The ‘Good’ vs ‘Bad Food’ Saga
How many calories is in this slice? I'll let you know later.
The other day, after finishing my dinner, I fancied dessert. Heading to the fridge, opening the door, I realised there was some homemade Cherry Bakewell. I sat down to tuck in to a slice and posted a picture of it on my Facebook story. It looked that good!
It wasn’t long before the pic had a few likes, but then I received a message…
"You should create a good healthy one, you could use cashew butter."
I thought to myself...
You don't ruin a Cherry Bakewell with cashew butter, that would be a sin.
Why did this guy think that cashew butter was "healthy"?
It also got me thinking… why have we got to this place where food is either good or bad? So, I went back to him and asked the question -
"What makes you think cashew butter is healthy?"
He believed the Cherry Bakewell was a 'bad food'. And to make it 'healthier' I should put cashew butter in it. The media does a very good job of painting foods as either good or bad, rather than talking about balance in what we eat.
Is there such thing as a good or bad food?
No, let me explain...
Okinawa, Japan.
Research shows people who inhabit the Japanese Island of Okinawa are some of the longest-living people on the planet.
Why? Variety in their diet. Here’s the research, if you want to have a read.
This good and bad categorisation of food is something that really grinds our gears about the media and the fitness industry...
We're told to be "healthy" we must eat the same 10 foods all year round and cut out sugar and carbs because they're "bad" and "unhealthy". They're not.
By the same token we're told to lather foods in cashew butter and coconut oil because they're "good" and "healthy". And they're not.
This demonises some of the foods we eat. We end up with an incredibly restrictive diet we can’t maintain, and lose variety in what we eat!
Variety in your diet is key…
Here's the deal, we need a diet full of nutrients. One that contains fruits, vegetables, fibre, protein, etc. There's no getting away from that. But, that doesn't mean other less nutritious foods are off-limits.
Moderation is key. We need balance! At Lean6 we're inclusive not exclusive. Finding a balance in what you eat is key to making changes that will get you results for the rest of your life. So, throw away the diet book out the window and join us for some Cherry Bakewell here.
I almost forgot…
As I am sure you guessed, I didn’t eat all the Cherry Bakewell in one go.
See where the knife is? That's how much I had.
Not off-limits, just in moderation. The slice I had, contained just 100 calories. Not bad eh?
