What makes Nutrition so confusing?
Last year, while I was standing at a café waiting for a takeaway order, I could hear the conversations happening all around me. To my left, a youngish male explaining what a vegan diet was to his parents; to my right, two women discussing their Vitamin D levels and supplemental regime; and behind me, a woman asking her partner if 'lactose free' meant 'dairy free'.
I thought to myself, "Well there you go, I'm not the only one who thinks about nutrition in my down time!". ;) ;)
But seriously, it was interesting for me because at the heart of ALL of their conversations was an underlying tone of confusion (bordering on frustration).
This is proof that you're not alone if you've felt frustrated (feel free to insert another word here - i.e. confused/ overwhelmed/ annoyed/ conflicted) by the busy world of nutrition!
So how did we get here? Why are we confused and frustrated about something we've done instinctually well for our entire evolutionary history?
Here are just some of the reasons...
Marketing and advertising making claims about foods/ products that are not evidence based. As Marion Nestle says, “Advertising is supposed to slip below the radar of critical thinking”, and boy is it effective!!
Varying levels of evidence, ranging from poor to strong. Not all studies are created equally, and of course the nature of science is that it is constantly evolving.
Varying interpretations of the evidence, which comes from varying experiences and level of expertise.
Nutrition and wellness “gurus” with confusing credentials, ranging from no / zilch/ zero training to many years of graduate and post-graduate study/ experience.
Difficulties with the actual study of nutrition due to a wide variety of influences, cost, bioindividuality, design difficulties, etc.
Vested interests – especially in relation to research funding and bias, to product development and marketing.
Cherry picking of data (i.e. finding only the evidence that confirms your opinion/ views). Case in point - heavily biased/ misleading/ simplistic messages being spread on social media/ Netflix documentaries.
Online echo chambers, which I’ve posted about before.
Too much choice. Confectionary/ chips/ biscuits and ultra-processed varieties of muesli bars/ yoghurts/ breakfast cereals, etc. It’s overwhelming, unnecessary and easy to experience decision fatigue when constantly faced with so much choice.
Emotion. When someone is speaking about their views on food, their ethical views, cultural identity and life experiences are all bound up in those opinions.
So what are we to do?
Find a source or person you trust. Thank goodness there are skilled professionals in the field who work with integrity and honesty.
If someone is making claims, offering advice or selling a product, some questions to consider asking are:
Is there substance to this person’s qualifications or claims?
Are they respectful?
If you work with them or buy their product, will you be supported as an individual and not a number?
On social media, keeping the wellness industry and influencers honest and accountable is extremely difficult. So, it’s up to us to respectfully question what health advice is flooding our feed. If most of your information is coming from social media, remember that it’s YOUR feed. Control it tightly, and take some time out if it’s negatively impacting you (I've become quite the ninja when it comes to unfollowing people or businesses who don't act with integrity and honesty!).
Challenge your own paradigms about nutrition, but also trust your gut. If something seems off or unbalanced then it is probably not applicable to you.
To reduce the overwhelm that comes with too much choice, stick to the goal of eating mostly unprocessed and whole food based. That way, there is far less decision fatigue because packaged and ultra-processed foods are unfortunately the most abundant and offer the most choice, at least in a supermarket setting.
I’ve come to expect change and take it as a learning opportunity to dig deeper into the nuance and detail that is ALWAYS present. My mantra is, “be curious, not cranky!”
