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Featured Book Review
Title and
Author: In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
Synopsis of
Content:
In Defense of Food Michael
Pollan has given us the most important book on nutrition in this decade. He strikes back at the
deluge of diet books and nutritionalism that has confused Americans now for two generations. He
uses science to attack the "science" behind the nutritionalism that has so distorted the
American attitude toward food and has left Americans as the most over fed and under nourished
in the world.
After poking generous holes in the various theories and diet fads of the past 40+ years Pollan
gives us some very decent guidance about what we should be eating and how we should be thinking
of food. His fundamental thesis is simple: we should eat food, not too much, and mostly plants.
By that he means:
Eat food: the
evidence is overwhelming that we should eat food in as natural a state as possible. We should
eat whole foods, not processed foods or refined foods. We should eat more like our ancestors of
a century or more ago. If you cannot pronounce or do not recognize the ingredients on a package
don't eat it. If there are generally more than five ingredients don't eat it. If it contains
highly processed and refined foods, including grains, sugar and oils, don't eat it. If your
great grandmother would not have recognized it - don't eat it. Eat everything else. Eat fresh
and frozen (but unprocessed) fruits and vegetables. Eat meat that is not processed or filled
with hormones, chemicals, etc. There is a bit more to it than that, but that captures the
essence of eating "food".
Not too much: Americans
eat on average 700 calories more per day than they did just 50 years ago. We are bigger,
fatter, more obese, and have more disease arising from poor nutrition than ever. We have more
diabetes, heart disease and cancer from eating junk food. We also have too much fat on our
bodies because we exercise too little and eat too much. Portion sizes are too large and our
food is more loaded with fats and sweeteners.
Mostly plants: while
one does not need to be a vegetarian to eat healthy, the more meat one eats, especially fatty
and processed meats, the less healthy we are. Plants provide the healthiest nutrients and the
least unnecessary calories for our body if they are fresh and wholesome.
Pollan points out that various ethnic diets, especially in the Mediterranean and Asia are far
healthier because they follow these three simple guidelines. The modern American diet, on the
other hand, with its processed foods, high fructose corn syrup laden drinks and quickie pizza
and burgers is a short road to disease.
Our youth, who have grown up on this diet, and will exercise less than Americans traditionally
have, may be the first generation to have a shorter life span than their parents.
Pollan is not a radical. He does not say you have to eat tofu and raw food all day. There are
many very healthy, delicious foods that you can and should eat. His indictment is against the
highly processed and inadequate foods that dominate our diet today.
This is not the first book to send this message - but Pollan does a very good job as a careful
journalist to bring us the facts to support the position he takes. By adhering to the simple
guidelines he suggests we can regain health as well as our waistlines. His arguments are
compelling as well as reasonable.
Readability/Writing
Quality:
This is very well written. He writes in an engaging style and yet provides the footnotes and
sources that support his position.
Notes on
Author:
Michael Pollan is an accomplished author and journalist and is the Knight Professor of
Journalism at UC Berkeley. He writes for NY Times Magazine. He also authored The Omnivore's
Dilemma among others.
Related
Website:
http://www.michaelpollan.com/
Three Great Ideas You Can
Use:
1. Eat food that is wholesome, as natural and whole as possible and with as
little processing as possible. Stick to the outside of the supermarket, if you must buy food in
supermarkets, aiming for in season produce, fresh unprocessed meats and dairy with as little
processing as possible. Avoid artificial ingredients and "convenience foods".
2. Make sure to get exercise every day.
3. Eat slowly and intentionally, and only eat until you are full or nearly full. Reduce the
size of portions that are all too common in the Western diet today.
Publication
Information:
In Defense of
Food by Michael Pollan
©2008 by Michael Pollan. Published by Penguin Books. 205 pages not including Sources and
Index.
Rating for this
Book:
Overall Rating: Excellent
Writing Style: Very Good
Application: Very timely; very applicable.
Technical Difficulty: Moderate
Lincoln's Wisdom
by Daniel R. Murphy
Vision
"If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could
then better judge what to do and how to do it." -Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln understood in a most profound way the value of vision. As a young man he worked
hard on developing a vision for what he wanted to accomplish in life. Most of his peers became
dirt farmers or other low skilled workmen and in the eyes of society accomplished very little.
Lincoln wanted far more for himself than that.
Lincoln's first vision for himself was to direct his energy and ambition toward what he liked
to do. He loved books, ideas and speaking. He knew he did not want to work with his hands even
though he was adept at it. He wanted to work with his mind.
For a time as a young man he wandered through several professions and careers, trying his hand
in business, surveying and river boating. He even did a stint in the military. He did not find
any of these to completely satisfy his vision for what he wanted to accomplish in life.
Then he found the law and politics and knew he had found his calling. Once that vision was
established he never let go of it. He relentlessly pursued both and ultimately became a very
successful lawyer and President of the United States.
Lincoln also applied his sense of vision to public policy. He saw that slavery had to end one
day or the nation would be destroyed. In his 1858 "House Divided" speech Lincoln predicted that
the nation must one day be all slave or all free - that a continued split was not sustainable.
He was criticized for saying this but he understood the vision and truth in it. When he was
criticized by one group he told them, "Gentlemen, you may think that the speech was a mistake,
but I have never believed it was, and you will see the day when you will consider it was the
wisest thing I ever said."
Today we have this man of great vision to thank for the preservation of our Union, the
abolition of slavery and many other great things. He had an amazing talent for seeing the truth
and the future for what it should be, getting himself there and then waiting for the world to
catch up.
You too can lay a course for your life based on a sound vision. Lincoln spent many hours
reflecting on his visions for the future. It would pay for you to do the same. We all cannot be
the kind of visionary that Lincoln was, perhaps, but we can all benefit from reflecting on what
we want to accomplish in life and aligning our efforts and thoughts with that vision.
The difference between people with a vision and those without one is that while they both get
where they are going, those with a vision determine the destination.
Guest Articles
From our very first issue of Creating True Wealth on February 2, 2008 we again bring you one of
Jack Canfield's best articles--
Success Begins with
Believing
by Jack Canfield, America's Success
Coach
In a previous edition of Success Strategies, I talked about how in order to
be successful, we must first define what success means to us, and that means getting CLEAR
about what you want, writing it down, and thinking BIG!
If you are going to be successful in creating the life of your dreams, you have to believe that
you are capable of making it happen. You have to believe you have the right stuff, that you are
able to pull it off. You have to believe in yourself. Whether you call it self-esteem,
self-confidence, or self-assurance, it is a deep-seeded belief that you have what it takes -
the abilities, inner resources, talents, and skills to create your desired
results.
Ultimately, you must learn to control your self-talk, eliminate any negative
and limiting beliefs, and maintain a constant state of positive expectations.
Control Your
Self-Talk
Researchers have found that the average person thinks as many as 50,000
thoughts a day. Sadly, many of those thoughts are negative -- I'm not management material...
I'll never lose weight... It doesn't matter what I do, nothing ever works out for me. This is
what psychologists call victim language. Victim language actually keeps you in a victim state
of mind. It is a form of self-hypnosis that lulls you into a belief that you are unlovable and
incompetent.
In order to get what you want from life, you need to give up this victim language and start
talking to yourself like a winner -- I can do it... I know there is a solution... I am smart
enough and strong enough to figure this out... Everything I eat helps me maintain my perfect
body weight.
You Are Always Programming Your Subconscious Mind
Your subconscious mind is like the crew of a ship. You are its captain. It is your job to give
the crew orders. And when you do this, the crew takes everything you say literally. The crew
(your subconscious) has no sense of humor. It just blindly follows orders. When you say,
"Everything I eat goes straight to my hips," the crew hears that as an order: Take everything
she eats, turn it into fat and put it on her hips. On the other hand, if you say, "Everything I
eat helps me maintain my perfect body weight," the crew will begin to make that into reality by
helping you make better food choices, exercise, and maintain the right metabolism rate for you
body.
This power of your subconscious mind is the reason you must become very vigilant and pay
careful attention to your spoken and internal statements. Unfortunately, most people don't
realize they are committing negative self-talk, which is why it is best to enlist another
person -- your success partner -- in monitoring each other's speaking. You can have a signal
for interrupting each other when you use victim language.
Use Affirmations to Build
Self-Confidence
One of the most powerful tools for building worthiness and self-confidence
is the repetition of positive statements until they become a natural part of the way you think.
These "affirmations" act to crowd out and replace the negative orders you have been sending
your crew (your subconscious mind) all these years. I suggest that you create a list of 10 to
20 statements that affirm your belief in your worthiness and your ability to create the life of
your dreams.
Of course, what to believe is up to you, but here are some examples of
affirmations that have worked for others in the past:
I am worthy of love, joy and success.
I am smart and make wise choices.
I am loveable and capable.
I create anything I want.
I am able to solve any problem that comes my way.
I can handle anything that life hands me.
I have all the energy I need to do everything I want to do.
I am attracting all the right people into my life.
Believing in Yourself is an
Attitude
Believing in yourself is a choice. It's an attitude you develop over time.
It's now your responsibility to take charge of your own self-concept and your beliefs. It might
help to know that the latest brain research now indicates that with enough positive self-talk
and positive visualization combined with the proper training, coaching, and practice, anyone
can learn to do almost anything.
You must choose to believe that you can do anything you set your mind to - anything at all -
because, in fact, you can!
© 2008 Jack Canfield
The Magic Formula to Better Results:
It's Your Response that
Counts
by Jack Canfield
In today's economic times, when everywhere you look there's a rumbling of
great uncertainty, I think we should all take a pause (and a deep breath) to think about our
lives.
Are we moving in the direction we want to be? When things happen in the
world that seem so far beyond our individual control, it can feel unsettling. And even though
we think we are the masters of our own success, watching the news these days can chip away at
our beliefs.
Even in tough economic times, you get to decide how to respond to certain
conditions, opportunities, and outcomes--both good and bad.
While I don't claim to be an economist, I do know one important fact. The
economy is the same for everyone, it's how you respond to it that determines how you feel about
it.
It's yet another example of what I've been teaching for years. .
.
E + R = O
(Events + Responses = Outcome)
The basic idea is that every outcome you experience in life (whether it's
success or failure, wealth or poverty, wellness or illness, intimacy or estrangement, joy or
frustration) is the result of how you have responded to an earlier event (or events) in your
life.
If you don't like the outcomes you are currently experiencing, there are two
basic choices you can make:
Choice #1: You can blame the event (E) for your lack of results (O).
In other words, you can blame the economy, the weather, the lack of money,
lack of education, racism, gender bias, the current administration in Washington, your wife or
husband, your boss's attitude, the lack of support, and so on.
No doubt all these factors exist, but if they were the deciding factor,
nobody would ever succeed.
For every reason it's not possible, there are hundreds of people who have faced the same
circumstances and have succeeded.
It's not the external conditions and circumstances that stop us -- it's
us!
We think limiting thoughts and engage in self-defeating behaviors. We defend
our self-destructive habits (such as drinking and smoking) with indefensible
logic.
We ignore useful feedback, fail to continuously educate ourselves and learn
new skills, waste time on the trivial aspects of our lives, engage in idle gossip, eat
unhealthy food, fail to exercise, spend more than we make, fail to tell the truth, don't ask
for what we want, and then wonder why our lives aren't working.
Choice #2: You can instead simply change your responses (R) to the events
(E) until you get the outcomes (O) you want.
You can change your thinking, change your communication, change the pictures
you hold in your head (your images of the world) and you can change your behavior (the things
you do.) That's all you really have any control over anyway.
Unfortunately, most of us are so engrained in our habits that we never
change our behavior.
We get stuck in our conditioned responses-to our spouses and children, to
our colleagues at work, to our customers and our clients, to our students, and to the world at
large.
You have to gain control of your thoughts, your images, your dreams and
daydreams, and your behavior.
Everything you think, say, and do needs to become intentional and aligned with your purpose,
your values, and your goals.
If you don't like your outcomes, change your responses!
Here's an example of how this works...
Do you remember the Northridge earthquake in 1994? I do! I lived through it
in Los Angeles.
Two days later I watched as CNN interviewed people commuting to work. The
earthquake had damaged one of the main freeways leading into the city. Traffic was at a
standstill, and what was normally a 1-hour drive had become a 2-3 hour drive.
The CNN reporter knocked on the window of one of the cars stuck in traffic
and asked the driver how he was doing.
He responded, angrily, "I hate California. First there were fires, then
floods, and now an earthquake! No matter what time I leave in the morning, I'm late for work. I
can't believe it!"
Then the Reporter knocked on the window of the car behind him and asked the
driver the same question. This driver was all smiles.
He replied "It's no problem. I left my house at five am. I don't think under
the circumstances my boss can ask for more than that. I have lots of music and Spanish-language
tapes with me. I've got my cell phone. Coffee in a thermos, my lunch-I even have a book to
read. I'm fine."
Now, if the earthquake or the traffic were really the deciding variables, then everyone should
have been angry. But everyone wasn't.
It was their individual response to the traffic that gave them their
particular outcome. It was thinking negative thoughts or positive thoughts, leaving the house
prepared or leaving the house unprepared that made the difference. It was all a matter of
attitude and behavior that created their completely different experiences.
If we all experience the same EVENT, the OUTCOME you get will be totally
dependent upon your RESPONSE to the situation.
If you want to take control of how you respond to life, you'll start
noticing that your outcomes will be more along the lines of what you have always
hoped.
Remember, you control your destiny so make it a fantastic one!
© 2009 Jack Canfield
Are you "stuck" in this area? Send me your most pressing question about this topic, then join
me for our monthly calls at www.AskJackCanfield.com
Be Inspired II
by Roger Thomas Lincoln
She failed the talent audition for the state theater in Norway because they
said she had no talent. She did not stop acting however. She went to London and studied at an
acting academy. She then got bit parts in theater until she was "discovered" by Ingmar Bergman
which led to her breakthrough performance in "Persona".
Ultimately Liv Ullmann went on to be twice nominated for Academy Awards as well as a Golden
Globe and LAFCA honor. She has starred in many other films and won other awards.
"Persistent people begin their success where others end in failure." - Edward
Eggleston
And another...
Her first TV show with her name in the title had been a hit. The second show was also doing
well until the network decided to change its timeslot. Ratings fell and the network moved it
again. The last move backfired and the show was cancelled. After the show was cancelled it was
nominated for an Emmy Award - a bitter sweet award for the star.
Initially she was devastated. In time she starred in another new show and another. In time it
became clear her career was not over. She went on to start in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The
Golden Girls. She was nominated 15 times for Emmys and won five of them.
Betty White never gave up and in the end succeeded far beyond her own expectations.
"I was always brought up to be an optimist ... That does not mean failure doesn't hurt. But you
do learn that failure in one field might lead to an opportunity in another." - Betty
White
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