When tomatoes first arrived in Europe in the 1500s, people were afraid to eat them. Early botanists grouped them with poisonous nightshade plants, and influential writers claimed the fruit was dangerous or caused illness. Because the leaves were toxic, people assumed the fruit must be toxic too. Soon, they were labeled poison apples. Over time, people learned that tomatoes were safe and even beneficial. What was once feared as toxic is now widely recognized for its benefits, hydrating the body, supporting heart health, nourishing the skin, protecting cells with antioxidants, and aiding digestion. Not poisonous at all.

Now compare this to alcohol. In the early 1900s, it was blamed for major social problems, domestic violence, broken families, poverty, and crime. Newspapers reported men spending their wages in bars instead of feeding their families. Doctors and reformers linked it to insanity, liver disease, and early death, while churches warned it weakened morals and destroyed the soul. Women led the temperance movement because they witnessed firsthand the abuse, neglect, and instability it caused. Even factories supported banning it, arguing it made workers unsafe and unproductive. Alcohol was even prohibited for a time, and then gradually reintroduced, eventually becoming normalized once again. And yet today, alcohol remains legal, widely available, and even celebrated, despite extensive research showing its harm. It continues to be normalized and marketed.

And then there is honey. A food that traditional cultures and Prophetic medicine have long recognized as healing, nourishing, and medicinal. Modern research confirms its antimicrobial, antioxidant, and wound-healing properties. Yet today, many health trends reduce it to “just sugar,” warning against it because of its glucose content, ignoring its enzymes, minerals, and therapeutic effects.

Just like tomatoes were once called poisonous. Just like alcohol was once restricted, then normalized. Modern diet culture has reduced honey to a number on a label.

And yet, Allah has already guided us.

He tells us to eat from what is good and pure from the earth. “O mankind, eat from whatever is on earth that is lawful and good…” (Surah al-Baqarah 2:168)

He tells us clearly that intoxicants are from the work of Shaytaan. “O you who believe, indeed intoxicants, gambling… are but defilement from the work of Shaytaan, so avoid them…” (Surah al-Ma’idah 5:90)

And He tells us about honey, that within it is healing for mankind. (Surah an-Nahl 16:69)

So the question is not just what we eat.

Who decides what is truly healthy?

Allah tells us, “Let people then consider their food: how We pour down rain in abundance and split the earth open for sprouts, causing grain to grow, as well as grapes and greens, olives and palm trees, dense orchards, fruit and fodder — as sustenance for you and your livestock.” (Surat ‘Abasa 24–32)

Grains that grow from the earth. Fruits that are cultivated and nourished. Animals that are raised as sustenance. Even milk, described in the Qur’an as a pure provision drawn from within livestock. These are not trends. These are provisions Allah Himself directs us to reflect upon.

The guidance for food and nutrition has already been established in the Qur’an and Sunnah. No matter how trends and dietary beliefs change over time, the way we protect and preserve our health does not need to change. These divine principles form the foundation of how we make decisions, our own responsibility to reflect, to discern, and to choose what is truly beneficial.

Allah says in Surah al-A’raf, “Say, who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has produced for His servants and the good and wholesome provisions?” (7:32)

What Allah has created from the earth is originally lawful and good. It is not for trends, labels, or shifting opinions to redefine what has already been made clear.

Alhamdulilah, Allah has preserved the truth.

And yet today, we live in a time where what is considered “healthy” changes constantly. One year something is feared, the next it is praised. What is reduced, elevated, or avoided is often decided by trends, studies taken in isolation, or what is most convenient to promote. But the believer is not left to navigate this blindly. We are given guidance that is firm, not constantly shifting. A way to look at food, the body, and illness with understanding, not confusion.

Because the question is not simply what is trending. It is whether we are willing to return to what Allah has already guided us towards.