Did you hear the one about carrots giving you cellulite? Or that gluten makes your limbs fall off? Or that grains are the cause of autism? Or that carbs and eating late at night will make you fat? Well, it’s all rubbish!
There are so many myths surrounding food and nutrition. Since when did it all become so complicated? Food is not inherently bad or good. And there’s certainly no food that is morally superior to another. Food should be enjoyed, not feared.
Somewhere along the way, we stopped seeing food as nourishment, culture and connection, and started seeing it as a test of moral character. If you eat “clean”, you are virtuous. If you eat cake, you have failed. That narrative is not only unhelpful but also damaging.
Following strict food rules is not only arduous, but it also adds to your anxiety about food and health (orthorexia) and primes you for the development of disordered eating patterns. No carbs after 2 pm, no fruit, no grains, no beans, no cake EVER, no sugar – natural or otherwise, low fat, low carb, high protein, paleo, keto, intermittent fasting. Sound familiar? Rules, rules and more rules! Well, it’s time to end the madness and get back to basics.
And let’s be honest, rigid rules are appealing. They offer certainty. They promise control. They make bold claims and guarantee to deliver quick results, at least in the short term. But what they rarely deliver is sustainability.
I often get asked, “What is the best diet?” My answer is moderation. It’s not a sexy sell, but moderation is the key. For some reason, many people want to be told what not to eat, what food to fear and what rules to follow to ensure they can achieve the perfect body or maximum health. But there’s no perfect solution.
Moderation does not mean eating perfectly during the week and blowing out on the weekend. It does not mean compensating for a slice of cake with an extra hour on the treadmill. Moderation is about flexibility. It is about portion awareness, variety and consistency over time. It is about what you do most of the time, not what you do occasionally.
Heck, I recently had a patient who lost 10 kilos and improved his diabetes in just three months by eating pizza, lollies and chocolate, and washing it all down with a soft drink. True story. His key to success was practising moderation. He reduced his portion sizes and the amount he ate of all those foods; beefed up his vegetable intake; and switched from regular Coke to Coke Zero Sugar. He didn’t sweat it out at the gym, he didn’t take a South American herbal weight loss supplement, nor did he survive for days on just 500 calories. He just made some small changes and voila. The proof was in the pudding, so to speak.
The real shift was not the food itself. It was his mindset. He stopped thinking in extremes. He stopped labelling foods as forbidden. And once nothing was off limits, he no longer felt the urge to overdo it.
My advice, along with other dietitians, is simple: eat when you’re hungry; really listen to your body and nourish it when it needs sustenance. Enjoy your favourite foods, even if you think they fall into the ‘naughty’ category; just make them an ‘every-now-and-then’ thing. Enjoy a tipple, but don’t overdo it. Find joy in moving your body, and always include as many vegetables as you can in your meals.
Build meals around the basics – vegetables, wholegrains, quality proteins, healthy fats – and let the extras fit in without guilt. Health is not built on one meal. It is built on patterns.
Truth is, there is no such thing as the perfect diet. There are no foods to avoid like the plague. And there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. A healthy diet incorporates all foods from all the food groups – the evidence overwhelmingly supports it.
Most importantly, your diet needs to work in the context of your real life. Your job. Your family. Your stress levels. Your culture. Your budget. If it only works on a retreat in Byron Bay, it is not a long-term strategy.
Nevertheless, if you’re not a fan of moderation, there are a number of pseudo-scientists who would be happy to tell you any number of rigid food rules to follow and what not to eat. But you’d be better off taking their shoddy advice with a grain of salt.
And if you are ready to step away from food fear and build a more balanced, sustainable way of eating, you can always book in for a one-to-one consultation with me. I would love to help you find what moderation and balance look like in your life.
