Fickle Foods: Healthy or Harmful?

There are some foods that seem to teeter-totter between being good and bad for your health, leaving you feeling uncertain about what you should eat or drink. Should you trust in the health benefits of foods like dairy or abstain due to potential drawbacks? Are eggs a health boost or an unnecessary indulgence? Why can’t anyone just make up their mind?

It’s time to put these iffy foods under a microscope and determine which are actually healthy. Should you incorporate the following foods and beverages into your diet—or avoid them altogether?

Eggs

One of the most controversial foods, eggs are known for both their many nutritional benefits, including protein and antioxidants, and their counteracting risks like cholesterol and saturated fat, which can impact heart health. “What you get with an egg—for virtually no sugar or carbs—is some great fat-soluble vitamins: A, E, and D,” says registered dietician Scott Keatley. Regardless, the American Heart Association has officially ruled that people should enjoy only one full egg per day. Any more and you may consume excess cholesterol, a contributor to high blood pressure and other heart-health risks.

Chocolate

The benefits of chocolate, one of the world’s favorite foods, largely depend on which type you eat. Both cacao and raw cocoa beans have a compound called flavanols, which have anti-inflammatory properties that can help prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer. Natural dark chocolate is rich with these flavanols, allowing you to maximize its health perks without ingesting too much sugar. Sweet white and milk chocolates, on the other hand, often only contain minimal flavanols due to their low amounts of cocoa solids, high amounts of additives, and excess processing.

For the healthiest chocolate, shop for treats that contain at least 70 percent cacao and no alkali ingredients, which strip chocolate of its natural bitterness and, consequently, its benefits. Check the fine print in or around a product’s ingredients list for alkali processing. Also, remember to keep an eye on the nutrition label and serving size, as a healthy serving of chocolate may be as small as a few ounces.

Wine

Wine is similar to eggs in that moderation is essential to enjoying the pros without the cons. It has many compounds that can help improve your health, including anti-inflammatory flavonoids (the parent compound to flavanols) and resveratrol, which can reduce stress, improve your mood, and help prevent heart disease. However, exceeding one four-ounce glass of wine per day can instead increase your risk of heart disease. Overdrinking can also damage your liver and make you exceed your daily recommended limit of sugar.

Coffee

The world’s most popular beverage can’t possibly be harmful to everyone who relies on a morning mug, right? Well, you don’t have to worry. Many of the supposed risks of coffee, like heart palpitations and an inability to focus, are largely mythical or attributed to excessive consumption: more than five cups per day. (To be clear, that’s five cups in liquid measurement terms, not five full mugs of coffee.) In fact, people who drink coffee regularly may actually have a reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and even gout.

More reasonable concerns, though, are the side of effects of coffee dependency, including the fatigue and irritability you experience when you miss out on your daily cup of joe. Also, those who suffer from hypertension should monitor their consumption, as coffee can raise your blood pressure, albeit slightly. And, of course, adding sweeteners and fatty creamers to your coffee can counteract many of its benefits, so a sweet latte that just happens to contain coffee is certainly not a health food.

Dairy

One of the ficklest foods in the health world, dairy seems to be as revered for its benefits like vitamin D as it is reviled for its potential health risks, which range from acne to weight gain to heart disease. However, some of the associations between dairy and declining health are misleading. After all, “dairy” encompasses a plethora of foods, including a high-fat, high-sodium cheese and a simple glass of skim milk.

This means that some dairy products can actually be good for you, as long as you don’t have a milk intolerance or lactose allergy. According to Eating Well, an eight-ounce serving of milk contains eight grams of protein and high amounts of healthy nutrients like vitamin B12 and calcium. But being a conscious eater means taking note of other ingredients that may be lurking in popular dairy products, including excess sugar in yogurts that can spur an insulin spike and high levels of sodium in processed cheese products that can impact your cardiovascular health over time.

The bottom line

If you’re stressed about foods and drinks like these that send you mixed signals, just remember that there are many other foods that are undeniably great for your health, including leafy green vegetables and lean, white fish. You can also minimize your servings of unquestionably high-risk foods like deep-fried snacks and ones with excessive processed sugars. And, of course, you can review new research that emerges about controversial foods like the examples on this list—just remember that no matter what you read, only you and your doctor should make official determinations about your diet.

For more information, visit health.gov