“It feels like nothing’s really safe to eat anymore.
I want to preserve both my health and the environment, but how am I supposed to do that since the experts can’t agree among themselves?
I’ve heard about the dangers of lectins and oxalates. What am I supposed to eat to avoid poisoning myself?”
This is what one of my clients posted in our Joyful Cooking for Natural Vitality community recently.
“I used to eat whatever I wanted without a care in the world,” she wrote, “and now I just feel scared.”
So if you’ve felt scared yourself there is good news!
Because all that panic, all that confusion about what to eat, comes from one fundamental belief: the idea that there are “good” foods and “bad” foods.
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Video Version
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Why There Are No Bad Foods
1. Food Has Value Beyond Nutrition
When we only look at food from a nutrition perspective, we really limit ourselves and miss out on a lot of the richness that food can bring into our lives.
Yes, some foods are more nutritionally valuable than others. But other foods have cultural value, nostalgia, celebration.
And those reasons for eating are just as valid as the nutrition reasons.
2. The Forbidden Fruit Effect
Here’s another problem with seeing food as good or bad: it has this reverse psychology effect.
When we tell ourselves something’s forbidden, when it’s “bad” and we shouldn’t be having it, we actually build the desire to eat that thing on some level.
That “bad food” label can make us overeat more than if we just gave ourselves permission to have it in the first place.
3. Quantity is Key
How much we’re eating determines whether something has a negative impact on our health or not.
Just do the thought experiment.
Think about if you just have one cookie once a week. Not gonna be a problem for your health.
But having a whole bag of cookies every day?
Different story.
Another example is the movie Supersize Me. Where a guy ate at McDonalds every meal for a month and every time they asked he took the supersized option. By the end of the month he had gained weight and felt terrible.
Then there was another documentary where 2 students ate every meal in fast food restaurants for a month. But the difference was both ate appropriate portion sizes.
And the result was neither of them gained weight even though they had had fast food for a month.
So it’s how much we are eating that has the biggest impact on whether something is negative for our health or not.
Which means you don’t have to know all about nutrition. Just getting the quantity right is the first step.
My Two Exceptions
Exception one: If something’s going to kill you. If you have an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts, peanuts are probably bad for you.
Exception two: Anything that you don’t enjoy eating. For me that’s tripe. I really love most foods, but tripe? I’m happy to see it as a bad food.
So if there’s anything that you really don’t like, whether it’s traditionally considered healthy or not, give yourself permission to see it as a bad food.
What to Do Instead of Bad Foods
If we’re not going to approach food from this good food, bad food perspective, how do we approach nutrition?
It comes down to trusting your instincts and listening to your body.
Paying attention.
Doing little experiments on yourself and noticing how food makes you feel.
Noticing how different quantities of food make you feel, not just in the moment, but a couple of hours later or the next day.
By observing gently and doing little experiments with yourself, you can figure it out.
You will know.
Think of foods on a spectrum.
I’ve got anytime foods – things I can eat every day and feel amazing.
Sometimes foods – things that are fine occasionally but I don’t want every day.
And I do have some never foods too, which is basically just tripe.
Environmental Concerns
With the obesity epidemic where so many people are eating way more than their body needs. All those resources could be going to feed the rest of the world.
So just being a good citizen and listening to my body and not overeating more than my body needs – that’s the best thing I can do for the environment.
You can be as plant-based as you like, but if you’re still eating twice as much food as your body needs, that’s not going to help the planet feed itself.
Key Takeaways
Food moralizing, seeing food as good or bad, isn’t helpful.
What we want to do instead is do experiments on yourself knowing it doesn’t matter what the experts say. What matters is how you feel in your body.
And you are the world expert on what is best for you.
HOW MUCH we’re eating has way more of an impact on our health and our weight than worrying about WHAT we’re eating.
Your Home Play
Think of a food you’re not sure about – whether it’s helpful for you to be eating or not.
Then do an experiment where you don’t have it for a few days and then add it back in, and just see how your body feels.
Really pay attention in the moment, a couple of hours later, and afterwards from this place of “I’m the world expert on my body and I can do experiments to figure out what’s best for me.”
Have a beautiful week experimenting on yourself.
In your corner
Jules xx
(Your favourite Australian Food Scientist)
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See All Joyful Eating for Natural Vitality Podcast Episodes
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