If you’ve ever heard any health guideline, I’m sure you’ve heard this word, “moderation.” All those unhealthy food choices – it turns out they’re okay if done in moderation, right? So says the government, food industry, and your friend that’s trying to get you to get some donuts. But we all want to know, what does “moderation” mean? Can I eat cookies once a week? Twice a week? Is once a day still considered “moderation?”
It seems to me like they couldn’t have picked a more confusing word to help us with our food choices. And I think this is exactly the point.
The food industry likes the word “moderation” because it allows them to still advocate for the consumption of their products, even though they know they are unhealthy. As long as they tell their customers to eat in moderation, then they aren’t really, outright, poisoning their customers, right? This works for the consumer, too, because no one wants to be told they can never have their favorite foods, even when these foods are killing them. Rather, they like to hear that they can still eat this foods, as long as it’s done in moderation.
But here’s the thing – the food industry likes the word “moderation” because it is a very vague word. No one really knows what it means, and since it is up to the customers to decide, they will likely continue to eat the industry’s unhealthy products all they want. Of course, if you want to be optimally unhealthy, you should cut out sugar 100%. But the sugar industry isn’t going to tell you that! They also can’t tell you that sugar is great for you, because everyone knows that would be a flat out lie. So their solution is to give this vague advice so that everyone continues to consume their product, based on whatever the individual believes is “moderation.”
Instead of listening to this useless, and even possibly detrimental advice on moderation, what should we all actually do? Well, it really depends on personal goals and individual character traits.
Do you want to be as healthy as possible? Then I would say your general rule of thumb is to avoid, 100%, all foods that you’ve heard to eat in moderation. Sugar, vegetable oils, refined carbs, alcohol, and processed meat and animal products should all be avoided to be optimally healthy. If you are being told to eat something in moderation, chances are this food is not good for your health, and any amount you consume is going to negatively impact it.
But doing away with foods entirely probably seems a little bit ridiculous. Sure, we want to be healthy, but I know most of us also want to live a little. So here, you have to do some work to decide for yourself how much is enough and how much is too much. If these detrimental foods are really, truly eaten occasionally in small amounts, they are not going to negatively impact your health. Your body knows how to handle toxins, in small quantities, so any food that has a toxic component will be dealt with appropriately. The main problem with moderation is that it is a gateway to eating harmful foods in excess.
This is another great benefit of moderation, for the food industry. It is really difficult for most people to have “just a little bit.” Telling people to eat just a little bit is a great way for the food industry to get people to break their good habits – eat just a little bit, and pretty soon that whole bag of chips is gone. This is no secret – ask Frito Lay’s and their slogan “Bet you can’t eat just one!”
I hope you understand that the “moderation” word is outright dangerous. It is a strong marketing tool used by industry to keep you hooked on their products. So please, throw this word out of your vocabulary. Don’t give industry this power, and be prepared for the next time your friend tells you “everything in moderation, right?”
Now that we know longer have the “m word” in our vocabulary, what should we do about these foods? Should we keep eating them, and if so, how often? Am I allowed to get ice cream once in a while, because let’s be real, ice cream is delicious! I would say that it is about time to make some decisions for yourself, based on the life you want to live and goals you want to reach.
For a lot of people, too much will be any amount, but for others a little indulgence will help. This choice happens to be deeply ingrained in most people – some people need to cut out foods entirely, while others need to indulge just a little bit, or else they feel deprived. Gretchen Rubin, a writer specializing in happiness and habits, categorizes these two types into Moderators and Abstainers. For Moderators, if you completely cut out a food like chocolate, you feel deprived and are likely to fall off the wagon entirely. Therefore to be successful cutting foods out, it actually often helps to let yourself eat these foods, occasionally. However for Abstainers, like myself, if we cut out a food and one day eat just a little bit, it’s over for us and we end up eating the whole chocolate bar. Do you ever find yourself saying “I’ll just have a small bite,” and then 20 minutes later two full servings are in your belly – that’s a sign that you’re an Abstainer, and occasionally indulging in foods to be avoided is going to be a complete roadblock to reaching your goals.
So play around with this a little bit – find out what works best for you. Maybe cutting out whole food groups or giving up some foods you really enjoy is too much for you. If you find you can’t “have just one,” then maybe cutting out specific unhealthy foods entirely is best. I know that sounds scary, but for those of you like me, if you decide to cut out something like sugar, do a little work so you can follow through, then you’ll find it is not as difficult as you imagine. I am going to continue with the sugar example because it is a great example of a food we should all be “eating in moderation.” But keep in mind as you read on that you could substitute in any food, like flour, meat, dairy, or a specific snack or dessert.
The most important thing to do when you want to make dietary changes to improve your health is to set goals and create a detailed path to achieving these goals. If you want to cut out sugar to lose weight, improve your insulin sensitivity, and/or prevent or reverse illness, then you need to begin by defining what “cutting out” means for yourself. You have to know yourself well enough to say “I can have a cookie occasionally and not fall off the wagon,” or otherwise “if I have this cookie, then I will have one more cookie, then tomorrow I’ll eat one of those donuts that my coworker brings into the office, and that will keep snowballing into eating more sugary foods, until all this work I’ve done to cut out sugar will be for nothing.” If that sounds ridiculous to you, then you’re probably a Moderator. But if that sounds familiar, then you’re likely an Abstainer, and in that case eating that first cookie is absolutely not a good idea.
I want to give you a personal example, because this is something that we all struggle with, myself included. I like to occasionally “cut out” sugar, because I know it is so bad for my health. But I also understand that I love cookies, and since I am in pretty good health right now I can afford to eat sugary treats on occasion. So how do I implement moderation when I know I’m an Abstainer? Most of the time, I limit my added sugar intake – I try to avoid processed foods, especially if they contain added sugar. But I also let myself make cookies when I really want them, and if I’m with a group of people getting ice cream you will definitely not see me opting out. But when I feel like I’ve been consuming too much sugar, I’ve figured out how to “cut out” sugar for a period of time, in which I avoid all added sugars, unless they fall into specific categories I set for myself. And what I’ve found is that cutting out sugar for a few weeks is really easy. As long as I know my goal is to cut out sugar, sugary foods don’t tempt me at all. And as long as I understand why I am cutting out sugar, because eating it makes me sick, then I am often even revolted by the sight of sugary foods. But I know that as soon as I have one ice cream, the streak is over, I go back to eating sugary foods, and I wait until I’ve had it again and go back to cutting it out.
Again, this works for me because I’ve spent a little bit of time figuring myself out. For others the story will be completely different. Some may be able to make a decision to limit their sugar intake, and from then on only consume sugary foods occasionally. For most people that is way too vague, and this approach will only lead to frustration. It helps a lot of people to define concrete numbers. For example, only allowing 5 grams of added sugar a day. This is a great way to set an upper limit so you know when you break this “moderation” rule. But for myself and many others, the idea of figuring out how much sugar each food has and keeping track of these values sounds too annoying. The important thing is that you do a little bit of introspection and experimentation and find out what works for you.
Takeaways:
The advice to “eat in moderation” is not only vague, it can be outright dangerous. Moderation is a common avenue to drifting away from your goals. If you want to be healthy, you need to set specific goals and rules for eating, and do not sway from these when a friend tells you, “awh come on, it’s just one bite!” If you know yourself well enough to be able to eat just one bite, and you’ll feel deprived if you don’t take it, then sure, take it! After all, one bite isn’t going to kill you. But if you’re like many of us, one bite is never one bite, and therefore moderation is just an excuse to allow junk foods to have a hold on your life.