Usually, when we talk about food we consider two main categories – healthy and unhealthy food. The well-established trend of “healthy vs unhealthy” food is still popular today even though a lot of what we know about nutrition has changed significantly.
We believe this etiquette to be inadequate and shabby. Our goal in this article is to point out why that is the case and to offer a new approach on how we should think about food, healthy eating and dieting in general.
To kick things off, let’s ask the question which got us here in the first place and that is: What is wrong with calling food healthy or unhealthy?
The problem with calling food “healthy”
The problem lies in the fact that food itself isn’t really “healthy” or “good”. If that were the case nobody with a strict, so called “healthy” diet would ever be sick. That, we know for a fact, is not the case. People with proper, well-balanced dieting can still catch a cold, get sick and so forth. Being healthy relies on things other than the food we eat, even though food is still one of the most important elements of overall well-being.
Furthermore, the opposite can be used as an argument as well. Namely, there are plenty of people who very rarely eat something “healthy” yet they never go to the doctor’s office or have health problems.
Secondly, it is a fact that every food we know of can be both healthy and unhealthy if consumed unwisely. Food isn’t the only factor responsible for our health. We are as well! If you eat too much of bananas, brown rice or anything else considered healthy, well, is that really healthy for you? Probably not.
Nutritional value
The above mentioned, however, doesn’t render all food impossible to describe or detached from our health whatsoever. Like we’ve briefly mentioned, it is paramount to stick to a solid eating regimen if you want your health to prosper. But, how should we address food now that we can’t call it healthy or unhealthy?
We believe that any specific food should be refered to as “less or more valuable”. One meal is comprised of food with less or more nutritional value. Simple as that. This way we achieve a number of things.
Firstly, we do not cut off any food from our diet by default, simply because we find it to be “unhealthy”. This habit of eliminating any kind of food completely from your diet rarely reaps benefits. It doesn’t really help with weight loss. Actually, it can promote weight gain even further. Contrary to popular belief, it won’t radically propel your muscle building goals and it leaves the majority of people with mental challenges since giving up anything completely can be hard to pull off.
Focusing our attention to the nutritonal value of each food makes dieting more natural, relaxed and fun. This way you can eat anything you want, but you need to be aware of what nutrients your favorite food choices have. Make a list of nutrient dense foods you wish to eat daily. These will help you in reaching micronutrient goals. Once you did that you can settle for any other food you enjoy, as long as it’s in your caloric range.
Things to remember
If our little nutritional alternation is to live up it needs a strategy.
One important rule to follow is sticking to the numbers! If you are a disciplined person this won’t come as a disaster. Otherwise, you might struggle implementing this dieting trick. Balancing out a diet can be a double-edged sword if you don’t track the calories (and micronutrients) you consume. Which brings us to our second advice.
Remember – calories in/calories out. Wanna grow? Consume more calories than your daily average recommends. If you want to lose weight go below the average number.
Use highly caloric food to your advantage and make your life more pleasant. If you haven’t consumed a large number of calories and it is late in the day why not settle for your favorite ice-cream or a slice of pizza? As long as you don’t go overboard it won’t hurt you or cause you any harm.
We hope that our little suggestion makes sense. There is no real reason for us not to consume some foods simply because they’ve been labeled as “unhealthy”. If something is edible then it means that it has something of value inside of it. Sometimes it is more and sometimes it is less. Try to eat more of those nutrient-rich foods on a daily basis and reward yourself with those less nutrient-rich every now and then. We believe this to be the way to a healthy diet.
Thank you all for reading.
