Worried about peoples over amped nutritional expectations.

RHachicho

I have noticed a worrying trend lately. Specifically that people have become obsessed over their food at a microscopic level. We have people calling wheat a poison, processed meats a poison. We even have people attacking fruits for fructose and nightshade vegetables like tomatoes and eggplants.

To me this just seems barmy. I mean honestly there may be something to the science behind this. But I always thought that your body is not designed to last forever. That pretty much ANYTHING you put in it is going to damage it in some way or another. And now that I am correcting my health I have not found this line of thinking to be wrong. I have done nothing special to lose weight. I have merely combined a sensible calorie restriction with an ever increasing exercise program. And this has worked. And I am sure will continue to work. However according to muck of what I read everywhere I am still poisoning my body.

I am worried that people are looking for something to blame for their predicament. They want to think that wheat or dairy or non paleo foods are responsible for their conditions. Either that or they think that they will live to be like 300 if they get everything about their diet "just" right. In short I am worried that in today's rabidly health conscious society. Where it is no longer OK to be even a little chubby (Something I really don't think is right but that's a discussion for another time) that we are only replacing over eating with Orthoxia, a rabid compulsive obsession with 'healthy' eating.

It all just seems so selfish and silly when you consider that half a world away there are starving people that would probably kill for a loaf of "poison".

I would like to know everyone's thoughts on this?

BigT555

agreed. people just want something to blame, its in our nature. plus with all the misinformation out there spread by diet fads its hard to separate fact from fiction. people pretty much just need to get out and see what works for them

the ones who have the most success will be the ones who dont over-complicate it. this is why MFP is great, it gives this simple approach to nutrition in a world where everything is complicated

KateK8LoseW8

Totally agree. I've been on the orthorexia wagon (technically diagnosed as ED-NOS because ortho doesn't exist in the DSM), and it's a miserable existence. I HAD to make sure that I got my nutrition exactly right every day, that I got all my vitamins and minerals, that I weighed every gram of everything I ate (5 extra grams of steamed broccoli isn't going to hurt, geez). I was obsessed. I ended up in a psychiatric ward for an unrelated issue, and got sent to the eating disorder unit shortly thereafter when I refused to eat for two days because the food wasn't up to my health standards.

Granted, not everyone will end up where I did, but it's a slippery slope into obsession.

I'm proud to say that my food these days is pretty balanced. Today's menu included wheetabix (oh the nutritionally void carbs!), two boiled eggs, a pre-made boxed leafy salad (the horror! the processing!) with ham (the sodium!), egg, and various beans/peas, "protein pudding" with casein powder, greek yogurt, and raspberries, salmon roll with creamed spinach filling (the evil, evil dairy!), microwave instant brown rice, steamed asparagus, a peach, dates (SUGARZ), crackers (white ones oh no!) with laughing cow cheese, wine gums, and chocolate pudding (you get the point).

That's a pretty healthy, well-balanced day. And I didn't spend all my time and energy today obsessing over it.

cantfail

AMEN, brother! There are these blood tests that people are taking now to determine which foods they are "sensitive" too. As a result parents are sending long lists of food their kids are not suppose to have to schools and it is becoming a nightmare. I just recently read an article that stated that doctors are becoming concerned about malnutrition because people are avoiding perfectly good food. What is worse, these expensive blood tests (not performed by physicians BTW) are not even valid. The anti-bodies they test for actually indicate exposure not intolerance to certain foods. Just craziness...

_Resolve_

This post has way to much logic in it for a Monday on MFP.

How refreshing.

thavoice

I have found that many of the people who tout the evils on something are also guilty in partaking in some other evil that another group is going after.

It is never ending, and will continue to get worse.

Some people are just diet/food snobs and think that just becuase they dont eat a certain food (meat, gluten, processed, sugar etc) that they are somewhat better than someone else.

besaro

yawn

DebbieLyn63

You are WORRIED that people are too WORRIED about what they eat? Ironic post is ironic.

ChriJMitch

Dude I feel for you. Sometimes I feel like people blame food for their issues rather than attacking the real problem, like the balance/amount/quality of the food they eat or the lack of exercise.

It is easy to say "well the chemicals in the food are causing me to retain my weight". No. The three hours on your couch eating half a bag of trail mix is what is causing you to retain weight lmao. People have zero personal accountability anymore. They look for anything except themselves to blame.

AsaThorsWoman

If it's not your circus, than don't worry about it.

Ohwhynot

I am worried that people are looking for something to blame for their predicament. They want to think that wheat or dairy or non paleo foods are responsible for their conditions.

I totally agree. I know that 100% of my fat is due to too many calories. It's not my thyroid, cortisol levels, carbs, gluten, sugar, tree nuts, sugar, refined foods, nightshades, pregnancies, or anything else. It's that I stress-eat and love food, and I also hate exercise. My calories in > calories out. End of story.

Now, I still think it's healthier to eat more plants than meats, less processed, more whole foods but I'm not gonna turn down some cool ranch doritos.

Ronni66

Haha my mother-in-law watches all these "doctor" shows on TV and has ranted and raved to me about the poisonous foods, the diet drinks that are not diet at all and the additives that will kill me off. I am diabetic and so i am " taking unnecessary risks" with my health for not avoiding all the demonic foods and drinks i am consuming.

Is food bad for you? Oh sure some of it prolly is not good like fast food and most processed...but im not going to stop eating them, just going to eat very little of them. Not cause they are dangerous...because my diet won't allow me daily Whopper pig outs.

No gluten, no this no that...Screw you i want my MSG. I figure it this way, we all want to live a long life..but what is living if we are chasing the next fad or freaking out over something that might cause cancer if we eat ten tons in one sitting of it.... what fun is that? Damn in most cities the very air you breath is toxic...the water you drink is toxic....everything is Toxic.

Lot's of people blame hormones and additives and alien injected molecules or whatever the hell on something that is wrong with them... and really it's just your body being an *kitten* or something;.

Barring the exception of people with real conditions that make them have to choose foods for survival..the normal joe out there is prolly more likely to get run over while jogging by that health food crazed moron that passed out at the wheel cause they have been depriving themselves of vital nutrients cause of the dangerous mind controlling nano chips !

I can't drink too much fruit juice..I can't drink sugar sodas..I am therefore looking at a lifetime of just water OR i can drink my damn diet tea, be happy and tell my mother in law that my blood sugar is indeed in the safe range and whatever sugars the government are loading my diet tea with must be good for diabetics!

I ranted all over the house there didn't i? ;P oopsie

bcattoes

My thoughts are that you can't fix people. If they want to blame something for their weight gain, so what? If they want to avoid certain foods because they think they are unhealthy, then so what?

If someone avoids <insert food here> because they think it's toxic, so what? If they are wrong, so what?

nitrospop

As a 6' tall male, if I weighed 185 and was neurotic about what I was eating just to lost 5 more pounds, I might have a problem. BUT, I started this journey at 292. There is no way I could make progress without carefully measuring what I eat, and finding a style that not only works for me, but one that I won't easily give up or cheat on. Sure, there are a lot of fads out there, and they work for some people. What I'm doing has been called a fad, but the truth is, it was clinically developed 90 years ago, works every time it's tried, and takes only minor sacrifices to maintain. I agree with you that an obsession with hitting every single aspect of nutrition can point to a greater psychological problem. But with obesity killing the world, and the US in particular, maybe just a little bit of obsession is what we need.

seltzermint555

agreed. people just want something to blame, its in our nature. plus with all the misinformation out there spread by diet fads its hard to separate fact from fiction. people pretty much just need to get out and see what works for them

the ones who have the most success will be the ones who dont over-complicate it. this is why MFP is great, it gives this simple approach to nutrition in a world where everything is complicated

Definitely this.

Also, I have noticed that a lot of people (mainly irl) who seem to experience the biggest paranoia about foods being filled with toxins, poison, etc., are also the same people who wind up just saying "ah scr*w it" and eating the same stuff they were so freaked out about - at least, after awhile.

dawnmcneil10

That is today's society there must be a quick fix to everything. That alone explains 98% of the questions you'll see out on the forums.
Personally I went back to basics yes way back to the old food pyramid, remember that thing, I'll bet many of todays youth have never heard of it. Since going back to using the food pyramid as my guide in healthy eating I feel great, I do avoid processed foods but only because I prefer the taste of my own cooking. I still enjoy dinner out on occasion, still like the random can of chef boyardee and so far that hasn't killed me.
I did discover I have issues with beef, no I'm not blaming beef for making me fat, but finding out that my body doesn't like beef has let me to not eat it. Don't get me wrong I would love to sit down and eat a big juicy steak on occasion or a nice steak sub however the 3 days of pain that follow are not worth it so I don't eat beef, simple as that.
Now when people hear this they immediately say OMG you need to go to the doctor because that's not good, you could have something seriously wrong with you and then list off a bunch of possible scenarios. My way of thinking is simple, I feel like crap when I eat beef so I don't eat beef.

I don't need a label or diagnosis to tell me this, but I suppose that others like that sort of thing, makes them feel like part of a group or something. I just look at people and say yes I'm a freak I can't eat beef.

Find the nutritional diet that works for you, own your own life, get some exercise and be thankful you're not a robot that needs to be programmed.

DebbieLyn63

As a 6' tall male, if I weighed 185 and was neurotic about what I was eating just to lost 5 more pounds, I might have a problem. BUT, I started this journey at 292. There is no way I could make progress without carefully measuring what I eat, and finding a style that not only works for me, but one that I won't easily give up or cheat on. Sure, there are a lot of fads out there, and they work for some people. What I'm doing has been called a fad, but the truth is, it was clinically developed 90 years ago, works every time it's tried, and takes only minor sacrifices to maintain. I agree with you that an obsession with hitting every single aspect of nutrition can point to a greater psychological problem. But with obesity killing the world, and the US in particular, maybe just a little bit of obsession is what we need.

QFT

delicious_cocktail

Worrying about others' worries isn't warranted; why worry? We will wind up worrying about what we want to worry about, whenever we wish; whether that worries other people or not. I find that worrisome.

DebbieLyn63

Worrying about others' worries isn't warranted; why worry? We will wind up worrying about what we want to worry about, whenever we wish; whether that worries other people or not. I find that worrisome.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

WakkoW

Why would anyone be worried or bothered by the food choices of complete strangers?

jofjltncb6

OP, I'm worried about how much you seem to be worried about how much other people seem to be worried about certain foods.