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HEALTH: DIET
what works for one person...
We all love a good headline but unfortunately the
media can make us feel like the ground is constantly
shifting and it’s hard to know what to believe.
To be fair the field of nutritional science is still
relatively young and even the experts are still
learning. Some of the things we thought were true in
the past have turned out to be incorrect – causes of
high cholesterol or the effectiveness of low fat dieting
are just two examples.
And of course what works for one person doesn’t
always apply to someone else.
Nutrigenomics (the study of the interaction of
nutrition and genetics in relation to our health) is a
fast-growing area of science that’s set to have a huge
impact in the health sphere over the coming years.
Scientists are only beginning to understand the
critical importance of the microbiome – our unique
combination of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria, that will,
in my opinion, turn out to be fundamental in the
prevention and treatment of most diseases.
I digress…
The point is there’s so much information out there it’s
no wonder we end up feeling confused about which
foods are good for us and what ingredients to avoid.
The way food manufacturers label their products
can be misleading (to say the least!) and sometimes
we feel like we need a degree in dietetics to be able
to interpret the list of ingredients. Many of us are so
used to following the latest diet or plan with a set
of rules, that we stress about getting it wrong and
ruining all our hard work.
Inevitably a question I get asked a lot by clients is:
“Can I eat this?”
And my answer is often the same: Yes you can. But
view all foods as if they’re on a spectrum. So for
example you might have organic kale and broccoli at
one end of the spectrum and Mars Bars and Haribo
at the other end. Everything else falls somewhere
along the middle.
With that in mind, when it comes to deciding what to
eat, think about how you can move up the spectrum
towards a healthier choice.
“Can I eat pasta?” Yes sure, but better to have
wholewheat pasta than white pasta. And better still
have wholegrain rice instead.
Don’t get too wound up or stressed about getting
it perfect. It’s important to keep perspective. Yes
scrambled or poached eggs are better than fried but
much better to eat fried eggs for breakfast than Coco
Pops.
“Crash diets
DO work!”
“Mediterranean diet is the BEST way to
lose weight”
“Chocolate and red wine can help you
lose weight!”
“Eat WALNUTS if you want to lose weight”
BEYOND THE FORK
By taking this approach it becomes
easier to re-frame food as not being good
or bad, right or wrong but instead, where
and when you can, simply aim to upgrade
your choices and with it your health.
Jennie Gough
Jennie has a
BSc (Hons) in
Psychology and
is a health coach
and fully qualified
nutritional
therapist
registered with
both the British
Association
of Nutrition
Therapists
(BANT) and the
Complementary
and Natural
Healthcare
Council (CNHC)
jenniegough.com
