In the world of trying to eat healthier, it seems as though the status of food that is good for you vs. bad for you flip-flops every time a new study comes out. Today milk is bad (or at least not as great as it was once considered), but years ago it was good.
It’s not the only food. Lets break down the latest research on some other popular foods that seem to be stuck in good/bad purgatory.
Butter
OK, so dousing and frying everything in butter isn’t good for anyone. But according to one study, butter may not be as bad as we once thought.
Not just butter, but saturated fat in general has been looked down upon for the last decade as a food that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. That’s not completely true (at least according to current data).
It’s not great for cardiovascular health, but what tends to happen to people who decide to cut saturated fats out of their life is they gravitate toward bread and other refined carbs, which don’t do the cardiovascular system any favors.
The key, according to researchers, is to live a diet of balanced macronutrients. If you’re trying to watch your heart health or have a history of heart disease, it may be best to switch to a Mediterranean diet full of fish, nuts and olive oil.
But, for the rest of us, butter isn’t as much of a villain as we once thought – when consumed in moderation.
Eggs
Eggs are full of cholesterol, but according to the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, your body doesn’t absorb cholesterol how the committee previously thought. It was thought that consumed cholesterol was absorbed directly into your bloodstream, but it turns out it doesn’t affect your cholesterol nearly as much as previously thought.
Your body makes a lot of its cholesterol on its own. When you eat more cholesterol, it makes less of it.
Now, eggs are considered a great source of clean protein and a great alternative to eating breakfast cereal in the morning. People with diabetes should still be cautious as a study did link eating more eggs to an increased risk of heart disease among diabetics.
Soy
Soy is a weird one. In a time when many of us are seeking organic and natural products, soy is super processed and mostly not organic.
A lot of the evidence is mixed, more so than the other two foods on this list.
The problem is that soy is a newer part of the American diet. There haven’t been too many studies conducted on it and what there is has been inconclusive.
One thing for sure is that soy contains a lot of isoflavones and according to one study, it can activate estrogen in men and woman and throw off the body’s normal hormone levels and in turn, mess up the usual working order of the body.
Another study found that soy beverages should be avoided for infants because of a potential link to neurological problems and nutritional inadequacy.
It’s best to be safe with food that hasn’t been fully tested. It’s probably fine in small doses, but it’s best to try to avoid it when possible.
