With the amount of contradictory diet advice out there, it’s no wonder almost 2 in 3 Australia are overweight or obese.
‘Scientific’ studies about the benefits of certain foods are dodgy, random nuts are made out to be miracle superfoods by health ‘specialists’ and products are given incredibly misleading names (banana ‘bread’, for example.)
And if you’re feeling confused about what is and isn’t healthy, you’re not alone.
The New York Times recently surveyed a bunch of everyday Americans and asked them what food they considered healthy. They also asked a panel of nutrition experts about what food they consider to be good for you – and the results varied wildly.
As the post points out, both groups considered kale, apple and oatmeal healthy – and chocolate cookies, soft drinks and fries delicious unhealthy.
champagnepapi is demonstrably unimpressed
Frozen yogurt was outed as a phoney health food, with 66% of the public thinking it’s the good shit, versus 32% of the experts.
71% of the public considered a granola bar to be healthy. Only 28% of the nutrition experts did.
37% of the nutritionists considered coconut oil to be good for you, despite 72% of the public thinking it’s the bee’s knees.
The misconceptions swung the other way, too.
90% of nutritionists considered hummus to be good, compared to 66% of the public. 89% of experts were pro-quinoa, 58% of the public weren’t on board. And good news for your booze hounds: 70% of the health experts gave red wine the tick, compared to a measly 52% of the public.
So go ahead, and douse yourself in hummus, quinoa and wine tonight. For health purposes, of course.
Source: New York Times.
Photo: The Simpsons.
