'; but considering the Diet Coke label also boasts 'Phosphoric Acid', a smart child would probably stop right there. Acid? I’m drinking ACID?!

Oh, yeah…now I remember a fourth-grade science project, when we took a piece of beef steak and poured Coca-Cola over it, then watched the addictive fluid eat-up the steak. Hmm…and I still like to do that to my stomach?

Okay. So this is a reminder. This calls for the KISS principle—Keep It Simple, Stupid! I will avoid putting anything in my mouth that has more than 5 ingredients and avoid ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.

With my addictive personality, maybe I should consider using a first-grader!

Patti

By the way, if you’re reading this blog for the first time, I encourage you to read our February archives and catch-up from Rule 1. Michael Pollan rules!

Too much avoidance

Another snowy day in Santa Fe

So I’ve decided Michael Pollan is not a psychologist or Jungian analyst, because Rule 6 is the fourth rule in a row that begins with the word AVOID; and flipping ahead through the next few pages in his book Food Rules, I see the next few rules also start with ‘avoid.’

Rule 6: Avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients.

Obviously, as Pollan points out, “…the more ingredients in a processed food, the more highly processed it probably is.” But for the sake of positive thinking, I think I would respond to this rule more favorably if it was worded "EAT food products that contain less than 5 (or 3 or 6 or…) ingredients."

A few days ago I confessed that I’m a rule-breaker and now, as I read ‘avoid’ this and ‘avoid’ that, I’m feeling a little rebellious. No, I’m feeling very rebellious and indignant….while I’m sitting on the sofa, eating Trail Mix. Rule 2 flashes through my mind…would my great-grandmother have eaten trail mix?? Probably not with cashews, pine nuts, and almonds, since those nuts would have been too costly in 1900. Besides, my great-grandmothers were all pecan girls, living in Texas and the Deep South.

As you’ll see in the days to come, or if you buy Pollan’s book, some of his food rules are co-dependent, or interdependent. In this case, Rule 6 would approve of five-ingredient Haagen-Dazs ice cream (yum!) or three-ingredient Tostitos; but Pollan warns us to apply Rule 60 for dealing with treats--Treat treats as treats.

Hmm…so three cups of trail mix is probably too much for one sitting on the sofa!

Clearing Space with Rule # 5

This spring cleaning for the body is clearing space for a new burst of energy!

After awakening at 2:13 a.m. this morning, my brain was zooming and I couldn’t go back to sleep; so I got out of bed and quietly tip-toed downstairs to begin my day. In addition to preparing for a class I had tonight, I spent the day working compulsively on website design; and before I knew it the day was done and I still needed to write about Rule 5.

If you’ve had an opportunity to see a few minutes of Ellen Degeneres during the past week, you may have heard her mention that she has also begun spring cleaning for the body. As I write this, I’m watching a recording of her show from earlier today, and she just mentioned that she has given up sugar. This is her ninth day without any form of sugar. What perfect timing for today’s rule! Somehow it’s a bit comforting to know we’re all in this together.

Rule # 5 – Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients.

Pollan reminds his readers of a food industry practice that most people know by now, that labels list ingredients by weight; so any food product that has sugar in the first three ingredients ”has WAY too much sugar.” Also, when processed foods and snacks are mainstays of our diet, it’s hard to avoid the 'pride of food science'—over 40 types of sugar are now used in the food industry! Corn sweetener, beet sugar, cane juice, dextrin, fructose, sucrose, glucose, and a dozen other –‘tose names.

For now, Ellen and I are united by Rule 5 and we invite you to clear space for a new burst of energy and a new spring in your step!

Letting Go

So how ‘bout dem Saints?! Ah, what a game! My sis called this morning and confessed that she and her husband watched the whole game—the first football game they have watched since Tom Landry was coach of the Cowboys (and my younger son doesn’t believe in miracles!).

It’s another snowy day here in Santa Fe and we’re stuck inside, so I’m spending the day clearing space for spring to arrive. I know it’s wishful thinking, but I’m letting go of a lot of stuff and putting forth the intention for spring, for renewal, and for a lighter load. I finally put away the remaining Christmas decorations stacked in a spare bedroom, while Tracy was going through her closet and letting-go of clothes she no longer needs. I’m also ready to purge the kitchen pantry of all the “FrankenFoods” that we no longer need…that we never needed!

‘Change’ often requires letting-go of things, ideas, and habits that no longer serve us. Belongings may need to go, or our attachment to an attitude may need to be released. Even giving up certain foods is a form of letting-go—of a habit, of a mode of comfort, of tradition, and often an anesthesia to avoid feeling.

When I first heard about Michael Pollan’s book Food Rules, my immediate reaction was “Yeah right, it rules!” My idea of ‘letting-go’ was more like giving-up any self-control to food and to the food industry that would try to control us. But Pollan urges us to take back the control of our lives and take back the control of what we put in our bodies.

Rule #4 – Avoid food products that contain high-fructose corn syrup.

If you’re not already a label-reader, you may want to go to your pantry and read a few labels. It’s ridiculous how many of our foods and food-like substances contain high-fructose corn syrup and other forms of sugar. This is not news to most of us, but Pollan’s fourth rule comes as a reminder—it’s time to purge my pantry again.

Here’s to Spring Cleaning for the body!

Following the Rules

Sunny Sunday to all…especially to my DC/Maryland friends…and to the New Orleans Saints!

I went to bed last night and awakened this morning with thoughts of ‘following the rules’ vs. ‘freedom of choice’. I suppose they’re not mutually exclusive concepts, but the challenge seems to be a theme of frequent discussions lately. In parenting, we set rules, teach our children to follow them, gradually introduce them to ‘freedom of choice’, and try to wisely demonstrate the responsibility and consequence connected to making their own choices. With my sons now 24 and almost-30, I still wonder if I balanced ‘freedom of choice’ with enough demand to ‘follow the rules’.

I admit I am an infamous rule-breaker. Psychologists claim it’s the middle-child syndrome. Even with a Marine father who taught a military chain-of-command Christianity—i.e. Jehovah > man > woman > child > nature—I still managed to break many rules and claim a personal freedom of choice. And, for a long time I lived in denial, thinking I could avoid any negative consequences attached to my unhealthy choices. But the body will always reveal the many ways we break the rules.

We pray “Give us this day our daily bread,” then we’re given options. With a veritable banquet of foods laid before us everyday, we definitely have freedom of choice…until the will to survive constricts our choices into narrowly focused rules. Want to avoid Type 2 Diabetes? Eat less refined sugar and carbohydrates; exercise more. Want to avoid another heart attack? Eat less fat and exercise. Want to avoid obesity? Eat less and exercise.

Want to be healthy? Choose to follow the rules.

In Food Rules, Michael Pollan explains the rules are more like policies (or “algorithms”--for you mathematicians who can relate to that word). The rebel in me likes to think of these rules as guidelines, directing me through the convoluted, never-ending maze we call “The American Diet.”

After I found myself obsessing with every choice I had yesterday—Would my great-grandmother have recognized ‘this’ as food? Would she have eaten a fat-free saltine cracker? In 1900, was there such a thing as a low-fat turkey wiener? I don’t THINK so!—I went to bed comforting myself with “OK, Patti – these are just guidelines. It begins with awareness.”

And change always begins with awareness…or change CAN begin with awareness. We are made aware, but we can also choose NOT to change.

Rule # 3 – Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry…such as ethoxylated diglycerides, xantham gum, cellulose, calcium propionate.

As Pollan exhorts us, “If you wouldn’t cook with them yourself, why let others use these ingredients to cook for you? The food scientists’ chemistry set is designed to extend shelf life, make old food look fresher and more appetizing, and get you to eat more.”

So I remind myself as I encourage you—do not obsess. Just make healthier choices.
Hmm…that may be a bit more challenging on Super Bowl Day. Go Saints!!

The Farmers' Market

Tracy and I are heading off to the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market this morning, to explore Pollan’s Rule #2 – Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.

We used to be able to look toward our grandmothers for a healthier example of what to eat; but during the past 60 years, heavily processed foods have become more of a mainstay on our dining tables, to the degree that we have to look further back to our great-grandmothers (or great-great-grandmothers!) to imagine what they would consider real food.

In Food Rules, Pollan writes, “Imagine your great-grandmother…at your side as you roll down the aisles of the supermarket. You’re standing together in front of the dairy case. She picks up a package of Go-GURT Portable Yogurt tubes—and hasn’t a clue what this plastic cylinder of colored and flavored gel could possibly be. Is it a food or is it toothpaste?” (p.7)

Colin Dunn, a friend in Austin, commented yesterday that he calls these heavily processed, food-like substances “FrankenFoods.” Tracy and I got a good laugh at that; but, as it’s probably a more accurate name, FrankenFoods should scare all of us enough to make us run quickly from the supermarket to the local farmers’ market.

What would our great-grandmothers eat? Food in-season, dried fruits and vegetables, and summer/fall vegetables they had canned (without lots of salt and sugar!). That leads us back to the farmers’ market for food in-season.

As Tracy is much younger than I, she remarked yesterday, “I bet most young adults today don’t even know what foods ARE in season. Grocery stores have most vegetables year-round.”

Hmm…she’s probably right. If we truly want to be in touch with the earth, in touch with the seasonal cycle of nature, and in touch with each other, we must begin with understanding our intrinsic relationship with nature and the natural order.

So, #1 -eat real food and #2 choose foods your great-grandmother would have eaten. I think roasted root vegetables are on the menu for tonight’s dinner. Off to the market!

A Balanced and Integrated Life of Holistic Health

Greetings from Santa Fe!

Earlier this morning, I sent the following thoughts to a couple of friends who I know are trying in this new year to make wiser, healthier choices regarding their eating habits. Attempting to live a balanced and integrated life of holistic health, I find that everyday I have a chance to make a fresh start with the rising of the sun. I thought maybe you would also like a bit of inspiration each morning, so for the next two months I would like to share this part of my journey with you as we're all in this life together.

Yesterday I received a little book I ordered and, upon quickly reading it, it has become my new Diet Bible. You may have heard about it with all the recent media blitz--Food Rules: An eater's manual, by Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore's Dilemma). It's a quick, easy read with 64 rules. The simplicity of the book, with few words and lots of white space on the page, grabbed my attention and convinced me of its weighty significance for our current challenges regarding personal and social transformation. I have decided to share a rule-a-day with you, as we're all in this life together and we all desire A Balanced and Integrated Life of Holistic Health.

Here's the first rule:

Rule #1 - Eat food.

Seems easy enough for a first rule, huh? As I read this first rule I happily thought, "Yea! I get to eat!"

However, as Pollan writes, "These days this is easier said than done, especially when 17,000 new products show up in the supermarket each year, all vying for your food dollar. But most of these items don't deserve to be called food--I call them 'edible foodlike substances'. They're highly processed concoctions designed by food scientists, consisting mostly of ingredients derived from corn and soy that no normal person keeps in the pantry, and they contain chemical additives with which the human body has not been long acquainted. Today much of the challenge of eating well comes down to choosing real food and avoiding these industrial novelties."

In the documentary film Food, Inc., Pollan claims our local supermarkets boast an average of 47,000 products. So, trying to make a wise choice is not always simple and can often be overwhelming; but it begins with the choice to eat real food (e.g. If you find yourself at a fast food "restaurant", choose a salad instead of a hamburger or "chicken burger" or "fish burger"). Make mindful choices today and remember: each time you go to put some edible substance in your mouth, YOU have the choice. Eat real food.

Thanks for sharing the path with me,
Patti