What foods are bad? What are fattening foods? Do I have to give up my favorite foods to be healthy? Rena Quinton, Ph.D., R.D., assistant professor in the Human Sciences Department at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, answers these questions.
First of all, there are really no bad foods (well, maybe a few, but that’s my personal opinion). Any food you really enjoy doesn’t need to be avoided, although some should be eaten sparingly. This is assuming you do not have a medical condition that calls for special dietary modifications.
Too much of anything is never good. Carrots, for example, are a food we all recognize as very healthy. Yet if you consume five or 10 pounds per day, pretty soon the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet become an unattractive shade of orange and fertility may be affected. This is an extreme example, but the idea is not so much “what,” but “how much” in avoiding an unhealthy diet.
Excessive amounts of fat, particularly saturated fat, are not desirable. Fat can increase bad cholesterol and clog your arteries. This is regardless of your weight; you can be as skinny as a rail and this still happens. Foods high in fat and saturated fat include fried foods, fatty meats, regular cold cuts, whole milk, and many cookies and pastries. These are not bad foods, but you should eat them in moderation. Read the labels to spot high-fat foods; the “30 percent daily value” on the label is a maximum, not a goal.
Trans fats are even worse than saturated fats. Not only do they cause bad cholesterol to go up, they also cause good cholesterol to go down and may even affect your memory. While nature does put minute amounts of trans fats in foods like butter, it is the artificially created ones you need to avoid. These result when fats or oils are hydrogenated. Staying away from items with hydrogenated anything on the label is a better way to avoid these unhealthy fats than the phrase “zero trans fat.” Manufacturers are allowed to round numbers.
It is a misconception that particular foods are fattening. Again, the principle is “how much,” not “what.” Weight gain results from consistently taking in more calories than one needs. No particular food makes a person gain weight; it is the total amount of food. Some foods, such as candy bars or french fries, provide more calories than an equal amount of other foods, like steamed vegetables. Someone who easily gains weight would be wise to eat candy bars and french fries sparingly, but a chocolate bar is not going to magically make you gain a pound instantly.
Beverages, cereals and other foods with a lot of high fructose corn syrup and/or sugar provide excessive calories and can displace healthful foods and beverages in the diet. Even with a few paltry vitamins added, these super-sweetened foods do not provide the variety of vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals your body needs to be healthy. Again, read the label: if the first ingredients listed are high fructose corn syrup, sugar, corn syrup and/or other items ending in “-ose,” then this is not what you should consider real food.
In eating a healthful diet, the keys are pleasure and moderation, not fear and resentful avoidance.
This article is provided as a courtesy by the Human Sciences Department, Texas A&M University-Kingsville. For information, contact your nutritionist or health care provider.
H.E.A.D.s Up is a monthly column that features articles on a wide array of Health, Exercise And Diet issues. Information for these articles is provided by health and wellness professionals from throughout the A&M System. If you have questions or story ideas for this column, email Ruth McMullan.