Is This Food Healthy? Deprogramming Diet Rules

Whether or not a food is healthy or good for you is one of the most common questions I hear and one of the most hotly debated topics. It’s a question that, no matter which food it’s being asked about, has an answer that seems to change from year to year, decade to decade, opinion to opinion.

I understand why people ask it. Food being either good or bad for us is the diet and nutrition paradigm that we’ve all lived under for our whole lives, no matter our age. It’s the way doctors talk about food, it’s the way nutrition experts talk about food, it’s the way the diet industry talks about food. We’re conditioned to believe that this is fundamentally the most important question to ask with regard to nutrition. Which foods are healthy and which are unhealthy? Which foods are bad for us and which foods are good?

But it’s the wrong question, and it leaves us confused about what to eat, thinking everything is going to kill us or make us fat or give us heart disease.

We talk about food and health as though it’s universal & absolute, but that is not the case. What determines this mysterious quality of “healthy”? Is it the sugar content? The saturated fat content? Whether or not it contains oils? High carb or keto? Vegan or carnivore?

And what does health even look like? How can we know when a food improves it or makes it worse?

The truth is, there are so many factors about our diet that contribute to health including food source, level of processing, macronutrients, micronutrients, experience/environment while eating, gut microbiome, hormones within the body, and so much more.

One person could feel great on salads, while another person could be left with gut distress. One person might thrive on dairy while for another it gives them skin issues. One person might love red meat while another person can’t stand the taste or texture. Someone with type 2 diabetes might do well abstaining from sugar, while another person might be able to eat it without any severe consequences to their blood sugar.

When we take all of these factors into consideration, asking “is this food healthy?” simply doesn’t make much sense.

Instead, pay attention to how different foods or combinations of foods affects you, personally. (And this can change over time! 🤪).

How do you feel after eating physically?

How do you feel mentally?

Do you enjoy the food?

Does it affect your mood?

What about your skin or sleep?

Sometimes effects are immediate, sometimes they occur days later. Sometimes they’re dose-dependent.

When we can let go of food RULES and turn our attention to the practicality of how food affects us, we are better able to find a diet that works for both our health and our lifestyle.