There are so many conflicting messages around what it means to eat healthy. The term “healthy” has been so hijacked by diet culture that many of us nutrition professionals are finding ourselves putting air quotes around the word.
When getting to know my clients, I often ask them “How do you define healthy eating?”
Here are some responses I typically get:
Raw fruits and vegetables
Low carb, high protein
Leafy greens
Juicing
Portion control
Salads
Bland/boring
Then I might ask something like: “What does unhealthy eating look like?”
I’ve heard:
Sugar and desserts
Anything indulgent
High fat foods
Breads and pastas
Fast food
Foods that bring comfort
Salty foods
The idea of “healthy eating” for many people has been constructed and influenced by the ebbs and flows of diet culture. As you can gather, many people define healthy eating with a sense of rigidity, restriction, lack of pleasure and based predominantly on type of food. This raises an important question: Is eating on these terms even healthy at all?
“Healthy eating” is actually not very definable. It is not finite, nor is it the only determinant of health. It is subjective, varies across cultures and there is certainly no right or wrong way to nourish the body. We simply cannot label one food as healthy or unhealthy. Look at the French - their diets are rich in fatty foods like croissants and cheeses. Look at the Japanese - white rice is a staple food in their culture. Does that make them unhealthy eaters? Of course not! There are simply too many layers to consider.
In America specifically, the public is taught to believe that the food you eat will either kill you or cure you (without going off on a tangent I encourage you to ponder how this belief alone might detrimentally influence health). Sure, eating patterns throughout the lifetime definitely impact our health, but food is not a savior or a death sentence. Food is not “medicine”.
A single food or nutrient does not elicit a cause-and-effect response in the body like a medication would. Therefore, nutrition researchers can only infer correlation not causation, and unlike true quality experimental research, there is no way to control for confounding variables that influence a person’s health (i.e race, ethnicity, social determinants of health, activity level, environment, genetics, stress levels, dieting history, a participant’s eating patterns leading up to the study). Also, ethically, many of these studies are not able to be done on human subjects.
Taking all of that into consideration, I’d say healthy eating is more qualitative than quantitative and based on overall characteristics and patterns.
A healthy eater will…
1. Eat a variety of foods, in flexible ways
I’d say the more liberal you are with the foods you eat, the better. Of-course you may avoid certain foods for reasons like ethics or religion or because you are intolerant or allergic, but in general the more food groups present in your eating pattern, the more nutrients your body can enjoy! Diet culture has lead people down the path of “black and white thinking” and has created unnecessary fearmongering and eradication of really important energy providing foods.
There is also research to support that you can influence your gut microbiome by broadening the variety of foods you eat, and it’s understood that inadequate calorie intake actually disrupts your microbial environment and can lead to other digestive issues.
All foods provide either physical nourishment or emotional nourishment. Cutting out sugar will most likely intensify your cravings and likelihood of bingeing. Never allowing yourself to eat fast foods might leave you hungry on a long road trip. Rigid eating makes living more difficult and heightens stress and anxiety, neither of which are healthy for your body!
2. Strive for balance
While it is helpful to use some rational thought in putting together a meal that will energize and nourish your body effectively, balance is something that happens naturally when you eat intuitively. A “balanced diet” does not mean that each meal must have a complete balance of nutrients. Balanced eating isn’t about one meal or even one day of eating. If you keep a wide variety of foods available, you will likely get all the nutrients your body needs in a week’s time.
Think about a typical week. In that week do you feel like you get the balance your body needs (protein, fat, carbs, fiber, vitamins/minerals, phytonutrients?) Or do you think that there are some nutrients that might need more attention?
3. Make food choices based on taste, nutritional value and how food feels in the body
For the most part, informed food choices consider three things:
Taste – Eating for pleasure and satisfaction. You might ask yourself: “What sounds good?” Or, “What meal/snack would really hit the spot?”
Nutritional Value – External health guidelines are considered, but reside in the passenger seat of your mind rather than front and center dictating all of your food choices. Maybe you intentionally incorporate more fiber for digestive health. Maybe you try to incorporate a protein or fat with your meal to keep you full longer. Maybe you gently compare food labels and opt for the lower sodium option because your blood pressure runs high.
How Food Feels in the Body – Satisfaction isn’t only about how food tastes on your tongue. It’s also about how food feels in your body after you eat it. You might practice asking yourself: “How do I want to feel after I eat this meal/snack?” or “Will this food make me feel sluggish or energized?” (see also #5)
