Ever since I can remember, I’ve eaten an extremely healthy diet. That is, healthy by the USDA’s standards. My friends in middle school would make fun of me for having Triscuits and cheese and a bag of raw veggies for lunch, while they had muffins or pizza.

Sometime during middle school, I decided to be vegetarian. I also meticulously removed as much saturated fat and cholesterol from my diet as possible, and I rarely ate anything that wasn’t whole grain. Now keep in mind, I was never overweight. In fact, I’ve been underweight almost my entire life, and I got even skinnier after these self-imposed dietary changes. But whenever somebody told me that I didn’t have to worry about eating a little ‘unhealthy’ food, I would fiercely reply that skinny people can die of heart disease, too. Read more →