8 Things Nutrition Experts Wish You Would Stop Saying about Food

Even if you don’t keep up with health news, you hear it in the mainstream media often enough. One day, margarine is the way to go, the next day; it’s going to kill you. One day coffee is great for your workout, the next day; it’s full of dangerous health risks. How are you supposed to know what is healthy and what isn’t? It can be really difficult to sort through the real health issues and all the hype that’s out there.

Then, to put the icing on the cake, throw in some marketing ploys. Words like “organic”, “all natural”, or “light” are thrown into the mix, giving us the impression that these foods are healthy and nutritious, when, in fact, there is very little to actually define what these words really mean.

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To help clear up some of the confusion, nutrition experts were asked about some of these words. Here is our list of the top 8 terms that are commonly misused.

1. Good Foods and Bad Foods

There really aren’t good foods and bad foods, these words sound like a judgment from the “food god”. Yes, ice cream is loaded with fat and sugar, French fries are loaded with sodium, calories, and fat, but to say that these are bad isn’t actually right. These are comfort foods and, in small quantities every now and then, they won’t kill you. In fact, isn’t eating one of the greatest pleasures in life? If you had a dish of ice cream on your birthday every year, what a wonderful delight that would be. Drop those judgmental labels, and eat with pleasure!

2. Detox

This word is thrown around so much; it’s enough to make you want to have it removed from the dictionary. Whoever thought up the idea that certain foods or nutrients will somehow speed up or improve on your body’s natural detoxification process was surely just trying to sell something. The best way to “detox” is to stop putting toxins in your body to begin with. Read more about 11 dangerous toxins.

3. Clean Foods

Suddenly, everything is all about “clean” foods but there is no real definition of what “clean” is. Although many professional athletes will refer to “clean” eating as consuming only natural, wholesome, real foods and little or no processed foods but others say it means eating only organic fruits and veggies. Still others will say that it means eating only organic, free range beef and chicken. Why not just call it “healthy” eating? Why the “clean” word? It sounds as if someone is going around with Pine-Sol and washing everything. Think about it for a minute. If you aren’t eating something “clean” then are you eating things that are “dirty”? Pay close attention, as some products that are now in your supermarket are advertising that their products are made with “clean” ingredients, so this term means nothing now. Don’t buy anything that advertises that it’s “clean”, it’s a scam. If you really want to eat “clean”, then let’s stop with the labels, and just eat the fewest processed foods humanly possible. That’s a healthy diet plan we can all live with in the long run.

4. Low carb

A lot of people will tell you that they are low-carb eaters but when you ask them what that means, they only say that they don’t eat a lot of carbs. Doesn’t make much sense. Carbs are in multiple food groups so does this mean you barely eat? Yes, there are a lot of carbs in bread, rice, and other type of bread products like pasta, but there is also carbs in fruit, unsweetened yogurt, vegetables, and cheese. Saying you are on a low-carb diet is fine, but you should at least know what you are talking about.

5. Fruit is loaded with sugar

Yes, fruit does have natural sugar, but along with that comes great nutrition and vitamins. Grapes are a perfect example. One cup of grapes has about 100 calories, and is full of antioxidants, vitamin C, and vitamin K. It’s natural to enjoy foods that are sweet. There is a huge difference, however, in eating one cup of grapes and one cup of grape flavored Jolly Ranchers. Get your sugar from fruit, not candy. Two pieces of fruit per day will fit into everyone diet. Find out 25 healthiest foods.

6. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day

Baloney. Every meal is important for different reasons. Each meal plays an important part in keeping you energized throughout the day and working at your optimum.

7. Gluten Free

There are way too many people lately touting the wonders of going “gluten free” who don’t even know what gluten is! Also, you should now that there is very little evidence that those who do not have celiac disease (which is most of us as this is a rare disease) will gain any benefit whatsoever from eating a gluten free diet. This is just another ride on the “diet of the week” train.

8. Made with simple (or natural) ingredients

This has become really popular with big brands that will try to sell you by telling you that their product is made with “ingredients you can see and pronounce.” Or “all natural”, or “100 percent natural.” What’s wrong with that? Listen, arsenic is 100 percent natural, but that really isn’t something you want in your cereal, is it? The same with the word “simple”. Truly simple foods are things like eggs, nuts, apples, and broccoli. Foods don’t get much simpler than that and those foods are loaded with nutrition and health benefits for the body. Everyone would benefit from a simple diet like that!

But these new “simple” foods are things like cookies, candy, ice cream, even potato chips. Yes, for the most part, they do have just a few “simple” ingredients, but you could hardly say that potato chips are healthy. None of the simple foods listed above give your body any nutrition at all. None. There are too many of these “simple” ingredient foods in our diets already, so making them sound as if they are somehow healthy is just marketing baloney. Don’t fall for it.

Source:

Huffingtonpost.com

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