Mini Book Review: Michael Pollan's "How to Change Your Mind"

Michael Pollan

I want to read this, but I don't want to spend much money. Since I don't read ebooks, a trip to the Loussac Library may be in order...

"The value of psychedelics is not the experience of them -- the grooviness of the moment -- but the sediment the experience leaves behind.

It’s possible these effects can be chalked up, in part, to the drug’s effect on the brain’s so-called 'default mode network,' especially the part associated with 'self-referential thought.' Pollan grants, if briefly, that turning off the network --truly 'getting over yourself' -- might also be achieved through 'certain breathing exercises,' or through 'sensory deprivation, fasting, prayer, overwhelming experiences of awe, extreme sports, near-death experiences, and so on.'

Pollan doesn’t give a lot of prime real estate to psychedelics’ naysayers. But given that those on LSD can appear to be losing their minds, and that the drug leaves one feeling emotionally undefended (a potential benefit as well as a profound risk), he does strongly recommend having an experienced guide in a proper setting when you trip. With those safeguards in place, he believes usage could be on the verge of more widespread acceptance, pointing out that plenty of other once widely-derided practices redolent of the 1960s, like yoga and natural birth, are now common."

Among other things, Pollan discusses the ways that psychedelics 'dissolve our sense of self,' and the potential mental health benefits they bestow as a result. “Psilocybin gives you such a powerful psychological experience that it kind of reboots your brain, your mind,” he says. “A lot of depression is a sort of 'self-punishment,' as even Freud understood. We get trapped in these 'loops of rumination' that are very destructive, and the stories that we tell ourselves: you know, 'that we’re unworthy of love, that we can’t get through the next hour with a cigarette,' whatever it is. And these deep, deep 'grooves of thought' are very hard to get out of. They disconnect us from other people, from nature, from an earlier idea of who we are. The 'mystical experience,' as it’s sometimes called, or the 'experience of the dissolution of the ego,' gets us 'out of those grooves' and gives us a break from 'the tyranny of the ego,' which can be a very 'harsh ruler.'”

Michael Pollan: How to Change Your Mind

Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan has a new book out:

A brilliant and brave investigation by Michael Pollan, author of five New York Times best sellers, into the medical and scientific revolution taking place around psychedelic drugs--and the spellbinding story of his own life-changing psychedelic experiences 

When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. 

But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. Thus began a singular adventure into various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists. 

Pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the 1960s, when a handful of psychedelic evangelists inadvertently catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research.

A unique and elegant blend of science, memoir, travel writing, history, and medicine, How to Change Your Mind is a triumph of participatory journalism. By turns dazzling and edifying, it is the gripping account of a journey to an exciting and unexpected new frontier in our understanding of the mind, the self, and our place in the world. The true subject of Pollan's "mental travelogue" is not just psychedelic drugs but also the eternal puzzle of human consciousness and how, in a world that offers us both suffering and joy, we can do our best to be fully present and find meaning in our lives.

Number of Pages: 465

Michael Pollan: Food Rules for Healthy Living

Michael Pollan 

Food writer Michael Pollan says everything he's learned about food and health can be summed up in seven words -- "Eat food -- not too much -- mostly plants."

Probably the first two words are most important. "Eat food" means to eat "real food" -- vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fish and meat -- and to avoid what Pollan calls "edible food-like substances."

Here's how:

Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. "When you pick up that box of portable yogurt tubes, or eat something with 15 ingredients you can't pronounce, ask yourself, "What are those things doing there?" Pollan says.

Don’t eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce.

Stay out of the middle of the supermarket -- shop on the perimeter of the store. Real food tends to be on the outer edge of the store near the loading docks, where it can be replaced with fresh foods when it goes bad.

Don't eat anything that won't eventually rot. "There are exceptions -- honey -- but as a rule, things like Twinkies that never go bad aren't food," Pollan says.

It is not just what you eat but how you eat. "Always leave the table a little hungry," Pollan says. "Many cultures have rules that you stop eating before you are full. In Japan, they say 'eat until you are four-fifths full.' Islamic culture has a similar rule, and in German culture they say, 'Tie off the sack before it's full.'"

Families traditionally ate together, around a table and not a TV, at regular meal times. It's a good tradition. Enjoy meals with the people you love. "Remember when eating between meals felt wrong?" Pollan asks.

Don't buy food where you buy your gasoline. Currently in the US, an estimated 20% of food is eaten in the car.

The Pleasures of "Slow Food"

Slow Food

"In a world increasingly dominated by fast food, The Pleasures of Slow Food celebrates heritage recipes, artisan traditions, and the rapid evolution of a movement to make good food a part of everyday life. 

"Slow Food" is defined by how it's made -- if it's allowed to ripen before it's harvested, prepared by hand and enjoyed among friends it's "Slow Food." It's a philosophy, a way to farm, a way to cook -- a way to live. It's also the name of a 65,000-strong international movement, numbering among its members some of the most distinguished names in the food world. 

The Pleasures of Slow Food showcases over 60 recipes from the world's most innovative chefs for dishes that feature local handmade ingredients and traditional cooking methods. Premier food writer Corby Kummer also profiles Slow Food's luminaries, such as Italian cheese-maker Roberto Rubino and Canadian Karl Kaiser, who makes sweet ice-wine. 

Pairing fantastic recipes with engaging stories, The Pleasures of Slow Food brings the best of the food world to the kitchen table."  -- The Atlantic Monthly

"The organization "Slow Food" -- meant to stand as the antithesis to "fast food" -- dedicates itself to artisanal and traditional foods. Italian journalist Carlo Petrini, president of "Slow Food," and Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation,  contribute a brief preface and foreword, respectively. 

Kummer s history of the organization ably chronicles its growth from a protest against installation of a McDonald's in Rome in 1985 to its current focus on the Ark -- "a directory of endangered foods around the world that members rescue by enjoying them." 

There is a section on 10 of the artisanal products included in the Ark, some coupled together for comparison (for example, there is a short essay on cheese made in the Basilicata region of Italy and another on cheese made in Vermont) -- these stories provide glimpses into the psyches of people like Jim Gerritsen, who has dedicated his life to growing heirloom potatoes in Maine. 

Kummer then offers simple, homespun recipes, and proposes that through each one, the homecook can learn "how to imprint that taste on your own dishes." 

Recipes are arranged from "Old World to New," so there are a few selections from Italy, such as Pesto alla Genovese from the Garibaldi family, who run a farmhouse restaurant in Liguria, and from Ireland - Baked Cheese with Winter Herbs from Tom and Giana Ferguson of County Cork. 

The vast majority of these 44 recipes, however, come from American restaurateurs such as Ana Sortun (Lamb Steak with Turkish Spices and Fava Bean Moussaka) from Oleana Restaurant in Cambridge, Mass., as well as from Alice Waters and Daniel Boulud -- and while the recipes from America don't always focus on local ingredients, they do embrace the spirit of "Slow Food." This is a noble and handsome effort." -- Publishers Weekly

Michael Pollan: "Cooked"

I just finished Michael Pollan's "Cooked." As usual -- a superb read. I only have two more Pollan books to read and I will have binged on his entire book output, to date. If you're not a reader, you may want to check out the Netflix series based on the book...

Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan

On the Reading Table: Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan

I'm working my way through the books of Michael Pollan, who in 2010 was named by Time magazine as "one of the 100 most influential people in the world." I finished "Second Nature," and since Jane is still reading my copy of "The Botany of Desire," it's now on to "Cooked."

"In "Cooked" Michael Pollan explores the previously uncharted territory of his own kitchen. Here, he discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements -- fire, water, air, and earth -- to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer."

Michael Pollan Books

I've been reading these fine Michael Pollan books on food and eating. If you haven't already read them, I highly recommend them.