The danger of treating food like medicine
jgnatca
Posts: 14,464 Member
The longer I go at this eating game, the more I figure we've got it all wrong. Here in North America we make a pill for every ill. A little low on something or another? We've got a pill for that. Which leads to treating food very much the same way. Carb or not to carb? Chicken or Beef? Which is best? What food will get me the health gains I am looking for?
So we've got newbie dieters eating oatmeal at breakfast, kale salad at lunch, and chicken breast with steamed sweet potatoes at dinner. Every. Freaking. Day. Because somehow, somewhere along the line, they've heard that these foods are the "best" for losing weight.
But it's not about choosing one food or another.
As long as we're eating a variety of foods every day, we've got it covered.
When it comes to losing weight or bulking or anything else we are doing to feed ourselves, it is more about how much we are eating, and how we put it together.
By putting all foods back on the table, a vast array of meals become available. And perhaps we can avoid "fad food" ghettoes where cauliflower are sold for $7 a head (because...superfood!) and potatoes (boo, starchy) are left rotting on the shelves.
But....but...what if that potato was baked, paired with a little Greek Yogurt and a sprinkle of parmesan, green beans on the side, and thinly sliced flank steak? All of a sudden, we've got a meal fit for kings. That can also help the diner lose weight.
So we've got newbie dieters eating oatmeal at breakfast, kale salad at lunch, and chicken breast with steamed sweet potatoes at dinner. Every. Freaking. Day. Because somehow, somewhere along the line, they've heard that these foods are the "best" for losing weight.
But it's not about choosing one food or another.
As long as we're eating a variety of foods every day, we've got it covered.
When it comes to losing weight or bulking or anything else we are doing to feed ourselves, it is more about how much we are eating, and how we put it together.
By putting all foods back on the table, a vast array of meals become available. And perhaps we can avoid "fad food" ghettoes where cauliflower are sold for $7 a head (because...superfood!) and potatoes (boo, starchy) are left rotting on the shelves.
But....but...what if that potato was baked, paired with a little Greek Yogurt and a sprinkle of parmesan, green beans on the side, and thinly sliced flank steak? All of a sudden, we've got a meal fit for kings. That can also help the diner lose weight.
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Replies
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Good, now set macros to 20/20/60, and all be fine!0
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I like your thoughts. So many people start by looking for the perfect diet plan to reach their goals. Lots of great foods are overlooked because of it. There isn't one perfect plan (tm). The important thing is to be "good enough" and adjust from there if necessary.0
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Not to mention the maddening phenomenon of people on here claiming "oh noes, I can't eat all my calories! what to do HALP" when a few posts later you see
1. The dieter responds to every suggestion of foods to eat with mostly "no, that food is not ALLOWED on my plan, it's SO BAD FOR YOU" interspersed with a few plain old "yucks."
2. The dieter is given to loud self-castigation over the "horrible" foods they've been "binging" on up until this.
3. The dieter claims to be "addicted" to sugar or some other junk food and believes that they need to only eat "healthy" foods and must absolutely give up all the foods they've ever loved, forever. (Corollary -- if a food is enjoyable, it is by definition bad for you. If roasted broccoli tastes good, then it's only healthy when eaten steamed or raw. You have to drink water until it's coming out of your eyeballs, and tea is not "hydrating" as water, etc. etc. etc.)
4. The dieter resists gentle suggestions that beyond some broad and pretty generous guidelines, the concept of "healthy food" is ultimately arbitrary and open to interpretation and may vary from person to person (or day to day) based on personal goals and health issues.
5. The dieter has only been on their plan for a week, and in spite of finding it a challenge is certain that they're going to eat this way for the rest of their lives because "it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change."0 -
I tend to think of food as both fuel and medicine...and delicious enjoyment...but I also have a pretty broad spectrum of nutritional knowledge. I think part of the issue is simply a lack of education and nutritional knowledge...you couple that with marketing gimmicks and fads and people's common sense goes right out the window.
IMO, nutrition is by and large common sense...look around at all of those nutrient dense whole foods in your store...yeah, you should probably be eating a lot of those...a nice wide spectrum of fruits and veggies, whole grains, whole starches, lean sourced protein and healthy fats. Unfortunately, common sense gets swept away by woo, gimmicks, and fads.
Also, the demonization of the potato is pretty high on my list of nutritional pet peeves...it's a perfectly good and highly desirable whole food...and if you really look at the nutritional profile of the lowly potato, it actually is more of a "super food" than just about anything that is marketed as such.0 -
Hear, hear. I have seen too many posts in just this last week of people who eat nothing but chicken and plain vegetables. Where do they get such nonsense?0
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bumping because I think this is a good thread.0
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Now, I've been guilty of calling my food medicine, too, especially when I was monitoring my intake to control my blood sugars. It did give me a whole other view of foods, preferring some for their steady calorie burn over a temporary tingle of the taste buds. That change in taste is likely permanent. I still turn my nose up at sugary drinks, because, why, and my meal doesn't feel complete unless I've thrown a few macros around.0
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Nice post, OP.
I really hate the "what's better, spinach or kale" line, as if one could identify the "best" foods and it would be ideal to just eat them rather than to focus on having an overall healthy, varied diet one enjoys. Particularly hate anointing specific trendy foods as "superfoods." Realizing that dieting didn't mean I needed to eat a special diet or "diet food" made it seem a lot more appealing.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Hear, hear. I have seen too many posts in just this last week of people who eat nothing but chicken and plain vegetables. Where do they get such nonsense?
From the checkout aisle. The mags wouldn't print it if a sucker weren't born every minute.0 -
Now, I've been guilty of calling my food medicine, too, especially when I was monitoring my intake to control my blood sugars. It did give me a whole other view of foods, preferring some for their steady calorie burn over a temporary tingle of the taste buds. That change in taste is likely permanent. I still turn my nose up at sugary drinks, because, why, and my meal doesn't feel complete unless I've thrown a few macros around.
I feel this is a good distinction to make, but again I will point out it's not the same thing at all as categorically declaring a food to be "bad." We all have priorities and make choices in our dietary plans, no? I tend to think of it as "essential nutrition" versus "discretionary calories." I build my daily plan around meeting big-picture dietary goals with, sure, veggies and fruit and lean meat and whole grains and dairy etc. And that generally adds up to 75% - 80% of my calorie budget for the day, and the rest is wtf I want. And what I want might indeed be a bigger serving of roasted veggies or some brown rice, but it's also likely that I'll choose to spend that on booze or chocolate or cheetos. That's my choice, I feel great about having choices.
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I thought this thread would be able using food to self-medicate and I see it isn't.
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Cauliflower prices are up due to cold weather causing a shortage, not because it's a trendy superfood.0
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WalkingAlong wrote: »Cauliflower prices are up due to cold weather causing a shortage, not because it's a trendy superfood.
It's summer here and cauliflower's are $6 each..0 -
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Christine_72 wrote: »WalkingAlong wrote: »Cauliflower prices are up due to cold weather causing a shortage, not because it's a trendy superfood.
It's summer here and cauliflower's are $6 each..
Weird...I just bought 2 Lbs of cauliflower that was already trimmed into florets for $1.49.WalkingAlong wrote: »Cauliflower prices are up due to cold weather causing a shortage, not because it's a trendy superfood.
Also weird...because the 2 Lb package I noted above has SUPER FOOD in huge letters across it in bright red lettering...0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Christine_72 wrote: »WalkingAlong wrote: »Cauliflower prices are up due to cold weather causing a shortage, not because it's a trendy superfood.
It's summer here and cauliflower's are $6 each..
Weird...I just bought 2 Lbs of cauliflower that was already trimmed into florets for $1.49.WalkingAlong wrote: »Cauliflower prices are up due to cold weather causing a shortage, not because it's a trendy superfood.
Also weird...because the 2 Lb package I noted above has SUPER FOOD in huge letters across it in bright red lettering...
Yeah I remembered seeing all the "Ehrmegerd! Cauliflower is so expensive" posts when I bought a full, large head of non-organic, probably GMO cauliflower at my local grocery store for $2.49 last week.
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Now, I've been guilty of calling my food medicine, too, especially when I was monitoring my intake to control my blood sugars. It did give me a whole other view of foods, preferring some for their steady calorie burn over a temporary tingle of the taste buds. That change in taste is likely permanent. I still turn my nose up at sugary drinks, because, why, and my meal doesn't feel complete unless I've thrown a few macros around.
Glad you mentioned that because I've always looked at food as good food. But now I am pre-diabetic it puts a new spin on how I look at food as medicine to get my sugar level under control.
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If cauliflower weren't so popular the same time there was a shortage (painfully felt here in Canada), we wouldn't be seeing such crazy prices.0
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Christine_72 wrote: »WalkingAlong wrote: »Cauliflower prices are up due to cold weather causing a shortage, not because it's a trendy superfood.
It's summer here and cauliflower's are $6 each..
Is it because it's a superfood? I could be missing the memo.
THIS JUST OUT: Pluto again a planet! Cauliflower now a superfood!
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Not so bad once you get the hang of it. Track also how you feel two hours after a meal. That will give you a good idea of what your body can handle. Categories
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