A healthy food product is difficult to be defined as “absolute.” Many influences to what makes a food product seem healthy, include one’s basic biology, lifestyle, culture, religion, context, and other more trivial factors. What is “healthy” for one person may seem like a detriment to health for another depending on the factors like age, genetics, current environment, or even health conditions such as diabetes. However, people constantly judge a food product based on whether it is overall healthy or unhealthy. These are extremely big decisions that we people make in our day to day lives because they affect our everyday behaviors, social/physical health, long term health, and financially, healthcare costs.
A major issue that attributes to people classifying something as “healthy” is marketing. To put simply, the packaging on the food products is a leading cause for someone to have a bias towards that exact product. For example, on September 16, 2024, a new food product called “Lunchly” was announced. Now Lunchly wasn’t seen as just another food product. In fact, according to Mr. Beast, KSI, and Logan Paul’s announcement video, the new Lunchly food product was a revolutionary product, acting as a completely healthy substitute for the long standing “Lunchables;” however, by no means is Lunchables healthy. Based on Lunchly’s advertisement, Lunchly contained real cheese and more B-vitamins, contrasting to Lunchable’s Mozzarella Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, and a Caprisun Juice Box which doesn’t contain important compounds like electrolytes and vitamins. A young child who watched this video would sit back and think, “Hey, I should buy Lunchly instead of Lunchables because it is healthy.” This is where many people get the wrong notion that just because something has cleaner ingredients, it is “healthy.” In reality, according to dietitian Destiny Moody on theathletesdiet, Lunchly utilizes the public’s positive regard to electrolytes to promote Lunchly and the sales of the Prime Energy Drink and to justify the high sodium content. In fact, Moody notes how “the electrolytes are primarily focused on potassium in Logan Paul’s famous PRIME drink included in the kit, compared to potassium in a Capri Sun often included in Lunchables, without any mention of potassium in the food itself.” In actuality, Lunchly is not a better alternative to Lunchables, especially with it regarded as a UPF(Ultra Processed Food) as well as Lunchables. The case of Lunchly skews the public’s eye on what it truly means to be healthy. Clever packaging and selective nutritional comparisons both play a massive role in the endorsement of Lunchly by creating an illusion of a healthy product.
Now let’s actively define health. What does it mean to be healthy? Well, according to the World Health Organization, good health falls under three categories: complete physical, mental, and social well-being. Therefore, health does not fall under the misconception of calories in or calories out or just workouts but also mental fortitude and social relationships. Just because someone looks fit doesn’t mean they have good health. The whole quality of life matters. As mentioned earlier, the food that one consumes daily has a major impact on one’s social behavior. Eating the wrong food may not cause someone to physically look unhealthy, but mentally there’s a different battle going on entirely. Refined sugars, found in cookies, candies, and sodas; refined carbohydrates, found in white bread, pastries, pasta, etc; and notably obvious, fried foods: french fries, chicken wings, fried potatoes, and other fried foods all cause problems to one’s mental health. Biological tolerance can sometimes also play a role in what people can classify as healthy. Individuals that are lactose intolerant can’t drink some kinds of milk or eat some types of bread: something that would be a relatively safe thing to eat for another person, but the mental health aspect still isn’t being accounted for. Some people may say: “I want to eat something sweet, but I shouldn’t eat it because it isn’t good for me, so I’ll go for a sweetener instead!” Sounds better right? Going for something that mimics the feeling of consuming sugar while not actually consuming sugar–that sounds delightful. Wrong! Refined sugars are bad enough, but consuming artificial sweeteners can have the same impact. Aspartame, for example, a very common sweetener— found in diet coke, coke zero, and other zero sugar products— has been found to have a link to emotional and cognitive problems, including irritability and depression. For example, we have a young man named Bob. Bob has been drinking diet soda everyday, and sleeps whenever he wants; normally later than average. Recently, Bob felt a little untapped with reality, so he goes to Google and describes his symptoms. Google responds by saying he has depression. Remember that symptoms for depression can include loss of interest or sadness. Bob now assumes that he has depression. Does this really mean that he has depression? Maybe, or maybe not. One must take into account the fact that he sleeps whenever he wants and drinks one diet soda a day. In an alternate reality, let’s assume that he sleeps a good amount but drinks the same diet coke. He still feels depressed, but that doesn’t mean he has depression. Since he’s drinking diet soda which contains aspartame every single day, that could be a plausible reason why he’s feeling the way he feels. Now, let’s assume that he’s eating the right food everyday, drinks only water, and has the right amount of sleep everyday, but still feels depressed. In this case he is probably depressed. So one must be more careful when choosing the right product to consume, even if it seems like a healthier option.
That being said, how can an average human decide that the food he or she is about to consume is safe to eat, if not beneficial to their health? One must take into account these questions: Does it contain required nutrients or is it just empty calories? Does it energize, rejuvenate, or hurt to eat? Does it reduce or increase health risk? Does it foster or harm mental health? Does it promote sustainability and safe behavior? If a decision is healthy in these questions, the product is most likely healthy to consume. At the same time however, the questions cannot be generalizable. It must be in accordance with each individual.
Evaluating something as fairly healthy or unhealthy is a multi-step process, requiring consideration of nutritional value, biological effect, and effect on mental well-being. It is important to understand that health is not absolute, but relative, and is dependent on what someone deems as healthy or unhealthy. A food product mustn’t always be judged based on relation to alternatives, but it’s always fine to make that comparison if needed. It must be judged based on individual needs and long term effects. With logic and evidence, one can come to the conclusion that the product they are holding is without a doubt, healthy for them. Health is not a number on a label or a promise on a package. It is a lifelong relationship with your body, mind, and environment. The next time you hold a food product in your hands, look past the marketing and ask yourself: Does this truly strengthen and enrich me? If the answer is yes, then that is health, not because someone else defined it, but because you did.
Authored By: Nikhil Kandalam
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