Smart Food Groups

Americans are constantly bombarded with information about what’s good to eat and what’s bad. Nutritionists have got us bleary brained about those things we should eat to be healthy and those things to avoid, lest they lead us into disease. We’re inundated about the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, lycopene, and gingko, as we’re warned against trans fats, oxidants, carbohydrates, etc.

But nutritional fads come and go. As soon as we get straight what foods we should be ingesting (or not), the latest studies turn it all upside down and we’re told we’re still bad in our eating habits; once again we need to reorder our food priorities.

It’s a dilemma for many of us—especially for those of us who are getting long in tooth. The older we get, the more we know that various nasty diseases lurk around the next bend. Cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart problems, and many other maladies await the slacker.

So how does one eat and drink sensibly, in the face of all this complexity, conflicting evidence, and shifting sands? Michael Pollan has written extensively on the struggle to eat wholesomely. It’s particularly challenging for Americans, for whom processed food, pesticide-laced farms, and tainted meat are ubiquitous. In his latest book, In Defense of Food, Pollan’s advice boils down to: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

That counsel is pretty much what we’ve tried to follow for more than two decades, here on the hermitage. Whole foods—particularly those grown yourself—are best. But we can’t grow all our food—even those of us who live in the country. One must import a few things like olive oil, coffee, tea, sugar, and other “necessities” of life. So the dilemma is one we continue to face: How to eat wisely and age gracefully?

Great news on this front arrived recently. From a study by none other than Oxford University, comes information that gladdens my heart: The ingestion of three foods—chocolate, wine, and tea—enhances one’s cognitive behavior. The Oxford researchers examined a large group of old folks and found out that those whose diets included regular doses of wine, chocolate, and tea (well, it was England) displayed improved brain function.

That’s all I need to know. I’ve enjoyed all three of them for most of my life. What wonderful news! Habits that I’ve sometimes thought may even be a vice, are suddenly transformed into virtues by an impeccable source: Oxford University. Case closed.