Wyn Drabble: Dietary advice hard to swallow

Wyn Drabble.

From time to time we are told that we need to eliminate something from our diet because it is bad for us.

Research is used to confirm the findings and the results can either cause concern or they can cause celebration. More often than not, it's concern.

Don't eat bacon, for example, because ingesting sizzling piggy fat will clog your arteries and could cause you to explode like Mr Creosote. Or, if you require more factual evidence, "For every 50gm of processed meat eaten per day, the risk of cancers of the lower stomach increases by 18 per cent " (World Cancer Research Fund).

The trouble with finding a low-fat alternative is that it will lack taste, a pleasing by-product of fat. I steer clear of anything labelled "low fat" and I run a country mile from anything described as "lite". This applies particularly to beer. I have tried "lite" beer but I kept biting into it looking for flavour.

And you must reduce your sugar intake, says the research. Well, I have reduced mine but that doesn't mean chocolate-coated gooey-chewy caramel items are completely out of the question.

I certainly consider myself light years ahead of the kids who wander round clutching a two-litre bottle of fluorescent fizzy drink which they will drink in a day.

While we're on the subject of sugar and cholesterol, I should point out that, last week, the cronut celebrated its third birthday. This delicious hybrid (croissant and doughnut) is actually half of my favourite breakfast, the other half is a strong latte.

I certainly don't need a study to tell me that's not a healthy breakfast but it's a delicious one worth enjoying occasionally. I might only indulge in this treat three or four times a year but every morsel is appreciated despite any research warnings.

I am willing to admit I might overdo it on the coffee front but I think I was sick the day the last warnings came out so I missed the scaremongering findings.

Salt is another no-no. Imagine fish and chips - put the fat-glistening, cholesterol-laden batter to one side for a moment - without a lavish sprinkling of salt. One of the research findings I like (but it's about 40 years old so may have been updated with global warming and everything) was that you could live a reasonably healthy life on fish and chips as long as you added lemon and parsley.

All good things in moderation, I say.

Then, last week it came at last: a finding that was a cause for celebration rather than concern. I even had two beers to celebrate. Yes, two. Well, you've got to keep within the suggested safety margins.

An Italian study has announced that two beers a day can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by about 25 per cent.

Now, I didn't really understand what some of their wording meant but I had the beers anyway. Well, they were in the fridge and perfectly chilled, just waiting for such an announcement.

But I knew when to stop because I know you can't extrapolate, four beers would not reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 50 per cent.

Beer drinkers have a right to celebrate so thank you, Italian researchers, but we know that next week there will be a different study. Perhaps the Russians will find that two beers is enough to cause people to vote for Donald Trump and eat kale.

It all reinforces my point that we shouldn't keep denying ourselves the little pleasures in life; instead we should live by the golden rule: all good things in moderation.

I'll drink exactly two beers to that.

- Wyn Drabble is a teacher of English, a writer, musician and public speaker.