Conflicting nutrition info

atomicpunk1974

On 7/24 my doctor says: "As a woman you need a lot of calcium, so try to eat more low-fat cheese and yogurt, since you don't like milk."

On 7/30 my health club nutritionist says: "As a runner you need lots of protein to build muscle and you need fat to feel full, so eat more eggs (yolks and all) and meat and greek yogurt. Also, avoid sugar (even in berries) and glutens as much a possible because they increase your risk of diabetes and weight gain."

On 7/26 my physical therapist says: "Your running injury has caused deeply entrenched inflammation, so avoid foods that cause inflammation like dairy, chicken, and eggs, and increase anti-inflammatory foods like berries."

And pretty much every day scientific nutrition studies are saying: "Since you're depressed by your injury and tend toward depression in general, you should decrease your animal protein intake and eat more fruits and veggies that are high in serotonin. Also, the cholesterol in eggs is as bad for your heart as smoking is."

So the commonalities seem to be that everybody says, at least to some degree, that veggies are good, refined sugar is bad, and that the less my food is processed, the better. Other than that, though, it seems to be very difficult to figure out what the nutritional goals for an injured, depressed, female runner like me should be. Does anybody else get so many conflicting recommendations about nutrition? And how do you decide who to trust? How do you prioritize conflicting nutritional goals?

Carol_L

A few questions here:

1. What are the qualifications of your 'Health Club Nutritionist'? Are they actually an RD, or is it someone at the club that took some courses and got the mantle?

2. Does your physical therapist have any qualifications that would validate their ability to make nutritional pronouncements? I would trust the opinion of a PT regarding my joints and muscles more than their opinion on my diet.

One mistake that people make is assuming that because someone is involved in the health/fitness industry, everything that they say is gold.

If you want to do your own research, start with PubMed. Its an online database of medical studies including nutrition. The caveat in reading up on any study, however is to make yourself aware of such things as the methodology, and any potential sample biases. A very high number of studies that have been cited as showing groundbreaking trends suffer from a lot of problems, such as small sample sizes, reporting bias, and short duration, which in real terms, renders their conclusions meaningless.

Sidesteal

A few questions here:

1. What are the qualifications of your 'Health Club Nutritionist'? Are they actually an RD, or is it someone at the club that took some courses and got the mantle?

2. Does your physical therapist have any qualifications that would validate their ability to make nutritional pronouncements? I would trust the opinion of a PT regarding my joints and muscles more than their opinion on my diet.

One mistake that people make is assuming that because someone is involved in the health/fitness industry, everything that they say is gold.

If you want to do your own research, start with PubMed. Its an online database of medical studies including nutrition. The caveat in reading up on any study, however is to make yourself aware of such things as the methodology, and any potential sample biases. A very high number of studies that have been cited as showing groundbreaking trends suffer from a lot of problems, such as small sample sizes, reporting bias, and short duration, which in real terms, renders their conclusions as meaningless.

^ This is a fantastic reply.

Rachaelluvszipped

A few questions here:

1. What are the qualifications of your 'Health Club Nutritionist'? Are they actually an RD, or is it someone at the club that took some courses and got the mantle?

2. Does your physical therapist have any qualifications that would validate their ability to make nutritional pronouncements? I would trust the opinion of a PT regarding my joints and muscles more than their opinion on my diet.

One mistake that people make is assuming that because someone is involved in the health/fitness industry, everything that they say is gold.

If you want to do your own research, start with PubMed. Its an online database of medical studies including nutrition. The caveat in reading up on any study, however is to make yourself aware of such things as the methodology, and any potential sample biases. A very high number of studies that have been cited as showing groundbreaking trends suffer from a lot of problems, such as small sample sizes, reporting bias, and short duration, which in real terms, renders their conclusions as meaningless.

^ This is a fantastic reply.

^^Total in agreement!^^

jjefferies7

comparing eggs to smoking?