Try to understand about food.: I am trying to... - Healthy Eating

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Try to understand about food.

Lyndee-joy profile image
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I am trying to understand what kind of food, I should eat everyday without think of food in my mind.

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Lyndee-joy
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28 Replies
Dt_RiyazKhan_Hyd profile image
Dt_RiyazKhan_Hyd

If I say - Don't think of a PINK RABBIT

Don't think of a PINK RABBIT

Don't think of a PINK RABBIT

What are you now thinking of? :) Obviously Pink Rabbit.

How can you not think of Food. Food is energy, Food is life, Food is Nutrition, Food is survival.

You need to Accept its need, Not fight the thoughts or needs. It only makes things more complex, guilt causing etc.

Just let it be, Better is to enjoy slowly eat mindfully. Enjoy the taste and textures, slowly mindfully with gratitude.

You can try this method .. it works great.. zenhabits.net/what-is-mindf...

If you like it please give a feedback.

Thank you .

in reply toDt_RiyazKhan_Hyd

Hi there, I like it 😊 and here's another post about mindful eating:

healthunlocked.com/healthye...

Dt_RiyazKhan_Hyd profile image
Dt_RiyazKhan_Hyd in reply to

Thank you. Read it. Got some new inputs too!!

TheAwfulToad profile image
TheAwfulToad

Dt_RiyazKhan_Hyd has a very good point. All the bad advice that dieticians dole out is always served with a big helping of guilt: if you don't follow their (mostly faulty) prognostications, you're a BAD PERSON. The NHS website health advice is unscientific drivel which has either been disproved by experiment or contradicts what we know about mammalian metabolism. The only way they can get you to swallow this nonsense is by making you feel guilty.

Simply understand what various foods do to your body, and then stop feeling bad about what you eat. The reality is that we have far less control over what we eat than we think: it's mostly driven by deep physiological triggers, and by habit.

To change the things your body demands, and the things that you're used to eating, I strongly suggest going "cold turkey" on those foods which are demonstrably harmful. Crudely speaking, that means anything that's wrapped in multiple layers of plastic, with pretty pictures on the front that bear no resemblance to the contents, an ingredients list that looks like the contents of a chemistry set, and a logo on the front that says "healthy". Sliced white bread, fizzy drinks, ready meals, biscuits, cakes, margarine, etc.

In addition, stop loading up your plate with rice, chips/potatoes, and pasta. You will very rapidly stop wanting these things. Eat more meat and vegetables instead. A few months on, you'll be able to give in to the occasional craving for doughnuts or pasta (which will be rare) without guilt.

Or, as Michael Pollan puts it: don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognise as food.

in reply toTheAwfulToad

Hi The AwfulToad, methinks that you're a cynic LOL.

You make some very valid and sensible points here and I agree with anyone who says 'get in tune with your body' to be physically and mentally fit.

I also agree that people don't know what they're really eating and wonder if we could guess what somethings really are, if we could only see the ingredients...

However here's the NHS advice on healthy eating and I can't see a problem with it, please see:

nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pa...

if you like Michael Pollan I'd check out Jethro Kloss.

And I hope you enjoy being a member of the forum I can see some interesting debates...

Jerry 😊

Rignold profile image
RignoldKeto in reply to

Quite a leap from Michael Pollan to Jethro Kloss, I would have thought.

Pollan has written any very good books, none of which, as I recall advocate the use of high colonic enemas as a cure for everything under the sun (or where the sun don't shine, as may be more appropriate in this instance.)

in reply toRignold

Hi Rignold, I've only read his Back to Eden cookbook and in that he advocates a whole food diet and he double bakes corn to make into a simple dextrose for sweetening things. And he says "in years to come hospitals will be full of people because of their diets" and that rings true with what The AwfulToad said.

I've not read his herbal remedies but know that he said that baking powder was the work of the devil because its a laxative so yes he had some extreme views. An eccentric character with some interesting ideas is how I see him.

But you're right Pollan is much more relevant today,

Rignold profile image
RignoldKeto in reply to

The whole back section ( no pun intended) of Return to Eden (certainly my copy) expounds on his colonic irrigation fixation. Paraffin enemas for treatment of prforated appendix is one of his, perhaps more controversial, advice. There are, sadly, a number of examples of people who have followed his theories in recent ties, rejecting conventional medicine, and met with predictable fates.

He was a close associate of J H Kellogg I believe. Without doubt they were both ahead of their time in some aspects of their work and theories: germ theory, vegetarianism, gut flora, influence of exercise on health etc and both very well intentioned men. They did, however. both have some decidely weird obsessions which took ther work and researches up some (chooses words carefully) blind alleys.

TheAwfulToad profile image
TheAwfulToad in reply toRignold

Rignold: I had to go and find out who Jethro Kloss was, and I'd agree with your assessment: these guys were no doubt well-intentioned, but they had some distinctly weird ideas that had no real empirical support. The main problem I have with Kloss, Kellogg et al is their massive puritan bias: food, as Dt_RiyazKhan_Hyd said, is there to be enjoyed, and the denial and guilt inherent in both Kloss's ideas, and modern dietary theory, is counterproductive.

Jerry: I'm not cynical, I'm angry. I have a hard-sciences background and I've had a personal interest in diet for about 10 years. The more research I read, the angrier I get. The NHS dietary advice is simply wrong. It's been tested, many times over, with very expensive studies, and shown to be wrong. Even on a theoretical level, it's wrong. We know in fairly accurate detail how metabolism works (insulin was more-or-less understood by 1920; the Krebs cycle was nailed down in 1937), but there's the NHS, still making up their own random blather that isn't even close to scientifically accurate.

Bottom line is that it isn't "the fashion industry" and "fat shamers" who are responsible for eating disorders and dilemmas like Lyndee-joy's. It's the official mandarins, who tell people to eat things that makes them fat and ill, and then excoriate them for getting fat and ill. People suffer and die because the "experts" are too far up their own irrigated colons to admit they screwed up bigstyle.

Just to be clear, I had two related points:

a) People can do very well just by eating proper food (as per Pollan). Meat, vegetables, fruit. Homebaked bread (if you must eat bread). Anything synthesized from soy protein, hydrogenated fats, modified starch, sugar and flavourings is not food.

b) As a sedentary population, we eat far too much starch. My diet is what the nutritionists would deride as "fad" low-carb. The reality is that fat provides both energy via fatty acids and glucose (glycerol > glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate > glycolysis pathway), so carbs are not a critical dietary component. I'm nearly 50 and I do an extreme workout four days a week. I'm military-standard fit. I don't feel "weak and dizzy", as the NHS authoritatively states that you will if you refuse to subscribe to their stodge-based diet plan. If you're doing a highly physical job - road repair, say - a daily pasta meal is fine. If you sit at a desk all day, it's going to do you no good at all.

BadHare profile image
BadHare

anhinternational.org/wp-con...

TheAwfulToad profile image
TheAwfulToad in reply toBadHare

That sheet is an excellent summary BadHare.

BadHare profile image
BadHare in reply toTheAwfulToad

It is, & there's this one: anhinternational.org/wp-con...

& one for children, too: anhinternational.org/wp-con...

Lyndee-joy profile image
Lyndee-joy

Thank you, everyone in this comment. I am totally understand about "not think or think." What I mean is the most thing what I don't understand is fiber, calories, saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, iron, potassium, carbohydrate, Starch, Monounsaturated Fat, Total trans-monoenoic fatty acids, Calcium, Phosphorus, Cholesterol, etc that part is important in our body. I know I should not worry about it but I would like to learn about this and why/why not.

God bless all of you!

TheAwfulToad profile image
TheAwfulToad in reply toLyndee-joy

Lyndee-joy: your body knows what it needs. Nobody in human history has ever needed to worry about the chemical constituents of their food. Nutrition research has actually got a lot better than it used to be, and over the last 10-20 years the emerging consensus is this: none of it matters. Sodium, within a wide range, has no effect on your health. Dietary cholesterol is irrelevant because most of your circulating cholesterol is synthesized by your own body anyway. Lipid metabolism is complicated, but again, if you eat plenty of different things, it just doesn't matter.

You can eat more-or-less anything and you'll be just fine. The only things that really mess you up are highly-processed products such as HFCS, manufactured white bread (Chorleywood bread process), polished white rice, sweets, cakes, and so on. They mess you up in a very interesting way: they make you want more of them, more than you could ever possibly need. Nobody is entirely sure why this happens.

If you genuinely want to understand how food is metabolised, Wikipedia is as good a place as any to start. It is very interesting. However, unless you have at least a first-year undergraduate understanding of chemistry and physics, most of it will go over your head. Please don't take that the wrong way: I'm not being patronising. It's just really, really complicated, and unless you know the basics it will be incredibly confusing. This is the main reason I get annoyed at nutritionists who witter authoritatively about, say, thermodynamics, or saturated and unsaturated fats (there is actually no such thing - a triglyceride can be built from any combination of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids).

Lyndee-joy profile image
Lyndee-joy in reply toTheAwfulToad

Thank you.

BadHare profile image
BadHare in reply toTheAwfulToad

TheAwfulToad , there's a lot of current research into how our (average 2.5kg) gut bacteria influencing our tastes & cravings. Healthy bacteria from a healthy diet promote favouring foods that are good for us, creating a healthy eating cycle. Unhealthy foods, sugar, sweeteners, bad fats, junk food etc, promoting growth of toxic bacteria that want feeding toxic foods, creating an unhealthy cycle.

Rignold profile image
RignoldKeto

I like Greg Glassman, the founder of Crossfit's succinct summary:

"Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat."

BadHare profile image
BadHare in reply toRignold

I leave out the meat bit.

TheAwfulToad profile image
TheAwfulToad in reply toBadHare

Rignold : I'm not a big fan of crossfit (too high-impact for old crusties like me), but that is a good summary.

@BadHare: meat or not-meat is purely a personal choice IMO. However it is very difficult to lose weight or stay healthy on a reduced-carb vegan diet because there are precious few sources of non-animal fats. However hard you try, you're likely to end up with a disadvantageous omega-3 to omega-6 ratio. I get that some people just have their objections to the meat industry (and I agree with most of the ethical objections directed at factory farming) but there are no known health reasons for avoiding meat per se. Discovering that humans can't eat meat would be as surprising as discovering that pandas are allergic to bamboo.

A recent government-funded study which was trying to prove the link between red meat and cancer was unable to find any statistically-significant correlation. There was a weak correlation with processed meat, but there could be any number of explanations for that: it may be, for example, that people who eat a lot of hot dogs have a diet that's bad in other respects.

Rignold profile image
RignoldKeto in reply toTheAwfulToad

Old crustie? Under 50 you are a mere stripling. Although I have also stopped doing regular Crossfit for age related reasons: firstly I think that if the Box has a trainer who really understands the modfications needed for older people and has a good understanding of anatomy etc then it can be great for 40, 50+ 'athletes', but in my experience most CFTs, in this country at least, tend to be focused more on the young firebreathers.

secondlym for me at least, a lot of the exercises like kipping pullups, Db snatches for speed etc are just an invitation to shoulder injuries after 40.

I still do a lot of Crossfit workouts, but more the metcons, and in my own space rather than at a Box.

BadHare profile image
BadHare in reply toTheAwfulToad

Humans have adapted to eating anything edible. Sometimes choice is different to availability. Aside from the ethical/environmental reasons, I've never liked meat, & find the smell & sight repulsive. I felt considerably healthier from adopting a wholefood vegetarian >30 years ago, & eat consciously enough to be confident that my nutrient intake is good. Like most veg*ns, I supplement appropriately for any micro-nutrients I might be missing. I'm not vegan, though have a high fat intake from plant sources. I prefer a moderate starch intake as I'm not active. Most vegans I know are thin to slim, & are active enough to utilise their carbohydrate intake without the need for a reduced calorie diet. Some never gain weight even from junk food, though low BMI isn't always an indicator of good health. The many vegans I know who run or visit gyms regularly wouldn't do so if they didn't feel healthy, so have no need for a low carb diet. Someone in my local veggie group reversed an autoimmune disorder by adopting a plant based diet, as have a few people on here. I don't know anyone who's stopped eating meat or become veg*n who hasn't stuck with it if they've not felt better.

TheAwfulToad profile image
TheAwfulToad in reply toBadHare

Certainly humans can thrive on all sorts of things. If you don't LIKE meat, I can't really argue with that :). IMO veganism is incompatible with low-carb (as you suggested) - it's better for vegans to get their energy from carbs.

I certainly wouldn't presume to argue with people who have adopted veganism for health reasons and feel better, although I suspect in some cases they feel better because they've eliminated some junk as a consequence of veganism, not because they've eliminated animal products as such.

Do you eat eggs, cheese, etc?

Fran182716 profile image
Fran182716Prediabetic in reply toTheAwfulToad

Not quite sure which of your posts to reply to TheAwfulToad as they all make sense to me, just wondered if you think from a health point of view a pescatarian diet would work as well as a meat eating one, I don't like meat and love animals, I'm aware this is hypocritical as I eat fish and dairy (full fat usually) and aware im priveliged to have the option of being sentimental but I don't judge others for their food choices.

TheAwfulToad profile image
TheAwfulToad in reply toFran182716

I suppose the short answer is "yes" :)

The long answer ... I think there are very few diets that are definitively unhealthy, and we seem to instinctively know what they look like: heavily-processed foods, mystery meats, cakes, sweets, sodas, prepackaged meals full of preservatives ... that sort of thing. With that caveat, I'd say you can eat anything that makes you happy. There's far too much navel-gazing over whether this or that ingredient "causes" various diseases.

If your meals are based on recognisable stuff that people have been eating for millennia - vegetables, fish, meat, dairy - the chances are you'll be just fine. That doesn't mean you'll never get heart disease or cancer or Alzheimer's because those things seem be only tenuously associated with diet; but generally speaking, you'll be "healthy".

I'm wary of pure-vegan diets simply because they seem hard to manage. Unless you know what you're doing, there's a high chance of nutritional deficiency. Eating some animal products (fish and dairy in your case) is the simplest way of ensuring adequate fats and EFAs, certain vitamins and minerals, and quality protein.

Fran182716 profile image
Fran182716Prediabetic in reply toTheAwfulToad

Thank you 😀

BadHare profile image
BadHare

A lot of vegan proteins are carby, so it suits the active. Some people manage vegan paleo ok, too, though that seems very restrictive with regard to food availability & expense. We've all got different relationships with food & what suits us best.

I'm not an egg fan, though I'll eat them disgused in things, & want an omelette when my dietary preferences change in spring & autumn. I drink organic dairy kefir every day, hence my interest in probiotics, & a little cheese & unfermented milk. chriskresser.com/kefir-the-...

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbs

Lyndee-joy, if you are asking how can I just eat without having to worry, then assuming you have no particular health issues then a whole food plant based diet will both satiate and provide all the nutrition and a happy life blindfolded. If you don't like cooking you can head towards a raw food direction. If you exercise a lot, and I mean a lot then emphasise fresh fruits. If you want to keep weight down then reduce oil input, eg nuts and seeds.

Whatever you do remove ALL processed and refined foods from your diet since these badly distort your palate. Eg can anyone just eat one nut from a bag of dry-roast nuts without eating the whole bag?

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