Last night, I was watching a webinar about eating through menopause, and it got me thinking about rules—and what healthy eating actually looks like in real life.
The presenter discussed research suggesting that predominantly plant-based diets, including vegetarian and pescatarian eating patterns, may be associated with better metabolic health during menopause.
And I started wondering: Who actually eats this way? How many people can sustain that kind of diet long term? And how does it fit into the reality of everyday life?
That led me to think about how we actually eat on a daily basis, and the constant conversations about processed foods.
We're often encouraged to eat more fresh foods, avoid packaged products, and pay close attention to ingredient labels.
But what exactly do we mean by processed food? And why do we eat it in the first place?
One of the slides included processed, ready-to-eat cheese as part of a less favorable eating pattern.
That caught my attention because I often eat string cheese. It's convenient, comes in individual portions, and makes my life easier.
But then I started thinking about something bigger. Why do we choose the foods we eat? How much of that choice is about nutrition, and how much is about what fits into our daily lives?
And what happens when the foods we're encouraged to eat don't fit into those lives?
I work with a nutritionist. I have the opportunity to discuss my individual needs and make decisions about what works for me.
But what about people who don't?
What about people who cannot afford to work with a nutrition professional? People who don't have access to multiple grocery stores, specialty products, or the time to prepare everything from scratch?
This brings us to something called social determinants of health: the conditions in which people live, work, and go about their daily lives, and how those conditions influence their opportunities for health.
Not everyone has the privilege of choosing among multiple brands or purchasing whichever foods they prefer.
Not everyone has the same budget, transportation, kitchen facilities, time, or access to reliable nutrition information.
As I listened, I found myself thinking less about the specific foods being recommended and more about the people expected to follow those recommendations.
We often discuss what constitutes a healthy diet as though everyone has the same opportunity to choose one.
But do they?
Access to food is only one part of the equation. Being able to purchase an ingredient doesn't necessarily mean having the time, resources, energy, or support to prepare it regularly. And being able to follow a recommendation for a week is different from sustaining it for years.
As a health coach, part of my work is helping people translate recommendations from their healthcare professionals into sustainable daily habits that fit their lives.
Within this context, I often use a simple example: someone who used to eat cookies for breakfast and now drinks a protein shake may already be making meaningful progress, even if other meals haven't changed.
The point isn't whether a protein shake is the ideal breakfast or whether that person's overall diet meets every nutritional recommendation.
The point is that progress has to be understood in context.
We have to be careful about dictating rules and offering opinions when, most of the time, we have very little understanding of what happens in someone else's life.
Can this person afford organic produce? If someone can afford conventional strawberries but not organic ones, are we helping them make a healthier choice by telling them to buy organic? Or are we overlooking the nutritional benefits of the option they can actually afford?
What does it take for a mother to put dinner on the table every night while balancing work, family responsibilities, and everything else demanding her attention?
What resources does someone need to follow a recommendation? What barriers might make it difficult? And what support would make it more achievable?
Most importantly, how can we help people make informed decisions about their health without assuming that difficulty following a recommendation means they're lazy, unmotivated, or simply don't care?
Research can help us understand which dietary patterns are associated with better health outcomes. That knowledge matters.
But translating research into daily life requires understanding the person who is expected to put it into practice.
Perhaps we need to spend less time asking why people aren't following the rules and more time understanding what it would take to make healthier choices possible for them.
The next time we're tempted to tell someone what they should or shouldn't eat, perhaps we should stop and ask ourselves a few questions first.
Do we know what options are available to them? Do we understand their circumstances? Are we offering information that can help them make an informed decision, or are we simply imposing our own expectations?
Because before we can help someone make healthier choices, we need to understand what choices they actually have.
Reflection Prompt
Draw what healthy eating means to you.
As you look at your drawing, how much of what you've included reflects your own life, and how much reflects what you've been told healthy eating should look like?