Food is insanely complicated

How does *anyone* manage to ever eat healthily? In order to sustain this meat-suit I need to consume 13 vitamins, 16 minerals, 9 essential amino acids, 2 fatty acids, and enough fiber (soluble and insoluble) and non-essential amino acids. Too much of any one thing is bad, and not enough is also bad. Nutrition labels don’t come even close to providing that kind of information, and even if they did I absolutely can’t solve an equation with over 40 variables in my head. And I haven’t even touched on glycemic index, taste or satiety.

Then there’s the logistical nightmare of planning, purchasing, transportating, preparing, consuming, and sterilizing said foods. Are avocados, cashews, cocoa, coffee, and meat ethical? What about the produce picked by exploited migrants? Produce spoils very quickly anyways and leads to an enormous amount of food waste, especially when cooking for one. Then there’s cost, fighting with supermarket crouds, spending an afternoon cleaning down every single crevice and surface in my kitchen.

And there’s so much contradictory ‘knowledge’ about diets. Intermittent fasting or grazing? Keto or Vegan? Am I getting enough protein or too much? Is sodium bad, and why is it literally impossible to eat enough potassium without supplementing? Cholesterol? Saturated fats? Are grains bad, or just sugar? Artificial sweeteners? Phytonutrients? VOCs in cooked food?

Finally there’s all the psychological crap. Why does good food taste bad, and bad food taste good? How do I kick my junk food addiction? Why do I want to taste sugary, fatty, salty food, when I know it contains practically no good nutrients? How do I force myself to eat nothing but unsalted tofu and vegetables when I know it’s nutritious but utterly unsatisfying? How do I stop eating when I’ve eaten too many calories, even though I’m always ravenous? And why can’t I just survive on Multivitamins and Quest bars? Seriously, can eating just not be a thing? Why can’t we just survive on water, air and sunlight? I shouldn’t need a PhD in biochemistry to eat healthily... And bad food shouldn’t be addicting while good food is repulsive. And oh my god can someone please just invent food pills already that provide exactly enough nutrition to be thin and healthy!

submitted by /u/fuglycatgirl
[link] [comments]

source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/fealzv/food_is_insanely_complicated/