How do You know what is healthy?

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  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
    It's funny I don't really eat processed...I just have an issue where I decide certain foods are off limits!

    NONE. It's as simple as that.
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
    OP, every diet you listed runs on the same underlying principle - you eat less cals on them so you lose weight. The diets just shuffle around what they consider "healthy" for you, but it's always the calorie deficit that makes them work. Stick a name tag and brand on it and market it as a wonder diet - voila, cash cow.

    The debate over what is "healthy" is endless. After reading countless books and studies I've come to the conclusion that there are only a few 'definites' when it comes to healthy nutrition. And by 'definite' I mean that the majority of the scientific research agrees with it.

    They are:

    - Eat mostly fruit and veg
    - Avoid trans fats
    - Natural (non-processed) food is better than processed (i.e. fruit, veg, raw nuts, lean meat and fish over anything in a box, tin, or packet)

    That's pretty much it.

    On the next level down there are some 'guidelines' that are generally well accepted but there is a little bit of contension still surrounding them so you'll have to do the research and decide for yourself if you want to apply them. They are:

    - Eat less carbs
    - Eat less red meat (originally this was thought to be related to saturated fat content, but I suspect it is more complicated than that)
    - Eat more Omega 3s and less Omega 6s

    That's pretty much all the solid guidelines I've been able to identify. There are a million others but there's so much argument over them there's no way of really telling.

    When it comes down to it, I really think Michael Pollan summed it up best: Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants.
  • shimmer_glo
    shimmer_glo Posts: 103 Member
    Another thing I think Weight Watchers recommends is filling each plate with 1/2 vegetables, 1/4 protein and 1/4 carbohydrates. That seems to work pretty well for some people who want to eat healthy and don't like to count calories.
  • allisonrozsa
    allisonrozsa Posts: 178 Member
    Eat normal foods... cut out most processed foods... get some exercise.

    Ya! I've changed a few habits (trying to pull out a lot of processed foods), but I still like to eat normal things, just learning not to overdo it.
  • shimmer_glo
    shimmer_glo Posts: 103 Member
    Losing weight is going to help your heart and body overall, probably no matter how you lose it, but according to what I understand, a diet low in saturated fat is better for heart health.

    I know that's the common opinion, but I've read many studies that showed that saturated fat was fine. My cholesterol improved a lot eating pretty much nothing but beef, butter, veggies and full fat cheese, which is contrary to everything you'd read. I realize that I'm only N=1

    http://www.ajcn.org/content/early/2010/01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract
    Conclusions: A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD. More data are needed to elucidate whether CVD risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat.

    Anyways I'm sure someone could produce an article that said the opposite so everyone needs to draw their own conclusions, I can only say that for ME, full fat foods are a LOT more palatable than low fat foods, and the studies I read lead ME to believe that they are healthy foods, and so I'm ok with MY choice to eat a diet that's high in saturated fat because I don't feel the science shows that it's bad.

    Just to reply to your post, thanks for the information. I will definitely read more about it when I have the time. My personal take on this type of thing is to go with the conventionally & widely accepted opinions of experts until I have heard/read more information about multiple studies over a period of time, as I am not a nutritionist and have seen plenty of fast fading health fads and quacks over the years. This topic is interesting, though, so again, thank you for posting the above information.
  • hazelsmrf
    hazelsmrf Posts: 96 Member
    Just to reply to your post, thanks for the information. I will definitely read more about it when I have the time. My personal take on this type of thing is to go with the conventionally & widely accepted opinions of experts until I have heard/read more information about multiple studies over a period of time, as I am not a nutritionist and have seen plenty of fast fading health fads and quacks over the years. This topic is interesting, though, so again, thank you for posting the above information.

    And I think that's a very SMART way to look at it... read up on things and draw your own conclusions... I am not a nutritionist either but over the years I've read a lot and it's led me to look at things from this perspective, but honestly you could probably also find medical journals that showed something opposite. That's why you need to not form an opinion on just one study but over several. I've read a lot that had me question the low fat mantra, and over the years the further reading I've done has just reinforced that.
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