Sunday 22 August 2010

Wholesome but not so healthy

Foodie restaurants and shops tend to do very well in the affluent areas of London; organic gastropubs, gourmet burger joints, local patisseries selling homemade cupcakes, cheese shops full of organic local cheeses, specialist chocolateries, artisan bakers the delicious sounding list goes on.

However whilst freshly baked, homemade, organic foods are all much better for you than their processed counterparts, which are full of artificial ingredients that the body doesn't recognise, this doesn't mean they are healthy foods.

I think this is a common nutritional misconception, similar to the idea that being vegetarian means you'll automatically be in better health than your meat eating friends.

An organic pork roast or cheese board is still full of saturated fats and a freshly baked cupcake or homemade jam or chutney is still laden with sugar. Infact these high quality/luxury foods are often higher in sugar and fat than their cheaper counterparts.

Foodie over-indulgence often goes hand in hand with the 'I'm not overweight so I must be healthy' misconception. Depending on your biochemical makeup you may store more or less of your fat around your organs than the person sat next to you on the tube .. so they might appear fatter having the more visible fat stored just under the skin, but may have less of the dangerous fat surrounding their heart, lover or other organs than you do.

This is why it's a good idea to get your cholesterol checked even if you're slim and also to have a think about whether your regular food choices really are as healthy as you like to think.

Certainly when you're going to indulge go for the best most delicious fresh/homemade version of whatever it is that you fancy, but don't make the mistake of thinking that because your cappucino is organic and your brioche is freshly baked that you're eating healthily!
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