Millennials may be great at taking selfies, but they aren’t great at nutrition.
We are living in the age of the millennial, and though I don’t agree with all the habits of this generation (such as texting instead of talking, and dating exclusively on apps), there are a lot of good things about millennials, such as the ability to be incredibly well-informed, since they have access to all the world’s knowledge at their fingertips. One area where millennials definitely fall short however, is in nutrition. Unfortunately millennials are the ones setting food trends, but they are also getting their info from untrustworthy sources. Here are three bad food habits of the millennial generation:
Trusting the wrong sources: Millennials tend to get most of their information from The Internet, and that includes nutritional info. The problem is that anyone can post anything on The Internet, so there is no way of fact checking whether or not something is actually good for you.
Misunderstanding saturated fat: Most millennials think that saturated fat, since it might increase your cholesterol, is bad for you. The truth is that research suggests saturated fats from butter, meat, and tropical oils (like coconut oil, for instance), are not as dangerous as previously thought. Since trans fats and saturated fats are commonly written about negatively online, millennials think they are off limits, which just isn’t true.
READ MORE: Long Flights: How to Decrease the Risk of Blood Clots
Listening to the ‘all natural’ hype: Foods labeled as ‘natural’ are way more likely to be purchased by millennials because of the recent ‘natural food’ trend. The problem is, foods labeled as natural an actually be high in sugar, fat, calories, and sodium. Slapping a term on a label shouldn’t make much of a difference, but to a generation that follows trends like never before, it can be a dangerous thing.
I am not saying millennials shouldn’t post about everything they eat on social media (especially when it looks delicious), but when it comes to hardened facts about food and nutrition, its best to listen to an educated professional, rather than a photo in Instagram.
Agreed, following trends like ‘all natural’ doesn’t necessarily mean that you are eating well! We live in such a busy world now and everyone is so tight for time so we tend to just grab at the shelves and listen to the most appealing packaging that imply healthy / trendy / instagrammy. I’ve recently been educated on my nutrition and it has completely changed how I look at food and how I select what to consume!
Ps I wrote a post on 10 nutritional tips for December, to help get us through the party and flu season 🙂 I’d love for you to take a look if you get a moment!
http://brewsker.com/2015/12/03/10-nutritional-tips-for-december/