Pollan says all his advice might be summed up in seven words: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
But in this 140-page pocket paperback (Penguin Press, $11), he expands a bit.
What should we eat? Food. Not ingredients a third grader cannot pronounce.
Where should we get it? From growers. Not from drive-ins.
How should we eat? At the dinner table in the company of friends and family. Not alone in front of the television, and not while driving.
And what if we can't manage all of that? Be flexible, not obsessive.
In an age of conflicting health advice, Rules is especially helpful for anyone who meant to read Pollan's other work but was too busy.
Indeed, Pollan's earlier scholarship made this book's simplicity possible. Much of the science behind these 64 Rules is laid out in In Defense of Food.
As an antidote to the so-called Western diet, which left us obese, diabetic, and at risk for cardiovascular disease and cancer, Pollan offers the wisdom of the grandmothers - from the Netherlands, China, and Italy.
Summarizing that perspective: A land with lots of herring can get along with few doctors; "The whiter the bread, the sooner you'll be dead"; and better to pay the grocer than the doctor.
And "If you're not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you're not hungry" is another way of saying that food is a costly antidepressant.
In that spirit, we offer five recipes.
Three are from EatingWell: 500 Calorie Dinners, which goes beyond calorie counts with data on salt, cholesterol, carbs, and more so that individuals who need to restrict one but not the other can judge which dishes suit best.
