Lately everybody’s been raving about simplifying our approach to eating. It’s the premise of Michael Pollan’s nutrition bible, Food Rules; it’s the motto of celebrity fitness guru Harley Pasternak, creator of the Five-Factor Diet.
But if eating simply were so simple, wouldn’t we be doing it already?
Why It’s Hard to Choose Less
Americans aren’t minimalists. We strive for abundance and revel in our power as consumers to choose. Oh, and we don’t like to make too many trips. To satisfy our love of options, our choices grow and conglomerate into bigger and bigger supermarkets.
Not really conducive to paring down.
Lengthening lists of ambiguous ingredients aren’t helping, either.
We mistakenly believe that “maximalism” is more efficient and will improve our quality of life. Does it?
Research says no.
It Pays to Declutter
Sheena Iyengar, author of The Art of Choosing, has found that although we like options, too many often leads to paralysis or bad choices. Says Sheena, “The buffet is appealing—even if the food is worse and you put stuff on your plate you don’t want.”
Sheena conducted an experiment in a grocery store. She set up a booth offering samples of jam, first presenting twenty-four flavors, and later just six flavors. While more people were drawn in by the larger array of jams, only 3 percent of samplers chose a jam.
Of those who stopped to sample from the 6-flavor selection, 30 percent bought jam.
Her conclusion: there are costs to having too many options. Too many food choices stress us out and we often pick the wrong thing or give up.
Closing your eyes and pointing is not the best way to make food decisions at the supermarket. Or in a restaurant. Or standing in front of the fridge.
Less (Than Ten) is More
Sheena reports that 5–9 choices is the magic range. When we choose from within this scope, we “feel most confident and are more likely to make a choice and be happier about it.”
Applying her discovery to eating, if we can retrain ourselves to narrow the scope of our food options we’ll be happier. And, if we eat food with fewer (junky) ingredients, we’ll be healthier.
With fewer choices and simpler practices, we are free to spend more time tasting our food, learning the facts and listening to our bodies. Think of how easy it will be to put together the perfect nutrition plan!
Food Bliss
If you get overwhelmed trying to decode your nutrition picture (what should I cut out? how many ingredients is too many?!), take a pause and just enjoy your meal. That’s part of eating simply.
Deepak Chopra’s philosophy of simplicity can be applied to food, too:
“I discover the beauty of simplicity when I give up the need to explain the mystery and simply enjoy it!”
Food, naturally grown and cared for, really is awe-inspiring (and mouth-watering).
Another reason the farmer’s market — not the supermarket — is the place to be on Saturday morning. Pick up a basketful of berries and start your simple eating with natural fresh fruit popsicles!
