As I mentioned in my previous email, author Michael Pollan cleverly summarizes how to eat for good health with seven words, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

I tackled the first part of this statement, "Eat food" in my previous blog. In this blog, I'm going to tackle the second part of the quote, "Not too much." In a future blog, I'll tackle the last two words - "Mostly plants."

When we consider how to eat for best health, what is meant by "Not too much"? To put it simply, if you are within a healthy body weight range for your height, then you are eating the right "amount" of food. Body weight is the single, easiest way to know if you are eating the the proper number of calories for good health. If you are underweight, you aren't eating enough. If you are overweight, you are eating too much.

If you want to learn more about how to determine what a healthy body weight looks like, you can use our Body Mass Index Calculator.

It seems like a simple equation, but clearly, it is not. If it were simple, nearly two-thirds (>60%) of American adults would not be overweight or obese. Yes, nearly two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight or obese. This is not news to most people. The rates of overweight and obesity have been increasing for years and it has been reported on extensively. But what has not been as well publicized is why this is such a concern for those who worry about cancer risk.

The reason why this is such an important issue in relation to cancer is because overweight and obesity are among the most important preventable causes of a large number of common cancers. According to the Second Expert Report prepared by the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research, body fatness, which is the result of being overweight or obese, appears to substantially increase the risk of esophageal, pancreatic, gallbladder, colorectal, endometrial, kidney, and postmenopausal breast cancers.

Even beyond these cancers for which the evidence is convincing, there are many other cancers for which overweight and obesity likely increase risk as well. And for those who are concerned about cancer recurrence, being overweight also is something that should be addressed. For several cancer types, including colorectal, breast, and possibly prostate cancer, being overweight or obese after diagnosis is believed to increase risk of getting cancer again. The bottom line is that being overweight or obese is a problem for anyone concerned about cancer.

So knowing what we know, why is it so difficult for most people to maintain a healthy body weight? There are several things that contribute to our collective difficulty with overweight and obesity. But one of the most important is our inability to stick to normal portion sizes. This is where "Not too much" comes into play.

Plain and simple, we eat too much. Portion sizes have increased dramatically over the past several decades, to the point that what used to be a normal portion now looks downright skimpy. In addition to this, the type of food we often eat contributes to the "Not too much" issue by providing far too many calories for a given volume of food. In other words, we eat foods that are calorie dense. To understand this issue, consider a food such as potato chips compared with foods like broccoli or carrots. For the same number of calories that are in a small handful of potato chips, you could eat several cups of broccoli and carrots. Potato chips are calorie dense. Broccoli and carrots are not.

Along with lack of physical activity (exercise), these two factors, oversized portions and high calorie dense foods are among the most important causes of overweight and obesity. 

One of the single best ways to help yourself reach and maintain a healthy body weight is to eat fewer calorie dense foods and instead replace them with foods that are not calorie dense. You probably can see where this is going and I will elaborate more when I write about "Mostly Plants" in my next blog.

So for now, I'm going to focus a bit on one of the things that I believe contributes to the problem of eating too many calorie dense foods: Processed food. What do I mean by processed food? For a great description, be sure to read my previous blog, Eat food.

One angle of the processed food conundrum is the amount of high calorie sweeteners, such as sugar and high fructose corn syrup that are added to nearly every food we eat these days. This food manufacturing process of sweetening foods beyond their natural level of sweetness adds calories and is part of why processed foods are so calorie dense. 

Even more damaging, I believe, is how this practice of sweetening everything has completely "reset" our taste buds and taste expectations. Many people believe this is the fault of the food processing industry, but regardless of who you blame, we are all susceptible to it.

I'll give you an example of how this works. Nearly every commercially prepared bread on the supermarket shelf contains high fructose corn syrup as the 2nd or 3rd ingredient. If you don't Next time you're in the store, try reading a few bread labels. Also be sure to check out the labels of cereal, pretzels, snack foods, and yogurt. Nearly all mainstream brands of all of these foods contain added sweeteners, most typically high fructose corn syrup.

My question is, "Why do we need corn syrup in bread?" Given the way in which the majority of our food supply is manipulated, it's not surprising that nobody wants to "eat your veggies."

But there is some good news. People can relearn how to enjoy real food that tastes like REAL food. We can learn to enjoy the earthy, slightly bitter tastes and pungent flavors of vegetables; the natural sweetness (not added) of foods such as fruit, carrots, and corn.

In doing this, in embracing real food, we automatically begin to address "Not too much". From a calorie density prospective, there's nothing like real food to make sure we eat, "Not too much".

We all need to learn how to enjoy real food more. This doesn't mean we can't have dessert. I'm not interested in being the food police and I think there are a time and place for sweets. But I expect dessert to taste sweet, NOT my bread. Or my vegetables. These foods should taste like grains and plants.

It takes time and practice, but your taste buds and preferences can change. I know, because I've been there. I've learned to love vegetables, but I didn't always. Now, I enjoy just about every vegetable I've ever tried.....other than Brussels sprouts. I've just never liked them. But here's the funny thing: Recently, I had dinner with friends and one person brought roasted Brussels sprouts to share. They were delicious. I have never liked that food. Never. But who knew that when prepared just right, I could them to my favorite foods list?

This is a perfect example of why it's important to be open to new food. Try something several time before giving up. And if you just don't like that one food, there's no need to worry. Nobody has to enjoy every food, but as long as you focus on a wide variety of real food, you'll be eating a cancer fighting diet and fortunately, eating "Not too much"!

And as a final note, I always feel like I need to remind people that eating healthfully is a gift. It is a gift to you, to your family, to your friends, and to anyone who loves and cares about you. Healthful eating is not about punishment. It's about enjoying the best level of health that you can attain for your particular circumstances!