I read an article this morning about the upcoming health trends for 2018, according to Registered Dietitians that were interviewed at the recent Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foods and Nutrition Conference and Expo. Guys, it was really depressing, and left me pretty angry and I grumped around the house and gave Joseph an earful about the state of the nutritional world and now I am going to complain to you. -- Okay, not really, But I want to share some thoughts with you.
Some of the things that were talked about were foods that were free of allergens, wheat, gluten, eggs, dairy and nuts. The article specifically talked about the magic of dairy-free chocolate chips. I am sorry that people that are allergic to dairy can't eat chocolate chips, but is spending money on a dairy free alternative the best use of our time and resources?
The next item on the list was something they called "Plant based foods" - if you are thinking Yah! plants.... They aren't really talking about eating more fruits and vegetables, they are talking about things like almond milk, "cheese" made from cashews, cauliflower rice and pizza crust and every veggie chip under the sun. (although they did voice some concern that veggie chips can have as much oil and sodium as potato chips (Guys! Potatoes ARE a vegetable)
There was a lot of buzz about fresh and dried flower powders that can be added to your smoothies and lattes. Also making the list were powder forms of protein foods like eggs, peanut butter, and regular old protein powder in both whey and soy forms.
Also making the very long list were.... homemade fermented veggies, matcha, convenience foods with vegetables added, probiotics and healthy fats.
It is no wonder that the world of Health is so darn confusing, and overwhelming and for me it feels too expensive, too time consuming and that I am just not smart enough to start counting macros and bio-hacking my own body. (YES!! it's a thing!!)
I posted a photo on my Instagram account the other day -
Vegetables aren't every going to be trendy. They don't sell books on the best seller list and they don't make the morning news shows as the next big thing. Whole grains are on the same list, they don't taste like spicy bacon and lime chips and they don't have a super hero on the outside of the box. But they have been good for us forever, and they will continue to be good for us.
The thing that I love most about the Food $ense program (and I LOVE a lot of things about it) is that everything they teach is 100% evidence based. That means it has been tested and studied and tested some more and test results shared and studied again. It doesn't have the same zing to it as the fad diets, but it is true and it works, and it will probably never ever Trend, but I am okay sticking with sound advice that has been true, well, since at least 100 years.
