If you think food that tastes good can’t possibly be good for you, or if you feel guilty about enjoying a meal, it might be time to hit the reset button on your attitudes toward eating and nutrition. While it’s smart to pay attention to what’s in your food, today’s culture of information clutter can make it difficult to sort out facts from fads. Once you start worrying about what you need to avoid at every meal, food can morph from enjoyment to enemy.
“We are beginning to have an adversarial relationship with food,” says Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, director of Tufts’ HNRCA Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory and executive editor of the Health & Nutrition Letter. “We need to eat to live, to consume certain foods to meet our nutrient requirements. There are many ways of doing that, and you should be able to eat foods that you really enjoy while optimizing health outcomes and maintaining a healthy body weight.”
Lichtenstein served as vice chair of the scientific advisory committee for the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans. She notes that those recommendations emphasize consuming a healthy eating pattern within the context of personal preferences and ethnic tastes.
“We’ve lost sight of the concept of enjoying food, that it’s OK to enjoy food and you shouldn’t feel guilty about it,” she says. “People think if food tastes good, it must be bad for you. Or they say things like, ‘You’re not going to eat that, are you?'”
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WORRY LIST: Part of the problem stems from the ever-growing categories of foods people are told to worry about. There are legitimate reasons to seek out sustainable foods and choose organic products (although there is little if any difference in nutrient content). You might prefer not to buy foods containing genetically modified (GMO) ingredients or to go gluten-free (even though only people diagnosed with celiac disease actually need to avoid gluten). It’s probably smart to limit your intake of artificial colors, preservatives and other additives, although no additives currently in the food supply have been definitively shown to present a hazard. (Neither is there any evidence that consuming them has any benefit.)
Add up all these concerns, however, along with advice to avoid unhealthy fats, added sugars (particularly from sugar-sweetened beverages) and excess sodium, and soon mealtime becomes a gauntlet to be run, rather than an experience to be enjoyed.
Relax. Occasionally eating that brownie at a party or indulging in a strip of bacon while on vacation is not going to undermine all your efforts to improve your eating pattern or moderate your calorie intake. In fact, such occasional indulgences may actually help you stay on track for the vast majority of the time, and that is the real goal.
SEEK HEALTHY FOOD: A new study of food choices and health outcomes in 39 countries, involving more than 15,000 people, spotlights the benefits of healthy choices and helps put worries about nutrition negatives into perspective. Participants, average age 67, were enrolled in a trial testing treatment with an anti-cholesterol medication. For every 100 people following a Mediterranean-style diet instead of a typical Western dietary pattern, there were three fewer heart attacks, strokes or deaths.
The study used questionnaires to count how often participants consumed foods such as fruits, legumes and other vegetables, fish and unrefined grains, associated with the Mediterranean pattern. The Western diet was characterized by more frequent consumption of sugary desserts, meat and fried foods. Ralph Stewart, MD, of Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand, and colleagues published their findings in the European Heart Journal.
Modest amounts of refined carbohydrates, fried foods and desserts were not associated with harm, leading Dr. Stewart to comment: “Traditionally, dietary advice has focused on avoiding unhealthy foods, but in terms of reducing risk, it’s probably increasing more healthy foods rather than avoiding unhealthy foods.” He acknowledged, however, that unhealthy foods contribute to obesity.
Those comments led to some sensational headlines: “Junk Food Basically Fine If You Eat a Mediterranean Diet Otherwise,” “Junk Food Not as Harmful When Eaten With a Mediterranean Diet.”
Before you rush out and stock up on your favorite chips and candy bars, however, keep in mind that this study had some important limitations. As an observational study, it was not designed to prove cause and effect. The simplified food questionnaire was “not easily applied across diverse populations,” researchers cautioned. And servings were not measured – only frequency.
PICK YOUR PATTERN: Nonetheless, the takeaway that focusing on healthy foods pays health dividends is worth noting. The so-called Mediterranean diet has gained currency in recent years not only because of research linking it to positive outcomes but also because it’s easier to follow. It includes many foods people actually enjoy: a nice piece of fish, a handful of nuts, vegetables sauted in olive oil, even alcohol in moderation.
If your taste preferences tend otherwise, other dietary patterns can also satisfy your palate while meeting your nutritional needs. Authentic Mexican fare, for example – not the cheese-laden, fast-food, Tex-Mex version – emphasizes beans, avocados, tomatoes, seafood and other mostly healthy choices while adding a spicy kick that might make otherwise bland foods more appealing. Similarly, real Chinese food – as opposed to Chinese-American restaurant fare – leans heavily on vegetables and seafood, with minimal portions of meat. Substitute brown rice for the refined white rice with your vegetable-laden stir fry and you have a healthy meal that’s also tasty.
“The emphasis on dietary patterns reflects a shift from more prescriptive nutrition recommendations to more general,” Tufts’ Lichtenstein says. “It provides flexibility to customize our everyday dietary patterns to foods that are both healthy and enjoyable. What works for one person does not necessarily work for someone else. The worst thing to happen is arguing over whether blueberries are better for you than raspberries, or olive oil is better than corn oil.”
When making healthy choices, she adds, “You shouldn’t expect that each food will provide all the nutrients you need. You can’t get your protein from fruits or your vitamin C from fish; it’s a combination that is important.”
CUSTOM CUISINE: Within the overall context of a healthy dietary pattern, it’s important to choose foods you enjoy. Even indulgences are OK as long as you don’t overdo them; think of them as “spending” from a limited “budget” of small splurges. You can enjoy a glass of wine, if that’s what you like, or a couple of pieces of chocolate, or a bit of cheese – just not all three and not every day.
Customize your healthy choices, too. If you have a sweet tooth, satisfy it with a piece of fruit. If you like things spicy, add salsa to your seafood and chiles to your vegetable dishes.
“Eating a diet that delivers the nutrients you need and promotes a healthy weight shouldn’t be a chore,” says Lichtenstein. “Once you make small substitutions of healthy for unhealthy foods, you ought not feel guilty if you enjoy what you eat. It may take a few tries but there is something out there for everyone that they really like.”
PATTERNS FOR HEALTHY EATING:
The updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans includes examples of healthy eating patterns such as:
– Healthy US-Style Eating Pattern
– Healthy Mediterranean-Style Eating Pattern
You can also learn more about the Mediterranean diet at
– Healthy Vegetarian Eating Pattern
– DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) Eating Plan.
To learn more: European Heart Journal, online April 24, 2016