Carrots and cupcakes: healthy eating made simple | Niki Bezzant | TEDxQueenstown

we're surrounded by advice about healthy eating it's everywhere we go it's on television it's in the newspaper it's on TV it's just about every social interaction that we have as well but a funny thing has happened in the face of all this healthy eating advice we're getting less and less healthy and we're getting more and more confused let me demonstrate the idea here I have a carrot and a cupcake which of these is the healthiest or take the carrot it's a colorful vegetable it's full of fiber it's got vitamin A vitamin C what's not to like right if you google carrots and sugar you might come across people telling you that carrots are a high sugar vegetable and that maybe we should limit carrots sugar is a demon food right now it's killing us all so could I kill myself with carrots what about the cupcake well I'm crazy right because if one knows that cupcakes aren't healthy what if I told you that this cupcake was gluten-free paleo friendly vegan what if I said it had no refined sugar is that adding to your confusion welcome to the world of healthy eating in 2016 when we're getting more and more confused and less and less healthy Kiwis are actually getting less happy by the day one in three of us about 1.3 million people are obese one in five one in five of you has got pre-diabetes a lot of us don't know that yet one Kiwi dies every 90 minutes from heart disease now we can say this doesn't affect me I'm healthy but actually it affects all of us and the burden that it puts on our health system and on our society treatment for type 2 diabetes and obesity costs a billion dollars a year on top of that there's another two hundred million dollars in lost productivity so that means it's costing each one of us at least $200 a year alongside all this ill health or maybe because of it everyone's going on a diet people are going paleo or they're coercing sugar or the going low-carb but the diets are not sustainable how many people do you know who've been on the same diet for ten years or five it's just not possible to do what's popular in the world of diets as the new the latest breakthrough the newest theory but when you look at them most diets that come along there's not there's not much that's really new I've learned this in 16 years of working in the food media they all start to look quite similar when you have a close look rose the healthy food grade nutritionist and I have been joking for years that we are going to one day when we get sick of doing the magazine we're going to write a diet book it's going to be called the South Pole diet we knew you need a science of sounding theory to have a successful diet so this is going to be based on the theory that it takes us takes our bodies more energy to metabolize foods at cold temperatures so under the strict rules of the South Pole diet every food will need to be eaten either cold or other children frozen now you need a magic food as well so our magic food that you're going to have to eat at every meal will be cold cooked potatoes they contain resistant starch it's very good for gut health it's going to kick-start your weight loss sounds quite plausible right we'd also get a celebrity maybe Oprah to endorse it now I want to make a disclaimer this is not a real diet please don't anyone try this but you can see how easy it is to come up with a theory and also how ridiculous they are although this one is really not any more ridiculous than a lot of the diets that have done the rounds the thing is diets don't work if they did I wouldn't be standing here now we wouldn't have a multi-billion dollar weight loss industry and we wouldn't have an obesity epidemic we'd all be eating the same way and we'd all be slim and healthy human beings being what we are we love the idea of diets we love that promise of the quick fix so I'm going to give you a genuine diet theory today and I'm not even going to make you buy my diet book to find out what it is I call it moderation moderation with a touch of relaxation now it sounds silly to say it but in the current nutrition environment we are extremes prevail a message of moderation feels radical a message of moderation draws criticism potentially of being a little bit behind the times that old fashioned but moderation is what we need according to the true health initiative which is a global collaboration of health professionals dedicated to consensus on lifestyle as medicine we have reliable knowledge of lifestyle practices including dietary pattern associated with the potential to reduce both public burden off and personal risk for chronic disease and premature death by as much as 80% 80% and we've also we've known this for 20 years or more in other words we already know what we need to do to be healthy we've just lost sight of it along the way so with that in mind I would like to present to you everything you need to know about healthy eating I've got six points you could call them rules if you like I really hate the idea of rules when it comes to food but diets are full of them and and people quite like rules as well if that's not for you then you could choose to think of these as reminders because you actually you know them all my rules or reminders are not about watch to eat with one exception my rules are about how to think about what you eat and here they are number one food is important so at least you think that by saying eat in moderation I'm saying eat whatever you like I want to say that food is really important and it deserves to be given time and importance in our lives I spend most of my time talking thinking and writing about food so it's really important to me but we all eat we all of us have to make decisions at least three times a day about what and how to eat and these decisions fit fundamental things how we think how we feel even how long we live so food deserves to be given importance if we don't care about what we eat and we're really kind of taking a bit of a backseat to the state of our own health but we also need to relax a little bit and remember food is just food food should not be something that affects how we feel about ourselves food should absolutely not make us feel guilty or ashamed that's not a healthy way to think about anything that we eat there's such an element of moral judgment attached food these days we notice this we judge people on it all the time we judge each other I mean I do it myself it's hard not to be judging you see parents in the supermarket worth sugary drinks and white bread I've had a few sideways looks myself you know people see me with maybe wine or ice cream and my trolley you get healthy food woman you know it's just it's just human to judge but it's not really very fair to and certain circles you'll be made to feel like a pariah if you put sugar in your coffee heaven help you to give you a child something sweet and then is the internet the pressure and social media is full of this pressure telling us that we're not truly good people unless we're sitting in our active wear with a bliss ball in one hand and a green smoothie in the other you know these people right they might be some of these people here but food is just food food is not a guilty pleasure if we're going to feel emotional about food let's feel joyful because food is one of life's greatest pleasures number two there's no such thing as one perfect diet anyone who tells you no matter how charismatic they are or how much science they quote that they have got the answer the one way of eating that works for everyone they're trying to sell you something and they're also wrong because there are lots of ways to eat to be healthy in the way that works for you is probably not going to be the same as the way that works best for me the way that works for you has to suit your life your family situation your budget and your personality the people who love the longest and stay the healthiest and the world the places they live unknown as the Blue Zones they all eat really really different diets from Okinawa and Japan with a fish and rice tuna Koya and South America where they eat beans and yams the diets are really different but they're all equally healthy they all eat moderately and they all have a really relaxed attitude to what they eat I guarantee you the people in the Blue Zones are not worrying about whether what they're about to eat is allowed or not allowed and their diet if there are lists of foods that you can and can't have that to me is a diet and that's not really sustainable so I encourage you to be just weary of any way of eating that does this we are better off eating a little bit of everything and not too much of anything which you could also call moderation number three eat food not nutrients it's really really easy to get bogged down in the detail of nutrients fat carbs protein but we don't eat fat carbs and routine we eat food you'll hear people say oh it's not the fact that's killing us it's the sugar but you know what no one thing is killing us and no one thing is the answer to all of our problems if you find yourself worrying about the sugar and the carrot or the cupcake for that matter it might be time to just relax and go outside and have a walk around in the sunshine if we just concentrate on eating fresh whole good food the nutrients would tend to take care of themselves what makes you happy now that's not a license to eat burgers three times a day and it's not a license to take that coke open happiness slogan literally but we need to acknowledge that food is about pleasure two treats make us happy we also need to acknowledge that treats are not everyday food so we need to enjoy them moderately but when we have them really savor and enjoy them and take pleasure without guilt now eating what makes you happy is also about more than just immediate gratification so we need to listen to our bodies a big bowl of salad is going to make you happy too because it's going to nourish your body and make you feel happy in the long term so moderation here is about thinking about what makes us happy now and also in the future at you veggies here is the what to eat rule your mum was right mum was right about a lot of things but she was especially right about this and here you don't need to be moderate you can eat as much and as wide a variety of these as possible the people in the Blue Zones have this in common they all eat a plant-based diet they eat heaps of veggies when they have meat it tends to be more like a garnish rather than the main focus of the meal and we would do really well to follow that advice you might find the ideal plate helpful here that's the model where half the plate is colorful vegetables and the other half is divided into carbs and protein and that's going to work for every meal that you have but if in doubt just load up on the veggies and lastly number six cook cook as much as you can when you cook you're taking direct control over what goes into your body you're entrusting a really important decision what makes your body happy to a chef or a fast food cook or a production line and a factory and when you've cooked relax sit down enjoy and share your food with others connecting with each other over food has been shown and researched to make us healthier both mentally and physically time spent in the kitchen long-term it could be just as valuable as time spent in the gym sitting down and sharing food with your family is also a fantastic way of building and sharing your family's food culture of modeling healthy eating behavior and of paying health forward to the next generation so that they don't end up with those terrible health statistics that we have so there you have all you need to know I encourage you to embrace moderation let's make moderation something once again that's not radical let's make it something natural if we can get to the point where we naturally eat what makes us feel truly good both in the moment and in the long term if we eat with pleasure if we connect with our food and give it importance but we also relax and don't get too obsessed about it that to me is truly healthy eating and that is going to make us happier and healthier people in case you're wondering about the carrot the cupcake that was kind of a trick question I would probably tend to eat more carrots than I would cupcakes personally but if what I have said today has left any impression with you I would just love it to be that we can enjoy both these things as we can with all food as part of a life of moderation thank you

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 141,771

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, New Zealand, Health, Ancient world, Business, Change, Choice, Connection, Consciousness, Cooking, Creation, Family, Genetics, Marketing, Mindfulness, Nutrition, Obesity, Parenting, Personal growth, Population, Science, Self improvement, Women, Youth

Id: oie8cKm79BQ

Length: 16min 2sec (962 seconds)

Published: Mon May 02 2016