2011 The New Food Rules!

RULE #6: STOP EATING BEFORE YOU’RE FULL

The Japanese have a saying – hara hachi bu – counselling people to stop eating when they are 80 percent full. The Ayurvedic tradition in India advises eating until you are 75 percent full; the Chinese specify 70 percent; and the prophet Muhammad described a full belly as one that contained one third food, one third liquid, and one third air – in other words, nothing.

Also, the French may have something to teach us. To say “I’m hungry” you say “J’ai faim” – “I have hunger” – and when you are finished you do not say that you are full, but “Je n’ai plus faim” – “I have no more hunger”. That is a completely different way of thinking about satiety. So, ask yourself not, “Am I full?” but, “Is my hunger gone?” That moment will arrive several bites sooner.

RULE #7: EAT SWEET FOODS AS YOU’D FIND THEM IN NATURE

In nature, sugars almost always come packaged with fibre, which slows their absorption and gives you a sense of satiety before you’ve ingested too many calories. That’s why you’re always better off eating the fruit rather than drinking the juice.

RULE #8: BREAK THE RULES ONCE IN A WHILE

Obsessing over food rules is bad for your happiness, and probably your health, too. Over the past few decades, dieting and worrying too much about nutrition has made us no healthier or slimmer; cultivating a relaxed attitude toward food is just as important.

There will be special occasions when you will want to throw healthy eating rules out the window. What matters more is the habits that govern your eating on a typical day. “All things in moderation” is often said, but we should never forget the wise addendum, sometimes attributed to Oscar Wilde: “Including moderation”.

RULE #9: PAY MORE, EAT LESS

If you spend more for better food, you’ll probably eat less of it, and treat it with more care. And if that higher-quality food tastes better, you will need less to feel satisfied. Choose quality over quantity. Or, as wise grandmothers used to say, “Better to pay the grocer than the doctor.”

RULE #10: AVOID FOOD PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN MORE THAN FIVE INGREDIENTS

The specific number you adopt is arbitrary but the more ingredients in a packaged food, the more highly processed it probably is.