How do you know what you think you know?

Many things for me. 30+ years working in healthcare, personal experience, research (personal and professional), reading a lot of medical and nutrition journals, along with a little common sense led me to believe most of what I currently believe. A close relative who is the proverbial special snowflake taught me to temper what I thought I knew.

When it comes to nutrition, what I believe to be true today is not what I have always believed. And it may well not be what I always believe. There is still so much to be learned. Sometimes I think the only thing I really 'know' is that, since I am still healthy, I haven't totally got it wrong.

I'm guessing not too many are falling into the latter category.

It is interesting that people who are so cautious about the quality of what they put into their bodies are often so cavalier about the quality of the information that they put into their minds.

dare i go where I always want to go???

yes!

I must!

"What, then, is truth? A mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, and anthropomorphisms—in short, a sum of human relations which have been enhanced, transposed, and embellished poetically and rhetorically, and which after long use seem firm, canonical, and obligatory to a people: truths are illusions about which one has forgotten that this is what they are...."


could not help myself.

ETA: this applies to everything else.

Or did you do actual objective research leading you to your current opinion on the matter? I'm guessing not too many are falling into the latter category.

Me either, because most people are incapable of doing it, no lab facilities or training.

Google is just as effective used as a search tool trying to find evidence to disprove your original thought on a subject.

As for me, I know I'm a celiac, the biopsy and blood tests made sure of that, and thus anything wheat or related to it is something I personally cannot consume. I don't think it's evil however, and if there is another treatment aside a gluten free diet, I would certainly take it.

There would be a fallacy if I extrapolated that issue to include everyone else, because it clearly doesn't affect everyone, not even everyone who has the genetic capacity to get the disease but hasn't got it.

The internet. Everything you read on the internet is true right!?!

I agree

I take other people's weight loss/fitness advice into consideration, even though I dont want to. Ive bought into the Atkins diet, and the HCG diet in the past. Neither of them were effective for me. I stick with what makes me feel best physically/mentally etc.

I have a degree in Philosophy, so I find myself asking these kinds of epistemological questions a lot. I know this thread has kind of taken on a lighter tone, but I wanted to warn everyone how easily you can PARALYZE your progress by over analyzing things. A lot of people read and read and read before taking action and they get all this conflicting advice. Result? Inaction.

This was my problem for a while. The approach I took was to recognize the following things:

- ANY change from my normal habits was going to be an improvement

- The single most effective thing I could do to lose weight was to simply eat fewer calories

Right now, I'm using MFP to stay under a reasonable calorie limit, drinking more water, and walking and using the stairs wherever possible. As a result I've already lost 8 lbs.

When I start to think about "well should I try a keto diet or a vegan diet or a paleo or..." I just remind myself that I'm not there yet. That's a question for 170lbs me when it's time to get a six-pack, not 227lbs me still trying to lose all the blubber.

I hope this helps people who are confused about where to start. Just start with portion sizes and more water and a little more physical activity. Don't read PhD dissertations on fitness. Just start simple, it'll work!