What is a good food

In light of the media exposure and proclaimed “twinkie diet” that professor Mark Haub was on the good food vs bad food debate rages on.

I firmly believe there is no such thing as a good or bad food if you don’t consider the dose. In other words you can achieve any lifestyle/fitness/body composition goal you want eating a mix of foods that include the so called ‘bad’ foods.

The only way to improve a Twinkie: Deep Fry it!

If you stop and think about all the foods that are considered ‘good’ and all the foods that are considered ‘bad’ you will quickly find out that one of the most consistent things about each group is their relative caloric density.

In other words, most foods that are considered ‘bad’ are very calorically dense (they are high in calories per gram), and the foods that are considered good largely end up being lower in caloric density (less calories per gram).

Could it be that the good and bad food people are really just trying to say ‘high’ vs ‘low’ caloric density foods?

If it’s not caloric density what could it be? Vitamin content? Mineral Content? Fiber? Fat (or lack thereof)? Some other yet discovered ‘phytonutrient’?

If this secondary list is what really makes a food good or bad then a multivitamin protein paste or bar would have to be considered the best food, but that doesn’t seem right does it?

I think the answer is food is just food, and all of it can have it’s place in any diet no matter what your goals are…even a Twinkie…and damn are they ever tasty!

But if I’m wrong can you let me know what you think the criteria should be for judging if a food should be deemed ‘good’ or ‘bad’?

John

Posted by johnbarban in Calories, food

Tags: bad food, food, good food, Twinkie |12 Comments

12 Responses to “What is a Good Food”

usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
November 15th, 2010 at 11:50 am
John, I’ll tell you what determines what food is bad and good: MARKETING.

At first glance, it might seem like a case of caloric density, but when you start to look at many of the supposedly good foods, it certainly is not the case. For example, a bagel typically has 300 calories while a donut has 200. In fact, a Twinkie has even less calories (150 calories to be exact).

Look at cereal. I’m a big fan of cereal, and really, practically all cereal has the same amount of calories. If you really want to be exact though, many of these so-called “healthy” cereals have more calories than cereals like Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The same can be said about bread too. Many of these “whole grain” breads have more calories per slice than “less healthy” breads.

People believe in the marketing hype, and I think it’s largely why people are unable to see or believe that it’s just simply about calories for fat loss, and furthermore, that the most important thing for “general health” is fat loss, not these omega-3s, trans fats, whole grains, organic, non-fat, sugar free, and high protein bullcrap that only become dietary issues if you’re overeating.
usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
November 15th, 2010 at 11:55 am
By the way, I was making a salad last night and I’m still trying to wrap my head around this.

Pre-washed fresh herb salad from grocery store: 15 calories (holy crap, that’s like NOTHING!)
Raspberry vinaigreette: 25 calories (that’s really good for salad dressings)
Croutons: 200 calories (LOL!!!!)

83.33% of the calories of this salad came from the croutons! Madness!!!
usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
November 15th, 2010 at 11:58 am
And to pay homage to Mr. Mark Haub, I ate nothing yesterday except for 1 WHOLE apple pie lol. And it was GLORIOUS while still fitting within my caloric budget!
Jordan D. Says:
November 15th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Multivitamin protein paste… I actually might like that! lol.

The various dietary factions all have their particular quirks and obsessions, from HFCS, trans fats, carbs, meat (either for or against,) etc. I think some people would be opposed to foods that contain those things, even if they were low-calorie.

Oh, here’s a good example: diet soda. Some people don’t like artificial sweeteners.
jbrunson Says:
November 15th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
I think healthy eating is like losing weight. Just like one high cal meal will not make you obese, one meal of Twinkies wont make you unhealthy. But over the long term if you eat high cal you will get fat and if you eat junk you will get sick.
usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
November 15th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
As long as you get your essential nutrients and keep your body fat levels in check, you will be fine. I look at food as more of varying packages of varying nutrients. I liken the size of the package to the amount of calories and the contents of the package to the nutritional content.

I think people way overestimate both their caloric and nutritional needs, hence their fear of undereating, which in turn causes them to overeat. People really have no context and scale of calories, but at the same time, it seems most people subconsciously eat at maintenance (it’s not like everyone is getting fatter and fatter – most people remain roughly around the same weight). I think that’s interesting because it begs the question: Why don’t people just lean down and THEN resume eating at maintenance?
usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
November 15th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
“…which in turn causes them to overeat.”

Probably more accurate to say:

…which in turn can cause them to overeat.

It seems like many people would also rather over- then undereat. It’s a really messed up way of thinking.
usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
November 15th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
I also don’t think there are essential food groups. Only essential nutrients. The Inuit eskimos don’t eat vegetables, but they are still able to get all their essential nutrients, hence their survival.

The categorizing of food by food group probably had benevolent or benign origins, but has nowadays become marketing tools in creating consumer needs and demands. My view on nutrition now is so radical compared to most people’s that when people ask me for nutrition advice, they argue with me even though they were just asking me what my secret to my transformation (into someone who almost has a 6-pack now and with an AI of 1.59) is lol. I even had one guy take back his compliment 60 seconds later and started to say I look thin and sickly for not eating enough LOL.
TheBrad Says:
November 15th, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Prior to discovering ESE and like-minded people such as John Barban, I’ve actually thought about what “good” foods were and what “bad” foods were. I used to think that foods that combined high amounts of fat and carbs with comparatively little protein were “bad foods”. It seemed to make sense. Ice cream. Bad. French Fries. Bad. Poutine. Very bad. Most any junk food seemed to fit this category. However, currently, throughout the week I’m sure I’ll eat at least a few slices of pizza (heavy fat/carb content), Chinese buffet at least once a week.(I don’t go crazy, but still enjoy the food). Basically, I enjoy food that I wouldn’t otherwise while keeping in mind the general caloric content and to hell with the fat/carb/protein ratio. Funny thing is, I fast 1-2 times a week and have never been leaner in my life. Devil’s in the dose and not the macronutrient ratios.
Lillea Says:
November 16th, 2010 at 5:11 am
So many things that I was told to avoid turned out to be good for me, and other things that were said to be good turned out to be bad, so it’s very personal in the end.

And dose is key as you wrote. Many things, even if they are total junk so you couldn’t survive on them alone, are not going to do much damage in small doses.

But for some people, certain foods must be avoided in any quantity because they cause severe problems for them. People who have bad nut allergies come to mind – people who must carry an epipen or they might die, or people with strong reactions to gluten grains, like I have, so they may suffer for days if exposed.

So my take is that there are indeed “bad” foods when this is looked at on an individual basis, or a group basis.

As more is learned about genetics it may become clear that some people are genetically built to handle certain foods better than others. But that’s still in it’s infancy, so it’s trial and error for most people to figure out what works best for them for both health and the satiety that will help them avoid overeating or undereating for too long.
VGregor Says:
November 17th, 2010 at 6:53 am
I’ve noticed myself some time ago that what is considered “bad food” actually is high in calories, so when people avoid it they lose weight, but not because that they avoid the sugar and fat, but because they have been eating lower caloric food instead.
Once you are told that that is what makes you fat and when you avoid you see that you have lost fat, then logically you believe that it’s that certain food that causes you to gain fat.

I don’t think that people actually want to say that it’s about high vs low caloric density foods. Because they consider certain foods bad due to the fact that it contains sugar and fat and they have been taught through tv that fat and sugar makes you fat.
Looking forward for your next post.

Vaclav Gregor
volwalker Says:
November 22nd, 2010 at 4:48 pm
TheBrad,

I just want to say thank you for your post. For some strange reason, your post just spoke to me, and it really made me realize what it takes to be lean and healthy. The whole “good food vs. bad food, paleo, low carb” stuff has torn my mind for several years. Not anymore thanks to your words.

12 Responses to “What is a Good Food”

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