What Qualifies a Food as "Healthy?"

After sharing my blog post with Facebook yesterday, featuring a salad containing Tofurky, a vegan source of protein made up mostly of soy, I had a concerned friend ask, "Don't you know how bad soy is for you?"

First and foremost, I want to let you guys, as readers know, questions are great! Not only do they raise my awareness on issues I may not have studied, but they are great learning opportunities for those asking the questions and the people who follow our conversations. So, I wanted to throw that out there- I don't think I'm above being questioned, so that's not what this is about! I firmly believe that we can all learn things from one another, all the time, and although I am confident in what I do know based on my education and experience, there are topics and items that I simply have not had a chance to research completely yet. 

With that being said, this scenario about soy made me think of another, bigger picture issue. I'm not overly concerned with my soy consumption and whether or not it was processed, fermented etc. What I realized more importantly is that the term healthy  has a TON of gray area. There isn't a black and white. 

How does one decide whether or not a food is healthy? We can start out by separating foods into two categories, Bad Foods and Good Foods. Is it really that simple though? Lets try it out.

Take the following foods and place them into one of the two categories: 

1. Alcohol
2. 100% Whole Wheat Bread
3. Pomegranates

I'm going to take a wild guess here and assume you threw alcohol into the Bad Foods category and pomegranates into the Good Foods category. But where did you place the bread? If you have an education in Dietetics, you're going to automatically put the 100% Whole Wheat Bread in the healthy category, because we are taught to include 100% whole wheat grains in our diets. The Dietitian may however, then second guess themselves because we know there are better options to getting the same exact nutrients that whole wheat bread contains. Would we suggest it to a client who is currently eating white bread and white pasta? Absolutely. Would we eat it ourselves? Maybe not.

Herein lies the problem: Healthy is a term we throw around and truthfully, all have a little bit of a different understanding and opinion of good foods and bad foods. In my opinion, it all comes down to your goals, disease prevention and maintaining a healthy body composition. 

You could eat organic blueberries all day, which I don't think anyone would argue with me, are very healthy, and you would likely become overweight due to the high intake of carbohydrates and lack of protein to balance things out. On the opposite end of that, lets say you have a very balanced diet but you drink one beer, once a week. We know that beer has absolutely zero nutritional value and is also high in calories and causes disease when consumed in excess. So should this individual be labelled as unhealthy? I don't think so. 

To me, health is all about balance when it comes to nutrition. It is about eating the best options as much as possible. Is it feasible to eat a diet free of unprocessed foods, all organic and free of genetic modifications? No. Would you go crazy if you never had another dessert, drink of wine, or other type of indulgence? Yes, you just might! And isn't our mental health, just as important, if not more so, than our physical health?

I could write about this topic forever, but I wont do that to you, don't worry! Here's what you can take home from this:

• Just like no workout routine is right for every single person, no certain diet is "healthy" for every single individual.
• Keeping your physique goals in mind, try to eat foods that will help you reach those goals. (considering calories and macronutrients- protein, carbohydrates, and heart healthy fats). I'm not talking about physique for aesthetic reasons. I'm talking about having a healthy proportion of body fat to lean body mass, in order for everything to function properly, keep you disease free, and meet the requirements of your energy expenditure. 
• Everything in moderation! I can't preach this enough! Even the healthiest foods wont do us any good if we eat too much of them. We also aren't going to benefit ourselves if we have to be completely perfect, all the time. A small indulgence every now and then is more than okay. Whether that be whole wheat bread, a light beer or a cupcake, just know that IT'S OKAY! :) 
• Focus on balance. Instead of focusing on individual foods and whether or not they are healthy, try instead to focus on wholesome, balanced meals. If you miss a serving of fruits at breakfast, get it in at lunch! If you ate a whole box of pasta last night, maybe focus on lean proteins today. 
• Choose whole foods in their most natural form, when you can. Think choosing the apple over apple juice. Your body can more readily absorb all the nutrients in foods closest to their most natural state, and you can be sure you are staying away from added sugars and other possible additives that just aren't necessary. 
• If you are someone who practices a limited diet for any reason (for me, veganism) you are going to be limited in options when it comes to certain nutrients. For me, protein, iron and B12. I'm not going to eat broccoli and beans for every meal. So mixing in some processed soy protein every now and then, I'm totally fine with that. I have to consider the risk to benefit ratio. I am getting more benefit by hitting my macros (i.e. getting enough protein from non animal source) in consuming that Tofurky, than any risk that comes from a very small consumption of processed soy products. 

We are all different, and we have to choose the foods that are best for us, and that make us, as individuals, feel and function the best, both mentally and physically! It's all about balance, moderation and making the best choices you can, as much as you can!

Question of the Morning:

How do you choose which foods are right for you? What factors help you to determine which foods are okay to keep in your diet, and which are foods you should NEVER eat???