Why are We so Judge-y about Food...

• I eat multi grain bread, its good for health...

• I don't eat doughnuts, its bad for health...

• I buy organic apples, inorganic ones are not good for health, as they are loaded with pesticides...

• Smoothies with spinach is good for health.. I have it everyday.

• I prefer Olive oil over Vegetable oil, its light and healthy.

Do above statements sound familiar? We make or hear such statements so often these days. And that makes me wonder, Why have we become so judge-y about food? We judge our choices and label foods as 'good' or 'bad', so much that we have started judging ourselves and other people as good or bad depending on what we ate. Take a cupcake, earn an unfriendly glance from your dieting freinds or colleagues. Order a salad and get labeled as 'no fun' because others ordered a burger. Someone who has smoothies with spinach surely must be good and healthy...Why?

Its so rampant these days, many of us have gotten into the habit of making the people in our lives feel guilty about their food choices. Its mostly because of the messages we receive from media and health professionals. We 'should' be eating kale and quinoa and not doughnuts or french fries or onion rings.

I sometimes feel, we have become obsessed with the word 'healthy'. Kids no longer are allowed to eat vanilla cupcakes, it should be made up of whole wheat with added ingredients of carrot or zucchini or nuts. I mean, come on, we don't eat cupcakes everyday...why go against our taste buds and force eating food labelled "healthy"?

There is nothing wrong with making healthy food preferences, but I see, people have become too rigid ( Thanks to media :)) We spend lot of time focusing on what we 'should' eat and beat ourselves up ( with guilt) for consuming that don't fall into that category. Why we have shaming thoughts when we compare our food choices to what others are eating? There is a wealth of merit to eating whole grains, fibres etc but do healthy foods equals healthy person?

It's OK to include foods simply because they taste good and give you pleasure. It's important to recognize that we're human and we all eat sometimes just because of stress or celebration. We're not looking to make that the norm, but it's not something to feel guilty about either.