| Happy Sunday, everyone. Today I'm going to be talking about foods that aren't really good for us but aren't as bad as we think. You may disagree, and that's fine. Soy sauce: Soy sauce has soy in it. It's got wheat. Gotta be all bad, right? Except that both the soy and wheat in soy sauce undergo a lot of fermentation. They're traditional products that humans have been consuming for thousands of years, and some people who are sensitive to wheat and soy can consume traditionally fermented soy sauce. You don't add much to your food, and the wheat is degraded to such a point that it doesn't always trigger allergic or inflammatory reactions. Some people with severe sensitivities might not be able to do soy sauce, but we can't treat it the same as a piece of bread or a raw soy product. Personally, I stay away from soy sauce when it's up to me, but if I find that soy sauce is an ingredient in a shared appetizer or a meal a friend prepared, I won't make a big deal about it. Beer: I'm not going to suggest you drink a six pack a day, or even half that. Beer is quite caloric and is a good way to pack on weight. But again, beer is a fermented product humans have been consuming for thousands of years. I know a few very grain-sensitive people who can drink regular beer without issue. Ice cream: If you have to have dessert (and no one has to, I realize that), ice cream is a tough choice to beat. It's full fat milk and cream, egg yolks, and some sugar. The sugar is unfortunate, but once in a while as a treat it's not the worst choice. Sugar at least doesn't become part of your cell membranes like a big whack of rancid soybean oil from the fryer would. American cheese: While I would never choose a slice of American cheese over one of aged gouda, Irish grass-fed cheddar, or cave-aged emmentaler, American cheese isn't some industrial abomination. It's mostly cheese with extra whey, extra milk fat, extra calcium, and sodium citrate and sodium phosphate to help it all emulsify and melt well. Again, it's not better than actual cheese, but one slice once in a blue moon is also not going to hurt you. And sometimes, a melted slice of American cheese on that hamburger patty really does hit the spot. Those are the foods that stand out to me. What about you? What other "forbidden" or suboptimal foods are actually not as bad as people in the ancestral health community think? Let me know in the comment section of New and Noteworthy. | 