What foods are healthy and which are not?

If you eat at least 5 cups of fruits and vegetables (more vegetables than fruit) without any sugar or fats, and then add a small amount of whole grain (maybe 2 slices of bread a day) and 4–6 ounces of lean protein, you will be pretty healthy.
I’m often struck by something my very fit sister in law once said. She said, “I try to eat real food.” By that she meant as it grows, with as little processing as possible. By her standards, instead of the two slices of bread she might have a cup of oatmeal with berries or brown rice, or quinoa.

Daily: Limit “hollow” carbs to 25 grams or less, eat a piece of meat about the size of a deck of cards and eat all the vegetables you want (but make it a variety). Throw in a bit of fruit and a handful of nuts every now and then. Drink plenty of well filtered water. Basically avoid anything processed, I.E. cast an evil eye on anything with more than four ingredients.

Fruit juices are loaded with sugar. Potatoes, breads, and carrots are high in carbs. Meats are huge sources of cholesterol. Fish have a lot of mercury.
So, basically, everything is unhealthy.

It’s impossible to say; it depends on your body and how it reacts to food.

When it comes to what the news says, though, it’s safe to ignore that. There is a lot of bad science out there. You could easily set up a statistically unsound study that produces shocking but untrue findings about diet and have it blown up in the media – which is what this guy did, and which happens often unintentionally as well.

Remember that the news covers, by definition, that which is new, i.e. deviates from the norm. Scientific findings, however, only tend to be reliable when they have been tested again and again over a long period of time – by which time they have become normal. Thus, they’re a bad source of dietary advice. Better would be to not pay attention to the hype, and check what has been deemed healthy for a long time – of which there isn’t a lot that applies to everybody, but indeed, this applies to fruits and vegetables.

A healthful diet looks like a rainbow, packed with colorful fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain starches. A bad diet is shades of beige.

Compare the following meals: (1) spinach salad with fresh vegetables, a whole-wheat roll, and an orange or (2) mayonnaise-laden tuna salad on white bread with a side of onion rings.

Heads-up: Beware of the dark-bread scam. Very often, white bread is tinted, usually with molasses or caramel coloring, to resemble whole-wheat bread. If the first ingredient listed is “wheat flour,” you’re holding a loaf of white bread. The ingredient needs to specify “whole wheat flour.”

First world worries.

You can’t really go too wrong if you just avoid highly processed foods. Even things like butter, cheese, and eggs are not bad foods in moderation. Buy food that’s fresh and real, and prepare it yourself.

Anything can become good or bad. For example, a fast food hamburger is bad, while a broiled hamburger can be OK if you don’t overdo the toppings.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are better than canned.

There is no nutritional difference between a fast food hamburger and a home made hamburger. Also, no difference between a grilled hamburger and a broiled hamburger.

By the way, I was speaking nutritionally in my answers above. They will taste different because of the methods of cooking, but the nutritional values are the same.

I don’t agree @Dutchess_III. There’s a huge difference between a Big Mac and a homemade hamburger in our house. The homemade burger can have a ton of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, beetroot etc. on. It might also have an egg in Australia. You can choose a bun with high fibre and lower sugar content. You can reduce the amount of salt in your burger by making the meat patty yourself. You can choose lean beef and cook it in a way that additional fat drains away. You can limit the amount and type of sauce you use. That’s before you look at transfats and the like. A homemade burger can actually be a pretty healthy meal, if you choose the right ingredients and cook it carefully.

General guidelines: the less processed, the better.
Organic because pesticides, etc. probably aren’t that great for you.

I was talking about the meat itself, @Earthbound_Misfit. Not whatever people want to put on it. And of course a hamburger from home can be is healthy for you. Just as healthy as any other part of the cow, whether it’s a roast or rib or a steak.

I say, just throw a little salt and more pepper on it and throw it on the grill. Nothing to be careful about.

@Dutchess_III You are so very wrong. Here is a nutritional comparison of a Big Mac with a homemade burger:

“Unlike the Big Mac, the EatingWell burger has 0 grams of trans-fat (compared to the Big Mac’s 1.5 grams in the bun).
It has 375 calories, compared to the Big Mac’s 540.
It has less than half the saturated fat and half the sodium of its big, bad counterpart.
At the same time, our burger manages to have significantly more of vitamins A and C (which boost the immune system and promote healthy skin) and even a bit more iron. Let’s compare nutrient by nutrient.

Now, it’s important to point out that the EatingWell burger is not some kind of health-nut substitute for the real thing. There’s no seitan lurking in the meat, no tofu tucked below the bun (though, I’d point out, that could be delicious too); this is an unapologetic, All-American ground beef burger smothered in a mayonnaise-based sauce. Still, it’s not too bad nutritionally. Sure, you wouldn’t want to have red meat every day, but lean beef in moderation, as the nutrition information above shows, is actually pretty healthy.

The Big Mac, however, is a different story. By many metrics, our burger is twice as good for you as Mickey D’s offering, and it’s not even trying all that hard to be healthy.

Where’s the Beef?
Why might that be? Take a look at the beef, for starters. While backyard burgers are just straight-up beef from your local supermarket, McDonald’s adds “Grill Seasoning” to theirs—a fancy name for pepper, sunflower oil and a boatload of sodium. Add to that the fact that they’re probably not working with as lean a cut of beef as your typical home chefs and that equals a major difference in fat as well.

What About the Buns?
Next, check out their buns (not those buns, come on!): while your average deli Kaiser rolls have about five ingredients, McDonald’s Big Mac buns have 16—they’re pretty highly processed. Generally speaking, processed foods are higher in salts and sugars, so when you bite into them you taste sweetness, not sodium propionate. Take a look at McDonald’s “Special Sauce” ingredients: propylene glycol alginate, sodium benzoate, calcium disodium EDTA—yeah, you can bet there’s a bunch of added salt and sugar there too.

So, where does that leave us? I’ll still think fondly of past trips to the Golden Arches, but maybe it’s time to cut the Big Mac out of my diet once and for all. Next time I’m in the mood for a flame-broiled disk of beef, I’ll head for another place with many warm childhood memories for me: the backyard.”

Matthew Thompson is a former associate food editor for EatingWell Magazine.

Ok I went for a walk and bought a fruit tray and a vegetable tray and a half galon of milk for $22. I will scream if told that they aren’t healthy or to expensive. I know that I can cut my own fruit cheaper, but that’s for later.

You already know the answers to your implied questions @talljasperman.

@Dutchess_III Yes I do. I am just looking for attention.

Hooray for you, @talljasperman! Yes, you can save money by washing and cutting your own fruits and vegetables, but the pre-made stuff is a great start. Enjoy! I’ve always believed that life improvements are easier, and much more likely to last, if they’re made gradually and in steps.

Good for you going for a walk and getting something other than pizza or KFC.

The best thing about raw fruits, and especially veggies, is you can literally eat them all day long with very little calorie intake.