Isn't the Word "Healthy" Everywhere?

Hi everyone! Hope you're doing great!

Today I wanted to talk about the word "healthy" and its meaning.

It's very common to associate this word to "optimal health", but does it really help you reach that goal? In my experience as a dietitian, I learned how to use this word in everything while I was in college! Educational handouts and with one-on-one nutrition consults with patients. But this word can also create a lot of tension around food because when we say that certain foods are "healthy" we are implying that other foods are not! So in reality, when you tell people not to eat certain foods because they are not "healthy", this will create more cravings towards these foods! Curious, huh? But often times we want what we can't have! This is when the cycle begins, people are prohibited to eat certain foods, they crave them more, think about it all day, cave into the craving by eating more of that specific food and the guilt comes up. This is an ongoing cycle that will not end if we keep promoting foods as "healthy" or "unhealthy".

Before the pandemic started I came to Guatemala to visit my family for a few weeks and

noticed that every single billboard, nutrition clinic, specialty food store had this word in their tittle or the service they were providing. I really don't want to offend anyone with this post, but I just want to create awareness. Eating disorders are real, they happen more often than we think and early in life too. Which is concerning and this is why I want more people to feel comfortable around food.

I often times look back and remember those times when I learned how to give my patients 1 cheat meal during the week. Now I realize and think that this is a very confusing way of educating our patients, since we are showing them that they can eat "bad" food one day a week! In reality food has no moral value, it's not good or bad, it's just food.

We should focus instead on teaching others how to understand our own cues. Our bodies are so perfect and wonderful that they have regulation systems. When we need energy (a.k.a: food) our own bodies create a signal to let us know that we need food. Also, we have satiety signals so we can know when we are full. Works for thirst too! So, it's important to notice these cues to know what our bodies need. By encouraging balanced eating I'm not promoting eating anything and everything at once, it's focused more on realizing that you can include foods that you want and need. If you perhaps have a craving for a cookie or pizza, you can certainly eat it. Since you ate what you wanted, you will not feel the need to over eat this food and enjoy it for what is. Certain foods that we categorize as "unhealthy" are part of social interactions. For example, cakes are involved in birthday celebrations, anniversaries, weddings and more! Does it mean that because they are "unhealthy" we can't enjoy them on these occasions? Absolutely not!

If we want to maintain optimal health, we need to understand that changes can be made in a realistic way! Knowing that these foods will pop up and we can enjoy them. Also, by moving our bodies not for the sole purpose of burning the calories that we ate, but to get endorphins, relax and feel good! Optimal health can be reached when we combine mind and body! We need to have both to reach that goal!

So, I motivate you to start noticing those cues! If you need help, I'm here to guide you!