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Why so many food myths?

24

Replies

  • thefuzz1290
    thefuzz1290 Posts: 777 Member
    The problem is that everyone's body responds differently to different stimulus. I work with a guy who is 6'00" and 180lbs, in great shape, but he can eat anything he wants and doesn't gain weight (now granted, he does put the work into the gym). I also work with a guy who puts work into the gym, but has to run a strict low-carb diet to stay leanish. You essentially have to find out how your body responds to different foods.

    There is no healthy person on the planet who can eat "anything they want" and not gain, unless "anything they want" is less than they burn.

    But if their metabolism is high enough, they have to force feed themselves when they're not hungry to achieve a caloric excess. Genetics matter a great deal.
  • suzyjane1972
    suzyjane1972 Posts: 612 Member
    I honestly knew a woman who spent all day eating and was still skinny....really skinny. Any form of stomach flu sent her to the hospital as she didn't have any reserves. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't spent a week on a course with her....boy she could pack it away. Her doctor said he wished he could find the gene that ramped up her metabolism as he'd be rich.
  • chocolate_owl
    chocolate_owl Posts: 1,695 Member
    paulgads82 wrote: »
    Eating 30 bananas a day is hard. People still do it.

    What's more work? Planning meals out, weighing and measuring all ingredients, and logging it, or buying a few bunches of bananas and munching all day? While I'm not sure I could get 30 bananas down without gagging, it's less work prior to the stuffing-your-face part, and that's appealing to some people.

    There's also an air of superiority when you're following a so-called expert's plan. The number of people around my office who get off on telling everyone about their low-carb diet, their 500 cals of apples and balsamic vinegar, their adherence to cutting out all white food just like their doctor said... It's an appeal to authority, so even if the plan doesn't work or isn't sustainable, they're still doing things "right" because an expert told them so, and I'm doing things "wrong" and it will catch up with me someday.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    I honestly knew a woman who spent all day eating and was still skinny....really skinny. Any form of stomach flu sent her to the hospital as she didn't have any reserves. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't spent a week on a course with her....boy she could pack it away. Her doctor said he wished he could find the gene that ramped up her metabolism as he'd be rich.

    Energy can't disappear, so it must come out one way or another. Be that from moving like Sonic the Hedgehog on fire, increased body temperature to a point where it's not healthy anymore or undigested through the back or front door if you catch what I'm saying.
  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
    edited May 2016
    The problem is that everyone's body responds differently to different stimulus. I work with a guy who is 6'00" and 180lbs, in great shape, but he can eat anything he wants and doesn't gain weight (now granted, he does put the work into the gym). I also work with a guy who puts work into the gym, but has to run a strict low-carb diet to stay leanish. You essentially have to find out how your body responds to different foods.

    There is no healthy person on the planet who can eat "anything they want" and not gain, unless "anything they want" is less than they burn.

    But if their metabolism is high enough, they have to force feed themselves when they're not hungry to achieve a caloric excess. Genetics matter a great deal.

    Metabolic rate actually doesn't differ that much among people if you control for stats and activity. We're talking about a 200-300 calorie difference for the majority of healthy people. A good slice of pizza or a rich scoop of ice cream and they're gone. No force feeding needed. What does differ is how the person perceives the amount of food they are eating. For one person a certain amount may feel huge, for another it's a passing snack.
    I agree, but sometimes I think about slow vs fast metabolisms from the standpoint of how much one needs on the basis of bodyweight (and there are a lot of sites that try to estimate calories needed based on that). For instance, someone who is 110 lbs may need 20 calories per lb of bodyweight, while someone who is 180 lbs may need 17 calories per lb (at the same activity level). So from that perspective I would say the smaller person has a faster metabolism, as he/she needs more calories per lb of bodyweight.

  • JaneSnowe
    JaneSnowe Posts: 1,283 Member
    edited May 2016
    Never mind. Steven had it covered already.
  • moe0303
    moe0303 Posts: 934 Member
    Because unconventional methods sometimes work when conventional methods didn't. Now, there could be a multitude of legitimate reasons why they didn't work (I.e. they weren't implemented properly), but the fact remains that they didn't work. So when unconventional methods prove successful (possibly because they made it easier to properly implement the basis of the conventional methodology), those experiencing the success are prone to conclude that the unconventional method is superior.
  • MsAmandaNJ
    MsAmandaNJ Posts: 1,248 Member
    paulgads82 wrote: »
    Eating 30 bananas a day is hard. People still do it.

    That grosses me out beyond gross.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    "Cause the big guy at the gym told me bro"

    "Her bum looks good, so she must know what she's talking about"

    I think this is most often the right answer.

    I don't look like him/her because I don't eat <whatever diet he/she is promoting>. If only I'd known!