# "Healthy foods" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 14, 2007, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978 "2007-05-14T01:33:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/1 "2007-05-14T01:33:17Z")
Is it the freaking 80’s still? That phrase is like nails on my brain. [Why are people still asking questions like this?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=420605) Why do people think there is a such thing and healthy and unhealthy foods? A balanced diet of whole foods eaten in moderation. IT’S THAT SIMPLE. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/2 "2007-05-14T01:43:26Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] Why do people think there is a such thing and healthy and unhealthy foods? [/QUOTE] Because there are differences between the two? Just a guess. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/3 "2007-05-14T01:43:36Z")
> [@](#): > > A balanced diet of whole foods eaten in moderation. IT’S THAT SIMPLE. But wouldn’t that mean that foods that knock off that balance, or aren’t whole, would be considered “unhealthy”? ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/4 "2007-05-14T01:48:28Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] Is it the freaking 80’s still? That phrase is like nails on my brain. [Why are people still asking questions like this?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=420605) Why do people think there is a such thing and healthy and unhealthy foods? A balanced diet of whole foods eaten in moderation. IT’S THAT SIMPLE. [/QUOTE] I think it’s shorthand for ‘vegetables, fruits, and food that’s not equivalent to deep-fried lard in grease with butter sauce’. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/5 "2007-05-14T01:51:36Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] Is it the freaking 80’s still? That phrase is like nails on my brain. [/QUOTE] Are you saying that there are no healthy foods? Or that all foods are healthy, so why use the phrase? I am confused. ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/6 "2007-05-14T01:57:47Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] Are you saying that there are no healthy foods? Or that all foods are healthy, so why use the phrase? I am confused. [/QUOTE] Consider the moniker and let it go. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/7 "2007-05-14T02:00:53Z")
True- it does seem a bit odd. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/8 "2007-05-14T02:19:36Z")
Not that I would ever accuse you of trolling, but this seems like a really trollish OP that a troll might create, just to see how big a rise he could get out of people, rather than because he really believes in what he’s saying. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/9 "2007-05-14T02:32:05Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] A balanced diet of whole foods eaten in moderation. IT’S THAT SIMPLE. [/QUOTE] OK, if you eat a diet of nothing but so-called “healthy foods” versus a diet of so-called “unhealthy foods” will there be any impact on your health? Or if you have a so-called “balanced” diet of healthy AND unhealthy foods, versus a diet of healthy food only, would there be any differences in your health? ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/10 "2007-05-14T02:35:29Z")
Just watched a program on TV about changing a family’s eating and exercise habits. There are clearly many people out there who have only vague notions of what it might be like to eat healthily. ---
**Author:** ![Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/54ee81/32.png) [@Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kneepants_Erasmus_the_Humanist)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/11 "2007-05-14T03:13:27Z")
I think I might get what the OP is saying. Some people seem to think that to eat healthy means to drink only skim milk…and low/non fat everything else. I am very much in the “all things in moderation” camp myself. It is ridiculous to think that you can cut out all the foods you like and be satisfied and/or happy. Low fat cheese is the work of Satan. **Pizzabrat** , help me out. Is this approximately what you mean? ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/12 "2007-05-14T03:25:34Z")
[QUOTE=Kneepants Erasmus, the Humanist] Low fat cheese is the work of Satan. [/QUOTE] I’ll see your low fat cheese, and raise you margarine. Gah. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/13 "2007-05-14T03:28:15Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] I’ll see your low fat cheese, and raise you margarine. Gah. [/QUOTE] And I call, cause I’ve got Fat Free I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, featuring gelatin and rice flour for that special texture. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/14 "2007-05-14T04:20:13Z")
I get it. There are healthy lifestyles, healthy diets; but it is pretty simplistic to think that all your health troubles could be fixed if you would just eat a piece of broccoli instead of that bacon cheeseburger you always get at lunch. Not that this wouldn’t help a lot of people. It’s about acquiring and sustaining healthy habits, people. There is no “boogeyman” food such that simply avoiding it will cause you to become [Dean Karnazes](http://www.ultramarathonman.com/flash/). ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/15 "2007-05-14T04:21:27Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] Is it the freaking 80’s still? That phrase is like nails on my brain. [Why are people still asking questions like this?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=420605) Why do people think there is a such thing and healthy and unhealthy foods? [/QUOTE] This coming from the author of the “[death spike industry](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=258449)” thread? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/16 "2007-05-14T10:12:01Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight] This coming from the author of the “[death spike industry](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=258449)” thread? [/QUOTE] Considering this [recent “masterwork” of a thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=420583), I’m not sure what’s up with this poster. Drinking while posting, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/17 "2007-05-14T13:10:31Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] A balanced diet of whole foods eaten in moderation. IT’S THAT SIMPLE. [/QUOTE] I know someone upthread already commented on this, but you do realize that not all foods are “whole foods”? ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/18 "2007-05-14T13:25:26Z")
Wow - I’m surprised by the confusion. I always think I’m so clear. :shrug: The idea of inherently healthy foods is as dated as the low-fat food craze. The only thing that makes fried potatoes unhealthy is the amount eaten. When someone talks about healthy and unhealthy foods it sounds like someone talking about humors and bloodletting. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/19 "2007-05-14T14:19:46Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] Wow - I’m surprised by the confusion. I always think I’m so clear. :shrug: The idea of inherently healthy foods is as dated as the low-fat food craze. [/QUOTE] Then why are you referencing “whole foods” which is a very specific idea that there are inherently healthy and unhealthy foods? ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/20 "2007-05-14T14:34:13Z")
So fries are not unhealthy food? Fish and chips? Foods that contain nitrites? Great big platters of deep-fried battered everything? Foods with high levels of trans fats or saturated fats? Foods that are nothing but sugar? Foods that give you an entire day’s worth of calories at one meal? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978.md?page=2)