Page 174 - How to Be a Conscious Eater - Making Food Choices That Are Good for You

recognize (sugar, hazelnuts, cocoa), but it also has 21 grams of
sugar per serving (out of a suggested daily limit of 25–36 grams
total) and palm oil as the second ingredient, so it’s not exactly
healthy. Though at least it uses exclusively certified sustain-
able palm oil, so you know it was sourced in a responsible way.
In addition, there’s a lot of hooey peddled along with the
sometimes cultlike clean-eating evangelism. So, beware the
trap of oversimplification and overdoing any one thing. There’s
a saying in public health that the dose makes the poison. In
other words, clichés like “everything in moderation” and “vari-
ety is the spice of life” have real scientific reasoning behind
them. Foods aren’t “good” or “bad” in isolation; how much you
eat of them—at one time, and how often—makes all the differ-
ence in how they affect your body. This applies both positively
and negatively, as when consumers suffer from orthorexia:
an unhealthy obsession with eating clean. Like anorexia and
obsessive-compulsive disorder, it’s a fixation centered on con-
trol. Refusing to eat foods that one does not consider pure can
actually have quite unfortunate consequences, from damaged
social ties and compromised mental health to malnourish-
ment. (Check out Bee Wilson’s article in The Guardian on why
we fell for clean eating.)
The bottom line is yes,
aim to eat mostly whole
foods, especially plant-
based foods, but don’t
feel guilty for eating some
processed foods. Because
healthy is more nuanced
than simply processed
= unhealthy.

Stuff that Comes from Factories 163

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