Beauty Health for Life

Last week, we discussed defining the word “healthy” in relation to food, and decided it meant … oh, wait. We didn’t decide anything. As it turns out, a universally acceptable explanation of “healthy” is really hard to pin down.
But never fear, because it’s CHG readers to the rescue. Quite a few of you guys chimed in with your ideas on “healthy,” and there were a ton of solid points not mentioned in my post. Even better, we might have stumbled over a working definition. (It’s at the end.)

But first, in seven easy-to-follow categories, in near-original form, here are your thoughts.

(Note: there were some minor edits made for length, but otherwise, reader comments were left largely untouched.)

"Healthy" is MODERATION AND BALANCE

Anonymous: Healthy = moderation. In all things. Including moderation.

Wosnes: Someone else said it: moderation in all things, including moderation. There are definitely times to be immoderate. Not every day, but some days.

Wheatlessfool: It all comes down to balance and payoff for me … sometimes, that fudgy brownie IS healthy. Just not every day, and not replacing the foods I DO need to keep me feeling my best.

jenniferocious!: There has to be balance in life and while I strive to eat a majority of my meals from recipes and foods I would qualify as healthy, I also know its okay to indulge in a bowl of macncheese or having a frou frou coffee drinks once in awhile.

Debbie: I love my mama’s homemade mac & cheese, fried pork chops and green bean casserole. … If I ate it every day, I’d die in approximately 4.2 months, because … it’s high in fat, calories. BUT. If I only eat it once or twice a year – say, for my birthday – then it’s not bad at all. It’s an indulgence.

"Healthy" is LONGTERM

Kristen@TheFrugalGirl: Its important to look at the overall diet instead of trying to make sure every. single. thing. you eat is bursting with nutrition. I eat a lot of whole grains, fresh produce, and fresh dairy, and so I dont think a little dessert every day is going to kill me.

Joy Manning: When we are assessing the relative health of our diets, we should look at a whole week or month or year of meals and consider the variety of nutrition it provides, but also the pleasure. Getting pleasure from meals is, by my definition, part of a healthy diet. Whole ingredients + time and effort cooking + a wide variety of delicious real food = healthy over time.
"Healthy" is SMART SUBSTITUTING

Rebecca: By [the] strict definition, things like macaroni and cheese may not be "healthy", but they do qualify as "healthier" than typical versions of the same dish. And besides, who wants to be perfectly virtuous all the time?

Allison: Im always interested in making unhealthy dishes healthy or even a little healthier. For example, I substitute pureed potato for cream and butter in any "cream of" soup, swap applesauce, mashed bananas, and avocados for milk and butter in baked goods, etc. Recently, I experimented with baked green tomatoes - still not exactly "health food," but at least a healthier version of a caloric - but oh-so-yummy! - treat.

"Healthy" is UNPROCESSED FOOD

Relishments: For me, healthy food is food thats has a low or reasonable amount of sugars and fats. Its not overly processed-ideally its something I made, not something that came out of a box.

Kristen@TheFrugalGirl: I generally think that healthy food is food thats fairly unprocessed (real yogurt vs. watermelon Gogurt, homemade granola vs. Cocoa Puffs, fresh green beans vs. the canned sort, etc).

Daniel: I use a really simple shorthand to define healthy. If its a first-order food with little processing, its healthy enough. If its a second-order food, meaning a food thats packaged and processed, its unlikely to be healthy.

April: I think fake food is a much bigger health issue than fat. Skim milk may be lower in fat than whole milk, but it is a fake food--it certainly doesnt come out of the cow that way! … One could argue that God (or evolution, if thats what you believe in) knew what He/it was doing, and doesnt need to really be improved on.

Healthy is ACTUAL FOOD

Regina Terrae: For me, healthy food is produce-focused, like you said; fresh and seasonal and varied; uses naturally-raised meat as a condiment or at least in smallish portions; simple, unprocessed, whole.

Libby: For me, healthy means that the meal contains whole grains, beans and/or nuts, lots of veggies, and no meat or dairy. its also important to me that the meal is high in fiber and has little to no saturated fat (poly and mono are fine).

Allison: I have my own definition of healthy largely based on my own health goals: lots of healthy fats, calcium, garlic, leafy greens, berries, and protein - for … maintaining good heart, skin, bone, and muscle condition.

Wosnes: My own mantra is "mostly homemade." I aim for the opposite of Sandra Lee: 70% (or more) fresh food and 30% (or less) ready made products. I think Im at about 85/15, including condiments.

Becca: Healthy to me is whole foods or just one step away (for example, I use frozen veggies when fresh arent in season). … That being said, I am currently providing child care for a two year old and my 6 month old, so sometimes mac and cheese from the box keeps me sane.
"Healthy" is RELATIVE

Ross: Whether a person is overweight or underweight has food allergies or medical, religious, or ethical issues the definition is vastly different. … When I was a kid in my early 20s, eating healthily meant eating a piece of fruit or a salad once a month. Now it means watching how many calories Im taking in a day, limiting my fat intake and the like. So, even as a person progresses through life their perceptions of eating healthy change.

"Healthy" is HOLISTIC

Marcia: Healthy isnt just the contents of an individual dish. Its also the content of your diet and lifestyle.

Regina Terrae: For me, healthy diet cannot be looked at in isolation from healthy lifestyle, i.e. getting the body moving every day.

Laura: “Healthy" is so much more than what you put in your mouth. Its a whole mental/emotional state. I try to eat things that are good for me. I also eat things that are happy for me. I find Im much healthier and happier overall that way.

AmandaLP: "Healthy" is something that nourishes my mind and my body. I don’t care if what I am eating has tons of fiber and no sugar and lots of protein, if I hate eating it, then it is not healthy for me.

So, to sum, “healthy” (in relation to food) involves: a holistic, relative approach to eating implemented over the long term that emphasizes balance and moderation, smart substitutes, and unprocessed edibles/actual food.

I don’t know about you guys, but that sounds good to me. Huge thanks to everyone who wrote in. Yall are pretty good at this.

(Photos courtesy of Daily Mobile, Taylorshocks Weblog, and How Stuff Works.)

_http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2009/09/reader-replies-healthy-defined-as-best.html

While the physician Disease Management Care Blog understands the logic behind essential health benefit determinations, believes good health care includes access to reproductive services and also knows that an unintended pregnancy poses special threats to a womans health, it also sympathizes with the U.S. Catholic Bishops stand on birth control pills. 

Such is the luxury of cognitive dissonance.  Yet, the DMCBs real discomfort is over the broader health policy implications of defining BCPs as an essential health benefit that must be covered with only a few exceptions:

1. There are really two ultimate paths to a federal takeover health care.  The first is obvious: formal through the "nationalization" of either the payment or delivery of services. The second is de facto is through the creation of laws, regulations and standards that amount to an expanding domination of the payment or delivery of services. From an end-user perspective, the DMCB thinks there is little difference between the two and believes we are underestimating the ultimate end game for this and multiple other rules and regulations.

2. Decision-making like this can cut both ways.  While womens health advocates can take comfort in the Obama Administrations courage in the face of the Bishops push-back, its possible that future hyper-rational, inflexible, evidence-based, legalistic, uniformist and technocratic decision-making like this will result in endless legalistic, politically charged and awkward decision-making that will always vex some big constituency.  This is the same science used to provoke the controversy over the merits of mammography in women less than age 50 as well as prostate cancer screening in men.  To make the point, the DMCB poses this silly but troubling thought experiment:  since men are just as responsible and should be given every incentive to not cause unwanted pregnancy, should condoms be an essential health benefit?  If persons with cancer run out of treatment options, should a right to control their own bodies and its technical availability make assisted suicide an essential health benefit? 

This time it was the Catholics turn.  The next one could be yours.

3.  Without some sort of accommodation (which may be in the works), the Bishops arent going to back down.  While a majority of their parishioners may believe in and have used birth control, that test fails at two levels: 1) societys institutions are supposed to stand for a higher standard and 2) decades and even centuries of religious interpretation are not up for a vote.  Standing for something is what faith is all about and Church leaders are simply not going to roll over on insurance that covers birth control for their employees and theyre not going to offer access to birth control pills in the course of the provision of health care. Their only choice, other than millions in fines is to exit the health care arena.  David Brooks has an excellent discussion of why thats a problem. 

4.  It is said that the art of politics is the art of the possible: to work out compromise where everyone can walk away a winner.  While coverage of birth control pills is a victory for womens health advocates that a "base" can feel good about, this is also arguably a failure for a President who was committed to bridging differences and creating a health care system that had broad support.

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