Why We Need to Calm the F$&k Down When it Comes to Nutrition

I was chatting with my dietitian friend the other day and she said something wonderful.

“We all just need to calm the f$&k down when it comes to nutrition.”

She is so very right. Somehow, nutrition and health has turned into this frightening, bombarding world of conflicting information. ‘Don’t eat this because that will happen, the food industry is killing you, 10 foods that will give you cancer.’

I once put a picture on our Facebook page page of our trolley of which contained a stack of healthy foods. I had a reader ask with disgust as to why I would be buying grated cheese. ‘Surely you should know as a nutritionist that you shouldn’t eat pre-grated cheese because of the preservatives’

Give me a break. Am I going to die because of the artificial anti caking agent in a bag of cheese that I purchase once every 6 months? No.

Is your child going to develop cancer because you were terribly exhausted and sent her to school with money to buy a ham and cheese sandwich on white bread for the second time that year? No.

Are children going to grow up being so sick of being told that they aren’t allowed gluten, dairy or soy in their house that they are going to pig out on McDonalds the moment they are with their friends at the shopping mall? You betcha.

Are women writing to me feeling like failures because they haven’t managed to drink their green smoothie each morning, or make their own nut milk, because life is hectic? You betcha.

Do young overweight girls write to me expressing that they feel that the initial step to become healthy and eat nutritiously is just too hard because the cant afford the fancy ingredients that they read on a blog that ‘must go into your smoothie to prevent weight gain?’ You betcha.

Am I getting emails from mothers freaaaaaaking out because another mother told them that they stopped giving their child gluten, dairy, preservatives and blah blah and now their child is an angel. You betcha.

Are those mothers that write to me feel like they are confused, out of control, guilty and feel like they are failing their children by feeding their child whole meal bread? You betcha.

I don’t know where this has come from, but all of a sudden it seems that eating fruit and vegetables and eating nutritiously 80% of the time just isn’t good enough. It’s too basic. Well that’s WRONG.

So lets chill out with this whole nutrition stuff. Let’s eat fresh, wholesome food as much as we can. Let’s make every effort to make our own food instead of buying pre-packaged. Let’s try and eat loads of delicious fruit and vegetables, eggs, legumes, lean protein, wholemeal sources of carbohydrate. And let’s just try to do our very best nutritionally MOST of the time. Because if you can manage that in today’s hectic world, then I give you a huge high five.

• disclaimer: The Nutrition Guru is NOT against green smoothies or making your own nut milk. Nor is she pro preservatives. However, she does not agree with current nutrition messages negatively impacting one’s mental health. The Nutrition Guru also advises that this article is not validating your desire to eat whatever you want, particularly if you currently have an unhealthy diet. Rather, highlighting the philosophy of ‘everything in moderation’ and encouraging readers to try their best to be healthy and happy.

The Nutrition Guru is a university qualified Nutritionist, keen cook and all round myth buster. She cares passionately about advocating for holistic health and providing credible and up to date nutrition information in order for people to make their own educated decision about nutrition.