Seed oils? Evil. But is your coconut oil refined or unrefined? Don’t get me started on fruit—that sugar, ooph.
Did you hear protein powder is dangerous now? (Until it isn’t. Depends who you ask.)
Red meat will kill you…wait, is that only if you grill it?
Salt is bad—except when it’s essential.
Kale is a superfood—or a thyroid bomb.
Butter? Back in style. Unless you’re plant-based, in which case it’s a mortal sin.
A gram of protein per pound? Wait…can I even get there?
And make sure it’s organic…unless “organic” is meaningless. Free range? Pasture raised? Grass-fed? Grass finished? I gotta stop scrolling.
Nuts? Great for your heart. Unless it’s a peanut—not actually a nut, but a moldy legume waiting to get you.
Rice? Terrible carb load. Except, how come so many Asian cultures that eat rice every day live longer, healthier lives? (Okinawa called—they’re doing fine.)
And alcohol? One glass of red wine is heart-healthy. Or wait—every drop is toxic. There goes my social life.
Wellness rules now contradict faster than a cable news panel. And keeping up isn’t healthy—it’s exhausting. At this point, I just start to not care. It’s too much.
The Cost of Perfect
Here’s the thing: when every meal choice turns into a stress test, the stress is worse for you than whatever food you just put on your plate. Cortisol doesn’t care if it’s a donut or a debate about “grass finished” beef. Stress is stress. And stress, unchecked, ages you faster than sugar ever could.
There’s a lot of space between never and always.
We’re not expected to be perfect. Listen to your body. It already knows more than the internet does.
Check Your Sources
We live in the clickbait age of wellness. Every day it’s a new villain, a new superfood, a new warning. Half of it is marketing, the other half is out of context. Science is useful—if you actually check the science.
And yeah, in 2025, asking AI for a “total picture” isn’t a bad move.
But here’s a better idea: relax. You know what clean eating is. You know that fresh produce, lean protein, healthy fats, and whole foods are better than packaged junk in the center aisles. Do more of that.
Balance > Perfection
But you also know we’re supposed to have joy in life. So celebrate. Eat the cookie—and savor it. Have that cocktail with friends. Just not the whole box or the whole bottle.
We could have been designed for food to be purely functional. No taste buds, just fuel. But instead, food is both functional and sensory. Maybe it’s because digestion starts in the mouth, and nature wants us to chew longer. Or maybe it’s all some great cosmic joke, testing our willpower.
Either way, it’s not about endless chocolate. It’s about giving yourself permission to enjoy. Find your point between always and never.
Wellness isn’t about chasing perfection. It’s about balance. About making enough of the right choices that your body thanks you, without obsessing over every bite.
Let’s stop making this so complicated.
Thrive on.
Brian
