Why Healthy is the Worst Trend of All!
It’s a beautiful morning, and I am shopping at my local farmers market. I am shopping for my cooking show “Lunch with Leslie”. I always like to ask questions when speaking to the farmers. I was waiting in line to chat and pay for my veggies. Next to the vegetable farmers stand is an artisan bread company. They make wholesome sprouted whole grain bread with tons of seeds! It always smells fabulous and so tempting. Behind me in line are two young women. They both have children with them, and I can tell are having a great day out buying food at the farmers market. As I am checking out these two women line are talking about the bread. One is saying she hopes to get a loaf before they sell out and the other is admonishing her for buying bread because and I quote “bread is the devil, grains are so UNHEALTHY for you and your family and you should never eat them! I have read so much about how bad it is for you.” I could not see the reaction of the bread buying friend, but I bet she did not buy the bread that day!
This where I have a beef with HEALTHY being a trend! Everyone is quick to jump on a trend and typically just as quick to jump right back out. Take the fedora it was just on trend last summer, everyone was wearing one everywhere… I have not seen one this summer. It’s ok for clothes to trend but not our health subjects! Trends come and go. HEALTHY should not come and go!
The hot NEW thing should not be a healthy food. In my food blogger world, we try to rank for words on Google, meaning we want to own the subject in the search engine. So if you Googled coconut oil, you would get one blogger that dominates that space. If you Google fermented foods another will appear at the top of the Google domination list. It creates a TREND because we all share it on social media…in fact, in social media, we call it trending! Dr. Oz talks about sour sop, and now everyone is searching for a sour sop.
Your Body is NOT a Trend!
Can I just tell you one little thing our body is unique! There is no one like us in the whole of the world. Maybe your friend at the farmers market can’t eat wheat or grains because she is gluten intolerant. You, on the other hand, do not have a gluten intolerance especially when it comes to sprouted grains so you could eat the bread they are selling safely. Lemon in your water works wonders in the morning, but your mom has heartburn when she tries it, but you know it is good for her and she should keep trying! Your daughter loves blueberries but they make your sons skin itch. If you are Healthy TREND follower you may have some guilt over your son not being able to eat the blueberries; they are SO good for him after all, you have read all the expert blog post about them!
The real trouble comes from the titles of the blog post. The good blog post will have a title you can’t resist! You have to read it; I bet this one was no exception. A really good blog post will convince you there is no other way to do whatever the post is trying to get you to do. Example “Blueberries are the Best Antioxidant!” it is true they are super high in antioxidants but so is super dark chocolate. So are red grapes, cranberries, raspberries, spinach, and lots of other foods. The TREND maybe blueberries with an attention getting title (blueberries are great by the way) but not the only way to get your antioxidants in.
The Good News!
I love that healthy is exciting for lots of people but don’t get caught in the snares of TRENDS! Healthy is cool, it’s the right thing to do for your body and is something that deserves your attention. Just don’t try to stuff yourself in a box of the latest healthy trend. Especially if it that box does not fit you or your lifestyle!
There is no ONE thing that will make you healthy. It is a culmination of many things and many efforts that make your body a fortress of health and wellness. Seek out the things that work for you and don’t stress the things that don’t work for you. If you need help finding the right things for your body hire a professional to help you.
After I had paid for my vegetables, I went over to buy a loaf of the amazing sprouted whole grain bread. I knew my body loved all its amazing nutrients, whole grain fiber and healthy fats from all the seeds. I was thinking of the young woman that was so scared of bread and wondering which book or guru she had read that said bread was the devil. I was thinking I bet she didn’t know the truth about how in moderation sprouted whole grain bread is so great for the human body. Maybe she was gluten intolerant maybe she knew her friend was, but it seemed she had been slightly misinformed and was even fearful of all grains. I felt bad that she was a victim of another healthy food trend.
