An Interlude with Food

I don't want this blog to be all dry, serious, snooze-inducing boredom.  By its very nature, heavy topics will be discussed, but at the same time, all aspects of life are relevant, and it's good to come up for air every now and again. :)

One of the things I ponder from time to time is our love/hate relationship with food.  Okay, let's be honest.  We have a lot of love/hate relationships with food in the U.S., and I ponder many of them.  The one in particular I'm considering in this case is how the role of a single food or beverage can change from superhero to supervillain and back again.

For instance, folks used to laud the positive health effects of...can you guess?  Cigarettes, of all things!

When I was kid, eggs, toast with butter, milk, and coffee for the adults was a typical breakfast.  It was considered good, wholesome food.  And then...dun dun DUN!

Eggs?  Bad!  Cholesterol and fat, oh my! 

Butter?  Bad!  Use margarine! 

Milk?  Bad!  Too much fat!

Coffee?  Bad!  Caffeine!

Aaaaaaauuugghhh!

*runs around in a circle screaming and flailing arms like hair's on fire*

Now? 

"Hey, eggs are actually pretty good for you as long as you don't go overboard and are careful to watch your cholesterol; they have vitamins and protein and stuff!  Who knew?"

"Oh, hey, remember how we said to use margarine?  Yeah, strike that.  Turns out that all that fake stuff isn't really all that good for you after all.  And, as long as you're careful to watch your fat intake, butter's not actually all that bad.  Plant fats that haven't been made into some strange solid substance are better, but olive oil might be a little weird on your breakfast toast.  So, uh, our bad." *shifty eyes*

"Milk?  Erm, we got back these studies that showed that people who eat low-fat dairy products actually lose more weight and retain more lean muscle mass than people who've been following our advice and shunning dairy.  And yogurt's a great way to maintain healthy gut flora, and man, that stuff's amazing!  Did you know scientists now think that some of recent human evolution was instead the evolution of human gut flora?  And that gut flora can turn the expression of human genes on and off?!?  Be sure to get dairy products from cows that weren't treated with antibiotics or hormones, 'cause those things we're pretty sure are no good, and watch your portion sizes, but eat up!"

"Coffee?  For people who aren't overly sensitive, moderate caffeine intake can have positive health benefits, and coffee's actually a pretty darn good source of antioxidants.  Yeah, we didn't see that one coming, either."

These days, moderate alcohol intake is said to be healthful (I, myself, don't partake); dark chocolate is now a health food (Appollonius!); people are warned that the ever-healthful salad may not be as great as they think it is; pasta, which used to be a "healthy food" when I was kid is now a bad guy; beef is on-again-off-again; fish is either wonderful or terrible depending on who's talking, what kind of fish, and where the fish lived; how can a person keep up and where does it end?  For people who actually pay attention to this stuff, this kind of flip-flop, back-and-forth, all-or-nothing panicfest must really get confusing, frustrating, and downright draining. 

The sad fact is that, these days, there's some sort of problem with everything.  With everything we eat, drink, breathe...  Except in a few cases, it's pretty much a matter of "pick your own poison." :-/  But--in my mind--here's the answer:

Don't rely on so-called experts to tell you what's best for you.  Trust your body.  Food fads are food fads regardless of who's propagating them.  Your body knows what works for it. 

Also don't rely on so-called experts for reliable information.  Dig around and find out information on your own.  Make sure that any claims you might hear/read are corroborated by an independent source before you take them as fact.  There's a ton of misinformation out there, and there's a lot of information put out there by people who want you to buy their product over someone else's. 

Don't trust labels.  For packaged items, read the ingredients closely, and know what to watch out for.  For produce and meats, know what terms like "organic" and "grade A" really mean, and whether the same standards apply in Mexico and Chile and Argentina and other places that export their produce to us (I live in Texas; maybe other states don't get these same products; I don't know).  I can tell you that after seeing a field of "organic" produce in another country get fertilized with untreated human waste, I'm no longer quite as blindly enthusiastic about the idea of organic food; I do my research on it same as anything else.  Because you can't tell by looking at the luscious berries that E. coli, Salmonella, or Listeria are hanging out inside them waiting to make you ill.  Trust me; I speak from experience. >.<

I treat claims about food the same as I treat e-mail forwards.  If there are too many exclamation points, warnings, fear tactics, or absolutes, I don't trust it.  Food--like pretty much anything else--should be approached with moderation and good sense. 

It's funny for how many things in life the answer is simply "moderation and good sense", isn't it?