Good Food, Bad Food

As Dr. Eddie Phillips says, what Juna Gjata “brings to the table is universal,” including her lifelong sense that some foods are “good” and some are “bad.” But what if there’s no forbidden fruit? What if you think about eating to take care of yourself?

In the second episode of the "Food, We Need To Talk" podcast, Juna describes the judgments she — and others — impose on themselves and their food choices. And she shares some advice from Harvard nutritionist Michelle Gallant:

"When we call them good or bad foods, the bad foods can wind up being more appealing because they're forbidden. I hear it from my patients all the time, that their family didn't allow sugar or sweets in the house. But boy, when they went to a friend's house, it was a free-for-all, or if they had a little money, they would go and buy candy. And so allowing it in moderation, they can learn to have it in a balanced way. When you make it into forbidden, it makes it that much more appealing."

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Correction: Rachele Pojednic, who is quoted in this episode, is an assistant professor of nutrition at Simmons University, which was previously known as Simmons College.