3 tips for keeping calm and cool when you hear confusing food & diet advice

Full-fat or low-fat yogurt? Butter or olive oil? Sugar or Splenda? Meat or vegetarian options? Keto or Mediterranean? Low-carb or high-fibre? Fasting or mindful eating?

To say eating feels confusing is an understatement.

And as soon as you think you got it figured out, there’s a new headline that reads...

LOW-CARB IS DEADLY

Or what have you (ok, I made that one up).

But headlines aside, there’s also SO MUCH nutrition information circulating in society, on social media, through friends and family, making it all the more confusing (not to mention spreading misinformation). 

Here are my 3 tips to stop feeling confused with food and diet advice so that you can finally stop pulling out your hair:

1. Take the media headlines with a grain of salt!

 A lot of the time, the research studies creating those headlines aren’t that scientifically ‘strong’. In other words, they don’t prove a cause and effect relationship (which is really hard to do with food and health outcomes). 

So next time you see a flashy headline about how terrible cheese, butter, steak or coconut oil is, take a deep breath, read the article calmly, and move on with your day. Seriously.

I’m not saying there’s no truth in the studies and you should ignore them altogether, but there’s no need for you to throw out those $20 steaks or jar of coconut oil you just purchased. And if you’re truly concerned (and it's ok if you are especially if you have high cholesterol or other health conditions), speak to a nutritionist or even your doctor about it.

2. Stop using social media for diet advice! 

Before I continue, I want to say that there are MANY GREAT accounts with really good nutrition advice and info. But it can sometimes be hard to know which accounts are legit and which aren’t.

One thing you can do is look for their credentials. Registered dietitians are regulated health professionals. RDs have an undergraduate degree in nutrition plus one year internship experience. RDs are the most qualified professionals for nutrition advice. And just a heads up, wellness gurus and influencers will often pooh-pooh dietitians.

Many people have certificates and diplomas in nutrition, but those programs aren’t nearly as extensive as an undergraduate degree. I did both the nutrition degree and a holistic nutrition course. I have first hand experience.

It doesn’t mean that RDs will always have great advice or that those with certificates will only have flawed advice, but looking at credentials is a good starting point. 

Either way, if you're looking to make changes to your diet for whatever reason, it’s always best to see a nutrition practitioner for personalized advice (even if, like me, they’re not a dietitian) versus trying to figure it all out through headlines and social media. 

Please don’t do that!

3. As we teach in Intuitive Eating, ALL FOODS can be part of a healthy diet, except foods you’re allergic to, or genuinely don’t make you feel great, or you need to restrict for medical reasons 

Yes, eating high amounts of saturated fats from meat, dairy and even coconuts can raise your cholesterol, but if these foods are part of a balanced diet and life, it isn’t usually a problem. 

And this is the issue with going on these extreme fad diets, like Keto or the carnivore diet, which require you to eat large amounts of a single food group. THIS is where it can get problematic with food and your health. Sure, in the short-term there is often weight loss, which is the thing people are usually after. More often than not, short-term and quick weight loss ends up in weight regain, unless you're keeping up with the diet for life. But almost no one ever does. It's not sustainable.

Just a side note, every fad diet has some scientific-sounding theory about why the diet is effective and/or necessary. Have you heard the carnivore diet's theory about plants being toxic because it's their way in nature to defend themselves? As if fruits and vegetables were slowly killing us. Uummm, ok...? (Truth: Some plants do contain compounds that aren't great for health as they may inhibit the absorption of nutrients, like phytates and oxalates. Cooking, soaking, and fermenting are some ways to reduce these compounds.)

This research article explains the science behind a number of fad diets.

Look, just try not to eat cup-fulls of coconut oil, or handfuls of pork rinds every day! Or even kilos worth of celery for that matter. 

But aside from these diet extremes, there’s nothing wrong with consuming ALL of these foods (even ice-cream and fries), especially when combined with:

• Other foods (balanced and varied diet)

• Regular physical activity

• Stress management

• Social support and connection

• Stable and sufficient income

• Not being discriminated against 

• Amazing genetics

To wrap up this last point, one of the reasons you don’t need to feel confused with food anymore and you can start to feel calm and cool instead, is that no single food makes or breaks your health. 

Health (and outcomes) is multifactorial. Being stressed about how you’re going to pay the rent, month after month, is a lot worse for your health than a daily bag of Doritos or a glass of Coca-cola, especially if you're well-off. 

So, still confused about gluten? 

Don’t be. Unless you’re celiac, a little bloating from bread doesn’t mean you’re sensitive to it or that it’s ruining your health.

Usually, the more bloating, the more fibre you’ve consumed which is a good thing. Mind you, I’ve identified that wheat bran bloats me to discomfort, so I try not to have breads with wheat bran if I can help it; and if my IBS is flaring up, I try and avoid beans, especially chickpeas, but this is a symptom management thing.

So there you have it! Three tips for feeling calm and cool when you hear confusing food and diet advice.

If you want to explore feeling calm and cool with eating in general, I'm running a group program this September (2024), Diet-Free, Happy Me! You can read more about it here.  

For 1:1 support, head here to learn more.

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