I read an article today in the Daily Mail that poses the question; is healthy eating making you miserable?
I totally agree with asking the question; many people do obsess over healthy eating to the point that any health benefits fall off the other end with all the worry. The article in the Mail today however I feel focusses on the extreme, nutty end of eating well and confuses the reader about real healthy eating.
I have always believed at looking at novel and quick ways to include as much good nutrition as possible into each and every meal . Some of my suggestions aren’t for everyone but if nothing else they expand the culinary (and nutritional) possibilities. I have long accepted that I am a food explorer; my territory is figuring how to get as much goodness into my food without turning into a health nut! This may involve some ‘interesting’ food choices.
Lydia Slater puts forward the view that many healthy eaters choose food they don’t necessarily enjoy but are good for them. Ian Marber offers the balance; countering these opinions with common sense. Eating well is important but so is enjoyment.
Overall though I feel the message is confusing. Is a healthy eater someone who eats ‘novel’ (and usually expensive options) all the time? And are the people in the article, representative of normal ’healthy eater’s?
I dabble in raw, I am considering a short tour of veganism but for me it’s nothing more than fact finding and dipping my toes in different culinary waters. I would not however recommend any extremes in dietary choices as a way of life. For me healthy eating is about notching up as much fresh, unprocessed nutrition, in a doable way day after day. It’s my job to check out the options and offer something that is tangible. Looking into different diets allows me to (excuse the pun) ‘cherry pick’ the real nutrition nuggets and repackage them into real life.
Without, as Lydia calls them, a ‘nutrition Nazi’ in sight!
p.s. This is a photo of my blackcurrants from last year. I feel these represent real, simple, no nonsense healthy eating. And I’m proud of the picture!
I think that, as with most things in life, it’s a question of striking a happy medium. There are the two extremes: the people that eat ONLY for pleasure and don’t care about what they put into their mouths and the people that ONLY eat for health.
I actually believe that the enjoyment that can be gained from eating good, healthy but nonetheless delicious REAL food is so great that it shouldn’t be ignored.
Another point is that if you deny yourself the food that just makes you drool thinking about it time and time again, you’ll end up eating a bucketful at some point!
Eat well, eat reasonable (ie not enormous) portions, eat REAL food and above all if your idea of paradise is a piece of chocolate cake once in a while then have it. Just try to make it yourself with proper ingredients (ie butter and not margarine etc.)