For decades countless people have given their input on what foods are good and what foods are bad. And many foods have gone back and forth on the good and naughty list throughout the years. Think milk, eggs and meat to name a few. This has led to diet after diet being promoted, but who’s actually right? What foods are truly good and health-promoting vs which ones are harmful to your health? Today’s blog will dive into this topic to see how different foods impact our bodies and minds.
What makes bad food, bad?
To answer this question, we need to look at morality. Can food have morality? You might think that’s a silly question but think about how we use the words good and bad. We might say a kid was bad because they didn’t do their homework or that they were good because they cleaned their room. But does the same type of thinking apply to food? An apple can’t do homework, or clean a room, or anything at all. Is the apple bad because it also didn’t do its homework? I think we’d all answer a witty “no” to that question.
So, if an apple can’t do anything to make it bad, what makes it bad? When it comes to food, we need to think of “bad” being “unsafe”. If the food has spoiled, molded, or sat out too long then it would pose a risk to eat it. This is when food is considered bad. No food is inherently good or bad. Even foods that have less nutritional value shouldn’t be labeled as such.
Does the nutritional composition of food make it good or bad?
The labels of good and bad are often used in dieting to refer to a food’s nutritional composition. Fad diets will praise you for eating what they deem good and punish you or make you feel guilty for eating what they deem as bad. The key words in the last sentence are “what they deem”.
Let’s use the example of 2 diets: diet 1 promotes a low fat intake, diet 2 promotes a high fat intake. However, both of these diets promise quick weight loss and improvements in lab values such as A1C and cholesterol. The creators of these diets made the decision on what to promote; they are promoting opposite paths for the same result. Can both be true? Can either one work for everyone? Sounds a little nutty to me.
The rules and “knowledge” passed through these diets are what we call “food talk”. You likely experience food talk weekly if not daily. You eat at work with coworkers who are all trying the newest fad diet, and they want to give you advice: “you should avoid carbs”, “you should never eat past 6 pm”, and so on. Next, you’re at a family dinner and your aunt wants to give you her opinion too: “you should really watch your fat intake”. Your mom hears this and replies “oh no, you should really just avoid sweets”. All of this conflicting information makes you feel out of control and like you aren’t doing anything right. The food talk can occur anywhere: home, work, the gym, even at your doctors’ appointment. It can be very overwhelming!
How do I know what are good foods to eat?
You’re probably thinking “how the heck did I open a blog on good and bad food and end up here?!”. The answer lies in your reasoning on opening the post to begin with. Food talk and rules have likely been around your entire life. They’ve probably shaped the way you think about food and caused you to stress along the way. If you feel the need to categorize food as good and bad, then I encourage you to explore your relationship with food.
Many people who have had lifelong struggles with diets are turning to a process called intuitive eating. This isn’t the next fad diet, it’s a way of putting your diet history behind you, while eating food that makes your mind and body happy and healthy. The founders, two dietitians, call it an anti-diet approach at making peace with food, freeing yourself from the dieting cycle, and rediscovering the pleasures of eating.
Now, you don’t have to start intuitive eating to make peace with food and take away the “good vs bad” thought process, but the two do go hand in hand. In my opinion, intuitive eating lays out a nice pathway to follow along during the journey. Let’s take a quick look at the principles of intuitive eating.
- Reject the diet mentality
- Honor your hunger
- Make peace with food
- Challenge the food police
- Discover the satisfaction factor
- Feel your fullness
- Cope with your emotions with kindness
- Respect your body
- Movement – feel the difference
- Honor your health with gentle nutrition
Learn more about these principles in one of our previous blog posts about food freedom.
These principles are used as a path to learning about your own body’s hunger and fullness cues, needs, and reactions. Through the journey you will also discover even more ways that chronic dieting has affected your life, oftentimes things we thought were just part of life!
Here are some signs that your relationship with food may need some work:
- You label foods good and bad.
- You follow strict food rules (calories, fat, protein, carbohydrates, meal timing, etc.)
- You feel guilty after eating
- You use exercise as a means to “make up” for what you’ve eaten
- You are unhappy with the body you are in or you see yourself as a different size than reality
- You use food to cope with emotions
- You weigh yourself often (daily, weekly) and become obsessive over this number
- You don’t allow yourself to eat when you’re hungry
- You don’t know how to tell you’re full/satiated
- You are constantly starting a new diet, falling off the wagon, then starting again
If one or more of these resonates with you, reach out to our team, and get started on your path to food freedom sooner rather than later!
Conclusion
I hope after reading this you realize that there are truly no good or bad foods, and the impact that chronic dieting has had on your thought process regarding what, when, and how much to eat. Yes, some foods have less nutrients than others, but that doesn’t mean they deserve to be labeled as bad. Healthy eating looks different for everyone, work with our team of dietitians to see how you can improve upon what you’re already doing! And remember, although food can spoil or mold, it does not have morality!
