I know you’ve seen those fear-mongering lists. “5 Foods Never to Eat” or “Avoid These Foods Forever” promising amazing health or weight loss benefits. They flash cartoon images of bananas, suggesting sinister outcomes should you eat them. They urge you to avoid sugar at all costs, to run screaming away from the conventional produce aisle, and excommunicate family members proffering baked goods made with –gasp– white flour.
Gawd, do those lists irk me!
The fear-mongering around food is getting worse all the time, and folks are especially susceptible in January, a time of healthy resolutions. The headlines are purposely provocative, tempting you to click through to what are often claims made without solid science behind them, and sometimes outright ridiculous suggestions.
Sally, a registered dietitian and mom who blogs at Real Mom Nutrition, wrote a great post earlier this month on why she’s tired of “foods you should never eat” lists. The whole time I was reading it, I was like, “Yes! So true!” Every thought I’ve thunk on this topic, she put down in words. Here’s a particularly to-the-point quote from Sally’s post, which sums up what so many of us nutrition experts believe:
“Yes, I support buying organic when available and feasible financially. Yes, I advise people to drink water over soda, choose whole grain bread over white, and brown rice over white. But at the end of the day, it’s about what you eat most of the time. It’s about your overall eating habits, not a single food or a single meal.”
Amen and Hallelujah! Thank you, Sally.
Aside from sharing her wisdom, which I’m 100% in agreement with, the only thing left to do is to leave you with my own “list” with the best nutrition advice I can offer, all with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek 🙂
5 Foods Never to Eat (All of Which are Negotiable)
by Julia Robarts, MS, MPH, RD, LDN
Food-lover, baker, writer, registered dietitian, funny girl
5 Foods Never to Eat: #5
Yucky Foods That Make You Go “Ew!”
Simply put, don’t eat what you don’t like. For me that is oysters, overripe pears, and lobster. Do not invoke this rule, however, when presented with the opportunity to teach your toddler to try green beans for the first time. That’s when you just have to buck up, big boy! Smile and chew 🙂
5 Foods Never to Eat: #4
Spoiled, Rotten, or Moldy Foods
Even this is negotiable, if you consider sauerkraut, blackened bananas, or bleu cheese. Please, though, do ditch the yogurt that’s turned red and green, as well as the foul-smelling chicken breasts that should’ve been tossed days ago. People think knives are the top danger in the kitchen, but truly, it’s stupidity 🙂
5 Foods Never to Eat: #3
Roadkill
Unless you’re into that kind of thing and have the proper permit, flannel shirt, and F250 pickup.
5 Foods Never to Eat: #2
Desserts That Are Bigger Than Your Meal
Common sense. Unless said dessert IS your meal, in which case ‘make mine a double’ is entirely acceptable.
5 Foods Never to Eat: #1
Any Food Offered When You Are Not Hungry
Seriously, this is probably the most important one of all. Your appetite is like a child. Ignore it, and you will pay. Overindulge it, and you will pay. Give it what it needs, and you’ll both be happy 🙂
LoL once a year we have strawberry shortcake for supper!!
At the height of strawberry season, I bet?! It’s hard to resist having those luscious berries morning, noon, and night during that time. 🙂
Absolutely!! With real whipped cream!!
I agree with most of your points, but I do take issue with the first one.
My husband used to be a picky eater and has grown out of it slowly. There are a lot of foods that originally made him go “ew” that he has since learned to love. Some of them were irrational dislikes e.g. thinking that all cherries taste like cherry cough medicine or disliking red grapes but not green grapes. The latter example existed until he took a blind taste test of a red and a green grape and guessed wrong. Others were things that he legitimately didn’t like but that he has learned to like in certain contexts including mushrooms, raw tomatoes, olives, beans, and others. Similarly, I used to dislike sharp cheddar cheese, saurkraut, and kimchi which I’ve grown to enjoy with repeated trying.
It’s taught me not to take food dislikes at face value because the “it takes 10-15 tries to like it” principle seems to work as well with my 25-year-old husband as it does with toddlers.
I fear that parents who are picky eaters teach their children to be picky eaters simply because their children aren’t exposed to as much variety and because modeling is SO important in getting children to try new foods. I’d argue that it’s actually pretty important to try foods that initially make you go “ew” especially if they are healthy foods because you may learn to tolerate if not even enjoy or love them.
That being said, thanks for a fun post on keeping things realistic and avoiding fear mongering.
Amanda, thanks so much for your thoughtful response. I am 100% in agreement that people (both the young and the grown up) need to give things a sporting try – often multiple times – before deciding they are “ew.” This was definitely meant to be a humorous take on those popular lists. There is definitely much more that could be said about each and every point!
love it!
Thanks, Marsha!!
Someday we are all gojng to see you on TV; your wit and wisdom makes what you say important and fun !! I love reading what you have to say !
Thank you thank you! What a compliment! I read this aloud to my oldest I was so pleased.
As always, great advice. Still trying to figure out how on earth you managed to post this during the Patriots game. 🙂
Haha i wrote it in the a.m. – just worked on the graphic during the game. I not the best single-tasker 🙂
Lol!