Good reads for better eating: Michael Pollan

If you're looking to transform your diet from the ground up, whether it's because you're pregnant or because you just need to be healthier, one good place to start is with Michael Pollan's writing.

Pollan has written two books about our food system and the Western diet that will open your eyes to a new way of food shopping and eating.

In The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Pollan looks at what he calls our "national eating disorder," and takes us on a fascinating tour of our food system, showing us how disconnected a lot of it is from the real nutrients our bodies need.

A followup that offers more direct advice for those trying to make dietary changes is
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, where Pollan tells us to "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." The trick is in defining what "real food" is amid aisle upon aisle of artificial, over-processed crap in the grocery store.

For those who don't have the time to sit down and read a whole book about eating (Like, say, those with toddlers running around), Pollan recently came out with Food Rules: An Eater's Manual, an inexpensive pocket-sized collection of simple rules that will keep you on track. Some are as simple as asking, "Can I pronounce everything on the ingredients list?"

Pollan offered a very simple rule in this week's "10 Questions" feature in TIME that should be useful for anyone trying to kick a junk food habit. Pollan admits he has a weakness for French fries, but to keep himself honest, "I actually came up with a rule: Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself. One reason we struggle with obesity today is that special-occasion foods like French fries, cakes and cookies have become so easy to obtain."

Good rules for good eating.