Which Foods Are Healthy Is Anybody’s Guess

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Let’s face it, people always have their own interpretation on what they stake their belief is right, especially when it comes to food and saying which foods are healthy can be anybody’s guess.

A survey on which foods are healthy say anything but

The Food and Drug Administration recently gave in to public demand for a thorough review of how they establish standards on what foods belong to the ‘healthy’ group. This came in the light of a mounting confusion on how the line is drawn between what is healthy and otherwise.

A recent poll conducted by the Morning Consult, provides compelling results from hundred of nutritionists who are members of the American Society for Nutrition on what they generally believe to be healthy. A similar pattern was also conducted on average citizens who were asked the same questions.

Wide disparity on beliefs

The results came out with a diverse opinions from both the experts and the public. While there were those who agree that apples, oatmeal and other ‘commonly’ hailed as healthy, were in fact, suitable to their concepts of healthful foods. They also agree that foods like chocolate bars, soda drinks and french fries are generally not good.

However, mostly in between lies the gap, where common and expert perception seem to be at odds with each other, including some confusion as well from both experts and consumers.

“Twenty years ago, I think we knew about 10 percent of what we need to know” about nutrition, says Dariush Mozaffarian, who is the dean of the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. “And now we know about 40 or 50 percent.”

Divided on the nutrition value of granola bars

Of more than 50 food items that were included in the poll, it seems like the granola bars had the most number of people at loggerheads whether it is healthy or not. No less than 70 percent of average Americans believe that granola bars are healthy, but less than a third of the nutritional experts polled believe so.

There are other foods aside from granola bars that are touted as healthy like, frozen yoghurt and a SlimFast shake, but there’s one thing in common that would burst their bubbles on the healthy concept as these products contain large amounts of added sugar.

Only a couple of months back, the FDA announced that it will change the labelling norm in food products to contain added sugar in package labels.

But one thing’s for sure, to develop better means to allow the public, as well as nutrition experts to get the real picture in determining which foods are healthy and which ones are not.

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