Is Eating Healthy Worth It?

Eating Healthy Is Sometimes Worth It

What does eating healthy mean? If you are trying to lose weight, eating healthy first and foremost means eating a diet that will result in weight loss. Historically, that meant eating a low-calorie diet. I believe the best way to lose weight is The Three Rules to Lose Weight and Keep It Off Forever. If you don’t need to lose weight (increasingly uncommon), then eating healthy means eating food that may lower your risk of heart disease or cancer.

You hear a lot about ultra-processed food causing innumerable harms. It’s true. There are many risks of ultra-processed food. Every few weeks, a new study comes out. But fast food and other ultra-processed foods taste good. Is it worth eating healthy and giving them up? This is no way to generalize this answer.

First, in a sense, everything is unhealthy. If you overeat, that can cause health problems. If you eat too little, you waste away. Too much water can dilute your blood chemistries, causing harm. We know what too little water can do. But what about something clearly unhealthy, like ultra-processed food? Let’s take my favorite candy bar as a kid, the Twix. It is ultra-processed and high in sugar, saturated fat, and calories. No one could say it is healthy. But is eating healthy and avoiding the Twix bar worth it?

As I say in my book, you should eat with intent. If you purposefully eat the Twix bar, knowing it has health risks, as a treat or reward, excellent. Eating six or eight a day out of boredom and poor self-control may not be worth it. Even smoking cigarettes could be worth it if it prevents worse harm, such as heavy alcohol use or mind-ruining drugs. You have to decide.

As we age, the concept of eating healthy becomes more complicated. If I were a hundred years old, I wouldn’t worry about eggs, Twinkies, Twix, ice cream, or smoking cigars. I might not start drinking again because I wouldn’t want to weaken my mind at any point in life. But if eating three eggs and bacon daily increases mortality, it would matter less to me at 100 than at 55, as I am now. It takes years for smoking and unhealthy eating to catch up with you. So, it matters less when you have fewer years left.

My son wisely says that you have to live now, no matter your age. That is true. It is difficult for me to indulge in unhealthy foods, even though it should matter less to me now than it did ten years ago. How to balance living now and preventing an early death is very difficult. If I could add six months to my life by eating only tofu and broccoli, I wouldn’t do it. But if eating only junk food took ten years off my life, I wouldn’t do that either. (This does not mention the other downsides of junk food, such as obesity, which impacts quality of life, in addition to increasing mortality.)

Again, you have to act with intent. You have to decide whether eating healthy is worth it. Is the harm of the food (or drink, cigarette, or even riding a motorcycle) worth the benefit? Most people don’t think about it at all. They drink alcohol or eat junk food with abandon. Then 15-20 years later, they have diabetes, cancer, or liver disease and regret what they did.

The balance my son has created for himself may be the best approach for him. I find it difficult to eat unhealthy foods occasionally since I become addicted to things easily. If I could have one drink without the risk of drinking too much, I would do it. If I could roast Twinkies over the fire with my wife and son, and not get hooked, I would do that too.

We each have to decide for ourselves, but make a decision. Think about how you want to eat and eat with intent.