Diet and Lifestyle.

[Yelta]

It was suggested in another elsewhere that a thread on diet and lifestyle would be a good idea, no one has picked up on it so here goes.

As I've already mentioned I'm a believer of a balanced diet, i.e. everything in moderation, now by this I'm referring to readily available food items and not as was suggested in the other thread a moderate intake of weed killer, arsenic, 245T, Dieldren, gunpowder and the like.

A diet very much along the lines of what is outlined here healthdirect | Healthdirectand most certainly not one of the fad diets that seem to rear their head with monotonous regularity.

[DaveD]

Hey Yelta,

I'm in total agreement with you on a balanced diet. It seems though that people don't seem to talk about the exercise that should be part of a healthy lifestyle.

What are yours and other CSers thoughts?

Cheers, Dave

[LeroyC]

Just had a read through the Healthdirect article Yelta. It's pretty much what has been recommended as the best diet for the last 30yrs or so. Some people would say that if it's been accepted as the best diet for so long then it must be right. Unfortunately I don't think it's as simple as that. A lot of people will say they eat a 'balanced' diet. What on earth is a 'balanced' diet? To me that's an incredibly subjective term, a bit like 'strong coffee'. The recommendations made by Healthdirect are probably fairly reasonable if you're able to follow them by using mostly fresh products and as little processed food and take away/fast food as possible. One of the big problems is that a lot of people think they're still following those guidelines even when they eat MacDonalds 3 or 4 times a week. Another issue with it is that it's incredibly broad and not very prescriptive. It says 3 'servings' of vegetables and 2 'pieces' of fruit. Really?!! What sort of fruit? You can get a huge variety of different nutrients from different fruits. Other components are different too such as the amount of sugar and fibre found in different types of fruit. These two things alone make a huge difference to how your body uses them. I eat up to 5 or 6 pieces of fruit a day and I've never been healthier. I'm conscious of what they are though and their size can even make a difference. The apples we have at the moment are half the size of the ones we had a few weeks ago. Does that mean I should eat 4 instead of 2 today?
There are another couple of problems with the 'food triangle' referenced by Healthdirect. Firstly, do you know when it was developed and by whom? It wasn't developed by experts that had no agenda other than to achieve the best possible health outcome for us. It was developed by industry lobby groups in the US in the late '70s and early '80s that had an incredible amount of influence with the FDA. This is not a conspiracy theory, it's an accepted fact. The other problem is the '17 year lag'. Have you heard of this? It's an accepted phenomenon that the medical industry (as a whole which includes pharmaceuticals, medicine, health etc.) is perpetually 17 years behind the latest research. This of course isn't a completely bad thing as research is just that and it takes years to work things out at times. If there wasn't at least a small 'lag' we'd all be human Guinea pigs (even more than we are now). But 17 years is a long time. A lot of people will die unnecessarily in the next 17 years.
I absolutely agree that 'fad' diets aren't the way to go. But I believe we should always be challenging the status quo. Even if the quantities and ratios prescribed by Healthdirect are right we still have a big problem as people obviously aren't following them well enough. If they were right and working then why do we have an epidemic of health issues such as obesity and diabetes? While people like Pete Evans are getting all the media attention the real debate is happening away from the mainstream; in universities, hospitals, and medical and scientific journals etc. And there's a growing number of doctors, scholars, researchers and scientists that are looking at what they see in front of them and saying 'something is not right'. They aren't interested in fads and social media spats, but they are also starting to realise that social media is a tool that they can use to gather information and data, as well as make arguments against accepted practices.
So I'm not going to promote a specific diet or lifestyle. Certainly not one recommended by a government agency or a celebrity chef. I will however encourage everyone to do their own 'research'. The beauty of the Internet is that we have so much at our fingertips, so do some reading and educate yourself. Read everything and try to work out the fact from the fiction, or at least form your own view on these matters.

[Yelta]

Hey Yelta,

I'm in total agreement with you on a balanced diet. It seems though that people don't seem to talk about the exercise that should be part of a healthy lifestyle.

What are yours and other CSers thoughts?

Cheers, Dave

As far as I'm concerned the combination of exercise and healthy diet pretty much go together, one of the big problems nowadays is the fact that compared to 50 years ago most of us lead a sedentary life style, inactivity combined with poor diet is not a good mix.

[Yelta]

Just had a read through the Healthdirect article Yelta. It's pretty much what has been recommended as the best diet for the last 30yrs or so. Some people would say that if it's been accepted as the best diet for so long then it must be right. Unfortunately I don't think it's as simple as that. A lot of people will say they eat a 'balanced' diet. What on earth is a 'balanced' diet? To me that's an incredibly subjective term, a bit like 'strong coffee'. The recommendations made by Healthdirect are probably fairly reasonable if you're able to follow them by using mostly fresh products and as little processed food and take away/fast food as possible. One of the big problems is that a lot of people think they're still following those guidelines even when they eat MacDonalds 3 or 4 times a week. Another issue with it is that it's incredibly broad and not very prescriptive. It says 3 'servings' of vegetables and 2 'pieces' of fruit. Really?!! What sort of fruit? You can get a huge variety of different nutrients from different fruits. Other components are different too such as the amount of sugar and fibre found in different types of fruit. These two things alone make a huge difference to how your body uses them. I eat up to 5 or 6 pieces of fruit a day and I've never been healthier. I'm conscious of what they are though and their size can even make a difference. The apples we have at the moment are half the size of the ones we had a few weeks ago. Does that mean I should eat 4 instead of 2 today?
There are another couple of problems with the 'food triangle' referenced by Healthdirect. Firstly, do you know when it was developed and by whom? It wasn't developed by experts that had no agenda other than to achieve the best possible health outcome for us. It was developed by industry lobby groups in the US in the late '70s and early '80s that had an incredible amount of influence with the FDA. This is not a conspiracy theory, it's an accepted fact. The other problem is the '17 year lag'. Have you heard of this? It's an accepted phenomenon that the medical industry (as a whole which includes pharmaceuticals, medicine, health etc.) is perpetually 17 years behind the latest research. This of course isn't a completely bad thing as research is just that and it takes years to work things out at times. If there wasn't at least a small 'lag' we'd all be human Guinea pigs (even more than we are now). But 17 years is a long time. A lot of people will die unnecessarily in the next 17 years.
I absolutely agree that 'fad' diets aren't the way to go. But I believe we should always be challenging the status quo. Even if the quantities and ratios prescribed by Healthdirect are right we still have a big problem as people obviously aren't following them well enough. If they were right and working then why do we have an epidemic of health issues such as obesity and diabetes? While people like Pete Evans are getting all the media attention the real debate is happening away from the mainstream; in universities, hospitals, and medical and scientific journals etc. And there's a growing number of doctors, scholars, researchers and scientists that are looking at what they see in front of them and saying 'something is not right'. They aren't interested in fads and social media spats, but they are also starting to realise that social media is a tool that they can use to gather information and data, as well as make arguments against accepted practices.
So I'm not going to promote a specific diet or lifestyle. Certainly not one recommended by a government agency or a celebrity chef. I will however encourage everyone to do their own 'research'. The beauty of the Internet is that we have so much at our fingertips, so do some reading and educate yourself. Read everything and try to work out the fact from the fiction, or at least form your own view on these matters.

Can you provide links to some of the published papers from reputable universities, hospitals, and medical and scientific journals that you mention Leroy?

PS Thats quite a block of text to wade through.

[TC]

Anybody care for some bacon?

[LeroyC]

Can you provide links to some of the published papers from reputable universities, hospitals, and medical and scientific journals that you mention Leroy?

PS Thats quite a block of text to wade through.

I could, but I'd actually rather not to be honest as it could be seen as me promoting one thing over another and too easy for people to take the wrong way. Maybe in a very general sense people could watch some of the documentaries that helped me start to question things. I don't agree with all of them, but they do provide an alternative to conventional thinking. Things like 'Food Inc.', 'That Sugar Film', 'Cowspiracy', etc. I'm naturally skeptical so I'm far from convinced by any new way of thinking, but I'm also naturally inquisitive so I try to be open minded.

[LeroyC]

Hey Yelta,

I'm in total agreement with you on a balanced diet. It seems though that people don't seem to talk about the exercise that should be part of a healthy lifestyle.

What are yours and other CSers thoughts?

Cheers, Dave

What's a 'balanced diet'?

[noidle22]

What's a 'balanced diet'?

I often take my Diet in for a wheel alignment and balance to avoid any shuddering at high speed and for better handling.

[LeroyC]

I often take my Diet in for a wheel alignment and balance to avoid any shuddering at high speed and for better handling.

Haha! Exactly.

[Yelta]

Anybody care for some bacon?

Well said Chris

I suspected the thread would unmask the conspiracy theorists, alternative life stylers and argumentative types among us, so far so good.

Them that cant grasp the concept of a balanced diet may well have their own issues to deal with.

[noonar]

It's a lot easier to define a non-balanced diet than it is to define a balanced one... the goal posts keep moving due to new discoveries (and re-discoveries) and debunked (and de-debunked) old ones. I do like the simplicity of the Michael Pollan mantra.. "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

[LeroyC]

Well said Chris

I suspected the thread would unmask the conspiracy theorists, alternative life stylers and argumentative types among us, so far so good.

Them that cant grasp the concept of a balanced diet may well have their own issues to deal with.

I love bacon. Still not sure what a 'balanced diet' is though.

[Yelta]

I love bacon. Still not sure what a 'balanced diet' is though.

As you suggested earlier, some research is required.

[Yelta]

This is worth a read Obesity robs years off your life FWIW my BMI is 24, wonder if others would like to weigh in?