Casually Explained: Being Healthy

Well, it's pretty common knowledge that certain foods are healthy, and others aren't so much, it's pretty rare that you ever get an explanation as to why.

And one thing that bothers me quite a bit is when someone says to eat something because:

"It's good for you!" or "It's a superfood!"

And almost universally, what that really translates to is: It grows in nature.

Ironically, half the time, it only grows in nature because we've selectively bred it over thousands of years to be that way.

And when half of our leading source of nutrition advice are Pinterest recipes, a lot of what we consider "common knowledge" is actually completely made up.

As an example, one of the common terms you'll see online with regards to healthy food is that something gets rid of toxins in your body, which really doesn't make any sense.

"If your body is filled with toxins and certain foods, remove them," then that means "We could've brought back Steve Irwin with a blueberry smoothie."

In reality, almost all supplements or foods that get rid of toxins are really just laxatives or diuretics.

So it makes you feel like they're somehow flushing something away, when in reality, you could have just put three shots of vodka in your latte like a regular person.

The next thing you'll often run into are online recipes for anything made overnight with a mason jar, telling you're not getting enough antioxidants.

And one of the ways you can tell if you're not getting antioxidants is by looking at your skin and seeing if it's starting to rust.

And while they do play a role in your body, the problem with suggesting that you should consume more is that it's fundamentally like saying "The more oil you have in your car, the less likely it is to break down."