You might think that the question we are asking today seems kind of strange.
How can all food be bad for you?
Well, the reason we ask this is because we are so often told that something is good for
us, and then some time later we are told it’s bad for us.
We watch documentaries online that demonize some foods, only to find out that some scientist
has debunked much of the information in the documentary.
It can be so confusing, knowing what’s good for us in terms of our diet.
Perhaps the biggest controversy has been over the low-fat diet, something we were told for
years was the way to go, and in more recent years we’ve been told that those once nasty
fats are now A-ok.
So, today we’ll dig deep into food, in this episode of the Infographics Show, Is all food
bad for you?
Let’s start with carbs, because we are told these days it is food high in carbohydrates
that is making us overweight.
Fatty foods seem to have been redeemed of badness.
Well, to start with, the general consensus out there is that if you lower your calorie
intake and exercise more – so you have a calorie deficit – then you will likely lose
weight or maintain the weight you want to stay at.
Not many people are disagreeing about this.
But carbs can contain a lot of calories, and while it’s said adults should get around
45-65% of their calories from carbohydrates, a daily diet feasting on refined carbs, i.e.
bread, white rice, pasta, sugary drinks and all manner of snack foods, will probably be
too much for you.
These will cause spikes in blood sugar, and that we don’t need.
You can get your carb hit from veggies, or fruits, or beans and grains.
So no, there is nothing wrong with carbs, but it’s better to have a mixed diet, and
if you want to lose weight, try not having a refined carb-heavy meal three times a day.
Simple.
As for whole wheat vs white bread, well, the former does have more fiber and a lower glycemic
and insulin index, which prevents too much insulin from being released.
But it’s calorie content is similar, and you can get your fiber from other foods.
It’s not really seen as a healthy choice, even though it might be marketed that way.
If you want to stay lean, go easy on huge sandwiches packed with enough filling to feed
a horse.
So, this brings us to the former bad guy of foods: fat.
Fat makes you fat, right?
That seems to make sense, linguistically at least.
Well, there are a bunch of studies these days that tell us fat won’t make you fat if you
don’t have a very calorific diet, and eating cholesterol won’t necessarily give you high
cholesterol.
In fact, we are now told that we need lots of healthy fats in our diet, and that avoiding
them in the past could have been hurting us more than it was helping us.
What are healthy fats?
We are told these are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which you find in fish,
nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils such as olive and sunflower oil.
The bad fats, these are what we call “trans” fats, and they can often be found in all the
good stuff, such as cookies, doughnuts, cakes, deep-fried treats, and all kinds of processed
foods.
These fats are called “industrial trans fatty acids”, and they are cheap, which
is why they are used.
They are made by adding hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils.
Just about all the research we can find points to them being bad when eaten in excess, and
that’s why they are presently being used less.
As for saturated fat, the stuff you find in many fatty foods such as some meats, butter
and cheese, well, even these are no longer said to be too bad for you.
But we should say that most sources we can find tell us to eat them in moderation.
Now, for the dreaded egg!
Do you remember those horror stories about the yolk, that led to restaurants all over
the world pushing the egg white omelet onto their menus?
The yolk being bad has been debunked for the most part.
What studies have shown is that in healthy people, eating 1-6 eggs a day doesn’t really
affect the cholesterol in your body.
Studies did, however, find that if you have an unhealthy diet full of those bad carbs,
a daily egg intake may affect blood levels of cholesterol and lipoproteins in the negative.
When a doctor at Harvard was asked if eggs are bad, he replied, “From what we know
today, here's the bottom line: for most people, an egg a day does not increase your risk of
a heart attack, a stroke, or any other type of cardiovascular disease.”
He did say, however, that if you have diabetes or already have a high risk of heart disease,
you should not eat more than three eggs a week.
And that’s what most experts say these days: eggs are alright, so knock yourself out, and
have a yellow omelet.
What about salt, another demon of the food world?
Well, salt is a mineral that is essential to your diet.
The problem is, according to research, is that we just eat too much of it.
That doesn’t mean you get that salt shaker out even for your Cornflakes, but that salt
is already in a lot of foods, especially processed foods…which includes Cornflakes!
If you have hypertension, you might lay off the salt, but this might only mean cutting
down on some processed foods.
Too much sodium, it seems, can make your blood pressure rise too high, and this is agreed
upon across the board.
Studies have found that by completely taking salt out from a diet, people weren’t any
better off.
As for hipster salt, the Himalayan mountain stuff mined in Pakistan, well, the jury (i.e.
science) is still on a hung verdict regarding if it is any better for you than other salt.
Serious science says no, new age health experts say yes.
It’s certainly quite tasty, though.
Another myth is that frozen or canned foods lose all their nutrients somehow because they
have been processed, but we can find nothing that tells us that this is the truth.
In fact, it’s simply not the truth, although there may be some small differences in nutritional
value.
In some cases, we found that frozen or canned vegetables can have more nutrients due to
the nutrients being frozen in the food.
How you cook them, too, is important, as it’s thought overcooking can get rid of some of
the goodness.
But what about how we eat?
There is so much information out there these days on this topic.
Some diet gurus tell us we should fast, while other experts demand we eat lots of small
meals many times in a day.
The U.S. National Institute of Health put this to the test, stating, “A diet with
less meal frequency can improve the health and extend the lifespan of laboratory animals,
but its effect on humans has never been tested.”
So, they tested people, and what they found was it doesn’t matter how many times you
eat.
What does matter is calorie intake.
It seems if you have six small meals or two big meals and the calorie count is similar,
your body will not change.
It’s what you eat, not how you eat.
This brings us to the matter of skipping breakfast.
Is that a terrible thing to do, or a good thing to do?
The sources we checked that cited studies on the topic said it’s all about how you
feel, and that you don’t necessarily have to eat breakfast to maintain a healthy weight.
Sources did say, however, that it’s different for everyone, so you could try experimenting
if you are not happy with your current weight.
The same goes for eating at night.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing if you are maintaining a diet that is not super high
in calories.
If you are over-eating, then yes, it could be a bad thing.
Those Brits will tell you that 8 pints of beer and a large kebab at the end of the night
does seem to give many people a rather large tummy.
So, there you go, it’s likely that the answer to a healthy diet is moderation and diversity
of food.
You can have your cake, and eat it, but don’t have a cake-laden diet.
You can and should have fats, like your lumps of cheese, but mega-pizza is mightily calorific.
Be sparing with your binging.
Throw in some veggies when you can, and don’t worry too much.
If you want to lose weight, you should exercise and also start counting calories.
There are compelling documentaries out there, such as the fairly recent, “What the Health,”
that tell us what we have said today is wrong, and that people should probably go vegan.
But the people debunking some of the facts presented in the documentary seem equally
compelling.
At the same time, the scientific evidence out there, as well as real life stories, seem
to show us that eating lots of vegetables and not overdoing it with junk food is a good
thing.
You can’t argue with the heart disease, diabetes and obesity epidemics, the hospitals
and Walmart parking lots are proof.
But it seems it’s not that you need to be a dietary puritan to be healthy, but to eat
wisely and not over indulge.
So, how do you keep your weight under control?
And do you subscribe to these diet fads that keep coming and going?
Let us know in the comments!
Also, be sure to check out our other video called Vegans vs Meat Eaters - Who will live
longer?!
Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe.
See you next time!