The Best Food

The Best Food. Part 2.

The best food exists and it’s a [insert your idea of the best food]. Does it tick the boxes for nutrition, calories, taste, joy, sustainability, convenience, instagramability, home-madeness, locality, community support, etc., etc… ? Or you might think the best food is - in the words of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart “I know it when I see it”.

When it comes to food opinions, everyone is right. You got to choose the best food for you. Maybe you choose to tick all the boxes and have the longest life, rather than the joy and pleasure of cooking, eating and sharing, and a benefit of the “third thing”.

Decisions everywhere. How your food is presented and cooked, how it tastes, and most importantly how it fits your routine. Do you eat alone? Is it fresh produce or is it one of the pre-made formulations? Think about the choices. Food is not healthy vs. tasty vs. impact to the environment. It is a multitude of intertwined food / life factors that you choose to follow, resulting in a different outcome for you.

Nutrition absurdity

The most absurd thing about nutrition is that people don't universally agree on what “nutritious” is. Nutrition is essential for life but nobody eats food to tick off the boxes. That would be a mere existence, not living. There is a big difference between a happy life and the one that we live to get through the day.

Our food is a part of the conversation about who we are and how we feel, not what it does to the body on the molecular level.

Part of the nutrition are flavours. Good, tasty food nourishes the soul. Taste is subjective. Huge parts of it are built from our memories, previous exposure and perceptions. Sometimes we agree that something tastes good, then savour it together discussing all the nuances. Other times we disagree. Our taste buds might not be unique but they collaborate with our brain's past experiences to build the construct of “tasty”. No matter what scientists, gourmands, chefs and food critics say, our tastebuds don’t listen to others.

Food is universal as we all get hungry. The search for the best option to satisfy our hunger continues from the beginning of human consciousness. Today, we still don't have an easy anti-hunger solution. What is a staple in one part of the world, is a nightmare for the other.

Without a clear definition of healthy, nutritious and good food we can’t agree with each other, nevermind creating a food pyramid or a guide for healthy living. What we know is that some foods are better than others nutritionally and on a different scale some foods taste better. They aren't interchangeable. Balance and understanding of those two aspects of food should lead to a better, more enjoyable in every way, diet.

Taste is acquired and personal. Nutrients work similarly for every person but people aren't all the same. We have plenty of information on why, when and how to cook food, but little understanding of how it contributes to our long-term or short-term living.

When eating you might consider many different aspects that are counted with numbers - protein, fats, saturated fats, calories, amounts of vitamins and minerals. Also, a variety of antioxidants, flavonoids, phytonutrients and other beneficial terms. The problem with it is that humans have been eating for thousands of years without counting and thinking about the details of delicious foods. Putting numbers on nutritious and nutrient-poor foods won’t make food healthier. Food just doesn’t work this way. Unless we get education on what food does to our bodies, how dietary choices influence lives and what goes into making common foods, we will live in a dark age of nutrition.

Wanna guess how much protein is in the stack of pancakes?

Last week's questions answered

The best nutritionally complete food. Potatoes vs pasta. What could it be-an?

Sorry to disappoint, but the most nutritionally beneficial thing you can eat is a variety of whole foods. The best nutritionally complete food doesn't exist. First of all, variety is essential to cover all the bases and get nutrients that we don't fully understand but contribute to longevity and wellness.

Second, whole foods are the only products that don't damage your health in some way. Nature is very complicated. We are still working on understanding our food but the majority of what we already know about processed foods, meat and dairy tell us that those products reduce our lifespan and increase the relative risk of chronic diseases that ruin lives, families and drain our pockets. No single product is a nutritionally complete food. We didn’t evolve that way. Also, what’s the point of looking for perfect food? You would unlikely be satisfied with eating just one thing for the rest of your life anyway.

Pasta is nutritionally better than potatoes. Though I am a team “potato” myself. Pasta has more protein, fiber and shapes to offer. Depending on what type of pasta you are eating, it can be rich in fiber, vitamins, flavour and even has amazing colours. At the same time, pasta isn’t in the same category as potatoes. Potato is a veg (or a type of root or tuber, to be precise), while pasta is made out of processed grains. Grains milled into the flour, mixed into the dough, shaped to be a staple food for a range of cultures from different origins and identity.

If we compare potato (veg), pasta (grain-based food) and beans (their own category), and let’s say peanuts (legume), then every one of those basic foods can be a great base for a simple diet while each of them has its own drawbacks. Even though soybean is a complete source of all 9 essential amino acids in one portion (what is a portion you may ask?!), soya lacks carbohydrates and fats that people need for energy and proper bodily functioning.

The basic answer to the above question is pasta. It is better than potato and any beans, and even peanuts, as a single source of essential nutrients and energy. More correct answer is - it’s complicated. No single food can and should be considered satisfactory for the full living experience.

The best joyous food?

Cake!

I reviewed the question and decided that it is badly written. Joy is different to everyone, and just like food preferences and ways to get the most out of it, it changes with time. Edibles aren't a piece of entertainment, a friend or a community that can fill the space around you.

The best food for joyous life is the one you enjoy. Probably something your family used to make when you were younger. Such food is usually easy and pleasant to share. It is simple enough to make and like, but complex enough for people to compare to the store bought alternatives or hand-made. It is a food with personality, history and community around it. You don't think about it but you eat “the best joy food” to be a part of something bigger. Not to be happy in a moment, sorry cake for one…

The biggest cultural food influencer.

Not an easy question to answer, because it is very hard to measure the way culture changes and capture what has changed it.

In modern society, it seems that the burger is getting in the lead to be the most influential food. It is basic enough that everyone knows about it, yet can be as complex as our imagination. To see how important burgers are, look at their origin and ever-growing fanbase. Have burgers brought us the golden arches or have they brought burgers to us? No matter the answer, their burgers are everywhere whether you like it or not.

The burger is one of the rare foods that doesn't require cutlery and is universally agreed upon to be a messy but totally acceptable part of the experience.

When I think about the burger it makes sense that it is so popular. It’s convenient, it’s spectacularly layered, and it's a perfect representation of flavour balance. It is food for everyone, from those who want more for less, like experimenting, flavours and making the world a better place.

How important is sustainability in choosing the best food?

Important enough that there are multiple categories across the market that divide the same food into a good for the environment and everything else. To answer the question properly we have to understand what sustainability means. We also need to look at the things outside of food because everything is connected.

“Brundtland Commission” defines sustainable development as: development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. That involves social, economic and environmental developmental aspects.

I like to think about sustainability as a pair of scales where every action needs to be able to be perpetual without taking or producing exhausting results. Where each unsustainable step, process and hour of work, tips the scale to the other, horrible consequences side, directing that process to the inevitable collapse. Making people worse off long term.

Why is sustainability important for food, especially when we are talking about “the best” type of food? Simply put, an unsustainable diet is bad for you, others and your surrounding.

The best food would not only be sustainable, it would be super sustainable, it would cause more people to have food, to improve the world economy and lead to more people having their human rights met. Can potatoes do that? Or pasta? Maybe something else will finally bring a world pizza?

That is food for thought for the next time.

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First published in May 2021 on eatxperiment.space by E.K aka TheFoodGuy