Three simple rules for a better diet from food author Michael Pollan, whose book In Defense of Food I am now extremely keen to read. Pollan has been an outspoken critic of US food policy and points out that the Western diet, the one we have invented for ourselves, is the only one which makes us sick.

The first rule, eat food, seems pretty obvious but what Pollan is getting at here is to avoid “edible food-like substances”. He cites the American example of the Twinkie, but you don’t have to look too hard in Kiwi supermarkets to find things like fruit flavoured “strings” and the like. Even some fruit drinks (not fruit juice, there is a distinction) can often contain nothing but water, sugar, flavouring and colouring, absolutely no nutrition there.

His second rule, not too much, is one that is largely ignored by most of us. How much is a serving of meat for dinner? Around 100g per person, and trust me, when you see that much on your plate your first thought will be, “where’s the rest?”

I was keeping a food diary a couple of weeks ago and was initially pleased with my results until one fateful Wednesday evening. I cooked up some delicious crumbed chicken, but noticed there were three  pieces in the pack and I was cooking for two. Instead of doing the sensible thing and leaving one in the fridge, or even cooking it to eat for lunch the next day, I ate two and gave one to my wife. This sent me way over my recommended daily calorie intake and left me feeling bloated and over full. I just didn’t need to eat it.

Another interesting piece of information around this rule comes from the book Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink who is a consumer behaviourist. He claims that we are full 10 minutes before our brain tells us that we are, leading many of us to overeat. As Wansink is a behavourist he focuses very much on the why we eat, rather than what we eat which makes him a very interesting read.

The mostly plants rule really boils down to something we all should know, fill up on vegetables, not meat. Vegetables, or fruit for that matter, contain a great deal of the nutrition that we need and very little of what we don’t. The great philosopher Frank Zappa once said, “There are two things in life you can never have too much of: Sex and vegetables.”

Pollan also warns against what he calls “nutritionism” — an ideology that’s lost track of the science on which it was based. Many people think that food is a delivery mechanism for nutrients where really it’s the other way around.

In An Apple a Day, author Joe Schwarcz discusses an interesting study about the anti cancer effects of the nutrient lycopene. Lycopene was discovered to be effective at fighting prostate cancer and as a result of this research, lycopene supplements began to appear on the market. Researchers at The Ohio State University conducted a study on rats who were fed either lycopene supplements or tomato extract, a food high in lycopene. What they discovered was that while lycopene did reduce the risk of prostate cancer, the tomato extract was 40% more effective, suggesting that other chemicals in the tomato also play a role.

This heathy eating this isn’t nearly as tough as it seems. Most of us know the rules and either choose to ignore them, or convince ourselves that a few slip ups here and there aren’t really a big deal. But really, when it’s summed up in just seven words it’s pretty hard to ignore. Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.