A perfect FCB … HT Evelyn.
Archive for April, 2013
Friday cat blogging
Posted in Exercise, Friday cat blogging on April 26, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
THNKR on Pollan’s Cooked
Posted in Cooking, Food industry, Real food on April 24, 2013 | 14 Comments »
I wasn’t in a rush to pick up Michael Pollan’s Cooked, but after watching the review below from the folks at THNKR, I decided to move it up in my reading queue!
I like what Dan Barber of Blue Hill Farm has to say at the very end:
The most dangerous thing about the industrial food system is that the food doesn’t taste good. To have flavor you have to have all the minerals and micro-vitamins [sic] that come out of healthy soils. So flavor and nutrition are sort of the same subject.
Paleo on Dr. Oz
Posted in Ancestral health on April 23, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Here are two quick comments re yesterday’s Dr. Oz on the Paleo Diet (TM). First, I was a bit surprised that cheat meals had such a prominent place on the show, but Christoph Dollis pointed out to me on Twitter that that was part of Cordain’s TPD-TM.
The other oddity (error?) was this. Here’s the description of the TPD-TM “plate” per Nell Stephenson: 2/3rds of a plate of fresh veggies, a palm-size serving of protein, a little bit of healthy fat, and some fruit (as pictured below).
Stephenson’s comment:
That’s the plate you should look at for every meal of the day.
In the next segment, we see some typical paleo meals — after reminding folks what plates are supposed to be like (2/3rds of a plate of veggies), we see instead paleo’s “steak and egg” breakfast:
Probably a dumb production mistake, but it doesn’t exactly help dispel the idea that paleo is Atkins in Grok clothing.
That said, paleofolk seem mostly happy with the show. Cordain and Stephenson are pretty good ambassadors, there were no goofy cavemen jokes/props, and the Oz team seemed oblivious to some of the diet’s criticisms.
Speaking of the latter, out of the mouths of raccoons?
It’s just another paradigm that happens to be better than eating potato chips and fast food.
For more on the show, see Evelyn’s, Angelo’s or PaleoHacks’ takes.
Update, 4/23/13: Here is full transcript of the show (HT Julianne Taylor).
Friday cat blogging
Posted in Friday cat blogging on April 19, 2013 | 3 Comments »
Quote of the day
Posted in Cooking, QOTD, Real food on April 18, 2013 | 6 Comments »
Michael Pollan — he of “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” fame — has a new book coming out next Tuesday called “Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation.”
I’m not sure about this book; the NY Times says Pollan’s deep dive into four specific foods (Bolognese, pork shoulder, sauerkraut and bread) has him “broadly playing celebrity chef.” Hmmmm.
But in his interview with Mark Bittman, Pollan highlights that cooking is transformative:
Cooking is probably the most important thing you can do to improve your diet. What matters most is not any particular nutrient, or even any particular food: it’s the act of cooking itself. People who cook eat a healthier diet without giving it a thought. It’s the collapse of home cooking that led directly to the obesity epidemic.
Darn those moms going to work! But Pollan wants everyone to cook:
We need to complete that uncomfortable conversation about the division of domestic labor … if we’re going to rebuild a culture of cooking, it can’t mean returning women to the kitchen. We all need to go back to the kitchen.
Trying to get everyone into the kitchen seems to be as much tilting as windmills as other public health proposals. Me, I’m going to experiment with my own little cooking n=1 to see how it relates to my own eating/weight issues. It may not translate on a wide scale, but I must admit to being intrigued. We’ll see how it goes!
Just breathe
Posted in Brain & appetite, Meditation on April 18, 2013 | 1 Comment »
Summer Tomato’s Darya Rose is a fan of Dr. Andrew Weil’s 4-7-8 breathing technique:
When you eat mindlessly your environment wins and you’re more likely to overeat. You also appreciate your food less, since you aren’t focused on the sensory pleasures of eating. Cultivating mindful eating habits is therefore one of the most valuable tools in your foodist tool belt, because it helps you eat less while enjoying it more. …
Remembering to eat mindfully can be very difficult. If you’re being mindless, how are you supposed to remember to be more mindful? If you remember to be mindful, aren’t you being mindful already? It can be tricky, so 4-7-8 breathing is an incredibly valuable tool to help build the habit.
Here’s the 4-7-8 breath how-to from Dr. Weil:
- Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
- Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
- Hold your breath for a count of seven.
- Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.
- This is one breath. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.
And here he is demonstrating it:
One minute before meals? Sounds like a good plan: be more mindful while eating and also help aid in digestion. Winner, winner, chicken dinner ;).
Quotes of the day
Posted in QOTD, Weight stigma on April 17, 2013 | 4 Comments »
Moderator Haley at Redefining Body Image re Dove’s beauty sketches video:
I love this spot. I really do. Sometimes, I enjoy the way Dove frames these issues, and I can appreciate it.
But in the back of my mind, I am always thinking about the hypocrisy of embracing the notion of “real women” while leaving out a massive part of the population - as if they are any less real.
Dove says they are committed to building positive self esteem and inspiring ALL WOMEN and girls - but from what I can tell, that only applies so long as you’re not over a size 18. Deathfatties be damned.
A good point, but I have to say my reaction to the video (perhaps because I’ve been in a “hey kids get off my lawn” mindset recently) was more like moderator Liz’s:
Also, the same company owns Axe, which uses some of the grossest, most objectifying images of women around at the moment. Basically, I like the idea of the “Real Beauty” campaign, but am deeply deeply skeptical of Dove’s motives, and critical of their execution, which as Haley said, is still exclusive of a lot of people even though they claim to be body positive and to represent all women.
Like the RBI folks, I agree that the idea of expanding our cultural notion of beauty is worthwhile. But my BS detector went off when all these relative strangers were able to so accurately depict these women in a way that was more flattering than they could themselves.
About
Weight Maven is written by Beth Mazur. Beth believes that obesity is more symptom than cause and that the real problem is our modern culture -- especially diet. Beth writes about ancestral health, health policy, & mindfulness. And cats! More »
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