One Man's Meat Is Another Man's Poison

Example: These quinoa cheddar bites would be great for someone with celiac disease, but NOT for my daughter's best friend who has an egg & dairy allergy.

I'm thankful for leftover fig bars - that's what I ate while writing this!

Please don’t take this title to think I believe meat is poisonous - I enjoy meat and meatless meals equally.  Honestly, I wasn’t familiar with the title saying prior to preparing this post.  While thinking about what I wanted to write, I kept repeating something you may be more familiar with in my head, “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander”.  However, I’ve selected "One man’s meat is another man’s poison" as my first blog title to exemplify both my personal beliefs as well as what I’ve learned to be true when it comes to food and nutrition.   What is good for me may do harm to you and there are a myriad of reasons why this may be the case. 
 
Meal to meal, day-to-day and decade-to-decade, the primary driving reason you eat the foods that you do will differ.   Each time, the decision will ultimately be a personal one you arrive at due to your current social and cultural circumstances as well as individual preferences and health status.  Eating, like most things in life, is a balance and what you eat is very personal and dependent upon many factors.
 
Throughout my blogs I intend to provide food & nutrition tips and tricks for meeting YOUR health goals.  Sometimes the information may not apply to your current situation but it very well may be just what your family member or friend recently talked about.   Remember, just because a famous person had success with a ‘XYZ diet’,  it doesn’t mean it’s going to work for you.  And just because a piece of advice worked for one of my clients, doesn’t mean it’s going to work for the other 100.  There are evidenced based guidelines for how we should eat – check out the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  However, when it comes to the types and amounts of foods that go on your plate, there are a lot of options within those guidelines and if you are unsure what to try, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist can help you!
 
Ask yourself:

• Do you have a health condition that dictates foods you can/can't eat? 
• Do you have the knowledge & tools required to prepare what you like? 
• Do you have time to prepare the foods you desire?
• Do you like the taste of the food you are eating?
• Can you afford the foods you would like to eat? 

According to the 2016 Food and Health Survey by the International Food Information Council, TASTE continues to be the leading reason you select the food that you do more often. Price, healthfulness, convenience and with a growing impact, sustainability, all follow taste as the leading reasons you eat what you do. 
 
I would love to hear from you so that I can tailor my tips, tricks and general advice to your needs.  Feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment below.  If you are willing, please let me know in the comment section two things: 1) What was the last thing you ate and 2) why did you eat it? 

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