How to eat healthier

Recently, I enjoyed reading food journalist Michael Pollan’s book, “Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual.”

Pollan did research to help consumers make their way through the huge array of information and persistent advertising about what to eat.

His advice is simple:

1. Eat food. By this means, Pollan means eat food that looks like real food, not highly processed items loaded with chemicals and high in fat, sugar, and salt.

2. Mostly plants. He recommends using meat as a flavoring in vegetable dishes. I tried it. I stir fried a huge cabbage with garlic and ham chunks. It was tasty. I’m going to add this item to my mean plans. Pollan also advises consumers to buy as much food as they can at local Farmers’ Markets.

3. Eat less. Pollan suggests leaving the table when you’re 75 percent full.

I highly recommend Pollan’s book. You can use the Amazon ad to the right to order it.

Today, the federal government took a stab at making its food recommendations simpler, although its suggestions don’t go as far as Pollan’s.

First Lady Michelle Obama, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Surgeon General Regina Benjamin unveiled the federal government’s new food icon, MyPlate. Its purpose is to remind consumers to make healthier food choices. The icon shows a plate half full of fruits and vegetables, with one quarter of lean proteins, one quarter of whole grains, and a serving of low-fat dairy.

“MyPlate is an uncomplicated symbol to help remind people to think about their food choices in order to lead healthier lifestyles,” Vilsack said in a statement.

MyPlate will replace the MyPyramid image as the government’s primary food group. MyPyramid will remain available to interested health professionals and nutrition educators in a special section of the new website.

The federal government’s new website, ChooseMyPlate.gov featuring the new icon, provides resources and tools for consumers, health professionals, nutrition educators, and the food industry to help consumers build healthier diets.

The government officials think the resources will help Americans who are experiencing epidemic rates of overweight and obesity.

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, launched in January, form the basis for the federal government’s nutrition programs. The guidelines include these recommendations:

Balance calories

• Enjoy your food, but eat less.
• Avoid oversized portions.

Foods to increase

• Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
• Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1 percent) milk.
• Make at least half your grains whole grains.

 Foods to reduce

• Compare sodium, salt, in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals, and choose foods with lower numbers.
• Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

As part of this new federal food initiative, the USDA wants to see how consumers are putting MyPlate in to action. The agency is asking consumers to take a photo of their plates and share on Twitter with the hash-tag #MyPlate.

For more information, visit http://www.choosemyplate.gov/. Additional resources include: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/guidelines/index and http://www.letsmove.gov/. 

Update: Andrew Weil, M.D., gives his critique of the USDA’s new food recommendations in “MyPlate USDA Nutrition Guide Has Its Cracks.” Weil thinks MyPlate doesn’t provide enough guidance, for example, not pointing out the difference between fruit and fruit juice and “pulverized” and whole grains. Instead, he recommends his Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid, with, in addition to the usual food groups, categories for fish, soy, mushrooms, herbs and spices, supplements, tea, and red wine.