What’s Healthy Nowadays?

For months, I’ve been living gluten-free, and I’ve lost weight from cutting out extra carbs, sugars, and unhealthy fats.  I’ve done research and found that going paleo can help those with autism and PCOS.  (Links are in the “Gluten-Free” post.)  I’ve been partially successful in living both the gluten-free and paleo diets, key word being “partially”.

Here’s the thing:  eating paleo is a lot harder than eating gluten-free.

For the gluten-free diet, all you have to do is avoid foods with gluten in it:  pastas, bread, cake, grains, etc.  The paleo diet?  Here’s an entire list of what you can and can’t eat:  https://ultimatepaleoguide.com/paleo-diet-food-list/

Okay, I can accept not eating grains, since I’m living gluten-free anyways.  I understand sodas, sweets, salty snacks, alcohol, fruit juice, energy drinks, and fatty meats being on the list because of their high sugar, salt, and fat content.  However, I have a hard time believing I should exclude dairy, legumes, potatoes, and sweeteners like Stevia and Truvia.

Once upon a time, I was taught about the food pyramid in elementary school.  It showed how to eat a balanced diet and the recommended servings for each food group.  It was simple:  eat grains for energy, vegetables for vitamins and minerals, fruit for vitamins, meat and eggs for protein and minerals, and dairy for calcium and healthy fats.  Foods high in processed sugar and bad fats are to be eaten sparingly at most and you have to balance it all with exercise.

Easy to understand, right?

With the paleo diet, you’re removing the grains and dairy sections of the pyramid, plus the top where all the bad things are.  Now instead of a nice pyramid, you got an awkward looking trapezoid.  I can understand having too many grains, and swapping out the glutinous flours for non-glutinous ones I’m fine with, so I don’t have that much of an issue with the grains section.  Dairy, beans, potatoes, and tofu?  I thought those were healthy!  Now you can’t have them because that’s what cavemen didn’t eat long ago?  (Admittedly, you pretty much have to skip dairy altogether if you’re lactose intolerant.  Same goes for certain food allergies.)

I honestly don’t know what to believe in anymore.  I thought this was healthy for this and this, but now it’s not for that and that?  Everywhere I look, there are articles listing why these foods are good and why they’re bad, why you should eat them and why you shouldn’t.  Before you know it, people are going to find reasons not to have the foods confirmed to be healthy, and we’ll all be eating vitamin and mineral pills for our daily three meals just to get what we really need.

I mean, what’s healthy nowadays?!

*sigh*

Sometimes, you just have to ramble and let some steam out, you know?

The only things I know to avoid for sure are the things that are 100% confirmed bad:  the desserts and salty snacks, the sodas, gluten, things like that.  Everything else I’ll keep in moderation, and I’ll continue to exercise.  It’s the best I can do for now.