Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.
Is anything really good for you anymore?
Replies
-
Aaron_K123 wrote: »I disagree however that actual scientific study publications are sensationalized though....if you read the actual studies they tend to be very measured and understated in their conclusions are rarely if ever make broad inferences.
Thanks for mentioning this. I would say that is what I have seen as well, that the studies themselves are less likely to make the typical sweeping generalizations that are all or nothing. Although I have seen a few scientists discuss the studies using more sweeping statements during interviews. Not the majority, certainly, but some, definitely.
Keep in mind that interview articles (i.e., not full-text Q&A) involve a journalist cherry-picking which quotes to use, based on what said journalist believed going into the interview.2 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »I disagree however that actual scientific study publications are sensationalized though....if you read the actual studies they tend to be very measured and understated in their conclusions are rarely if ever make broad inferences.
Thanks for mentioning this. I would say that is what I have seen as well, that the studies themselves are less likely to make the typical sweeping generalizations that are all or nothing. Although I have seen a few scientists discuss the studies using more sweeping statements during interviews. Not the majority, certainly, but some, definitely.
Keep in mind that interview articles (i.e., not full-text Q&A) involve a journalist cherry-picking which quotes to use, based on what said journalist believed going into the interview.
It's fairly easy to contact the researchers and they typically respond quickly. I often check with them if an interview ever occurred. More often than not it never happened.2 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »I disagree however that actual scientific study publications are sensationalized though....if you read the actual studies they tend to be very measured and understated in their conclusions are rarely if ever make broad inferences.
Thanks for mentioning this. I would say that is what I have seen as well, that the studies themselves are less likely to make the typical sweeping generalizations that are all or nothing. Although I have seen a few scientists discuss the studies using more sweeping statements during interviews. Not the majority, certainly, but some, definitely.
Yeah well scientists are just people and if you talk to them in person they will sometimes end up being more hyperbolic as well. Not to mention if what the scientist "said" is through the filter of a news article then the journalist had the ability to select what they considered the most "interesting" statements which often can highlight the stronger ones and leave out the caveats. Question is what they are willing to say when they put pen to paper in a publication.0 -
As a scientist working on an engineering project, I was once interviewed for the local newspaper. I carefully explained all the technical details of the project, and I fully believed I’d given interviewer a clear ideas of the goals and limitations of the project.
Then I read the article in the paper. The general gist of it was correct, but many of the main points were inaccurately expressed and several details were just plain wrong. If I’d had to grade it as a lad report, it would have gotten a C minus.
(I wanted to ask the newspaper to print a correction; but my boss said it would do more harm than good, and he was probably right.)
The thing is, as a scientist, you can’t really say: “The sky is blue.” (Or at least you shouldn’t.)
Science relies on accuracy, and accuracy is hard to express in words. To be completely accurately about the color of the sky, I’d have to say something like: “Due to the effects of atmospheric dispersion on the longer wavelengths of sunlight, most of the portion of the visible spectrum of light that reaches the earth’s surface falls within that part of the range perceived by the human eye as ‘blue.’”
No journalist wants to publish that. (It’s also just the sort of thing that makes me no fun at parties.) So, on a good day, they’ll boil it back down to: “The sky is blue.”
On a very bad day, they’ll misread it, get overexcited about my use of one word that starts with ‘f,’ and boil it down to “The sky is falling.”7 -
Not bring overweight is good for you, so for all those overweight people telling you that diet soda is not good for you, let’s see if they think their healthy when they are told that they need to loose weight at their doctor visits. I know that my doctor doesn’t ask me if I drink diet soda! So what I think is if you can eat candy and not be overweight, then candy is neither “good or bad for you”1
-
Responding to the initial post:
I'm an old fart who matured before the internet did. Back then, we needed to develop a keen judgement in handling "old wives tales", "proverbs", "fables", and "Proverbs".
The accuracy of an old wives tale varied according to the age of your wife.
The verity of proverbs varied according to the smell of the cooking.
The truth in fables was variable as needed.
The Proverbs were in a Book that was good for thumping.
Nowadays we just have twitter, google, and facebook.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Enjoy your food.4 -
If you believe everything you read, then yes, everything is bad for you. If you use common sense, eat a varied diet, and learn how to vet sources, taking care of yourself gets a heck of a lot easier! The average person on the street isn't critically thinking, they are just hearing and parroting the headlines and sound bytes. Ignore the noise
Amen!!!!!!!
1 -
Is anything good for you anymore?
A recent editorial in JAMA observed that much research on the health effects of foods is far less clear-cut than press releases and media reports present it, especially when claims are made about single foods. Take it with a grain of salt.1 -
What’s worked for me is to always head in the direction of better health and make healthy choices. Is Tilapia the best fish to eat? Perhaps not the best, but compared to a lot of other choices, it might not be the worst. Think lower unhealthy carbs (cookies, candies, bread with no fiber, almost all sugar, especially added sugars). Watch the calories. Eat lots of vegetables especially raw. Treat yourself to cheese in moderation to take the edge off. Don’t do too much at one time or you won’t stick to it. Make small changes in the right direction. It will work for you!!!!3
-
Is anything good for you anymore?
A recent editorial in JAMA observed that much research on the health effects of foods is far less clear-cut than press releases and media reports present it, especially when claims are made about single foods. Take it with a grain of salt.
Except, isn't salt bad for you??????3 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »Is anything good for you anymore?
A recent editorial in JAMA observed that much research on the health effects of foods is far less clear-cut than press releases and media reports present it, especially when claims are made about single foods. Take it with a grain of salt.
Except, isn't salt bad for you??????
The ill effects of a single grain are negligible and inevitable.1 -
estherdragonbat wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »Is anything good for you anymore?
A recent editorial in JAMA observed that much research on the health effects of foods is far less clear-cut than press releases and media reports present it, especially when claims are made about single foods. Take it with a grain of salt.
Except, isn't salt bad for you??????
The ill effects of a single grain are negligible and inevitable.
PPPPPbbbbbbtttttttt!!!!!!!!1 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »estherdragonbat wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »Is anything good for you anymore?
A recent editorial in JAMA observed that much research on the health effects of foods is far less clear-cut than press releases and media reports present it, especially when claims are made about single foods. Take it with a grain of salt.
Except, isn't salt bad for you??????
The ill effects of a single grain are negligible and inevitable.
PPPPPbbbbbbtttttttt!!!!!!!!
Really? Bored today?
I like salt with my chocolate. Quite certain I'm destined for an early grave.1 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »estherdragonbat wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »Is anything good for you anymore?
A recent editorial in JAMA observed that much research on the health effects of foods is far less clear-cut than press releases and media reports present it, especially when claims are made about single foods. Take it with a grain of salt.
Except, isn't salt bad for you??????
The ill effects of a single grain are negligible and inevitable.
PPPPPbbbbbbtttttttt!!!!!!!!
Really? Bored today?
I like salt with my chocolate. Quite certain I'm destined for an early grave.
Have you ever had this?!? Oh, man!!!
1 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »estherdragonbat wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »Is anything good for you anymore?
A recent editorial in JAMA observed that much research on the health effects of foods is far less clear-cut than press releases and media reports present it, especially when claims are made about single foods. Take it with a grain of salt.
Except, isn't salt bad for you??????
The ill effects of a single grain are negligible and inevitable.
PPPPPbbbbbbtttttttt!!!!!!!!
Really? Bored today?
I like salt with my chocolate. Quite certain I'm destined for an early grave.
Have you ever had this?!? Oh, man!!!
So, chocolate covered pop-rocks?0 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »estherdragonbat wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »Is anything good for you anymore?
A recent editorial in JAMA observed that much research on the health effects of foods is far less clear-cut than press releases and media reports present it, especially when claims are made about single foods. Take it with a grain of salt.
Except, isn't salt bad for you??????
The ill effects of a single grain are negligible and inevitable.
PPPPPbbbbbbtttttttt!!!!!!!!
Really? Bored today?
I like salt with my chocolate. Quite certain I'm destined for an early grave.
Have you ever had this?!? Oh, man!!!
So, chocolate covered pop-rocks?
Spicy, salty, chocolate-covered pop rocks!1 -
Evelyn_Gorfram wrote: »Let me begin with some background. I'm completely new to "eating healthy", and have decided to try meal prepping. I started with some ground rules. Not to list them all, but some rules were 1. Food had to be relatively cheap, easy to get. 2. I had to like it. I'm not a huge fan of seafood. Mostly because I don't like the fishy taste. So decided to go with Tilapia. I heard so many great benefits. "it's the boneless, skinless chicken breast of the sea". Never tried it before, so I only bought a few to try. I Made it along with some rice, and really loved it. No fishy taste. Thinking "ok, I can do this". Cheap, and easy to get.
My wife is doing the same diet as me. She takes some to work for lunch. A co-worker sees her eating the fish, and that's when it begins. "are you eating Tilapia"? "you know they are raised on poop"? "your better off eating a pound of bacon, then eating that". "Tilapia causes cancer". You get it. She comes home, and tells me all of this. Now normally. I wouldn't pay it much attention. However. The guys she works with are physically fit. Some of them live in the gym, and have great eating habits. Great group of people. The kind of people you'd want advice from when it comes to diet and fitness. So it was a huge buzz kill for me.
So like anyone that's new to this would do. I consulted with google. There are tons of articles about how unhealthy Tilapia is. Almost equal to the amount of articles on how healthy it is. So I began digging into other things. Almost everything I look up, be it tomatoes, lettuce, chicken, whatever. It all has at least some articles explaining how its bad for you. So....
Is anything good for you anymore?
Do I just ignore what some people are saying?
How do you filter out facts about food, from all the other nonsense?
Do I have to perform an in depth investigation before I eat anything?
- Honey is bee vomit
- Yogurt is what bacteria leave behind after digesting milk
- Milk is a mammalian glandular secretion
- Meat is, well, you know where meat comes from
- Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungi that feed on decaying matter
- Eggs are the unfertilized ova of chickens (unless you pay extra for the fertilized ones)
- Fruits are the fertilized ova of trees and bushes
- Grains are the fertilized ova of grasses
- Leafy vegetables are effectively the stomachs of the plants
(fwiw, I cheerfully eat all of the above)
And almost everything grows in poop (and other decaying organic matter), feeds on something that grows in poop, or feeds on something that feeds on something that grows in poop. If you're not going to eat anything capable of grossing you out when viewed from the right perspective, you'll likely starve.
If you add all the pee and poop in water you just condemned me to thirst in addition to starvation.
I don't know that I like you no-more: you're almost as bad as the food babe!!!!!
<Can I use your honey-bee vomit terminology? I'd love to use it when someone tells me how much better honey would be as compared to evilz sucrose--or the even more evilz sucralose I sometimes often use!!!>3 -
Evelyn_Gorfram wrote: »Let me begin with some background. I'm completely new to "eating healthy", and have decided to try meal prepping. I started with some ground rules. Not to list them all, but some rules were 1. Food had to be relatively cheap, easy to get. 2. I had to like it. I'm not a huge fan of seafood. Mostly because I don't like the fishy taste. So decided to go with Tilapia. I heard so many great benefits. "it's the boneless, skinless chicken breast of the sea". Never tried it before, so I only bought a few to try. I Made it along with some rice, and really loved it. No fishy taste. Thinking "ok, I can do this". Cheap, and easy to get.
My wife is doing the same diet as me. She takes some to work for lunch. A co-worker sees her eating the fish, and that's when it begins. "are you eating Tilapia"? "you know they are raised on poop"? "your better off eating a pound of bacon, then eating that". "Tilapia causes cancer". You get it. She comes home, and tells me all of this. Now normally. I wouldn't pay it much attention. However. The guys she works with are physically fit. Some of them live in the gym, and have great eating habits. Great group of people. The kind of people you'd want advice from when it comes to diet and fitness. So it was a huge buzz kill for me.
So like anyone that's new to this would do. I consulted with google. There are tons of articles about how unhealthy Tilapia is. Almost equal to the amount of articles on how healthy it is. So I began digging into other things. Almost everything I look up, be it tomatoes, lettuce, chicken, whatever. It all has at least some articles explaining how its bad for you. So....
Is anything good for you anymore?
Do I just ignore what some people are saying?
How do you filter out facts about food, from all the other nonsense?
Do I have to perform an in depth investigation before I eat anything?
- Honey is bee vomit
- Yogurt is what bacteria leave behind after digesting milk
- Milk is a mammalian glandular secretion
- Meat is, well, you know where meat comes from
- Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungi that feed on decaying matter
- Eggs are the unfertilized ova of chickens (unless you pay extra for the fertilized ones)
- Fruits are the fertilized ova of trees and bushes
- Grains are the fertilized ova of grasses
- Leafy vegetables are effectively the stomachs of the plants
(fwiw, I cheerfully eat all of the above)
And almost everything grows in poop (and other decaying organic matter), feeds on something that grows in poop, or feeds on something that feeds on something that grows in poop. If you're not going to eat anything capable of grossing you out when viewed from the right perspective, you'll likely starve.
If you add all the pee and poop in water you just condemned me to thirst in addition to starvation.
I don't know that I like you no-more: you're almost as bad as the food babe!!!!!
<Can I use your honey-bee vomit terminology? I'd love to use it when someone tells me how much better honey would be as compared to evilz sucrose--or the even more evilz sucralose I sometimes often use!!!>
Sure!
...Although I should warn you that I oversimplified: assuming I remember right, honey is honey bee-vomit along with honey-bees mucus secretions (i.e. snot) and some glandular secretions very roughly analogous to mammalian breast milk.
And, again IIRC, I think that, in molecular terms, it's mostly sucrose.2 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »estherdragonbat wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »Is anything good for you anymore?
A recent editorial in JAMA observed that much research on the health effects of foods is far less clear-cut than press releases and media reports present it, especially when claims are made about single foods. Take it with a grain of salt.
Except, isn't salt bad for you??????
The ill effects of a single grain are negligible and inevitable.
PPPPPbbbbbbtttttttt!!!!!!!!
Really? Bored today?
I like salt with my chocolate. Quite certain I'm destined for an early grave.
Have you ever had this?!? Oh, man!!!
So, chocolate covered pop-rocks?
Spicy, salty, chocolate-covered pop rocks!
I'm not sure I want my chocolate to pop1 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »estherdragonbat wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »Is anything good for you anymore?
A recent editorial in JAMA observed that much research on the health effects of foods is far less clear-cut than press releases and media reports present it, especially when claims are made about single foods. Take it with a grain of salt.
Except, isn't salt bad for you??????
The ill effects of a single grain are negligible and inevitable.
PPPPPbbbbbbtttttttt!!!!!!!!
Really? Bored today?
I like salt with my chocolate. Quite certain I'm destined for an early grave.
Have you ever had this?!? Oh, man!!!
So, chocolate covered pop-rocks?
Spicy, salty, chocolate-covered pop rocks!
I'm not sure I want my chocolate to pop
But it's good if it's salty and spicy, IMO. Maybe sometimes we just gotta put up with a little popping. Or else eat those chocolate potato chip bars.0 -
Yeah, there's the catch-22 where some people say farmed fish has less Omega-3 and eats the wrong food so it's bad for you, but others say an increase in consumption of wild-caught fish is leading to over-fishing and the decimation of some species.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium has an app called “Seafood Watch” which is a great tool in guiding what type of fish to buy with regards to over-fishing and other environmental concerns. Highly recommend!0 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »estherdragonbat wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »Is anything good for you anymore?
A recent editorial in JAMA observed that much research on the health effects of foods is far less clear-cut than press releases and media reports present it, especially when claims are made about single foods. Take it with a grain of salt.
Except, isn't salt bad for you??????
The ill effects of a single grain are negligible and inevitable.
PPPPPbbbbbbtttttttt!!!!!!!!
Really? Bored today?
I like salt with my chocolate. Quite certain I'm destined for an early grave.
Have you ever had this?!? Oh, man!!!
So, chocolate covered pop-rocks?
Spicy, salty, chocolate-covered pop rocks!
I'm not sure I want my chocolate to pop
But it's good if it's salty and spicy, IMO. Maybe sometimes we just gotta put up with a little popping. Or else eat those chocolate potato chip bars.
That's a sacrifice I might be willing to make!2 -
This content has been removed.
-
I've never heard that about tilapia before. I have heard it about shrimp though since they are along the oceans floor. But I eat what I eat. Once something is cooked in a high temp then how can it hurt you? Next time try cod or flounder. Actually cod is quite a bit thicker and tastes better IMO so you may like it better anyway.
And tell your wife to ignore those coworkers. Anyone that says bacon is better than fish obviously has no idea what they are talking about. I bet they eat at Mcdonalds on a regular basis as well.0 -
Yeah, there's the catch-22 where some people say farmed fish has less Omega-3 and eats the wrong food so it's bad for you, but others say an increase in consumption of wild-caught fish is leading to over-fishing and the decimation of some species.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium has an app called “Seafood Watch” which is a great tool in guiding what type of fish to buy with regards to over-fishing and other environmental concerns. Highly recommend!
wild caught fish is all I will eat. I tried the non-wild caught one time and it was so full of water it was soggy when I ate it and that was after draining it for what seemed like forever and trying to get more water out with a towel around it. disgusting
1
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.2K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 421 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions