It’s always our first reaction, a teen-aged like eye roll at yet another news report about nutrition based on some study that generalizes, making some food item “good” or “bad” for everyone.
The latest news about red meat from the Associated Press and reported on various television, cable, and radio shows says that perhaps it isn’t so bad for people to eat red meat. That “research” shows that there is no real evidence to say it is bad for us.
We are often challenged by clients, friends, family, and others when news like this comes out. They’ll bring it to us and say, “we can eat meat again!” or on another day that they have to stop eating/drinking something because somewhere it was studied that whatever it is will kill them or come close to it over time.
(eye roll)
We’ve said it too many times to count: we (individuals) are a study of one. What’s good for you isn’t necessarily good for me. What works for me may not work for you.
If you eat something and feel sick, then eat it again another time and feel sick again, and then one more time in another situation and still feel sick, well, then, it’s not good for YOU. Even if it’s kale or beets or some kind of “superfood.” And perhaps, it’s not good for you this month or year, but next month or year it’s fine. Or maybe it’s never good for you, even though medical tests show no allergy or sensitivity.
So, this is what we say to clients, friends, family and anyone else: How do you feel when you eat it? Listen to your body. It’s really good at letting us know when something works for us or doesn’t–if we bother to listen. We’ve stopped listening to ourselves and have turned outside ourselves to listen to “experts” who are telling us (even though they don’t know us) that something is good or bad for us. YOU are the only expert about you.
This, of course, is the same confusion that we base our careers on. If people knew how to listen to their bodies and intuition, then, we probably wouldn’t be in this line of work, so getting advice and guidance from trusted professionals who are vested in your wellness and know you can be very helpful, but don’t discount your intuition or self-knowledge.
Should you eat red meat? We don’t know. How does it make you feel?
