Can Being a Health Nut Be Bad for Your Health?

Back in the days when dietary fat was the terrorist of food groups, I followed an ultra-low-fat vegan diet for about two years to avoid developing an illness such as diabetes or heart disease - chronic health conditions that were linked to the "rich Western diet," according to the diet's creator, Dr. John McDougall. During my health nut days, avocado and tofu were occasional splurges; eggs, cheese, milk, meat, fish and even heart healthy olive oil were dietary contraband. True, I never got sick during those two years, but my weight dropped to an almost anorexic 118 pounds, and my skin and hair were as dry as Utah. Looking back at pictures from my health nut days, I could have been one of those starving people in the magazine ads to whom you send money.

Like many people who live in a black and white universe, I thought if something was healthy, taking it to the extreme was even healthier. Of course I was mistaken. I later learned that wise philosophers, such as Aristotle and Nancy Canfield, knew what they were talking about when they recommended moderation in all things. (Well most things, anyway - I don't think a little heroin or cyanide would be such a good idea.)

Now, older and wiser, I enjoy eating salmon and occasional cheeseburgers, cooking with olive oil, and adding avocado to my salads and tortilla chips. Although I'll probably never be a slinky 118 pounds again, my hair shines, my skin glows and I have yet to develop a chronic disease.

Dietary fat, of course, is only one of many things health nuts have avoided over the years that were later found to be good in moderation. Sunshine is another.

Hazards of avoiding sunshine

Growing up in the 1960s and '70s, lying out in the sun and toasting one's self to a golden brown was not only considered normal, but also healthy. Pale people looked sickly. "What's wrong with you? Don't you ever get out in the sun?" well-meaning friends would say. Fast forward to the 1980s and '90s and, with an increase in the incidence of melanoma and other skin cancers, the smiley-faced sun was suddenly portrayed with a big frown, transformed from a healthy elixir to a luminary non grata seemingly overnight. Not surprisingly, sunscreen became a billion-dollar industry as health nut parents slathered it on their children and themselves as armor against the "harmful" rays of the sun.

Sure enough, some of today's health gurus are now informing us that many Americans suffer from a Vitamin D deficiency from avoiding the sunshine and wearing too much sunscreen. Dr. Michael Holick of Boston University was quoted on MSNBC.com as saying, "Americans have gone overboard with their fear of the sun. I think that sensible exposure to sunlight is really important for your overall health and well-being."

Holick and his colleagues found that people who always wore sunscreen before going outside were deficient in Vitamin D at the end of the summer and that taking multivitamins and drinking milk do not provide enough Vitamin D to make up for the lack of sunshine.

The solution? While some people have started taking mega-doses of Vitamin D, others are using common sense and moderation by allowing themselves to soak up small quantities of natural sunlight.

A nation of germophobes

Many health nuts also file the word "bacteria" in the "bad words" section of their psychic health dictionary. While we now know that some bacteria are friendly, bacteria still have a bad reputation and are to be avoided as assiduously as a boor at a cocktail party. A whole industry has been built around keeping these pesky germs away from us and our children, with antibacterial products seemingly popping up everywhere. My local supermarket even has an antibacterial wipes dispenser near the shopping carts so health conscious shoppers can wipe off the germ-infected handles.

As with sunshine, however, a little bacteria may not be such a bad thing. According to a blogpost on WebMD, the "hygiene hypothesis" posits that some exposure to bacteria is necessary to build the immune system. "Bacterial assaults help children's immune systems to develop," wrote Christopher Gavigan, CEO of Healthy Child Healthy World, on a WebMD health expert blog. "Studies have shown that inner city children, and children without older siblings, are more likely to develop allergies, asthma and autoimmune disorders because their immune systems are less regularly stimulated."

Will Pringles be next?

Once dietary "bad guys," such guilty pleasures as coffee, chocolate and red wine are now considered health foods when consumed in moderation by some health nuts who used to snub them. I'm still waiting for the day, though, when I wake up and see the headline "Pringles Proven to Prevent Cancer" or "Nutella Nixes Common Cold" in my local newspaper. And who knows? If I get some sunshine and stop rubbing my hands with antibacterial gel every hour, I may live long enough to see them.

Sources:
"Suncare - Global Industry Guide." M2 Presswire. M2 Communications Ltd. 2009. Retrieved March 07, 2010 from HighBeam Research: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-202376686.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4001172/
http://blogs.webmd.com/health-ehome/2010/02/make-friends-with-microbials.html