Nutrition

I was standing in Trader Joe's, frozen in indecision in front of the breakfast breads, when I realized that I have an ever-increasingly complicated approach to nutrition.

The debate at hand was whether to buy bagels.  I love bagels.  Bagels led me to relax my stringent distaste for white condiments and to actually try cream cheese.  I just requested (and received) a bagel-enabled toaster for my birthday.

But in my nutrition scale, bagels have no point.

Literally, no points.  To me, bagels have no nutritional value.  No whole grains, no protein, nothing but deliciousness.  So I ended up getting the Trader Joe's "Force Primeval Bars" which have whole grains, apples, raisins, and walnuts.  They achieved a similar goal as the bagels (I wanted to try out my new toaster), but without the attendant guilt of eating something "pointless."

Over time I'm realizing I have some useful and some very odd ideas underpinning my ideas of nutrition.  They include:

• Whole grains, super-fruits, and fish are very good for you
• Sugar, butter, spices, onions, tomatoes, and salt are flavorings, not food
• Chicken is better for you than red meat
• Cheese and cream are bad for you
• If I like it, I get less "points" for eating it.
• If I don't like it, I get more "points" for eating it

Based on that, some foods get lots of positive points for getting very good press, and because I hate them.

+ +
Whole wheat
Brown rice
Fish
Leafy greens like spinach and kale

And some foods get lots of points because they're legitimately healthy.

+ +
Cranberries, pomegranates, blueberries
Beans

Some I view as only kind of good for you because they might be legitimately healthy but I like them, which downgrades their "worth".

+
Whole grain oats
Green beans
Cabbage
Broccoli
Strawberries

And some I think are only kind of good for you because they're not known for being super-foods but they're not bad for you either.

+
Chicken breasts
Apples, grapes, oranges
Eggs (for protein, since I don't have a cholesterol problem)
Skim or 1% milk
All other vegetables

Then some stuff is bad for you, mostly for having high fat.

-
Butter as a main ingredient
Soft or melting cheeses, like Cheddar and Jack
Cream
Sour cream
Deep frying
Coffee creamer and CoolWhip (for being made of plastic)
Bacon


Things that don't fall in any of those categories don't have positive or negative points.  Some have no points because I'm not sure whether they're good for you or not.

0
Red meat (conflicting positive value on protein, negative values on fat and cholesterol)
White flour (empty calories)
White rice (empty calories)
Olive oil (conflicting good press and fat)
Coffee (conflicting caffeine and antioxidants)

And some don't have any points because, for reasons my conscious mind can't discern, I count them as flavorings, not food.

0
Butter for a saute
Parmesan, Romano, and Grano Padano cheeses
Onions (probably legitimately healthy, but it doesn't count)
Tomatoes (ditto)
Cream of mushroom soup
Sugar

With that basis, my mind, mostly unconsciously, computes the total value of a meal.  Tonight, I had two hard-boiled eggs, whole wheat spaghetti with pesto, and corn on the cob.  Lots of points.  All positive.  No negative.  Mental pat on the back.  But what about the Cincinnati chili I like?  That's a ground beef chili (0) over white spaghetti (0) with beans (+), onions (0), and Cheddar (-).  Not healthy.  But the pasta primavera I make?  That also uses white pasta (0), plus cream (-), but has mushrooms (+), green beans (+), zucchini (+), and peas (+).  Definitely healthy. 

 Dessert doesn't have a system.  Dessert is supposed to be delicious.

That is its only point.