But I don't know what is healthy!

I’ve heard this a million times and probably said it like 1,000 myself, “but I don’t know what is healthy”.  But think about this, really think about this, and it’s pretty ridiculous.  We know, and certainly don’t need some scientific study to confirm, that eating a medium delivery pizza for dinner is not healthy.  We know that eating a big bowl of ice cream at night while watching TV isn’t healthy.  We know that eating ½ pound of bacon for breakfast isn’t healthy.  We know this.  We just wish there was a way to get away with it.

I went to a talk recently, where two nutrition scientists were talking about “what is healthy” and summarizing the results of tons of scientific studies, talking about statistically significant results, causation, the limits of experiments on nutrition (you don’t ever really have a control group), the perfect ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 etc….  At the end of the two hours of talks about antioxidants, types of fats, types of sugars, studies, and published results, one of the speakers concluded with:  don’t be fooled, we all knew when we walked in here what was healthy.  We all know that eating vegetables is good for us and that we should moderate our consumption of processed carbs, saturated and trans fats, and sugars.

A really good point.

We tell ourselves that if there are veggies on that delivered pizza that we might be able to say it’s healthy or if the big bowl of frozen cream says “yogurt” it’s probably good for us, right? And as far as the bacon, it’s just too good for us to give up.

Trust me, there is a part of me that also wishes that if I eat four almonds and a handful of blueberries every morning that I could eat whatever else I want to that day.  Or wishes that there was some mysteriously magic solution or perfect combination of foods that would unlock all of the secrets and I would be healthy, thin, and strong.  Oh wait, there is, and they are fruits and vegetables.

I’m sorry, the answer really is that easy.  Don’t overthink it.  Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts.

In some specific cases it might not always that simple, people may be asking “what is healthy” for a variety of reasons…the answer to the question may be different for the diabetic than it is for the person who is in athletic training. Whether you are overweight, underweight, lactose-intolerant or have your gallbladder will affect exactly how you answer the question. But for most of us, the answer really isn’t that complicated. If your diet is already mostly fruits and vegetables, and you consume processed carbs, bad fats and sugars in moderation, then (and I believe only then) should you be asking yourself more complicated questions about nutrition (are blueberries or goji berries better antioxidants? should I be adding more raw food to my diet? Are there natural supplements (e.g., fish oil, yeast, spirulina etc.) that might make me feel even better?)

So look at your next meal.  The pepperoni and mushroom pizza is probably 98% saturated fat, sugar and processed carbs (the cheese, pepperoni, the sauce and the crust).  Maybe 2% of that meal is vegetable, and good healthy fat (the tomato, mushrooms and perhaps olive oil).  A bacon and egg breakfast is nearly 99% saturated fat and processed carbs (bacon, eggs, butter and toast).

If you swap some of the fats and processed carbs in your meal for fruits and vegetables, for the same volume of food, you’ll be eating far fewer calories and getting a lot more phytonutrients, antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins.  Just take a quick look at Whole Foods’ page on nutrition of zucchini (or summer squash).  Eating zucchini can help to maintain blood sugar and fight a whole variety of things from infection to cancer.  So, really, after reading this why aren’t we all eating more zucchini? 



Summer squash, tomatoes, and eggplant from the Jean Talone Market

When you cook at home, it’s so easy to add more vegetables to your meals and reduce the amount you rely on saturated fats, processed carbs and sugars.  When you cook at home, you know what is in what you are eating and are empowered to make better choices, choices that are right for you.  For example, you can swap the pepperoni for zucchini on your pizza (or even use ½ pepperoni and ½ zucchini to start).

Speaking of pizza, I love pizza and we eat quite a bit of homemade pizza.  When we make pizza, I add a little whole wheat flour to the dough, cut back on the amount of cheese, and add lots of vegetable toppings.  If you were making a pizza for yourself you would never think to buy two blocks of cheese for your pizza, but this is really how much cheese you are probably getting on the pizza you got delivered.  They rely on you loving the pizza because of the salt and fat.  Our homemade pizzas are probably still 50% processed grains and saturated fats (flour and cheese) but the rest is healthy fat (i.e., olive oil) and vegetables. The flavors of our pizzas are derived from the tartness of the sauce, the brightness of a bell pepper or the rich creaminess of caramelized onions.



Mushroom, red pepper, and radish homemade pizza




Zucchini, mushroom, red pepper, and garlic pizza.

 

This doesn’t look like health food.  It can be this easy.  This is probably the main reason we cook at home; so we can make adjustments to the things we love (like pizza) - cutting back on some of the bad stuff and adding more good stuff.