Doing My Best: Knowing What I’m Choosing
Journal · Gut · Heart · Brain
I’ve cared about the quality of food for a very long time. I’ve been buying organic products where I could for more than 40 years, so thinking about where food comes from isn’t new to me.
What has changed is that I understand much more about why I’m choosing it, and that makes healthy food choices feel far easier.
For years I thought I ate pretty well. And in many ways I did. I bought good-quality food, cooked from scratch and was interested in nutrition.
But looking back, I was also following trends.
Low fat. High fibre. Whatever was considered healthy at the time. Like most people, I was making choices from the information available to me, without necessarily knowing whether those choices were actually right for me.
Healthy food choices: knowing more has given me clarity
The difference now is knowledge.
We understand far more about food, the gut microbiome, blood sugar, protein, fibre, plants and how differently people can respond to what they eat.
That evidence has helped me make sense of things that used to feel much more confusing.
Instead of simply thinking this is a good food, I can think about what that food is actually giving me and how it fits with everything else I’m eating.
Where’s the protein? Where’s the fibre? Have I got some plants in there? How processed is it?
It doesn’t make every decision complicated. If anything, I’ve found the opposite.
It has made choosing food simpler because I have something more useful than the latest trend to base the decision on.
And I think I trust my food more
That’s probably the biggest change.
I like knowing what I’m eating. I like recognising the ingredients and understanding what they’re doing there.
And because I’ve always cared about food quality, that naturally extends to where it has come from.
What was the animal fed? How was this grown? How processed is it? What’s been added to it? Can I buy it locally? Can I support the person who actually grew or produced it?
Organic still matters to me, as it has for years. But now it’s part of a much bigger picture.
I still don’t always get it right
And I think that’s important.
Knowing more doesn’t mean I’ve somehow cracked food.
I still make choices that probably aren’t the best ones. Sometimes I buy what’s convenient. Sometimes price decides. Sometimes I think something is a good choice and later learn something that makes me reconsider it.
That’s fine.
This isn’t about reaching the point where every item in the kitchen has passed some sort of health test.
It’s about having enough knowledge to make a considered choice when I can.
Doing my best feels different now
Perhaps that’s the real change.
Forty years ago I could choose organic because I believed it was a better-quality choice.
Over the years I could follow the healthy-eating advice of the time because I believed I was doing the right thing.
Now I feel I have more evidence and understanding behind those decisions.
I’m not simply following what I’m told is healthy. I’m much better able to ask why.
And strangely, the more I’ve learned, the less anxious I am about getting everything right.
I know what I’m aiming for. I understand much more about why. I make the best choices I reasonably can.
And sometimes I get it wrong.
This is personal experience, not medical or nutritional advice. Everyone’s circumstances and nutritional needs are different. If you have specific health or dietary concerns, please speak with an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.