Unpopular Opinions About Food and Food Trends

Real Food. Real Conversations.

These unpopular opinions about food may not be what you want to hear! There are so many trends in the food space, and we're weighing in. There are SO many opinions in the online food world! Listen in as we tackle many of them and chat about where we stand. Chelsey Amer, MS, RDN is a New York-based registered dietitian, cookbook author, creative recipe developer, food blogger & photographer, and owner of Chelsey Amer Nutrition. When she's not playing in the kitchen, dreaming up delicious recipes, or guzzling coffee, she works with clients in 1:1 and group settings to answer the question "What should I eat?" to help eliminate restriction and promote inclusion of the foods that help you feel your best. Check out her free Balance Your Plate Guide here! Food Trends The online space gives us so many things that people take as hard fast rules. It's overloaded with opinions, what you should and shouldn't do. We have this lens into peoples lives and many think that if it's working for the one person then it must work for all people. But this is far from the truth. You need to do your own research, and in doing so making sure you are looking at actual peer reviewed studies is important. However many of those are hard to read and understand for the average person, which then leads them to look at sources that are misleading or even untrue. We need to stop polarizing foods and focus on what works for us to feel our best. We often listen to so many people that we forget to listen to ourselves. As Chelsey says to her client, our internal cues should be strongest with the external cues coming in secondary. But the problem is that many people have this as the opposite. Why Do People Jump on the Bandwagon? In the diet and wellness space, there is not so much room for grey, it seems to be very black and white. However it's that grey that what works for people overall. But that black and white set of rules can give people a sense of structure and even belonging. So it can be attractive. Another issue is we apply one person's success to mean it will be successful for all. Many diet trends have started this way. Take keto for example. It was originally developed for one population, dealing with epilepsy. But now the concept has been spread over a wide group of people. Overall, even when things may work short term, they are not usually sustainable for long haul, so we find ourselves jumping on the newest trend. Unpopular Opinions in Top Trends Here are some of our unpopular opinions and the reasoning behind them: Eating sweets daily is healthy for you It is actually good to allow yourself to eat real sweets. Things you crave with added sugar, butter, oil, the whole nine yards! When we don't allow ourself to eat something we crave, it tends to lead to binging which is a very unhealthy habit. Eventually you'll even see that you adjust and may not even crave sweets often anymore. You should not have cheat days Calling something you eat a "cheat" is an unhealthy habit. It's bad for your relationship with food as it attaches morality to your food. Food should be described in facts like delicious, nutritious, hard, soft, crunchy, salty, etc. Describing food as good, bad, clean, cheat, etc adds emotions to the food and creates an unhealthy relationship. Eating a balanced diet is the best way for you to enjoy eating, and keep your mental wellness at it's best. There is no food police to answer to. It's important that you sometimes eat for your body, and sometimes you eat for your mind as food can bring comfort and feelings of happiness. A vegan diet is not necessarily healthier or morally superior Eating a plant-based diet is not the end all be all. While eating a diet rich in plants can add a lot of nutrition to your diet, there is no reason it needs to be an all or nothing thing. We are all different and while a plant-based diet can be life changing fo...