[Closed] Why our food is making us fat

Good read, thanks.

It's something that Mrs North's boss - a leading expert in public health who specializes in obesity - has been going on about for years.

The way we are encouraged to eat is different from how it used to be - and we've happily joined in with that, with too few people understanding the consequences of our convenience culture.

The idea that poor = bad diet = fat has now gone. We're all fat.

And I'm sick of being fat, so I'm on *that* diet.

The idea that poor = bad diet = fat has now gone.

but many still use it as an excuse...
"I must eat breaded chicken gizzards and frozen curly fries because they're cheaper than chicken meat and potatoes."

well stop havin the pizza dude around then.. 🙄
soon be telling us that salads are fattening too.. 😉

but many still use it as an excuse...

Indeed, but I believe it's an individual response to a system crisis they seem unable to grasp.

But what's interesting is the middle class fatness. OK, so their diet doesn't major on fried chicken's innards, but there's still way too much convenience food "I'm too busy to cook," they cry, before slumping in front of Masterchef for an hour.

Very interesting article.

I always used to blame the baby boomers making me finish my plate of food, but that puts another spin on things.

I can't make head nor tail of what makes us fat.
Some say it's calories (so eat less than you use), some say it's the fat in our food, some say it's carbs and some say its sugar.
I just try to have a balanced diet to stay trim but as I get older, a better understanding would be great.
Should I now not eat fat (no meats?), sugar (no fruit?), carbs (no pasta or potatoes?) AND have low calorie intake?
I don't want a prescribed diet, just some guidelines. What exactly [i]can[/i] I eat?

We're all fat.

Interesting article I dont eat much processed food and generally make all my own food from ingredients.

Have sugar in my tea but I only have t-23 cups a day as I drink water generally

...some say it's carbs and some say its sugar.

Good article. I've always thought fat free foods were worse, just full of sugar to make them taste palatable.

What exactly can I eat?

Normal food. Cooked from scratch. Not too much of any one thing.

It's the [s]past[/s] future..!

the inability of wrecker above to understand that sugar is carbohydrate is pretty damming

especially on a site that has done this discussion to death and back once a month for years.

To summarise the article, sugar, or more precisely, corn syrup, is added to everything processed.
If you eat home cooking like people did 30 or so years ago, you should be OK.

As the article points out, HFCS is added to some "raw" ingredients too, like meat. Home cooking is fine, but I [i]really[/i] don't have the time to run my own cattle farm and slaughterhouse. 😀

More seriously, I'm all for home cooking, but even with the very best intentions all but the most flagellating puritans are still going to use [i]some[/i] "processed" food.

How many "home cooks" can honestly say they only ever eat their own homemade/homegrown ketchup/HP, pasta, pastry, biscuits, salad, crisps, beer, wine, butter, olive oil etc etc etc

Sugar is carbohydrate.

So when the label says [i]"Carbohydrate (10g) [b]of which sugars (7.8g)[/b]"[/i] then what is the other 2.2g? More sugar?

soobalias - Member
especially on a site that has done this discussion to death and back once a [s]month[/s] day for years.

Religeously monitored my weight for the past 18+ years through boxing (Have to be weighed at the gym at least three times a week etc and never much deviated from 81kg). Seems I can eat pretty much what I want without effect. In fact.. seems weird but sugary items such as biscuits etc appear to increase my motabalism and make me LOSE weight 😕

Only time ever went above 82kg was when I ate a full English every day for a week.

23 cups a day

23 cups a day? 😯 😆

I tend to eat a pretty healthy diet, junk food now and again, but not too much of it, it tends to be pretty expensive compared with fresh fruit and veg from the greengrocers. That said, I seem to be able to eat pretty much whatever and when ever I want and not put on any weight.

wrecker - Member
I don't want a prescribed diet, just some guidelines. What exactly can I eat?

Sorted.

Only time ever went above 82kg was when I ate a full English every day for a week.

Blimey. Don't think I've been near that weight since I was about 14. 😆

Even in uni when I was basically surviving on beans on toast, studying, doing two jobs, climbing, cycling and generally looking unhealthily gaunt, I was still 14 stone+ (88kg+).

I'm big boned 😉

One factor along with many others most obviously portion sizes - remember when a glass of orange juice/slice of melon was considered a starter?

We're all fat.

Speak for yourself
I am not fat and I am not on that diet
Interesting article I dont eat much processed food and generally make all my own food from ingredients.

Have sugar in my tea but I only have t-23 cups a day as I drink water generally

You're only thin because there is literally nothing nice that you can eat. 😉

wrecker - Member
I don't want a prescribed diet, just some guidelines. What exactly can I eat?
Eat whatever you want - I do. Just don't eat too much and make sure you get regular exercise.
Sorted.

We've been through this. The latest and most comprehensive research has shown pretty clearly that the nature of what you eat is key. Maybe not for you but for most people.

I've been eating low GI recently as opposed to full on i**** and I feel a lot better/less hungry and the weight is falling off.

Footflaps:

Good article. I've always thought fat free foods were worse, just full of sugar to make them taste palatable

Couldn't agree more, I think that the 'low fat message is better for you' that has gone on for years is a principle (but not limited to) culprit as to why the population is getting fatter.

I steer away from low fat products as much as possible.

So when the label says "Carbohydrate (10g) of which sugars (7.8g)" then what is the other 2.2g? More sugar?

Sugar is a carbohydrate, carbohydrates aren't sugar.

So when the label says "Carbohydrate (10g) of which sugars (7.8g)" then what is the other 2.2g? More sugar?

Cav's given up sugar for the Olympics. [url= http://road.cc/content/news/59796-mark-cavendish-changes-diet-and-training-regime-bid-olympic-glory ]road.cc[/url]

the inability of wrecker above to understand that sugar is carbohydrate is pretty damming

especially on a site that has done this discussion to death and back once a month for years.

So when the label says "Carbohydrate (10g) of which sugars (7.8g)" then what is the other 2.2g? More sugar?

i said sugar is carb, not carb is sugar. sorry i dont have the time to play venn diagrams with you today, but...

[img] [/img]

While the diet people might be looking, two useful posts from my new favourite food blog:

[list][*][url= http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2012/06/the-2-biggest-myths-about-home-made-lunches/ ]The two biggest myths about home-made lunches[/url][/*]
[*][url= http://thestonesoup.com/blog/2011/03/3-uber-simple-lunches-you-can-make-at-work-in-less-time-than-it-takes-to-go-out-and-buy-something/ ]Three uber-simple lunches you can make at work in less time than it takes to go out and buy something[/url][/*][/list]

Just don't eat anything that's pre made is a good basis to start from.

Now and again is ok but make things from scratch it's cheaper and not always time consuming.

OK, bad grammar on my part.
Sugar is [b]a[/b] carbohydrate.

Ah fair enough. (Was a genuine question by the way, not trying to pick pedantic grammar holes).
We tend to pay very close attention to the "of which sugars" part in our house, due to the missus' diabetes.

So when the label says "Carbohydrate (10g) of which sugars (7.8g)" then what is the other 2.2g?

starch usually....

Just don't eat anything that's pre made is a good basis to start from.

Don't eat anything with more than five ingredients listed on the packet seems to be a good rule of thumb. Once you hit six ingredients, the crap seems to start sneaking in.

poor = bad diet = fat

more like lazy/uneducated = bad diet = fat

'lazy' as in can't be bothered looking for & cooking with fresh ingredients, so resort to convenient processed foods (there is also the misconception that 'proper' cooking takes ages)

'uneducated' as in were never taught by parents how to cook, or what a healthy balanced diet is

i.e. :

If you eat home cooking like people did 30 or so years ago, you should be OK

It's not rocket surgery.

Although the addiction/dependency/craving element is interesting - it would be very easy to say 'stop eating z, y & z', but I guess it's not that simple if it's technically an addiction ... which is perhaps why so many people fail with dieting

Just out of interest, my wife comes from a country where (generally) a lot of vegetable oil is used in cooking and dairy products feature quite heavily in the average diet. A lot of rice, pasta & potatoes are consumed. You might imagine people would therefore be generally overweight.

However, in general pretty much 100% fresh/natural ingredients are used, and meat consumption is probably half of the UK average (from what I've seen).

I don't remember seeing many overweight/obese people last time I was visiting.

If you eat home cooking like people did 30 or so years ago, you should be OK.

We tend to cook at home a fair bit, but both need to loose a little weight.

The Closed "How to Loose a Belly" thread last month was very interesting, despite the flaming.

I took away a copy of myfitnesspal from that thread, and started using it. Using alongside my regular exercise I have dropped from 15st to 14.5st in that time

Using myfitnesspal I have been absolutely flabergasted how many calories (essentially fat and sugar) is stuiffed in to bought food. I have had a few overnight stays at Premier Inn during that time, and they helpfully publish their nutritional info (on the menu and website). very difficult to have a sub-1000 to 1500 calorie evening meal. The same meal cooked at home would be roughly half of that

Don't eat anything with more than five ingredients listed on the packet seems to be a good rule of thumb.

There goes my mixed nuts 😀

I took away a copy of myfitnesspal from that thread, and started using it.

A good indicator that you're cooking proper food from scratch is if you find MyFitnessPal a time-consuming pain in the arse to use 🙂

excuse me chaps, i know yeti is banned, molly is on holiday and solo hasn't turned up yet, but can you all please start arguing as this is a diet thread and all this agreement is making my brain hurt.

don't worry phil, soobalias is doing his best to be a dick. It'll soon erupt I'm sure.

A good indicator that you're cooking proper food from scratch is if you find MyFitnessPal a time-consuming pain in the arse to use

Not at all. The "Recipes" function is very useful, especially with the bar code scanner. Have set up a number of regularly cooked recipes like spag bol, chile con carne, several homemade breads. Once set up they are stored for re-use. Easy.

...but can you all please start arguing...

I could start getting smug about being vegan if that would help.

You missed off, but you are too weak to type.

my wife comes from a country where...

Italy?

Am I right in saying that there is now an obesity epidemic in the south? Something to do with kids now eating lunch from vending machines, rather than going home to their (now working) mothers for lunch?

This American mentality of everyone working all the time isn't re4ally very good for us, is it?

I ate half a packet of ginger nute while reading that!

I could start getting smug about being vegan if that would help.

And the rickets makes it hard.....

Not at all. The "Recipes" function is very useful, especially with the bar code scanner. Have set up a number of regularly cooked recipes like spag bol, chile con carne, several homemade breads. Once set up they are stored for re-use. Easy.

Lots of our food doesn't have a barcode on it 🙂

If you eat home cooking like people did 30 or so years ago, you should be OK

Have you seen the crap people used to eat 30 years ago??? Boiled veg with everything, yuk. Modern home cooking is loads better!

Lots of our food doesn't have a barcode on it

Point taken, esp for fruit, veg, fresh meat etc. But, my point is that it is still relatively easy to set up regular meals as a recipe and subdivide by the number of portions.

i'm sure I will tire of it very soon - but in the meantime, myfitnesspal has been a real eye opener

Have you seen the crap people used to eat 30 years ago??? Boiled veg with everything, yuk. Modern home cooking is loads better!

[i]*thinks back to childhood*[/i]
Hmmm... Findus Crispy Pancakes, Oven Chips and frozen peas...

Yay for home cooking 😀

I think you have to go back more than 30 years. [url= http://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/unhappy-meals/ ]Michael Pollan suggests we should eat only stuff that our grandparents would have recognised as food[/url] (which is where I got my five ingredients thing from) but I'd widen that out to include other peoples' grandparents as well.

Interesting article, thanks for the link.

A lot of it was covered in a very good (worrying) book, "Fat Land" (Greg Critser, 2003) which looked at the rise of obesity in the States and the correlations/causations with things like high fructose corn syrup and palm oil now being so prevalent in fast / prefab foods.

The research he was referencing then had appeared in the '90s so it's been known for quite while now - which is why it's plausible that lawsuits might be successful...

Good to see some newer pieces of research also featuring. I thought the point about the tobacco industry was chilling in its cynicism.

Hmmm... Findus Crispy Pancakes, Oven Chips and frozen peas.

And tinned ravioli. Tried a can of it a couple of years ago, just to see what it was like. God it was awful.

Fray Bentos pies are still awesome though! 😀

I think you have to go back more than 30 years. Michael Pollan suggests we should eat only stuff that our grandparents would have recognised as food (which is where I got my five ingredients thing from) but I'd widen that out to include other peoples' grandparents as well.

I doubt my grandparents ever ate quinoa or even lentils, doesn't mean they are bad for you.

I just bought a flapjack from the work shop.
Is it likely to be made as one would make it at home with basic ingredients, or might it contain corn syrup/ palm oil/ rendered Vietnamese children?

I doubt my grandparents ever ate quinoa or even lentils, doesn't mean they are bad for you.

[b]I'd widen that out to include other peoples' grandparents as well[/b]

My granddad was a Scottish, truck driving smoker. Looking at his diet for inspiration would be a bit silly, but luckily there [b]other peoples' grandparents[/b] who ate lentils and stuff 🙂

LOOK, NOBODIES' GRANDPARENTS EVER ATE QUINOA. [b]NOBODIES!![/b]

I just had a look yesterday at the ingredients of a chicken sandwich at work.
The fact that the 'chicken' had separate section for it's ingredients wasn't a good sign, and lo! sugar was one of them.

LOOK, NOBODIES' GRANDPARENTS EVER ATE QUINOA. NOBODIES!!

[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa#History_and_culture ]I beg to differ[/url] 🙂

I'd somehow never made the connection that glucose-fructose syrup was the same as high fructose corn syrup. For some reason, I thought HFCS was an American thing.

Grandparent's stuff?

Looks like it's just spuds, milk and the odd bit of sugar beet for me then.

I know this won't sit well with the polarised nature of internet debates, but how about a mixture of the old and new.
Rather than "Grandparents food was better/worse than modern food" a combination of old style home cooking, that includes ingredients they wouldn't have had easy access to such as lentils and quinoa, plus such modern devices as juicers, steamers and George Foreman grills would be best of all.

MTG, we'll have none of that sort of compromise here. Please.

So when the label says "Carbohydrate (10g) of which sugars (7.8g)" then what is the other 2.2g? More sugar?

Carbohydrate comes in two forms, simple and complex. Both give energy but some are longer lasting than others and will give energy over a longer sustained period of time rather than a quick burst. The 'quick burst' type are the simple carbs, that'll be your sugars. The longer-lasting type will be the complex carbs, the starches, the sort you'll get from rice, pasta, potatoes etc.
So in the above example, the total carb content will consist 78% sugars and 22% starches, not a great ratio.
Nothing wrong with simple carbs as an energy source, you just need to appreciate that it will only give you a quick burst and then tail off to BELOW where you were before, this is the post-sugar rush 'dip'. Complex carbs will last longer but not give you such an instant hit, more of a gradual burn.
The idea is to try and combine the two in such a way that you get an instant hit followed by a sustained energy release that doesn't dump you on the other side of the hit. This is what most energy foods like Power Bars, SIS Go Bars etc. try to do.

An excellent article.

Sadly on this forum some people think the answer is following a diet that eliminates fruit except one day a week.

mike; maybe you need to make some wwmigpe* bracelets, to hand out with kielder timing ones.

*What would my inca granparents eat. 😉

Sadly on this forum some people think the answer is following a diet that eliminates fruit except one day a week.

deadlydarcy - Member
Grandparent's stuff?

Looks like it's just spuds, milk and the odd bit of sugar beet for me then.

Aren't you Irish? Just milk and sugar beet then. 🙂

Fray Bentos pies are still awesome though!

I thought that until I tried one the other week - horrible, hardly any meat in it and the meat that was there was very low quality!

General balanced diet
Make food then you know whats in it (no excuses)
Most things in moderation
Don't blame others or make excuses
Take Some Personal Responsibility - I don't see any force feeding going on

General balanced diet

easy to say; more difficult to define.

General balanced diet

General balanced diet

just have what these guys are having

[img] https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRIIyxdZidc7HLB_zFbEllbK1hyvMgGufQany6lp41QYy-e7jMCAQ [/img]

It's bloody hard work though, you have to check everything. I bought a chickpea salad the other day and thought this is nice too nice. On checking the label SUGAR! FFS!

It is also not easy coming off sugar as the article states it is as addictive as cigarettes, which I also use. It is probably more damaging as I try to only smoke at weekends.

Interesting saying that the fat will wipe themselves out! 😆

There was a Morrisons advert on TV last night, showcasing food that was ideal for the family to eat while watching the footie. It was almost entirely brown.

But man, sweets and chocolate and cake are sooo satisfying 🙂

I think I need to start reading a bit more into low GI. I hate the concept of low carb and no sugar as I eat plenty of fruit to surely natural sugars are ok - in moderation of course?

alex222 - Member
just have what these guys are having
[img] https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRIIyxdZidc7HLB_zFbEllbK1hyvMgGufQany6lp41QYy-e7jMCAQ [/img]

It worked for Mike Hall....

toby1, depends how you define low GI and whose stats you believe but quite a lot of fruits appear to be ok.

http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-gl-diet-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

we should eat only stuff that our grandparents would have recognised as food...but I'd widen that out to include other peoples' grandparents as well.

Let's see

Dad's mum: ate very little. Always thin.
Dad's dad: Italian Swiss. Ate lots, mainly pasta (bad), veg (good), fruit (we're undecided)

Mum's Dad: hated tomatoes. Died of complications from a stomach ulcer.
Mum's mum: forever dieting. Addicted to slimming pills.

You're right - someone else's grandparents would be a good idea..!

I think I need to start reading a bit more into low GI. I hate the concept of low carb and no sugar as I eat plenty of fruit to surely natural sugars are ok - in moderation of course?

Low GI and low carb aren't the same. You can eat as many carbs as you like on a low GI diet, so long as they're from slow-release sources.

Fruit sugar is fructose, which is the 'worst' kind of sugar.

I looked at that earlier grum. I ate some cashews yesterday. Should I feel shameful as they're high in calories (the calorie in vs calorie out train of thought) or should I be chuffed as they're low GI?

Ate lots, mainly pasta (bad)