Isn't that the truth... And each time we have a shift in what is considered good or bad we have people making passionate arguments about whatever fad they are advocating for. This is partially fueled by the "health food" industry. Look at all the advertisement for "gluten free", "high protein", "no GMO", "no sugar", "no corn syrup", "all natural" and such foods. It is enough to make your head spin.
The observation that I will make is that in almost every case when someone I have known has completely cut a staple food out of their diet it hasn't turned out well for them.
The first time I noticed this... we had two college professor and their kids who were neighbors when we were growing up who decided to become vegetarians and made their kids become vegetarians as well. They were smart people and were careful about the foods they chose. But the whole family became sickly and eventually had to return to a more normal diet. Lately, my wife's sister and a niece have been trying to follow a vegetarian life style. I actually did enjoy the fruit smoothies they made the last time they came to visit. But after a year they are both starting to look like they are on death's doorstep.
Another friend of ours went to some sort of naturopathic “doctor” who told her she had celiac disease and should not eat gluten. No accredited MD actually has done any real tests to confirm this. But she completely cut gluten out of her diet. We have eaten her gluten free creations for dinner at their house and they used to come to the gluten free bakery near our home. All of the food tasted fine to me. Unfortunately, our friend's health has really gone downhill since she cut gluten out of her diet.
Basically all of her hair has fallen out and her skin looks like she has aged 30 years in the last 5 years. She has also been having severe problems with her joints and had to have her knees replaced. Whenever a doctor has suggested that her diet might be a factor in her poor health she dumps them.
And don't get me started on the "Atkins" and other high protein, high fat, no carb diets. The results of these on my friends and associates have been lethal in some cases and there is not space for me to detail it right now. Unfortunately, my wife has severe food allergies to seafood and strawberries. They cause her throat to swell up and make it difficult for her to breath. So I didn't eat any seafood for years. I started taking fish oil capsules a year or so ago at the suggestion of my doctor and they really seem to make a difference for me.
The other factor that doesn't seem to make it into the nutrition conversation is the bacteria that lives in your gut. After my appendix ruptured a few years ago and they gave me some heavy duty antibiotics to save my life... I started having some severe digestive problems. It took a long time to get back to where things were working right again. Your gut flora is extremely important to your health. If you do not eat certain food groups the balance of bacteria that are necessary for good health gets all screwed up.
It is good to find out about differing peoples and cultures food choices and cuisine. But the very best policy seems to always come back to the common sense, and moderation in all things approach.
What is healthy and what is not, is decided by experts who lobby our overlords to fund studys and draw up stupid food pyramids to meet their own ends.
Eat to match your activities.
It’s up to you to notice if you have negative effects from what you eat.
Everyone is better off studying the symptoms of health problems and identifying what causes them within their own bodies.
Why trust the government with anything when they obviously have a vested interest in your early death and the resulting taxes rather than having you linger on collecting SS and Medicare and Medicaid.