There is a narrative of payment that underlies the understanding of food and nutrition for a lot of us. The idea that good-tasting food must be unhealthy, must be high in sugars and fats, must be inherently “bad” for you in some way. That it has to cost you something to eat something tasty. That healthy foods are inherently bad-tasting and that unhealthy foods are inherently good-tasting. This leads to an emotional trap of guilt, where we feel guilty for eating the good-tasting unhealthy foods and annoyed when eating the bad-tasting healthy foods. This description of food as either “good” or “bad”, while sounding cartoonish and absurd to some, is something I see repeated again and again throughout society, consciously or unconsciously. It’s a lie.

Disclaimer: This post will be discussing weight loss, dieting, eating healthier, and related topics on that theme. This content may be triggering for those struggling with eating disorders, so discretion is advised. I am also not a nutritionist or dietician, so don’t take what I say as official advice, professional, medical, or any other form of ‘proper’ dietary advice. I am just a dude who has read some things and experienced some things, and this is what worked for me. It may or may not work for you.

Plenty of people don’t want to touch a vegetable with a ten-foot pole. Given the cliche examples of Pizza Hut salad and undercooked bland Brussel sprouts, I can’t say I blame them. These are the “obvious” examples of this “healthy food” dichotomy, as they want the “good unhealthy food” and aren’t willing to even mess with the other food — the vegetables. 

But there are other, more subtle examples. One group that comes to mind that is extremely common is those who eat their vegetables so then they can eat their ice cream or chicken or pasta or whatever else. This idea that the vegetables are similar to a daily supplement pill — something you take strictly for the vitamins and minerals they give you, and ignore the taste of, is common. And the example takes it a step farther, as the narrative of payment is fairly obvious in the thought of earning the ability to eat a certain food as a result of certain behavior, i.e. “I will only allow myself to eat certain “unhealthy” foods if I eat my vegetables.” The idea of being worthy or unworthy of tasty food that is incurred here is a dangerous precedent, as it can lead us to all kinds of side effects. It can lead us to bland low-calorie alternatives (think celery), eating loads of lame “healthy” food when all kinds of bomb “healthy” food are out there, and is a foundational element in many forms of disordered eating. While it’s certainly easier said than done to rid ourselves of this way of thinking, I think even being aware of it and mindful of it when it comes up can be significantly helpful in decreasing its power.

I believe this is dichotomy is a lie on two fronts.

First — the placing of morality on our food choices.

The assignment of “good” and “bad” foods that many of us place, I believe is incorrect. As I touched on above, we shouldn’t have to feel worthy or unworthy for our food choices, and subsequently guilty or not guilty for eating ice cream; we shouldn’t feel morally obligated to eat or not eat certain things; it should all come from a place of intentionality, be it consuming “healthy” food for nutritional reasons or “unhealthy” food for reasons of enjoyment. Consumption should allow for both “healthy” and “unhealthy” foods. In essence, foods shouldn’t be seen as “good” or “bad”, they should be simply seen for what they are: different unique foods with their own nutritional and taste components. This is easier said than done, but simply bringing awareness to the topic is a great step.

Second — the dichotomy itself is a fabrication as taste is often confused with richness.

Beyond being flawed for its moral convolutions, the dichotomy itself is a lie. The inverse pairing of taste and healthiness in our food, a lie. To put it simply, vegetables and low-calorie foods don’t have to taste bad.

It is easy to confuse taste/flavor with richness, and this is where I think the problem lies. The dominant and underlying factor in all of the stereotypical “unhealthy” foods is not immaculate taste but an incredible amount of richness, as the richness (read: an overabundance of sugar, fat, and/or salt) is what leads directly to the “unhealthy” factors we fear (high calorie density, high sodium intake, blood sugar spike). If we simply recenter this dichotomy from “tasty unhealthy food” to “rich unhealthy food”, it’s at least a little bit better. I have qualms with dubbing any food blanket “unhealthy” or “healthy”, as I think understanding what exactly these labels mean and what’s behind them is far more valuable and far more nuanced then these simple labels. But as simplifications go, equating “rich” with “unhealthy” is a hell of a lot more accurate and closer to what we likely mean by “unhealthy” than the “taste” and “unhealthy” equivalence that pervades most of modern American society.

Incredibly flavorful delicious low-calorie foods:

• Most vegetables cooked with salt and pepper and a little olive oil (note: little, not deep-fried in). Pretty low calorie, tons of volume, and tastes great.
• Spice in both senses of the word (spicy foods and just spices themselves)
  • Hot Sauce for some zing and loads of flavor at ~0 calories
  • Add spices to your foods!!! Cumin, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, pepper, coriander, basil, … whatever you can think of. I guarantee it probably has ~0 calories and tastes amazing.
• Sauce elements that are very low calorie
  • mustard
  • balsamic vinegar
  • soy sauce (or substitutes like Coconut Aminos)
• Fruits*
• Soups*
• Tea / black coffee / sparkling water / water (okay these are kind of cheating, but all ~0 cal!)

*typically higher calorie than the rest of this list, but still pretty low calorie

Clearly, the way we talk about and think about food as a society has a ways to go. But with small steps and cultivating understanding, we can get there.

While the topics of food, our relationships with food, and “eating healthy” are nuanced and complex, I hope that this article was able to provide my thoughts, perhaps provide a new perspective, and ultimately help you in some way.

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