Recent surveys have shown that one in four of us are completely confused with the official guidelines on healthy eating.
Take red meat for instance. Does it cause cancer or is it good for us? Is alcohol bad or good in moderation and should you stop drinking if you’re pregnant. How about tea and coffee – is the caffeine bad for us or not?
Then of course, there’s chocolate. Does the feel good factor and the antioxidant properties in some brands make it worth risking all those calories.
We all know processed food contains lots of saturated fat, salt and sugars, as well as colourings and flavourings so we shouldn’t eat too much of it, but we’re now told we shouldn’t eat the good old English breakfast either.
Bacon, sausage, egg, beans and toast should be relegated to the dustbin apparently. Instead we should eat fresh fruit and cereal, but even that is often full of hidden salt and sugar.
It is confusing knowing what you should or shouldn’t eat and most people don’t have the time to read the packaging. Even if you did you’d probably be confused as each manufacturer seems to have a different method of describing the contents.
We should, for the sake of our health eat plenty of fruit and vegetables because they contain chemicals to prevent cancer. They also fill you up without providing too many calories which is great.
If you can afford organic food it’s even better because not only do they taste better, and have more natural vitamins and minerals, they are grown without harmful chemical pesticides and fertilisers. This means they don’t add to the daily toxic build-up in your body. Unfortunately they are in the wrong price range for most people on a limited budget.
It seems to me there’s no point getting obsessed with food. If you like something, eat it but do so in moderation.
Jean Shaw
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