Does what you eat change how you look?

MarziPanda95

For me it makes no difference what I eat so I tend to eat a fair amount of chocolate and crisps within my calories as well as meat and bread and a few vegetables. My skin has always been good. It is still good whether I eat 'junk' or a 'balanced' diet. My hair is bad because of alopecia - it falls out when it gets to a certain length so basically I cannot grow my hair. It is bad whether I eat 'junk' or a 'balanced' diet. The only thing that affects my hair is what immunosuppressants I'm on. I generally don't feel tired unless I haven't slept well and rarely get sick. I feel full on what I'm eating... so I'm not going to change it.

fallingtrees

sjohnny wrote: »

Where do they live? What level of education has each completed? What are their respective annual incomes? Are they both single? What shampoo do they use?

Yes, the shampoo is critical.

I will say that I've seen plenty of skinny, flabby women at the Y pool, and thought, you know, I'd rather be fit and firm and curvy. And I think that starts with diet.

SLLRunner

mamapeach910 wrote: »

SLLRunner wrote: »

LaurenCheek wrote: »

I'm of the belief system that healthier (real) food equals healthier body (skin, body composition and disease risk). We are designed to eat food, yet far too many modern humans eat food-like products for the majority of their calories. Meats, vegetables and other things your ancestors would recognize as edible are food. (Saying this at the risk of seriously inflaming the strict "calories are ALL that matter" crew): I could drink gasoline and obtain ample calories each day. I wouldn't last very long, however. Calories absolutely count. There is simply no getting around that fact. However, calorie quality plays a far bigger role in health and appearance than a lot of people give credit. Eat real, naturally occurring foods and not only will you look and feel better, but you will naturally consume fewer calories, as a result of improved hormone sensitivity (insulin and leptin) and higher satiety levels. You can still count calories, but be aware that calories aren't the only factor that counts.

Calories in/calories out is for weight loss. It's science.

Type of food is for nutrition, satiety, and body composition.

Yup. Calories are all that count.

The earnestness of the other poster comes through loud and clear, she had clearly read a lot on the subject. Having low-carbed a long time myself in the past, I could have written a lot of that myself. In the past.

It's great finding something that works for you, but it's not a scientific truth that "natural" means "looking better". I met someone the other day who eats "natural". I have better skin than she does. Better genes for me, I guess.

I eat well, but I eat beans and grains and occasional treats and she doesn't.

Now this is just one anecdote, but my point stands: making a claim that you'll look better and be more healthy because you avoid certain foods is just jumped up pseudo-science and nothing more than nonsense. Most of how we look is genetic. We influence our body composition and health to some extent with food, but not near as much as people would like to think we can outside of controlling our weight.

(Editing to add that of course, people who go into hard core strength training and body building can make a difference, but that is hard work, and outside of the realm of what diet alone can do.)

So well said.