health food myths: DEBUNKED!
Photo by James Hammond on Unsplash
‘You eat like a rabbit!
To clarify, rabbits eat only hay and grass, food pellets, and some fruits and vegetables.
When most people think of healthy food, an image of bland salads, steamed vegetables and green smoothies is conjured up. It’s a common misconception of healthy food that turn many away.
Healthy food can taste good, and yes, it is possible to crave healthy food. It’s all about variety of flavours, ample seasoning, fresh ingredients and a little bit of cooking skill. Palettes can be trained, but we are not about force feeding you vegetables that you inherently detest (no celery please!). It’s about discovering new ingredients, flavours and food combinations, and seeing how your body responds to them.
If you’ve been hesitant about switching over to healthier eating habits, then this is the post you need to read.
For the purpose of this article, we define ‘healthy’ foods to include chemically unprocessed and unrefined foods: lean meats, seafood, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and healthy fats like olive or avocado oil.
It Tastes Bland
Salads are usually the victim of this kind of accusation. And, it’s true to an extent. Some vegetables are naturally lacking in flavour like lettuce or cucumber. This is where ingredient variety and use of herbs, spices and alliums come in. Seasoning is key!
Cooking techniques can also make a huge difference. Roasting/grilling vegetables is not only a great way to incorporate flavours from seasonings, this method of cooking also caramelises the natural sugars in vegetables to bring out their sweetness - changing the taste and texture of some ingredients (eg. sweet potato and capsisum) that may be less palatable raw.
For salads (which usually consist of raw ingredients), natural dressings are the solution. Drenching your salad in high-fat, artificially flavoured dressings totally defeats the purpose! At SaladStop!, we serve up tasty and healthy dressings like the Thai Turmeric and Smoked Pimento Vinaigrette which are light, but full of flavour.
It’s Boring!
Combine a whole bunch of ingredients with different flavour profiles and ‘pow!’ u get a medley of flavours in your mouth. Grain bowls with a balanced mix of lean meats, vegetables and healthy grains can easily be customised for your dietary requirements and taste preferences, and are utterly delicious and filling!
The vibrant colours from fruits and vegetables also makes eating a visual delight, while being nutritious at the same time. This is due to the phytochemicals found occurring naturally in plants which serve as powerful antioxidants, boost immune function, and reduce the risk of diseases and cancers. Hence the phrase: ‘Eat the Rainbow!’.
It’s Not Satisfying
We’re talking about satisfying your physiological hunger and daily nutritional needs.
Theoretically speaking, healthy foods provide greater food satiety as they tend to be be high in fibre, water, complex carbs, lean protein and healthy fats. A satisfying, nutrient-dense meal should include foods like fruits, vegetables, leans meats, fish, eggs, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds.
But then you may ask, ‘What if I need to satisfy my sweet tooth or emotional food cravings?’. Well, there are tons of healthier sweet or savoury options that can do this.
If you’ve ever tried a avocado chocolate mousse (which is available at SaladStop! outlets) you’d know how satisfyingly indulgent it is. Look for items that provide natural sweetness from fruits (eg. bananas and dates) or use honey and maple syrup which has a lower-GI and more minerals and nutrients than processed white sugar. On the savoury side, air-fried kale chips/brussel sprouts with a pinch of himalayan sea salt or roasted rosemary garlic chickpeas are fantastic snacks!
It Doesn't Give You Sufficient Nutrients
These days, healthy food is commonly misinterpreted as being vegan or vegetarian with a rise in the vegan movement and environmental concerns in our society. If you are indeed a vegetarian, especially a vegan, you would need to pay more attention to getting sufficient protein, iron, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and omega-3 fatty acids, usually in the form of supplementation.
In fact, vegan food can actually be unhealthy especially if you are eating deep fried vegetables and highly-processed, refined and sugar-laden foods like cakes and cookies.
This brings us back to our earlier definition of healthy foods. As long as you adopt a largely plant-based diet but still consume foods like poultry, meat, fish and some animal products like eggs you should be getting all the nutrients you need.
Just remember, focus on consuming a variety of foods and eat everything in moderation for an all rounded nutritionally balanced meal!
