Is this healthy?

ahoy_m8

This article concludes: " Nutrition science is sometimes murky even to experts."

I found myself asking, "Murky" or "requires context"? Example: My oldest daughter recently asked, "What's the bottom line on cheese--good or bad? One word, no explanation." I gave her the unsatisfying "it depends." For someone who eats lentils and cabbage for lunch everyday (typical diet short on fat), it's good. For someone who eats a burger & fries for lunch every day (typical diet has too much fat), it's bad. As I read the article, I kept thinking the same would be true for any of these foods. Plus, any of these foods would be "healthy" to a starving Venezuelan (literally starving, i.e. too few calories to sustain life long term).

I wonder if studies (and articles about them like this one) do more to obfuscate than to clarify. In fairness, it did also say overall diet matters more than rigid rules around "good" and "bad" foods. I did enjoy the article, but I think I would have enjoyed a critique of the study more than the summary of it. I'm interested in observations of other MFP-ers and other articles that perhaps do a better job.

url: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/07/05/upshot/is-sushi-healthy-what-about-granola-where-americans-and-nutritionists-disagree.html