Illustration by Eva Vazquez
I sat in a diner with Rocco, a lifelong drug user and motorcyclist with a penchant for insane blondes. When I reached for the plastic pepper mill to season my eggs, he shook his head.
“I wouldn’t do it, man,” he said. “Along with the pepper, you’re getting minute plastic particles in your food.”
I ground away. “I wouldn’t sweat it, Rocco. That’s not what’s gonna get you.”
I’ve long believed that worrying about microscopic bits and chemicals in food—pesticide on apples, hormones in beef, aspartame in diet soda—was worse for my health than actually consuming the stuff. Connie Diekman, past president of the American Dietetic Association and director of university nutrition at Washington University, agrees.
“When we look at the vast array of dos and don’ts in the food arena, it’s understandable why people are confused,” says Diekman, author of The Everything Mediterranean Diet Book. “Let’s quit being confused and worrying and focus on what we know, and that is more fruits, more vegetables, more whole grains. Those are three food groups that we’re woefully short in, and the evidence in terms of health benefits is significant for all three.”
Conversely, there’s little to no evidence to support eschewing reasonable amounts of beef, eggs, chocolate, etc.—all the good stuff—because of fats, cholesterol, chemicals, or impurities that might impair health, cause cancer, or induce other disease. Here is Diekman’s take on the relative benefits and dangers of foods where confusion and misinformation reign.
Trans fat: “Trans fatty acids are connected to an increased risk for heart disease. That evidence is clear. Trans fats exist naturally in animal foods and in processed foods. Fortunately, because of new labeling requirements, many processed foods no longer have trans fats in them, almost to the point that it’s not a category to worry about anymore.” Check the label, she says, particularly with things like ice-cream bars and cookies.
Oils, margarine, and butter: “The current evidence...suggests the preferable fat choice is a liquid oil, whether canola, soy, or olive. When choosing a margarine, look for one made from a liquid oil.”
Flour, processed grains, and whole grains: “Current recommendations call for a minimum of three servings a day of whole grains. It could be brown rice, whole wheat, and oatmeal, and then other servings of processed flour could be included. The most important message in the grain arena is portion size. A processed grain like white rice or pasta is not a negative if you keep your portions appropriate. But a processed grain that ends up as a cookie, cake, or high-fat chip clearly doesn’t have the same positive nutritional benefits. We need to look for nutritionally packed grains: brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, whole-wheat cereals and breads, popcorn, and quinoa.”
Sweeteners: “The body of evidence suggests nonnutritive sweeteners are safe for consumption. The evidence is stronger for aspartame than any of the others, because it’s older and more studies have been done on it. When you look at what’s better, sugar or nonnutritive sweetener, it comes down to what the individual is looking for. Certainly for an individual with diabetes, it’s an easy answer. Also, sugar does have calories, and we need to be aware of how much we are using. When we look at the diet beverages, we find no connection with health risks, but a few very small studies indicate that people who drink diet beverages eat more.”
Vitamins: “The 2010 ADA Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee could not find evidence to show benefit from vitamins when people are consuming all the foods that we know are needed for health. Of course, the problem is that most Americans aren’t consuming all the food we know they need for health. A multivitamin and mineral [supplement] seems to be perfectly fine. It may not be needed, but likely causes no harm. It’s single supplements that get us in trouble, that throw off the balance of the body. Reestablish the balance, and the body is happy.”
Fish and mercury: “The current recommendation is that we should be using chunk light tuna rather than albacore, because the albacore, being a bigger fish, stores more mercury. The real concerns with regard to mercury and other metals are swordfish and shark. It is recommended that pregnant women consume tuna and other fatty fish on a weekly basis to get DHA.”
Hormones in beef: “The evidence we have currently does not indicate that the amount that gets into the meat is of any concern for human consumption. If you choose beef, one, it should be lean; two, the portion should not exceed a 7-ounce cooked weight portion per day—and ideally it should not be daily. Daily should be fish. It should be beans. It should be plant sources of protein.”
Chocolate: “The science continues to show that the higher the amount of cocoa in dark chocolate, the greater the health benefits as it relates to the heart and blood vessels. It’s not about eating as much chocolate as you can. It’s getting that cocoa quantity, which means looking for the dark chocolate that’s got 60, 70, 80 percent cocoa. But we have to remember that it’s not magic. It has to go in a healthy eating plan.”
Wine: “Evidence continues to grow that with plant foods—and wine, of course, comes from the grape—the more you consume, the more health benefits you get. Because red wine keeps the skin of the grape, you are keeping more of the plant, and consequently, those phytonutrients are higher and the connected health benefits are higher. But again, it’s not magic, and we need with alcohol to do it cautiously and responsibly.”
Eggs: “Because the egg is relatively low in saturated fat, it no longer is looked at as something to avoid. It now is acceptable to eat one a day on average. The biggest issue with eggs is that they often come with bacon and sausage or gravy and biscuits. The egg yolk is a great source of choline, something we generally don’t get enough of, and a good source of protein.”
Caffeine: “One study showed that caffeine—specifically coffee—lowered women’s rate of depression... I think what’s important with coffee and tea is that we use them in a moderate amount, because caffeine is a stimulant, and that can lead to increased heart rate and increased blood pressure. A lot of people have shifted to Frappuccinos and all these coffee drinks, and the calories there are an issue. With colas, we also get into calorie concerns.”
Organic fruits and vegetables: Diekman says there is little to no nutritional difference between organic and nonorganic produce. “When we look at the organics from the standpoint of pesticides and fertilizers, the Dirty Dozen list that the Environmental Working Group provides certainly is a tool consumers can use to help them vary their intake... Probably the bigger concern with produce is people’s handling of it. For example, many people don’t wash their cantaloupes. They cut them, and any bacteria that was on the exterior of that cantaloupe now just went all through the cantaloupe.”
To learn more, visit the ADA’s eatright.org and adaevidencelibrary.com. St. Louis native and omnivore Rick Skwiot lives in Key West. His latest novel, Key West Story, will be released by Antaeus Books in January.
