Bored Panda reached out to Uta Boellinger, a BANT registered nutritionist, who kindly agreed to tell us more about what leads us to believe some things are unhealthy when they are good for us.
She explained, “Over the years the food and diet industries have spread so much misinformation in an attempt to sell their products. This coupled with false information spread by fitness influencers and the media has left people brainwashed and confused.”
Admitting when you don’t know something. Its okay to not have the answer. Too many people would rather b******t an answer, than accept what they don’t know.
One example of this is fat. “Far too many people still believe that anything high in fat is automatically unhealthy. This could not be further from the truth. In reality, we all need fat as our body is literally made from fat (cell membranes, our brain, hormones, etc. are all made from fat!).
There are of course good and bad fats and some fats can become unhealthy if they are heated at high temperatures but at the end of the day, high-fat foods such as avocado, oily fish, nuts & seeds are good for us.
Another reason foods can be seen as unhealthy is if they are naturally high in sugar (such as the poor old banana). The issue here is that statements are often taken out of context! Whether something is healthy or unhealthy depends a lot on when you are eating it, how big a portion is, and whether you are combining it with other foods or not. “
Frozen fruits and vegetables. The modern flash-freeze technique preserves almost all of the nutrients and they are always picked when they are in season, so they are as nutritious as their fresh in-season counterparts, and more nutritious if it is not the season.
In order to help people be more cautious about conflicting information online and make the right decisions for their health, Boellinger emphasizes the difference between whole foods and highly processed foods, and how important it’s to listen to your body and find reputable sources.
“For example, a banana may technically have the same amount of sugar as a chocolate bar but in reality, it is still healthier because it also contains fibre and vitamins and minerals.
Secondly, listen to your body. If you feel well, have great energy levels, good sleep, and balanced moods you are likely doing the right thing. Don’t let anyone tell you something is unhealthy just because it didn’t work for them.
Finally, find reputable sources! Follow the advice of registered nutritionists over that of a fitness influencer and don’t listen to anyone who is trying to also sell you products (such as weight loss shakes etc).”
Silence. We’ve gotten so used to noise pollution, real silence has become anxiety inducing. Silence improves sleep, helps your brain process what you’re learning, reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, the list goes on.
Sunlight.
There are specific times of the day where the UV days aren’t as damaging.
You need vitamin D, you need sunlight. Just don’t be lying out there for 3 hours tanning/burning.
Shocked that no one has said potatoes. They’re one of the healthiest foods we know of – packed full of nutrients and vitamins, and carbohydrates. They’re nearly enough to live off of entirely on their own.
It’s the oil we cook them in that’s the unhealthy part .
I keep hearing more and more people say that eating fruit is ‘bad’ because ‘sugar’.
No, eating sweets made of processed ingredients is bad, fruit (as with everything, in moderation) is good. Fibre, vitamins and minerals, nutrition in something that just grows out there. Good. Eat fruit.
Maintaining work boundaries.
A lot of oldies and bootlickers would immediately gang up on you and call you lazy and have poor work ethics for even thinking about working only during your paid hours and utilizing your PTOs.
Sport during pregnancy. Actually a lot of things are healthy during pregnancy theres just too much misinformation. If your doctor explicitly says no sport then yes. Do that. But if doctor says ok then go ahead.
Nuts. Specifically unsalted nuts. Many ppl think they’re not healthy because they only look at calories, but they’re high in healthy fats, fibers, vitamins, so good to eat one or two hands per day of them (sure, not the whole bag at once ;-)).
Video Games, not to obsessive levels obviously. I run my own business, stressful and an uphill battle sometimes. Video games are a vent for the negatives.
Butter.
just pure butter.
while we’re at it: lard, tallow as well.
Taking care of your mental health is not a weakness, it is a strength to recognize your problems and learn to overcome them.
Traveling. They think that it is unnecessary and not worth the money but it’s actually help me to be happy in life.
One thing I’ve noticed as a nanny is that people don’t think it’s okay for their infant/toddler to chill in their crib alone after a nap. It’s actually really healthy and good for them to chill alone in their cribs after they wake from a nap, especially if they aren’t distressed about it! The parents will run to get them the moment they pop their eyes open, which eventually makes the kids start crying when they wake, because they expect someone to get them the moment their eyes open. These are also the babies that won’t let you out of their sight for a moment.
But the ones who are able to chill alone for 10-20 minutes from the time they are really small, usually just roll around and babble to themselves for 10-20 minutes before they get upset. And the kids who can chill alone are usually really chill during wake times too, and don’t freak out when you leave the room.
It’s perfectly healthy for your kid to be by themselves even as babies.
Screaming. If you’re frustrated, you can scream. You can go somewhere where no one can hear you. Screaming is better than taking your frustration out on others.
Salad dressing: the vitamins in leafy greens are oil-soluable, and if you don’t include one you don’t get the full benefit of your leafy greens.
You know what, I’m going to say it. Calories. Everyone acts like calories are the worst thing in the world, but they’re just the numerical amount of energy a food gives you. There’s nothing inherently bad about calories.
Any type of herbal “medicine” – like telling someone to drink tea instead of soda and they act like that’s the stupidest s**t theyve ever heard in the world.
Lemons and honey wont cure cancer, but it sure as hell aint hurting your cold.
edit: many people are pointing out that the opposite take (absolutely no doctors or modern Healthcare) is just as bad and it *is*. Those types of people are evidently the source of the stigma around living healthier lifestyles.
I still get into arguments about eating fruit vs eating candy 🤦🏾♀️.
Heartbreak! I think with the prevalence of dating apps, everyone seems to have become quite systematic about dating and compartmentalising things as fwb/situationships and any number of other labels. That’s great and people should feel free to explore themselves this way and have different types of relationships, but you are a human being and shouldn’t be surprised if things impact you emotionally sometimes. It’s the risk you take, but it’s worth it most of the time and it makes life exciting.
Your blood sugar “spiking” after eating certain foods. That’s exactly what’s supposed to happen. Unless you’re diabetic, you need to spend zero time worrying about your blood sugar. Just eat healthy foods and go easy on the junk food and sweets.
Gluten for people with no medical issue with it and palm oil that we don’t avoid cos it’s not healthy but because palm cultivations tens to rob various animals of their natural habitat.
Plant-based diets. People think they’re deficient in everything from protein to vitamins while in fact it’s virtually impossible to be protein deficient if you get enough calories and vegetables are better sources of most vitamins and minerals than animal products. Also very easy to get calcium, iron, omega-3, etc etc from plants.
Not to mention, the best, largest studies on the subject (those that follow tens or hundreds of thousands of people over decades) consistently show that people who follow plant-based diets have better health outcomes and longer lives.
Bring on the angry downvotes…
I’m continually surprised by how many people are eager to tell me how running is bad for me. .
Organic soy. People think it puts estrogen into your system when actually, soy contains phytoestrogen, a plant estrogen, that doesn’t affect humans. In fact, organic soy prevents diseases like breast cancer and is a great protein and calcium source.
Strength Sports.
It got better, like way better.
But even when I started around 2009 with 14 years back then, people who probably couldnt finish an EKG were telling me up and down how dangerous going to the gym is and I couldnt list all the problems im going to get.
Add whey Protein on top of the Mix and you got alot of obese hobby nutrition scientist telling you, that your kidneys are going to fail, while their body doesnt even remember anymore what an Insulin Spike even feels Like.