All Foods are Healthy

"You eat chocolate? But how? You're a health professional. You should set an example." I've heard this so many times throughout my career that I want to explain my diet philosophy and why I think no foods should ever be 'off limits'.

'Health' is defined as:

1. The state of being free from illness or injury.

2. A person's mental or physical condition.

Let's look at two aspects of health:

Physical Health

What determines your health is your overall diet, lifestyle and genetics . So, essentially ALL foods are, in fact, healthy. It's the amount of foods we eat that determines the overall quality of the diet, which in turn affects our health. Furthermore, other factors like sleep, stress, hydration and so on impact health. So taking one food and labeling it as 'healthy' or ' unhealthy' doesn't make much sense , does it? It's the bigger picture we need to pay attention to.

Mental Health

Oftentimes, the foods that are labeled as unhealthy are 'mentally healthy'. You see, comfort foods are important for one's sanity. Just look at most people who completely cut out a certain food they love because it's ' unhealthy'. They end up binging , feeling guilty, and swear they won't do it again- just to binge again. They are sucked into a vicious cycle full of guilt and self-hate which started from the complete avoidance of certain 'unhealthy' foods. The relationship with food is now negative and can lead to various eating disorders. Health is multifactorial. Looking at one food in isolation does not indicate the 'lack' or the 'presence' of health. It's time we stop labeling foods as healthy or unhealthy, good or bad, and start focusing on the overall lifestyle, diet, and mental & emotional well being.