Blogpost 4: Why Michael Pollan Can't Convince His Readers To "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants."

Nutritionism is the act of considering food to be nothing more than the sum of its nutrients.This new way of thinking about food has given rise to a whole new diet. These days it isn't unusual to walk into a supermarket and find numerous cartons of vitamins, antioxidants and other supplements. What makes nutritionalism so appealing is that it promotes the idea that the perfect diet can be achieved simply by taking the right nutrients .Nutritionism is a word mentioned often in Michael Pollan's book,"In Defense of Food." In his book Mr. Pollan strongly critizes nutritional science and points out its various flaws. He even links the growing trend of nutritionism to the numerous health problems we face today. He claims that nutritionalism is just a way for the food industry to market its products. Mr. Pollens book advises its readers that food should be considered as a whole and not just as a collection of nutrients.

However, Mr. Pollans arguments have several flaws and some of the evidence he provides seems contradictory. For example, on page 85 of his book Mr. Pollen writes about an experiment conducted in 1982. In this experiment ten Aborigines who had been living the Australian town of Derby (where their diet consisted of processed and manufactured food) to the Australian bush where they would have to rely on food that they had hunted or gathered themselves. The objective of the experiment was to see if a change in these people's lifestyle and particularly their diet would have an impact on their health. At the end for the experiment it was found that there were "striking improvements in virtually every measure of health." All the participants had lost weight and had lowered their blood pressure to normal range. Mr. Pollen uses this experiment to advance his claim that processed food that was made to contain the proper nutrients is responsible for our health problems. But in making this argument, he ignores all the other lifestyle changes that could have contributed to the results of the experiment (like increased exercise and environmental changes). Similarly in the chapter "Eat Right, Get Fatter" Mr. Pollen claims that the rising levels of obesity among people are due to the processed food that they consume ( while ignoring all the other factors that contribute to rising obesity levels). These flaws are evident in many of Michael Pollens other arguments. He leaves out any evidence that might contradict the central claim of his book.

There are several places in the book where Michael Pollen accuses the food industry of distorting scientific evidence to further its own causes. Unfortunately he is sometimes guilty of this himself. Instead of approaching his book in an unbiased and open-minded manner, Mr. Pollen makes it clear from the start which side he is on and does everything in his power to convince his readers that is views are the right ones. As a result "In Defense of Food" doesn't feel like an honest read and one can't help but doubt some of its claims.

References: "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan