Food bashing: Why we are more confused about what to eat than ever before

WHAT’S wrong (or what’s right) when it comes to eating? One thing’s for sure, there’s plenty of blame to go around.

Kathleen Alleaume has a five step plan to get make sure you follow your New Year's resolution.

WHAT’S wrong (or what’s right) when it comes to eating? The average Australian is, no doubt, a little confused about what constitutes an optimal diet.

One thing’s for sure, there’s plenty of blame to go around.

The so-called ‘blame game’ started 40 odd years ago when the ‘low-fat’ message was drilled into us because fat, particularly the saturated kind, can raise cholesterol levels and as a result cause heart attacks. As years went on, the fear of all kinds of fat had gradually built up and the public perception of fat completely shifted. What next? Calories exploded and people got — even fatter. The era of highly-processed foods was born lining the aisles of our warehouse-sized supermarkets, which stocks around 30,000 foods devoted to sweetened drinks, snack foods and sugary breakfast cereals. The rise of ‘low-fat’ foods simply meant we ate more carbs, including refined starches and sugar.

Finally the tide turned and carbs are to blame, which meant fat was off the hook. But while it’s true we now know that dietary fats are not all created equal (even dietary saturated fats are not all created equal), is not to say that the ‘low-fat’ message was wrong. Instead it was the unintended consequences of what we did with the dietary advice we were given.

Bacon and asparagus is encouraged on the paleo diet.

At the same time we became fixated on protein where food companies tend to follow with many already putting a “high protein” label on their products. And of course, we can’t get enough of the paleo lifestyle, which is often invoked to justify high protein/low-carb eating. But the paleo diet (more than 10,000 years ago) was in fact not low-carb, even if it was moderately high in protein. “Quitting sugar” is another popular movement, even though this means giving up the sugars found naturally in fruit and substituting with other sugar-types.

The truth is we are becoming overly obsessed on one particular nutrient or ingredient to the relative exclusion of all else. It’s no surprise we are confused about what to eat. Perhaps what the ever evolving nutrition science or sweeping food trends are doing is instilling the fear of food, instead of trying to answer the almost impossible question of what is ‘the’ best diet for long-term health?

This doesn’t mean nutrition science is corrupt. It’s about seeking out the most credible and quality pieces of evidence and attempting to see what side of the health ledger the evidence tips.

But, here’s the news flash. Despite the ever-evolving science the basic fundamentals of what constitutes a healthy diet have never really changed: A diet of minimally processed foods close to nature, predominantly plants, is decisively associated with health promotion and disease prevention. This pattern of eating seemingly takes care of all nutrients by focusing on none.

Fresh fruit and vegetables can be enjoyed in abundance.

Weather it’s low-fat, low carb, vegetarian, low glyceamic or paleo, the one theme these diets all have in common is the emphasis on limiting refined starches, added sugars, processed foods, limited intake of certain fats, and a large emphasis on whole plant foods (with or without lean meats and seafood). A famous quote by the founding director of Yale University Prevention Research Centre, Dr David Katz, is to “adopt your preferred variation on that theme, but stick to the theme and let the food you love, love you back”.

The point is, food is much more than the nutrients it contains, therefore no one nutrient deserves demonising as this leads to perpetual confusion and doubt. Remember, we eat food, not nutrients and thankfully our revised national dietary guidelines have taken this very simple concept far more seriously, which is positive step moving forward.

So whatever theme you choose, everything in moderation is always going to win hands down. But unfortunately the ‘moderation’ message is boring and unappealing. Sigh.

Kathleen Alleaume is an exercise physiologist and nutritionist and founder of The Right Balance. Follow her on twitter: @_Kathleen_A