Food Lies

No food is bad for you it only matters how much you eat.

I feel like processed stuff is bad for you no matter how much of it you are eating. I tried to stay away from it.

A serious oversimplification.

The research results are fairly damning for transfats. Transfats are indeed bad for you.

Yes, you can lose weight on a diet of fast food french fries if you restrict the number of calories you consume. However, fast food french fries are not "good food." They are too high in fat, sodium and starchy carbohydrates and too low in the nutrients necessary for health. You may lose weight but you will also suffer ill health.

You can turn this around and instead of chosing a diet of only fast food french fries, choose a diet of only green beans. A diet of a single healthy food is also bad because it will once again fail to supply the balance of nutrients necessary for health. You may lose weight but you will also suffer ill health.

Although, arguably, one might state that no food is inherently bad for you, some foods and some choices of overall diet are better for you than others. If your sole aim is weight loss, you may do that by restricting how much you eat (reducing calories) and eat anything you like. If you wish to feel good, be healthy, and maintain the eating habits you learn for a lifetime, some foods are better for you than others.

You said this much more gracefully than I would have. MFP full of blanket statements and generalizations today...

No food is bad for you it only matters how much you eat.

I feel like processed stuff is bad for you no matter how much of it you are eating. I tried to stay away from it.

So no coffee, sugar, diary, or meats for you?

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

OP, according to one of your other posts, you are 14:

I know where you are coming from. I am 14 5'7" and weigh 250 pounds. It is hard but as long as you work hard you will be all right. Don't think you can lose 20 pounds in 1 week. My doctor told me to take babby steps and I think you should to. One of my biggest problems is that I was born without a galblatter which makes it hard for me to break down food. One problem you might have is an underactive thiriod. I hope this has been a lesson for you.

www.sparkteens.com is a much better resource for you. It will have advice and recommendations that are appropriate for your age group.

No food is bad for you it only matters how much you eat.
[/quote

Says someone who knows nothing about nutrition. ]

No food is bad for you it only matters how much you eat.

I feel like processed stuff is bad for you no matter how much of it you are eating. I tried to stay away from it.

Good for you!! Ignore the haters, girl. I feel that emotions are an excellent basis for solid, rational decision making!

A serious oversimplification.

The research results are fairly damning for transfats. Transfats are indeed bad for you.

Yes, you can lose weight on a diet of fast food french fries if you restrict the number of calories you consume. However, fast food french fries are not "good food." They are too high in fat, sodium and starchy carbohydrates and too low in the nutrients necessary for health. You may lose weight but you will also suffer ill health.

You can turn this around and instead of chosing a diet of only fast food french fries, choose a diet of only green beans. A diet of a single healthy food is also bad because it will once again fail to supply the balance of nutrients necessary for health. You may lose weight but you will also suffer ill health.

Although, arguably, one might state that no food is inherently bad for you, some foods and some choices of overall diet are better for you than others. If your sole aim is weight loss, you may do that by restricting how much you eat (reducing calories) and eat anything you like. If you wish to feel good, be healthy, and maintain the eating habits you learn for a lifetime, some foods are better for you than others.

I do agree with the sentiment that you shouldn't really think of any foods as inherently bad, however I think some people go too far with it. Thinking that health is all just how much you eat and not what you eat is dangerous indeed. Because by that logic, I could eat nothing but a gallon of ice cream every day and be healthier than someone who is eating fresh vegetables, fruits, and lean meats or red meats as long as I am consuming only say, 2000 calories and they're consuming 3500. But that's not true. Because even if that person is overweight (which is likely if they're not active), they would be getting a wider range of nutrients than me. Therefore, health and amount of food are not correlated (health and weight aren't even always correlated, except in extreme examples).

Another food lie.

Eating Paleo is good for you.

Any diet that summarily cuts THAT many good foods just cos cavemen couldn't find them aught to be dropped out of a plane. Thankfully people are beginning to realize this which is why so many variants of Paleo sprang up almost immediately. A desperate attempt by the people who sold Paleo books and diet plans to make yet more money. Hopefully it wont work. But I doubt it. There is always some sucker ready to be told it wasn't their fault they gained weight.

Or Carbs make you fat. Seriously SOME research shows cutting carbs MIGHT make you lose weight faster. But there is zero evidence that a moderate carb intake made you fat. Over eating made you fat. If you had restraint the carbs wouldn't have mattered.

that's another one.

Oh and let's not forget .. you have to restrict carbs in order to lose weight. Oh and restricting carbs to lose weight is a good idea for everyone! Especially those who want to be active! Gimme a break.

Or my all time favorite.

The human body isn't meant to drink milk! It's supposed to be for baby cows so therefore we shouldn't drink it.

Well duh I guess you shouldn't eat meat because it was meant to be mr piggies muscles! Oh and you shouldn't eat spinach leaves cos clearly they where meant for photosynthesis! I guess the only thing you can eat is fruit and human milk. Because I believe they are just about the only things on this earth that where made specifically to be eaten by humans. And I'm being generous about the fruit. Not "meant" to be eaten by us seriously do you even think about these things or do you just let confirmation bias do all the thinking for you?

I hope I have made my point. And that is that those who advocate overly restrictive diets are just as prone to silly self righteous conformation biased generalizations as any other group of people. In fact significantly more so. In fact the people advocating not restricting your diet almost immediate follow it with the caveat. Well you CAN just eat McDonald ... but you won't be healthy. which is a good deal more responsibility than the processedophobics the peleo zealots and the low carb pushers generally manage.