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!