Not many days go by where someone doesn’t point out to me the “fact” that healthy eating is “boring”, “too hard”, or “confusing”.
Folks. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I feel it is my job today to dispel these myths, once and for all! And hopefully give you a few easy healthy tips along the way.
Myth #1: Healthy eating means cutting fat from our diet.
In fact, the exact opposite is true: healthy eating means adding fat to our diet. This fat includes both the unsaturated kind (like nuts and seeds, avocados, fish, and olive oil) as well as the saturated kind (like butter and other full-fat dairy, coconut oil, and eggs).
Why is this? Well, eating fat helps to balance our blood sugar level during and between meals, which leads to steady energy and satisfaction (read: no cravings). Fat also adds nutrients to our meals – virtually every cell in our body contains it, which is indicative of just how very important it is! Plus, fat adds delicious flavour and texture to our food; why the heck would we want to go without?
So whether your goal is to increase energy, balance blood sugar, or lose weight… it all requires fat, baby, and more of it!
Myth #2: Healthy eating means following Canada’s Food Guide.
Look at the picture above (click on it for a larger view). If you follow this guide, and I mean truly stick to it… how do you feel? How is your energy? How about your digestion? Cravings? Weight loss efforts?
My guess is, not very good all around. Allow me to give you some points as to why I don’t believe this is the ideal eating plan for the majority of us:
- A major focus is on grains. Many of us don’t do well with grains, most specifically wheat, but other grains don’t fall far behind. There are many reasons for this (I recommend the book called Wheat Belly Total Health by Dr. William Davis to find out more), but I will highlight a few key ones here. Grains cause a spike in blood sugar (in fact, a higher spike than white sugar!), which over time can lead to something called insulin resistance. This leads to weight gain, especially around the abdomen, as well as unsteady energy and cravings, especially for carbs. Second, certain proteins in grains can attach to the opiate receptors in our brain, encouraging the desire for more. More. MORE! Finally, grains can block our satiety hormone called leptin… this means that we don’t feel satisfied from our food. So we’re eating enough physically, but our brain tells us that we’re not satisfied yet, so we should keep eating. A quick recap: blood sugar rollercoaster, increased desire for carbs, and a blocking of our satiety signal. A troublesome trio, to be sure.
- Fats and oils get only a small mention at the end; they’re not even part of the main Food Guide. This indicates that they should be the lowest proportion of our diet. Far from the truth! We need them for health. Beyond that, some of their recommended fats include margarine (margarine!), canola oil, and soybean oil… all of which are damaged fats that should be avoided.
- Fruits and vegetables are lumped together into one category. However, fruits are much higher in the ol’ sugs, which leads to blood sugar issues, weight gain around the middle, low energy, and cravings. Veggies, on the other hand, are very low in sugar while being an awesome source of minerals and fibre. We should be aiming for 7-10 servings of veggies daily, and 1-3 servings of fruits (1 serving is about 1/2 a cup).
Myth #3: Healthy eating means becoming a vegetarian or vegan.
I have nothing against those who choose to eat this way; all the power to you! However, what I am saying is that eating healthy does not require the avoidance of animal foods. In fact, I believe that an optimal diet includes animal foods, as the right ones are very nourishing and provide nutrients that we’re hard-pressed to find in other places.
Not only do we get protein and minerals from animal foods, but we also get both saturated and unsaturated fats, as well as fat-soluble vitamins (namely A, D, and K2). We need these vitamins in order to absorb our minerals, and the richest and best source of them is animal foods.
Let’s make this clear: I suggest avoiding conventional, factory-farmed meat as much as possible. There is a world of difference between this and small, family farmed-raised animals, both in the health of the animals and their meat.
In the fish world, wild is best (as opposed to farmed), and for meat, look for hormone free, antibiotic free, and ideally, grass-fed. (Note: in Canada, all chicken has to legally be hormone free. Yippee!) Seek out pastured eggs; hens should be able to eat their natural diet, which includes grass and insects. When animals are able to eat and live as close to nature as possible, they are so much happier and healthier. Dairy foods should be full-fat (not low- or no-fat). We need saturated fat and cholesterol for optimal health, just as much as we need unsaturated fat and other nutrients.
Myth #4: Healthy eating is restrictive.
No calorie counting here. Actually, no counting of anything, really. Sometimes I give guidelines on what to aim for (ex: 7-10 veggies per day), but I never suggest basing your food intake on the number of calories it contains. This is because calorie counting doesn’t tell us the source of those calories; what are those foods that are providing them? How healthy are they? Are they real? Or are they chemical-filled grossness?
Calories, by the way, indicate how much energy that food is capable of producing in our bodies. That’s a pretty great thing; we need our food to be our fuel. Of course, we don’t want to eat unnecessarily and beyond what our bodies need (that is, don’t stuff yourself silly), but rather than making mealtime a math project, let’s just make sure that our ingredients are the most real, whole foods possible.
Myth #5: Healthy eating tastes bland.
No it doesn’t. Low fat, “diet” foods do, but not healthy foods, no. In fact, healthy foods should taste delicious, have a great texture, and provide a satisfying mouth-feel. (Take THAT, food manufacturers!)
We must flavour our foods using, well, real ingredients… things like whole, mineral-rich sea salt; butter; olive oil; and herbs. Healthy foods should never taste boring, but instead, should be satisfying and delicious.
So there you have it. You see? Healthy eating puts fat in the “best friend” category, and doesn’t mean following our Food Guide, being a vegetarian, restricting calories, OR restricting flavour. Instead, it means focusing on consuming the highest amount of nutrients possible with the most real foods available. Plain and simple. So get to it! 🙂
This article sums up what I strive for in me and my families diet. I have never felt better. My own diabetic father eats this way and the head diabetic MD at MAC said he has the best cholesterol of any patient he sees. In fact his good cholesterol went up 250% by eating this way and he is not on any medication for it! Thank you for you alternative advice that offers someone a new (well, old) way of attaining health! I thought it was worth mentioning that it looks like Canada’s food guide is going to be changed as health canada recognizes it’s incredibly outdated. Great news for candians health!
Wow… that is SO awesome, and yet not surprising for you and I to hear since we know this to be THE way to eat healthily and nourish our bodies… real food all the way! And you’re right… this is actually the old way of attaining health, but our modern society has simply gotten away from it, unfortunately (and we’re seeing the negative consequences of this sad fact). I LOVE that Canada’s Food Guide is going to be updated… SUCH awesome news! Thanks Emily! 🙂
You should not be giving advice to people on nutrition. You clearly lack the knowledge.
While I don’t necessarily agree with all of your points below, I do appreciate our discussion. However, I feel that this disrespectful comment was unnecessary.
To link suicide to lowered cholesterol? Pure bullocks, that is the most extreme stretch I have seen. Suidice is largely linked to depression caused by yes, lack serotonin, but cholesterol does not play any role in suicide.
Reiterating what I’ve written, which you quoted in your last comment: “indiscriminately lowering cholesterol” → therefore, lowering cholesterol without knowing whether or not it does, in fact, need to be lowered. This, in my opinion, is what we need to be concerned about, with which it sounds like you agree.
Regarding low cholesterol and suicide, I’ve not claimed this opinion as my own (I was quoting a reference book), but I do see its relevance. I will quote your comment below, which you’ve taken from my original quote: “low cholesterol levels reduce the number of receptors for serotonin on our brain cell membranes. Serotonin, a hormone and neurotransmitter, suppresses aggressive behavior. Lack of receptors might result in decreased suppression of aggression and violence.” Because of cholesterol’s importance in the presence and action of serotonin in the brain, how can one be so sure there is absolutely no connection?
Quoting you: “suicide is largely linked to depression caused by yes, lack [of] serotonin…”, and we know that serotonin is linked is adequate cholesterol levels. This points to a possible connection.
“free radicals can also lead to blood vessel damage, just as oxidized LDL can” this shows a clear link that you do not have the knowledge to support your claims if you don’t know that free radicals are what causes oxidation in the bodies, these two statements are the exact same process.
“indiscriminately lowering cholesterol … statistically increases death rate from suicide and cancer … low cholesterol levels reduce the number of receptors for serotonin on our brain cell membranes. Serotonin, a hormone and neurotransmitter, suppresses aggressive behavior. Lack of receptors might result in decreased suppression of aggression and violence.” You did not mention if lowered cholesterol was below the normal limits, which indeed could cause issues, but the main part on eating healthy is not to lower normal cholesterol levels it is to eat good sources of cholesterol and lower it for people who have higher cholesterol levels.
I do know that free radicals are what cause oxidation in the body, and indeed one can say that oxidized LDL is in fact a free radical; you are correct. I’m demonstrating that oxidized LDL is not the only form of free radical; there are others.
Regarding cholesterol being below the normal limits causing health issues, you’re absolutely right. And to carry that further, simply having higher cholesterol levels still doesn’t tell us the whole story. Is it LDL that’s high? HDL? And if it is LDL, which form is it high in? The large, fluffy, protective kind, or the small, dense, oxidized, harmful kind?
“The unrefined, unsaturated fats, such as olive oil and flax oil, as well as the saturated fats, such as butter and coconut oil, actually have a protective effect on our cell membranes and blood vessels” olive and flax oil are MONOunsaturated not polyunsaturated. Again, these fats are recommended.
Olive oil is monounsaturated, whereas flax oil is polyunsaturated. Regardless of this distinction, though, I’m aware (and happy) that they’re recommended. The other part of this, though, is that the saturated fats such as butter and coconut oil are also very protective of our cell membranes and blood vessels.
“increased intake of grains and sugars (namely, carbohydrates, especially of the refined variety) are the foods that can increase our cholesterol and triglyceride levels” refined grains are not recommended, and sugars that are refined are not found in fruit. Please use relevant information to back up your claims.
I’m not speaking only about refined grains, although certainly they would be the worst offenders. All grains and sugars, including those in fruit, increase our blood sugar level. The higher our blood sugar level rises, especially if this is a consistent happening in our body, the more likely it is that our cholesterol and triglyceride levels will rise (as you know, sugar can be converted into fat in the case of excess amounts as well as insulin resistance). Due to the ample evidence of this process in the body, it’s unlikely that you’d need to see a reference, but please let me know otherwise.
I would also like to mention that many of your references you have responded to the previous post are VERY outdated making them unreliable references as there is a vast body of studies and literature that no longer support those, and a couple aren’t relevant because of their location. Results from Asia? We all have different make-ups and some is based on different ethnicity, as well different cultural norms impact the health practices so what may be true for someone may not be for another.
If you’d like to provide me with the more recent studies you refer to when arguing my points, I will happily look through them. I include the references I do because their information does, in fact, still hold true today. To demonstrate this point, I will name some more recent reference books that contain the same types of information, some of which I’ve also referenced above: Grain Brain (2013) and Brain Maker (2015) by David Perlmutter, MD; The Big Fat Surprise (2014) by Nina Teicholz; and Wheat Belly Total Health (2013) by William Davis, MD. Those are a few of many. Also, the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study was referenced in Grain Brain by an American doctor who feels that the results are relevant enough to include, as do I.
I completely agree that we are all individual and unique, so we must take care in choosing what is best for our bodies. I provide general health information that people can use as a starting point to look further into; in no way do I claim that everyone should be eating the exact same way. However, it really does come down to eating real food and avoiding chemicals, which is what I advise. Based on your points, I feel that you would agree with this concept, but please let me know otherwise if I’m incorrect in this assumption.
The Food Guide was writen by experts and is peer reviewed. I do not think the credentials of ONE person who is a “holistic nutritionist” can disregard the immense knowledge-base that was used in creating the Food Guide.
Indeed, grains do cause an increase in blood sugar, but this is perfectly normal and necessary to keep our pancreas working and when it is spiked by nutritious foods and we live a healthy lifestyle then it is nothing to be concerned over. You will not see insulin resistance in the case of eating too many grains, that just never happens. You also criticize fruits because of the sugar content, again when balanced in a healthy diet is absolutely nothing to worry about, fruits have an unmeasurable amount of necessary vitamins and minerals that cannot be gained from vegetables alone. It is mixed in with vegetables so that we do not simply eat all fruit and expect to have the “Fruit and Vegetable” section completed. I do enjoy your take on dividing that section into two though, that would be a great idea. You mention that fat is important, correct, but many of the other items that we should be eating in the food guide contain fats, we do not need to concentrate on eating many fats, as well, unsaturated fats have single bonds that “kink” and lead to plaque and clogged arteries so that is definitely something to limit as Heart diseases are a huge cause of death.
I would disregard your analysis on the Food Guide completely, this is coming from a Registered Nurse. At the end of the day, it is only a guide, but your post here makes it sound as though people should not be following the guide because it is “incorrect” which is simply not the case.
First off, I apologize for the delay in my reply; the busy holiday season has gotten me away from my blog for a few weeks.
The Food Guide was indeed written by experts, but, that does not mean it’s 100% perfect, unfortunately. For example, to continue to promote the consumption of margarine despite the large body of evidence that points to its unhealthiness, does not seem like something a health expert should responsibly do.
You’re right that normal blood sugar fluctuations are healthy and necessary, but with the prevalence of insulin resistance and diabetes in North America, one can assume that too many carbohydrates, in general, are consumed. I’m not sure how you’ve concluded that eating too many grains would never cause insulin resistance; how could one know for sure? Grains, both refined and unrefined, are carbohydrates, and these cause a spike in blood sugar, especially when consumed without adequate protein or fat. How can we know that people are only consuming grains combined with these other food components, in order to maintain a steady blood sugar level? Unfortunately, we cannot.
I agree that when fruit is balanced in a healthy diet, it is nothing to worry about. That’s why I’ve suggested eating up to a certain amount daily and really working on increasing vegetable intake, to ensure this balance happens. Having worked with hundreds of clients and students, I find that because fruits and vegetables are put together into the same category, people (in my experience) tend to rely too heavily on fruits, without enough emphasis on also consuming vegetables. That is the reason for my suggestion of dividing them into two separate categories, because yes, fruits are indeed an excellent source of nutrients. I’m glad you agree with my point there.
Unsaturated fats could lead to plaque and clogged arteries, if they become damaged. The vegetable oils (being one of those types of unsaturated fats) are often damaged due to their typical high level of refining. For this reason, I’ve suggested we avoid these types of oils in my blog post above. But, provided our olive oil and flax oil, for example, are pressed the most nutritious way (with the exclusion of heat, and in some cases light and oxygen as well), these healthy oils are less likely to become damaged.
I’m providing my take on how we can improve the guide, rather than disregard it altogether. Thank you for taking the time to read my post and provide your feedback.
One red flag in nutrition advice and weight loss plans is the inclusion of ‘products’ sold by the promoter. If you are ‘selling it’ or ‘promoting it’, your nutritional advice won’t be sound and science based. Selling ‘high fat’ products to people with high LDL, for example, is not sound advice. It could actually harm their health!
Thanks for your comments, Carolanne. Dietary fat and body cholesterol levels are certainly a hot topic. I present to you some references and resources that will back up my nutritional advice. It must be noted, however, that I am not “selling” anything; rather, my goal is to demystify the world of healthy eating and assist others in getting back to a natural, real foods-based diet. That is my passion.
Speaking to your comments, consider the following:
The link between dietary fat and body cholesterol levels has long ago been clarified; increasing one does not necessarily raise the other. (Erasmus, pg. 67) In fact, increased intake of grains and sugars (namely, carbohydrates, especially of the refined variety) are the foods that can increase our cholesterol and triglyceride levels (Erasmus, pg. 31, 64). Of the dietary fat family, it is the damaged ones that can also have this effect (ex: margarine, canola oil, and soybean oil), which I have mentioned in my blog post. (Murray & Pizzorno, pg. 52) The unrefined, unsaturated fats, such as olive oil and flax oil, as well as the saturated fats, such as butter and coconut oil, actually have a protective effect on our cell membranes and blood vessels. (Fallon, pg. 12)
We must go further than to blame all LDL cholesterol for damage in our blood vessels and elsewhere; let us look instead at oxidized LDL cholesterol. (Haas, pg. 72-73, 655; Fallon, pg. 12-13) There are two types of LDL: the large, “fluffy” kind, and the small, dense kind. It is this small, dense kind, as well as high triglycerides, that can cause issues. (Davis, pg. 222; Haas, pg. 655; Murray & Pizzorno, pg. 91) In investigating the cause of this oxidized LDL and increased triglycerides, we find that sugars and other carbohydrates can initiate their production. (Davis, pg. 224; Erasmus, pg. 34) Further, free radicals can also lead to blood vessel damage, just as oxidized LDL can. (Haas, pg. 655; Murray & Pizzorno, pg. 91; Perlmutter, pg. 77) Damaged vegetable oils like soybean, corn, and canola can increase free radical production, which can in turn initiate plaque buildup. (Fallon, pg. 10-11)
We must also remember that cholesterol plays a vital role in many body processes: it is the precursor to vitamin D as well as hormones like estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone; it is a component of our bile; it is an antioxidant and also a carrier for other antioxidants; it maintains proper integrity of our cell membranes by keeping them from being too hard and also from being too fluid and elastic; it is a component of our eyes, our nerves and our brain. (Erasmus pg. 64-66) In fact, “indiscriminately lowering cholesterol … statistically increases death rate from suicide and cancer … low cholesterol levels reduce the number of receptors for serotonin on our brain cell membranes. Serotonin, a hormone and neurotransmitter, suppresses aggressive behavior. Lack of receptors might result in decreased suppression of aggression and violence.” (Erasmus, pg. 73) Further, research from 2008 published in the journal Movement Disorders showed that those with the lowest LDL cholesterol were at an increased risk for Parkinson’s disease by approximately 350%. (Perlmutter, pg. 77)
Cholesterol is so vital that, if we do not get it from food, our bodies will make it. In fact, more than 80% of our body’s cholesterol content is made by our own liver. For most of us, as our dietary cholesterol increases, our body’s production decreases, and vice versa. (Erasmus, pg. 66-67; Perlmutter, pg. 228)
There have been numerous studies and research results that further disprove the fat/cholesterol/heart disease theory. Have a look at these:
“During the sixty-year period from 1910 to 1970, the proportion of traditional animal fat in the American diet declined from 83 percent to 62 percent, and butter consumption plummeted from 18 pounds per person per year to four. During the past eighty years, dietary cholesterol intake has increased only 1 percent. During the same period the percentage of dietary vegetable oils in the form of margarine, shortening and refined oils increased about 400 percent while the consumption of sugar and processed foods increased about 60 percent.” (Fallon, pg. 5)
“A survey of 1700 patients with hardening of the arteries, conducted by the famous heart surgeon Michael DeBakey, found no relationship between the level of cholesterol in the blood and the incidence of atherosclerosis. A survey of South Carolina adults found no correlation of blood cholesterol levels with “bad” dietary habits, such as use of red meat, animal fats, fried foods, butter, eggs, whole milk, bacon, sausage and cheese. A Medical Research Council survey showed that men eating butter ran half the risk of developing heart disease compared to those using margarine.” (Fallon, pg. 6)
“Elevated triglycerides in the blood have been positively linked to proneness to heart disease, but these triglycerides do not come directly from dietary fats; they are made in the liver from any excess sugars that have not been used for energy. The source of these excess sugars is any food containing carbohydrates, particularly refined sugar and white flour.” (Fallon, pg. 8)
References
Davis, William, MD, Wheat Belly Total Health, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, Toronto, ON (2014): 222-224.
DeBakey, M, et al, Journal of the American Medical Association (1964), 189: 655-659.
Enig, Mary G, PhD, Trans Fatty Acids in the Food Supply: A Comprehensive Report Covering 60 Years of Research, 2nd Edition, Enig Associates, Inc., Silver Spring, MD (1995): 4-8.
Erasmus, Udo, Fats that Heal Fats that Kill, Alive Publishing Group Inc., Burnaby, BC (1986): 31, 34, 64-67, 73.
Fallon, Sally with Enig, Mary G, PhD, Nourishing Traditions, 2nd Edition, NewTrends Publishing Inc., Washington, DC, (2001): 2-20.
Haas, Elson M., MD, with Levin, Buck, PhD, RD, Staying Healthy with Nutrition, Celestial Arts, Berkeley, California (2006): 72-73, 655.
Lackland, D T, et al, Journal of Nutrition (Nov 1990), 120: 11S: 1433-1436.
Murray, Michael, N.D., and Pizzorno, Joseph, N.D., Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, 2nd Edition, Three Rivers Press, New York, NY (1998): 52, 91.
Nutrition Week, Mar 22, 1991, 21: 12: 2-3.
Perlmutter, David, MD, Grain Brain, Little, Brown and Company, New York, NY (2013): 77, 228.
X. Huang, et al, “Low LDL Cholesterol and Increased Risk of Parkinson’s Disease: Prospective Results from Honolulu-Asia Aging Study,” Movement Disorders 23, no. 7 (May 15, 2008): 1013-1018.