The qualifications of healthy food have been ever-shifting throughout the past decades. That said, the Mediterranean diet continues to be the most popular healthy eating diet in the West.
Unfortunately, this has led to foods outside of this particular diet being viewed negatively. In countries like the United States, what constitutes healthy food is generally considered distinct from cultural food, which for some consists of ingredients high in fat and carbohydrates.
This hostility towards cultural food is likely also due to stereotyping and even racism. The popularity of cuisines like American Chinese food, due to immigrants adapting their food to American palates, has led many people to ascribe Chinese food as greasy, cheap and fast food. That couldn’t be further from the case.
While carbohydrates have often been demonized in the West, the same can’t be said for the rest of the world. South Korea, Japan and China have some of the healthiest populations despite largely consuming rice.
Thankfully, in recent years, there has been a growing trend to combat the existing rules of healthy food. Social media sites like TikTok have done wonders in introducing people to healthier recipes from different cultures.
No matter where in the world a person is from, it is possible to eat healthily. While nobody is the same, what constitutes healthy food does not exclude fats or carbs from a diet. Moderation, balance and proper exercise are the keys to maintaining a healthy body and mind.
