Real Food

This is a post I was working on months ago, which I just never finished. But since Michael Pollan just wrote a much more eloquent and timely NYT article on a similar subject, I felt I had no more to add this matter with my bad writing...

(Also, I have not had internet or cable TV at home for almost a week now...which sucks in a way, but I have found so much more time to do other things like reading, cleaning, organizing, etc.)



Nina Planck has written a pretty convincing book on food advices. You see, she doesn’t use the words “healthy,” “organic,” or “natural” to describe her food of choice. Her label is “Real Food.” The book revolves around a central theme – that humans for tens of thousands of years have been eating both vegetables and animals, both grown the way nature intends them to be. Cows should graze on grass and not eat animal products; milk should be drank raw and not pasteurized; the list goes on. She proposes that modern industrialized food is the culprit for heart diseases and cancer. Throughout the book many references are given to bolster her claims. Although I think some of these information sources seem a bit dubious, I must admit that deep down I whole heartedly agree with her philosophy. The most convincing sections of the book are her detailed description of how modern farms quickly and efficiently raise animals and produces. Perhaps the most relevant, or timely, bit of information is that grain-based diet dramatically lowers cows’ digestive systems’ pH levels, creating a favorable environment for the deadly E. coli O157:H7 strain – the now notorious infecting agent hiding in uncooked spinach that caused an outbreak in the US just a few months ago. Other interesting fact include:

1. Pasteurization of milk creates more oxidized cholesterol (bad for your circulation), destroys naturally occurring enzymes such as lactase, which would help the digestion of lactose.

2. The grain diet fed to milk cows increase the omega-6 fatty acids and decrease omega-3 in milk production

Comments

Unknown said…
I printed out that Times article a while ago because it seemed very interested, but haven't had the time to read it in full yet. Will get to it this weekend ;)

My friend also read "The Omnivore's Dilemma" (written by Pollen) and highly recommends it. As a result of reading that book, she only buys organic groceries now even though she "claims" that she can't afford them.
Albertitto said…
It really sucks to have no internet, but Mike and I feel so much more civilized in the last week without any TV watching. I have Michael Pollan's An Omnivore's Dilemma. I just never got around to reading it. Now it looks like we'll have another week without TV and internet. I'll probably finish reading it this week.

Organic is good. But sometimes the price is almost twice or three times of those of regular produce. The quality of the produce can sometimes be bad...
Unknown said…
hey, have you heard of this thing called "miracle fruit"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_fruit

some people at my school attended this "miracle fruit" party last week, and couldn't stop talking about this thing that supposedly changes the way you'd ever think about the taste of anything citrus. sounds very magical. i'm dying to try some.
Albertitto said…
Weird! I'd like to try it too!

Just wait until the food industry get their hands on it...it'll come up with ways to make fat and sugar taste horrible or something...