“Everything in Moderation” Is a Terrible Rule of Thumb to Eat
If your favorite dietary advice overlaps with the junk food dealer’s favorite advice, you may need to reconsider your opinion.
Moderation is attractive advice, but also a trap. This means we shouldn’t have too much of anything, which is true by definition: that’s why we call it too much. But the word “moderation” is vague, and its vagueness makes it a friendly notion of “big tent”: no matter how much you eat, you can find a way to convince yourself that you are eating in moderation.
We use “moderation” to reject what we don’t want to hear
Nutritionists have a special meaning for this word: moderation means small portions, especially when it comes to food that we shouldn’t eat almost entirely. This is not the “everything in moderation” that Aristotle wrote about , where we try to avoid extremes: too much and too little. There is never too little candy: you can ditch them entirely and still remain perfectly healthy. Instead, nutritionists use the concept of moderation as a tool to reduce food cravings. Here’s how two nutritionists described it in the Journal of Nutrition Education :
“The message of balance, diversity and moderation can also help eliminate some of the psychological baggage associated with healthy eating in the US. It can eliminate all-or-nothing beliefs that lead to feelings of guilt and, in many cases, overeating, when people inevitably choose less healthy foods. ”
There are some good ideas here: eating small amounts of junk food shouldn’t undermine your diet , and knowing it’s okay to heal yourself can make it easier to stick to a healthy eating plan in the first place.
But.
Once you give yourself the right to eat something “in moderation,” it easily becomes a license to consume something, and we call it moderation. The word has become an excuse, a way to say, “Damn it, I’ll eat whatever I want,” while smugly declaring that you live with simple, simple advice and don’t have to worry about the latest nutritional news. the science.
You will find calls for moderation in the comments for any nutritional advice or news. For example, these are some of the Twitter responses to an article in the Washington Post about bacon’s link to cancer risk . There is valid criticism of the bacon-cancer link , but these comments do not address them:
Kudos to these friendly nutritionists who provide advice to help people manage their cravings! Oh wait. In fact, they use “measure up” as a shield to ignore the news and keep doing what they do.
After all, if you live by the simple rule, you don’t need to follow ever-changing nutritional advice . Instead of following good advice, you can pretend that you are already following it. We also use this rule to avoid having to deal with the harsh truths (What to do if there is too much bacon?). Since there is no official line between moderation and “too much,” we can draw the line anywhere: anyone who eats more bacon than me eats too much. I’m fine though.
Junk food companies love moderation
Not convinced? Think about it: Junk food companies love the concept of moderation.
For example, take a look at the Back to Balance Coalition of 18 “leading food groups” that have signed a statement of principles of moderation. Their motto is: “All products are suitable for a balanced diet.”
And these food groups? These include the Sugar Association , the National Association of Confectioners, the Corn Processors Association (corn syrup growers), the National Potato Council (remember that most potatoes in America are consumed through chips and fries) , the Grocery Producers Association (which includes the company Coca-Cola and Hershey) and the Snacks Association.
Their statement said that “all foods can meet an overall healthy diet when consumed in moderation, with appropriate portion sizes, and in conjunction with physical activity.” In other words, these groups really don’t want you to say that you should stop eating their food or that you should think of your diet as unhealthy if it includes their foods. The idea that junk food is part of a healthy diet reminds me of what Dave Barry said about cereal makers who called their product “part of that wholesome breakfast”:
Don’t they mean, “Next to this full breakfast” or “On the same table with this full breakfast”? And could they say, essentially, the same if instead of Froot Loops they put a can of shaving cream or a dead bat in there?
The physical activity reference is also technically correct, although mostly nonsensical: of course, you can burn calories in your Doritos package, but that doesn’t erase the fact that you ate it. We also know you can’t rely on exercise to stay healthy if you eat shit.
The National Association of Pastry Chefs goes one step further towards the illusion of moderation. On their website, they recommend a semi-scientific “ 50 to 100 calories per day” limit of candy. These handy guides will give you an idea of how much candy you need to eat: Two Twizzlers. Ten gummy bears. The only “funny size” candy bar. If you want a full-size chocolate bar, it eats up (sorry) your number of candies for the whole week .
However, on the same website, they offer tips on how to get people to buy more candy . Checkout corridors should be 51% filled with chewing gum, mint, drinks and snacks for people looking to recharge after a long shopping trip; and 39% of the space should be reserved for chocolates and other sweets for people who want to reward themselves for doing routine purchases.
The association’s stricter stance is consistent with a recent FDA recommendation that Americans should get no more than 10% of their calories from added sugar, or about 200 calories per day. (The World Health Organization recommends half of this amount .)
But in fact, they keep up with this limit. When the FDA proposed adding the recommended limit on packaging labels (giving added sugar a percentage daily value like other nutrients), an NCA spokesman told Food Business News that the group did not support the proposal:
The National Pastry Chefs Association said the FDA’s plans to place daily percentages of added sugar on food labels are unnecessary and could confuse consumers.
In other words, moderation statements are empty talk with no intention to take any action. When clicked, they say they only recommend a tiny amount of candy per day, but hope consumers don’t know, much less abide by the two Twizzler limit.
Find the best rule
“Everything in moderation” is a shitty rule to live by. But it’s great as an inspiration for creating rules that can help you in the long run.
It’s true that small portions of unhealthy food are better than large meals, and you don’t have to completely cut out your favorite treats from your life. So decide – now, not when you’re at the fruit-and-fruit bar – what treats are worth eating and how much you can “afford” to eat without harming yourself.
At Lifehacker, we have a lot of advice on this because fighting unhealthy food cravings is a normal part of life. It may not have been when we were all hunter-gatherers (again,some hunter-gatherers eat a lot of honey ), but we live in a world where the cash registers are crammed with treats meant to hunt our psychological weaknesses.
Thus, you can choose treats according to their merit, deciding, for example, whether the taste of this piece of cake is enough to be worth a small hurdle in your weight loss. You can be mindful of your desire and create triggers to redirect yourself to the best choice .
You can even opt out of moderation entirely and ban certain foods . Use this strategy with caution as it does not work for everyone and not all products, but sometimes knowing that you have to say no can give you peace of mind as you make decisions easily. You can also skip any food, but temporarily during the day: this is called intermittent fasting, and it helps to cope with cravings .
Which strategy you choose depends on your goals. If you’re not trying to lose weight – or if you’ve decided that you just don’t care what you eat (this may be a stressful time in your life and you just need to get through this last year of school with whatever comfortable foods he takes) , be honest with yourself. And be honest with others too: don’t ignore dietary advice by saying, “Yes, everything in moderation.” Instead, tell the truth: “This is probably good advice, but I’m not going to follow it.”
Illustration by Tara Jacoby.
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