I subscribe to Mark Manson’s weekly email,, “Your Next Breakthrough (five minutes each week that might change your life.”) This week’s thought was:
Nobody is wrong 100% of the time. Always look for the nugget of truth in those you disagree with.
Nobody is right 100% of the time. Always look for the faults and mistakes in those you agree with.
Followed by these questions:
How can you challenge your own ideas and assumptions regularly? How can you seek out and find viewpoints you disagree with, and then challenge yourself to find wisdom and truth in them? Why aren’t you doing this more often?
Every once in a while I have to re-examine my eating habits. Now, for any vegans reading this, DON’T WORRY. You will never, ever read here that I’ve decided to stop being vegan. I’ve been vegan for over thirty years, and that’s not going to change. But lately I’ve been letting a lot of processed foods creep into my diet, and I had to re-examine my beliefs about what a healthy vegan diet looks like.
A podcast I’ve been listening to lately is Human Performance Outliers, hosted by ultra runner Zach Bitter. In this episode he interviewed Brad Kearns, who I have a love/hate relationship with.
Brad has his own podcast, “B.Rad” and he’s pretty entertaining. He has a lot of interesting ideas about health and exercise, and I like what he has to say… EXCEPT WHEN HE TALKS ABOUT EATING. He does keto- fine!- but for some reason is passionately anti-vegan. It got so annoying that I stopped listening to him, but decided to give him another try as a guest on Zach’s podcast.
He’s still anti-vegan! But his main rant on this episode was against “seed oils,” a term people use to refer to most vegetable oils, including soybean, sunflower, safflower, and canola. Brad said (and I looked it up, he’s right!) those oils are particularly harmful because they cause a lot of inflammation in the body, and that they’re in practically all processed foods. He said, if you want to improve your diet, first get rid of the seed oils, then come back and we’ll argue about keto vs. vegan.
Hmmm! I came home and looked in my fridge. Earth balance has vegetable oils, and so does the Miyoko’s cheese I’ve been slathering on everything. The pantry was equally disastrous- all the chips, pretzels and crackers have seed oils. In fact, it really is in most processed foods and I never thought twice about it.
I’m not going to make myself crazy over it, but I’m going to seriously reduce the processed foods in my diet. Tonight for dinner I made this recipe for “Ultimate Vegan Chili.”
and instead of opening a bag of chips, I made some chips out of corn tortillas! I brushed them with olive oil (olive oil is apparently one of the good ones,) sprinkled on some salt, and baked them.
They tasted about as good as they look, which means they pretty much sucked. But I’ll keep trying! I have to get back to having things like chips every once in a while as a treat, rather than whenever I feel like it. So, thanks Brad! We’ll never agree on vegan vs. keto, but we do have some common ground after all.
Do you have any beliefs that you’ve challenged lately? When was the last time you changed your mind about something big? –I do have a big one, in case anyone missed this post, Story of an Anti-Vaxxer
28 Responses
“They tasted about as good as they look, which means they pretty much sucked.” Ha!
Food is a tricky subject for so many. When I think of all the time I have spent thinking about food in a negative way, it makes me really sad. Food IS fuel, but it is so much more than that. It’s joy, it’s togetherness, it’s social, it’s comfort. And so for me, my plant-based diet is more about nurturing my body AND soul. I also want to note that everything that is not in its natural state is considered processed. So, bread is processed. Beans that are canned are processed. Etcetera. That said, I don’t really eat vegan meat or cheese as I don’t tend to like them – although Costco makes a chipotle black bean burger that is amazing, and I wonder if they have them in the States. Anyway, to answer your questions with regards to food, I guess my whole life I’ve thought in terms of “can’t have this, can’t have that, that’s a bad food” and now I do not think that way. I’ve spent my whole life steeped in diet culture and I can’t change the past but I won’t think that way anymore.
It’s really hard. On the one hand I don’t want to be neurotic about food (like I have been in the past.) On the other hand, I somehow have the ability to make any diet unhealthy! And yes- a jar of almond butter is a processed food. But it’s a lot healthier than a bag of potato chips (good point there.) As always- balance and common sense are key.
All I know is that I have a wicked craving for chili now.
I get that he’s on a rant that seeds oils are bad, but I missed the part about what you’re supposed to replace them with. Offhand if for some reason I wanted to eliminate all of these sources it sounds like I’d be left with butter and meat drippings for added fat. I haven’t done the research, but I’m pretty sure that those fall on the inflammatory list so what’s the benefit to me?
I’m with Nicole, my goal is to eat in a way that makes me feel good and not get bothered by all of the noise out there that says to do something different. I have a long history of this not working for me.
Ha, I’m asking the same questions, but apparently olive oil and avocado oil are good. People disagree about coconut oil, but I’m going with “its good” for now.
Your first point about looking for some truth in something you disagree with really resonates with me. Everything is so divisive and I mean everything! People seem increasingly unable to see anyone else’s point of view. I’ve been feeling this so much lately.
Re the Veganism-you should eat the way you want to eat it’s your body. I became a vegetarian at age 12 and have gone through many versions of what that looks like. I now am a pescatarian bc adding fish to my diet became necessary for me to get the macros I needed. I do agree that many “vegan” foods are processed and perhaps not as healthy as we might think. I def still eat many of them like veggie burgers. Gotta find the balance that works for you!
I think balance is key- I was swinging out of balance the other way and it’s good for me to reign it in a little.
And, I actually hold the belief that our similarities are greater than our differences (not just you and me, I mean everyone.) It doesn’t seem like that nowadays, but deep down I think it’s true.
I agree with Deborah… some people are so critical.
I’m not vegan or keto or maybe even a healthy eater but to each his/her own.
But I don’t get sick and feel good so I’m going to eat whatever I want. That being said, I don’t eat junk food but I do enjoy a glass of red wine and a bowl of ice ceam.
Darlene, you’re probably doing just fine with what you’re eating! You feel good, you don’t get sick, you don’t get injured (except for random flukey things like tripping) and you’re happy. You’re probably in the minority in that you don’t worry about it, eat what you want and it’s working for you.
Food can be such a sensitive topic! As a vegan, I try really hard not to tell other people what they “should” eat based on my own beliefs. I’ve struggled with an eating disorder in the past so for me, demonizing certain foods beyond the animal products I already don’t eat can be a slippery slope back into disordered thoughts and habits. I try to eat as healthy as I can without being obsessive but I still eat things that have seed oils, sugar, etc in them sometimes. I don’t love most vegan meats & cheeses but I will almost always say yes to a bowl of vegan ice cream and that’s the kind of balance that works for me!
Ashley, I have a similar history so I have to be careful. I’m always torn between wanting to eat healthier and not becoming obsessive over it (because that has DEFINITELY HAPPENED in the past.) Like most things in life, moderation is probably key.
I agree with the level of “division” we have these days. I have seen a lot of peoples’ true colors shining in recent years, and some are not so pretty. That being said, I haven’t unfriended anyone for their beliefs or opinions, and I do try to rationalize that everyone has their own belief system (and their own life experiences) that shape who they’ve become…and I do believe there’s some “good” (or truth) in everyone 🙂 I just choose to not pick a fight if I’m not in agreement with them.
It’s definitely true that everyone has their own life experiences- we don’t know what it’s like to be them. And I do think there’s some truth in everything- even people we disagree with might be right about something.
Gosh it’s hard to think of a recent example of something I have changed my mind about. What comes to mind is the 2016 election. Prior to 2016, I had voted for republican candidate in all presidential elections since 2004. But when Trump was the candidate in 2016 I said NO WAY. I was going to just not vote for a presidential candidate because I honestly didn’t love Hilary Clinton. But ultimately I decided that not voting for her was kind of akin to voting for Trump. I can’t imagine being aligned with the Republican Party anymore so I have voted for Democrats in the last 2 presidential elections and I feel like my views more so align with that party so I guess I have changed parties, too. Which goes to show you can change your mind about big things!!
Lisa, that IS a big thing!!! I wish more people could have an open mind about politics these days.
Time for an air fryer! Those chips will be awesome!
I have changed my mind about keeping the peace. I used to just let things go in order not to “make waves”, but I compromised a lot of my beleifs in the process. I’m not doing that anymore.
Ha, that’s a great point- maybe now is finally the time to get an air fryer.
Interesting shift for you- I would be interested to hear how you’re implementing that!
I’ve signed up to Mark Manson’s weekly mails as well and I really like his thoughts and questions.
I’ve recently changed my mind that everyone has to live a healthy life – if they want to smoke, drink and overeat… let them! I don’t need to get all preachy, people know what they should be doing without me lecturing them. 🙂
That’s a good attitude! People aren’t going to change because we preach at them, anyway.
I have actually been avoiding the inflammatory oils for a while, as I was having some gut issues and I was hoping that would help. Of course, now my issues are more minor but I did make a lot of other changes too, so am not sure if it is the oil or what. I think avocado, olive and even coconut are okay, although coconut has a lot of saturated fat, so depending on your diet/health, you may need to keep that a bit lower too. I think also (Zach probably went over this) expeller pressed is better than regularly processed, if you are going to eat the oil.
In my journey I have found some good packaged foods though! Siete makes good chips and tortillas that don’t have all of the “bad” oils, you can get some chips that are fried in coconut oil instead and it is amazing if you read labels — for example, most peanuts and peanut butter have canola or peanut oil, but you can get ones (Planters has peanuts / Kirkland and Laura Scudders have PB that is just nuts and salt) that don’t if you just look at the label. I don’t think you need to go fully off everything, but it does make sense to read labels and choose accordingly.
That’s good to know! I’ve definitely seen popcorn that only has coconut oil- I”ll look for the other chips as well. Not that I relaly should be eating chips, but… heh heh.
I go back and forth about big dietary changes/ restrictions/ etc. I want to be generally healthy, obviously, but at the same time….. we ain’t getting out of here alive, anyway. So I sometimes sort of shrug my shoulders at some things I consume that “might not be 100% healthy” and just choose to sort of not worry about it. Especially when it gets down to nitty gritty type smaller things (not bigger ideas like “eat more vegetables”), I feel like there is so much contradiction anyway that it’s nearly impossible. For example, you’ll hear that avocados are really healthy for you- good, healthy fat, etc etc. But then… did you know avocadoes are considered one of the least sustainable foods out there?! Apparently, they are one of the most detrimental products to the environment for many many reasons. I recently learned of this and was like… oh. 🙁 Same with other things like, I don’t know, “healthy carbs” like beans. Now that’s not an animal product, so that’s “good”, but now beans = too many carbs, which can raise our risk for diabetes, etc. etc. Eat more protein! Good for longevity! But don’t eat animals, bc… well, that’s mean and bad for planet. Nuts like almonds are good, but oh wait- those also lead to massive deforestation and increased carbon emissions to transport them from the tropics and other issues, so we shouldn’t have those either. Basically, at the end of the day, it’s an impossible catch 22. Damned if we do, and damned if we don’t. Hahaha. Therefore, I just try to be fairly balanced, eat my treats, eat some veggies, eat some protein, and carry on with my life and hope for the best.
YES, YES, YES.
a) the “advice” changes constantly and b) every “good” thing has a tradeoff (almonds take a TON of water and are horrible for honeybee populations too; they require huge colonies of bees to pollinate them and then the bees are only able to exist in a monoculture which leads to serious hive decline – I did my Master’s on honeybees and almonds are a HUGE industry but pretty terrible in terms of environmental and ecological impacts).
I have struggled with disordered eating in the past and eating what I want when I want has been one of the biggest life changes I’ve ever made (I’m going on 1.5 years of “intuitive eating” now). I basically never obsess over food anymore. Am I am “healthy” as I was before? Maybe! Because I’m no longer restricting or negatively impacting my mental health with what I’m eating which also has implications on overall health.
Well, thanks for ruining almonds! Just kidding, although I will be thinking about that from now on. Yes, it would probably be hard to find a “perfect” food. I’m very glad intuitive eating is working for you! You probably are healthier than you were before- how you feel about what you eat definitely has an impact on your health.
Yes, it’s so true- you can make yourself crazy with all the conflicting information out there. I guess ideally I would strive for moderation and just try to eat what makes me feel best… but I can’t seem to do that. If I decide to have chips once a week as a treat, then I start wanting them twice a week, and before you know it I’m eating chips or pretzels every single day. ‘Moderation” just doesn’t seem to work for me. So I’m constantly struggling. Stressing over food isn’t healthy either, of course! It sounds like you have a good attitude towards the whole thing.
I think food is so touchy. I agree with Kae a lot, to be honest. I’m going to have dessert because you only live once, right? I do try to be healthy in most of my choices, but Brad and I are going to end up the exact same way, even if he doesn’t eat corn oil and I think that’s the secret to good zucchini bread. *shrug*
I can’t think of many big things I’ve recently changed my mind about, but I was at a board meeting for my volunteer gig earlier this week and I found a couple of arguments about how we should do some thing pretty persuasive and did institute some changes based on that. I try really hard not to be a stubborn and rigid thinker because I don’t think it does anyone any good.
Great point- we’re all going to end up in the same place, whether we put corn oil in our zucchini bread or not.
That chili looks amazing.
I think it’s hard to pay attention to ALL THE THINGS in the world and the fact that you only now learned about seed oil and noticed that it is in a lot of processed food only shows that there is something new to learn every day. I am making constant changes based on “new” knowledge. It doesn’t always mean that it’s right and that it will stay this way, but we must be open to new information in order to change.
I like the quotes above: “Nobody is wrong 100% of the time. Always look for the nugget of truth in those you disagree with.
Nobody is right 100% of the time. Always look for the faults and mistakes in those you agree with.”
It’s good to stay curious.
Yes, we need to keep an open mind- otherwise, like you said, we would miss any new information. And yes, that chili is good!!!