Are potatoes good for you? 10 surprising health foods

Some days, I feel like food has become the enemy.

There is so much incredible, delicious, fresh and tasty food out there for our tastebuds to experience. And yet so much of it has been labelled “unhealthy” for one reason or another.

We’re told to cut pasta and bread. To limit our carbs. To stay away from sushi and rice. To avoid takeaway food altogether. To forget about eating meat all the time. To limit our fruit. To keep the veggies out of our life unless they’re organic.

It’s exhausting, and – worst of all – it makes us paranoid. It makes us question ourselves every time we wheel our trollies around the supermarket. It makes us feel guilty every time we reach for toast for breakfast.

So I’m bringing the positivity back. I’m drawing our attention away from the bad and towards the good.

In order to do this, I had a chat to two different dieticians and asked them about surprise health food – the foods that generally get a bad rap, but actually have a really decent nutritional profile.

Kara Landau (aka the Travelling Dietitian, an Accredited Practicing Dietician living in NYC) and Katie Thomsitt (a Spokesperson for the Dietitians Association of Australia) were both kind enough to share their list of surprise health foods with me.

Here’s what they had to say:

10 foods you never knew were healthy

BreadKATIE THOMSITT, Dieticians Australia spokesperson says: "Lots of people shy away from bread to achieve weight loss. But bread is such an important source of fibre, and plays such a helpful role in weight loss and preventing bowel cancer. A couple of slices of a dark, seedy bread per day is absolutely fine."

CheeseKATIE SAYS: "Cheese is definitely a higher fat source of dairy, but still a good dairy fat. Choose low-fat options if you have it regularly, otherwise consume it in moderation. One serve of dairy is 30g, so a couple of slices is absolutely fine."

ChocolateKARA LANDAU, The Travelling Dietician says: "Studies have been able to show that dark chocolate can improve insulin sensitivity, reduce blood pressure in healthy individuals, protect against heart disease, and improve HDL good cholesterol (not a bad start for such a tasty food!). Dark chocolate also contains polyphenols, whilst white chocolate does not. These polyphenolic compounds are able to relax blood vessels allowing for better blood circulation, and thereby assisting with the maintenance of healthy blood pressure levels."

CoffeeKATIE SAYS: "Coffee is a really good snack, in particular if its milk-based to get the dairy in - for example, a skim latte. As long as its in moderation - daily guidelines say a maximum of three per day! And you want lots of water on top of that."

EggsKARA SAYS: "Yes, even the yolks are good for you! Healthy fat soluble vitamins, as well as half the protein found in an egg, are all found in the yolk!"

Avocado KATIE SAYS: "Avocado is a healthy fat. Lots of people think its high-fat and not good for you, but its rich in mono unsaturated fats, which give you protection against heart disease. It also helps with controlling lower cholesterol levels."

nutsKATIE SAYS: "Nuts fall into the same category as avocado - they have lots of healthy oils and fibre."

dairyKARA SAYS: "Often milk and yoghurts are fortified with Vitamin D (a fat soluble vitamin) which requires a small amount of fat to be present in order for the body to absorb it, therefore having the full fat variety can be of value to enhance the nutritional benefits from the products' consumption. The fat in the dairy also aids with satiety, which could prevent unhealthy snacking at a later point in the day."

PotatoKATIE SAYS: "Potato always gets a bad rap as a starchy vegetable, but it's an excellent source of fibre. Sweet potato in particular is great for weight management and sugar level control. Potatoes are also really rich in potassium."

Red meatKARA SAYS: People tend to restrict red meat unnecessarily, thinking that its high in saturated fat. "But lean red meat is high in protein, CLA (which has been found to be associated with lower body fat percentages), B12, iron and zinc. These are all nutrients we want to get into our body!"

Did any of the foods in the list surprise you?

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