Healthy foods: are they or are they not?

Any food or drink you mention, over the years you may find stories saying it’s good for you or will kill you faster than a bullet. Look at butter, trans fats, eggs, wine, coffee, chocolate, red meat, fish, fruits, vegetables… it’s all the same story. It just seems that there is no food that is healthy. So what do we do and how do we live knowing that everything we consume can kill us? The answer is amazingly simple.

Butter, Eggs, Meats, Cholesterol & Trans Fats: When I was growing up, there was a lot of effort to reduce or eliminate cholesterol in the diet. Butter (along with milk, cream, cheese, meats, etc.) ranks at the top of the list of the 10 most despised foods. It became common knowledge that margarine was much better than butter. People everywhere, including medical professionals, were proclaiming the health benefits of swapping butter for margarine. Now that more research and studies have been done, it turns out that the trans fats in most margarines will kill you, if you believe the media. Our politicians seem to think so, because trans fats are becoming illegal. Will someone tell me what’s worse for me, so I can decide what to put on my fat-free, salt-free, low-carb toast? All the other things taste like plastic, and besides, I know that once I switch to one of these other things, there will be a study to prove that it is the worst of all.

Adding insult to injury, new studies are revealing things we never knew about cholesterols and animal products. It is true, for example, that cholesterol problems are not only due to bad eating habits… genes have a lot to do with it. Some people can eat much more cholesterol without harm. Some of us produce unhealthy amounts of cholesterol despite a strict diet. Thanks Dad! There are medicines for that! Now, some cholesterols are good. Some other fats are good. We are also finding that strict avoidance of animal products leads to protein deficiencies. Large amounts of soy products can help with that, but then there’s the sodium issue. Sure, we can load up on shellfish, but we could die from heavy metal poisoning and too much sodium. So, at least until the next set of studies is published, animal products are back on the menu.

Drinks, wine, coffee, etc.: In my life, wine has been good and bad for you several times. This topic is so old that even the Bible says that wine is bad, good and even medicinal. In the 2,000 years since the Bible was written, science seems to have proven all three statements about wine and other alcohol to be correct. First, they say they are “empty calories,” cause weight gain, destroy the liver, and lead to addiction. Then, they say it’s good for relaxation and stress reduction. Finally, it is full of antioxidants, so it helps fight cancer and delay aging. Coffee, they said, causes high blood pressure, but now they’re finding all sorts of benefits in coffee. Tobacco, one of our wickedest inventions, is even being discovered to help prevent Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Sure, cola, with or without sugar, will kill you now, but who’s to say they won’t find out that it cures heart disease in years to come. In fact, they already found that caffeine helps with migraines and asthma. Green tea is the holy grail of faithful health drink, but in five years, I have no doubt they’ll find some disease to blame.

Chocolate: My favorite food deserves a segment of its own. I still don’t know why it’s not in the new food pyramid. Everyone knows the evils of chocolate. The fats in it will clog the arteries, leading to heart attack and stroke. The sugars in it will make you obese, leading to diabetes, blindness, kidney failure, cancer, hot flashes, stroke, and worst of all…weight discrimination. There is no end to the ills of chocolate.

But wait! Chocolate has been found to be good for you… especially unsweetened dark chocolate. In addition to stimulants to help you stay alert and control your appetite, chocolate produces a feeling of relaxation, useful for managing stress and mild to moderate anxiety and depression. Long known as the candy of love, recent studies show that chocolate actually causes the body to release the same chemicals that are released during sexual activity. Now you can have that pleasure and excitement without all the small talk or expensive dinner. Thats not all! Chocolate is also rich in antioxidants, so it helps fight cancer and aging.

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables: Long known as the healthiest of foods, these garden produce isn’t out of the woods either. Many healthy staples, like carrots, contain dangerously high levels of carbohydrates. All fruits are guilty of this. Avocados are very high in fat. Celery and soy products are high in sodium. Most of the fruits and vegetables were grown with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Some are genetically altered. The jury is still out on whether these methods are harmful…many reports suggest they are. Even those grown “organically” aren’t completely safe, as we recently found out with regard to spinach.

How to have healthy food: Well, this can be pretty depressing. So what do we do? If we stop eating or drinking everything that has been reported to be bad for us, it only takes anywhere from 3 days to a few weeks to die…of starvation and dehydration. That’s because everything, according to some report, is bad for us. According to Patricia Zifferblatt of the Better Life Institute, “A little won’t make your eyes fall out.”

Really, let’s drop our food cravings and eat a regular, balanced diet from all the food groups. Unless you suffer from alcoholism, have a drink once in a while. Have some chocolate… I eat a serving of sugar free dark chocolate almost every day and am losing weight while my blood glucose and blood fats stay within the normal range. Enjoy a good ribeye or a plate of spare ribs every once in a while. You can eat healthy and still have these things. Food is more than fuel for the body… it’s also fuel for the soul. If you plan to stay alive, then live!