COVID-19 has played havoc with so much of our lives, including our diets. Stuck at home with easy access to the fridge and pantry, many people are seeking food for comfort. With a little focus and avoiding outdated dietary advice, it’s possible to get your nutrition back on track.

It’s a mistake that’s incredibly easy to understand and sympathize with,” said Bowden, author of “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth” and the new “The Great Cholesterol Myth.” “We’re going through incredibly difficult times. We’re disrupted, disoriented, disconnected and unsure of the future. Of course we turn to foods that feel comforting. Unfortunately, those are exactly the foods that make us metabolically sick and fat.

Processed foods that are high in starch, sugar and vegetable oil actually set us up for the metabolic illnesses that significantly increase the risk for death from COVID-19, Bowden said.

These foods have been expertly engineered to have just the right layering of salt, sugar and fat as to be essentially irresistible, Bowden said. Plus, they tend to be associated with happy memories. The combination is lethal.

To eat more healthfully, try to develop a different relationship with food. Stop thinking “it would feel good to eat this right now” and instead focus on whether the food will fuel your body and mind for health, performance and immunity, Bowden said.

One tip I can give everyone is to take your fear of fat and put it on a bonfire somewhere and burn it, Bowden said. Fear of fat is what got us into the mess in the first place. When people learn they can start making their food taste good again with healthy fats like grass-fed butter, they don’t feel as bad about giving up some junk foods.

Other foods with healthy fat include avocados, eggs, grass-fed beef, salmon, ghee, Malaysian palm oil, avocado oil and coconut oil, he said.

The mind-set that butter is bad is outdated. Research including a 2010 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition finds that saturated fat is not associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Butter also contains important nutrients such as vitamin A, an essential vitamin your body cannot produce itself, and vitamins E, B12 and K2.

All cooking oils such as olive oil, ghee and butter are high in fat because that’s what they are composed of, just like all meat is high in protein, Bowden said. A single pat, or tablespoon, of butter is 100 calories, which is about the same calories or less than other cooking oils or cooking fat, he said.

The best and healthiest foods are not trendy at all, Bowden said. They’re foods your great-great-grandmother would have recognized as food: Food that would spoil if you left it outside. Foods that belong to what I call the Jonny Bowden Four Food Groups: food you could have hunted, fished, gathered or plucked.

The most important and relevant nutritional advice which trumps percent of carbohydrates, number of calories, whether you’re in nutritional ketosis and other dietary details  is to eat real food, Bowden said.

“The elimination of processed food will produce more health benefits than almost any other dietary strategy in the entire world.”

Media contact
Mercy
Managing Editor
Journal of Food and Clinical Nutrition