Overview of The Sunday Daily: To Save His Life, Our Food Critic Reset His Appetite
This episode of The New York Times’ The Sunday Daily features Michael Barbaro interviewing former Times restaurant critic Pete Wells about a health scare that forced him to completely change his relationship with food. Wells describes the medical wake-up call, the radical dietary and lifestyle shifts he made (including mindful eating practices like the “raisin exercise”), how he reduced alcohol and refined his grocery and cooking habits, and the health and mental benefits he’s experienced since — all without weight-loss drugs.
Key events and timeline
- New Year’s Day 2024: In a sauna, a doctor notices Wells’ enlarged gut and raises concerns about a hernia or possible cirrhosis.
- Follow-up medical tests: Labs show high cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar; Wells is told he is prediabetic.
- At the time he was still working as NYT restaurant critic and finishing a demanding project reviewing ~100 restaurants, which increased his eating.
- Scared for his life, he decided he couldn’t continue the job’s food demands and began changing his diet and lifestyle immediately.
- Outcome: He is no longer in the “crisis” zone, no longer prediabetic, and reports weight loss and improved mental clarity — achieved without GLP‑1 drugs or other weight-loss medications.
Main changes Wells made
- Cut out simple carbohydrates: eliminated or drastically reduced sugar, white flour, pasta, white rice, pastries, and similar foods.
- Shifted toward plants: focused on vegetables, legumes (lentils, beans), whole grains, and fruit (fresh in season; dried fruit like dates when useful).
- Reduced animal products: largely removed meat (including chicken skin) to lower cholesterol; still eats fish sometimes.
- Overhauled shopping and kitchen habits:
- Shops at a food co‑op for fresher produce and whole foods.
- Shops with a plan and list rather than impulsively.
- Keeps healthy foods (berries, nuts, dried fruit) in highly visible places to nudge consumption.
- Limits pantry choices to reduce temptation.
- Cut back alcohol dramatically: mostly stopped nightly drinking; now reserves cocktails or wine for social or restaurant occasions.
- Adopted mindful eating practices: slow, sensory-focused exercises (e.g., eating one raisin over 25 minutes) to reconnect with taste and fullness cues.
- Relearned pleasure: making simple plant-based meals interesting (e.g., lentils with smoked trout, dressed salads) and allowing occasional indulgences at restaurants.
Mindfulness & the raisin exercise
- The “raisin exercise” (derived from Zen/mindfulness practices) is used to slow down and focus on the full sensory experience of eating: sight, smell, touch, small bites, extended chewing, and attention to changing flavors.
- Wells and Barbaro spent about 25 minutes eating a single raisin to demonstrate how slowing down unlocks flavor and awareness and reduces “food noise” (constant cravings driven by simple carbs).
- Wells applies the same principle to other pleasures (including martinis): making indulgences occasional and fully attended to, rather than habitual background behavior.
Results and personal benefits
- Medical: moved out of the acute danger zone — not prediabetic anymore and reported reduction in cholesterol/triglycerides (as told by his doctors).
- Physical: weight loss (no longer classified as obese per his doctors’ feedback).
- Mental and emotional: clearer thinking, less grogginess, fewer cravings, better sleep and energy, and reduced “food noise.”
- Behavioral: gained long-term strategies and self-management skills to maintain changes rather than relying on medication.
Practical takeaways / Actionable steps from Wells’ experience
- Address serious lab abnormalities promptly; let medical urgency guide decisions.
- Reduce simple carbs (sugar, white flour, pasta) to blunt blood sugar spikes and cravings.
- Make vegetables and legumes the focal point of meals — dress them to make them satisfying and flavorful.
- Reorganize shopping and kitchen geography:
- Shop with a plan; avoid late-night, hungry runs to the supermarket.
- Buy from sources with fresher produce (e.g., co‑ops, farmers’ markets).
- Place healthy options at eye level and limit easy access to tempting processed foods.
- Reduce habitual drinking; reserve alcohol for social/occasional contexts and practice mindful consumption.
- Practice mindful eating (even small exercises like savoring a single raisin) to rebuild awareness of hunger, fullness, and sensory pleasure.
- Rediscover cooking as a grounding, sensory activity that reconnects body and mind.
Notable quotes and insights
- On his old role: “My philosophy about restaurant criticism was always that I should be a reporter on the frontiers of pleasure.”
- On food-driven cravings: “Food noise” — simple carbs amplify voices in your head that urge you to eat more.
- On mindfulness and presence: “When I’m cooking now… I feel like I’m doing something, which is somehow really satisfying. Here I am. Here I am. Right here, right now. Feet planted on the ground. Single raisin in front of me. What will I do with it?”
- On indulgence management: Allow occasional pastries, martinis, or steaks in mindful, social, or restaurant contexts rather than nightly habit.
Who will get the most from this episode
- People interested in how dietary change can reverse metabolic risk without medication.
- Food professionals or frequent diners who want strategies for balancing pleasure and health.
- Listeners curious about mindful eating and small, sustainable habit changes.
- Anyone seeking practical tips for shopping, meal planning, and resetting food-related behaviors.
Production note: the episode is an interview by Michael Barbaro with Pete Wells and includes standard episode credits (producers, editors, engineers, music).