A large portion of the book covers the flaws and mistakes in nutritionalism. That is eating a food for its nutritional value and not the food itself. That food is more than the sum of it’s vitamins and minerals. It’s not the carotene that makes a carrot healthy for you, it’s the carrot.

Perhaps the most scary thing about the book, is the waking up to the fact of how wrong the industry is. How processed the food, or rather food like substances as Pollan calls them, in today’s supermarkets are. The labels on food-like-substances that say FDA qualified, which if you read the fine print allows the makers of said food to make most any claims they want to. Disgusting.

Perhaps the best observation in the book is on state of the gas station. He says:

<blockquote>
    <em>"Don't get Your Fuel From the Same Place Your Car Does

American gas stations now make more money selling food (and cigarettes) than gasoline, but consider what kind of food this is: except perhaps for the milk and water, it's all highly processed nonperishable snack foods and extravagantly sweetened soft drinks in hefty twenty-ounce bottles. Gas stations have become processed-corn stations: ethanol outside for your car and high-fructose corn syrup inside for you"  (Pollan, 192)</em>
</blockquote>

Towards the end of the book he gives a number of food algorithms. Not hard fast rules, but algorithms that can help you eat real food. I have reproduced a few of the ones I liked the most below. Please keep in mind that there are generally a page or five to explain them, but even at face value they are pretty good.

• Avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, B) unpronounceable, c) more than five in number, or that include d) high-fructose corn-syrup
• Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of them middle
• Get ouf of the supermarket whenever possible
• Eat mostly plants, especially leaves
• You are what what you eat eats too
• Pay more. Eat Less
• Eat meals

These are simple things that we normally don’t think about. Things so simple as eat meals have been lost on us. It should be a given, but many people fall into the trap of snacking. All day. Pay more. Eat Less. That is eat higher quality foods, but as they cost more – you will naturally eat less. You will probably be more apt to eat slower (and taste!) your food as an added side bonus.

There are so many good things to say about this book I can’t do it any justice. You really should read it. It will change your complete outlook on food. Unless you like to getting your food from the same place your car does.

To maybe wet your appetite here is a talk given by him.

The other day I went to this Ramen shop with my friend for lunch in 目黒 Meguro. We walk into this place and immediately it is different from the other ramen places I’ve seen or been to. People aren’t inhaling it. In fact they are eating quite slowly. I look on the walls – this place has been on TV before. There were screen captures of various celebrities eating their ramen on TV with おいしい〜 (delicious) written at the bottom.

They have 3 popular menu items: 4 star, 6 star, and 10 star ramen. Somebody reported seeing a 12 star ramen, but that doesn’t make any sense. Wanting to place it safe just incase the ramen was actually quite spicy I ordered the 6.

I saw the 10 come out that my friend ordered. I wish I had taken a photo, but it looked like it was solid red. I must say I had have never before seen a grown Korean man cry eating ramen. Mine arrived. Not too scary looking: just ramen with what appears to be a thick mabodofu on the top.

Boy was I wrong.

The ramen

Im not sure what was worse: the heat or the spice. My mouth hurt more from the heat but my neck was sweating from the spice. I understood why everybody was eating it so slowly. You physically cannot inhale this stuff like you can the regular salt or soy ramen.

I tried like hell to finish it all. I really did. It would just not physically fit. At least not in a decent timeframe. I managed to eat it all and drink about half of the soup. And still worried about indigestion – something I never worry about.

Me afterwords – trying not to pop.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before on the site but perhaps not. This is how the Kaitenzushi works: You sit down. You watch the sushi rotate nice and slowly before you. You salivate a little bit. Here comes the best part – you just take what you want and you know the price just by looking at the plate. Incredible huh? So at this particular place the purple plate was ¥400, dark green ¥350, blue ¥250, red ¥200, light green ¥150.

In the end – you get to eat delicious sushi for cheap. Total between Yumi and myself we packed away about 10 dollars worth of sushi each – but we were stuffed – and splurged for a single ¥400 sushi. I’ve never had fish literally MELT in my mouth before.

This particular 回転鮨屋 was in the Tokyo station. By in the station I mean in the station as in you are on your way in, out, or transferring trains to eat at this place. Though I was also surprised that there was a Uniqlo and some bookstores as well in the station. Neat huh?