Why our food is making us fat

+1 FeeFoo, possibly the most educational post in the whole thread.

Because it’s harmful to health and addictive much like other highly taxed substances.

This would cause it to be used less in foods in place of less harmful ingredients and put a sense of balance into paying for the effect of it’s mass consumption.

I prefer to allow people to make their own lifestyle decisions

How’s that working out so far?

So you think we should take the tax off alcohol and cigarettes?

I prefer to allow people to make their own lifestyle decisions

That’s working really well isn’t it, what with the looming obesity/diabetes crisis in the western world.

+1 FeeFoo, possibly the most educational post in the whole thread.

Not really – why is it that people who profess to have no interest in diets/healthy eating keep cropping up in these threads to offer their ‘wisdom’?

What I see more and more is middle-aged knobs moaning about not being “beautiful” any more.

Why the hostility? Bit unhappy are we?

Not really – why is it that people who profess to have no interest in diets/healthy eating keep cropping up in these threads to offer their ‘wisdom’?

There is no real need to take everything I say quite so seriously, especially in a thread where people have put up some good info and links. 😉

I think one of the main problems is knowing what is actually a ‘healthy’ diet.. theres a mass of contradictory information that is confounded by what are apparently healthy foods. From reading this thread you could come to the conclusion that most foods arent actually that good for you and now im not even sure what i should eat that is ‘healthy’. Im not overweight but im sure my diet could benefit from a slight shake up to take some of my bad habits away.. the problem i find is knowing what to replace the things you thought were ok to eat with? I havent really read that much into it but there seem alot of followers on here of the idave diet.. Is the idave diet just for people who want to loose weight or is it more of a permanent dietary change??

-1 Fee Foo..then again i am not a fatty 😉

Is the idave diet just for people who want to loose weight or is it more of a permanent dietary change??

Yes.
Not really sure how it works ( I have an idea though) but if you’re a chubster you’ll become less of a chubster by quitting the sugars, pastas and chips etc. Yet it will get you down to and maintain a 12-15% (or in the region of) level of body fat.

Not really sure how it works ( I have an idea though) but if you’re a chubster you’ll become less of a chubster by quitting the sugars, pastas and chips etc. Yet it will get you down to and maintain a 12-15% (or in the region of) level of body fat.

So what if your not a fatty and not bothered about loosing weight but are pretty active (mtbing and surfing.. plus an active job)??

Worth noting that even if you’re a healthy weight it’s worth avoiding eating pro-inflammatory foods such as grains and sugar.

Really abusing those things causes big issues, eating a moderate amount of them still isn’t great for overall health.

Cloudnine: If you’re lifestyle requires lots of easily accessible energy from your diet then still eat carbs. Just try to make it around your activity and from clean sources, eg white rice, and potatoes, etc.

So what if your not a fatty and not bothered about loosing weight but are pretty active (mtbing and surfing.. plus an active job)??

Why would you want to change something that you’re happy with? A bit of an odd question.
There might be arguments with regard to improving performance, but I’ve seen what some pro cyclist throw down their necks and they seem to be doing ok.

Even that’s changing Don Simon. They have a clear need for large amounts of carbs through simple sources such as gels, but it’s worth checking out the Team Sky Chef to see what “rubbish” a top cycling team eats.

hmanchester – thanks for the link to Chris Kressler and shall read that another time. Although he’s not actually a doctor, a cursory scan showed some interesting topics.

see what “rubbish” a top cycling team eats.

I’m quite sure and totally agree that the top cycling teams are eating less “rubbish”, but the pro cyclists I’m referring to seem quite happy to be competing professionally and making a good living out of cycling and not paying too much attention to the food they eat.

True.. Just read a ton of online articles about diets and how apparently bad a high carb, suguar diet is that i should maybe change a few things but couldnt actually find what i wanted.

As cinnamongirl has done, check out Chris Kresser

As a book The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf is excellent as is Wheat Belly

Also worth checking out Mr Wolf’s Podcast [/url], loads on there and worth starting from the beginning.

Thanks!

Y’know,

I’m really confused about this ‘carbs are bad’ thing.

I’m 40, 5’10” and about 11 stone. I generally buy 30″ waist jeans. For all the various criticisms that could be levelled at me, “fat” isn’t one of them.

I eat what I like with little (visible) consequence, but my diet is very carb-heavy and light on protein. I’m vegetarian, can’t eat cheese, and eat mostly dishes based around pasta, noodles, rice, potatoes and other veg, and suchlike. I get protein from Quorn and suchlike and not much else, and can go days without eating anything protein-rich at all. Pretty much the polar opposite of the Atkins style diets.

I’m intermittently active. I ride, walk, run, climb etc, sometimes every day and sometimes not for weeks. I have a largely desk-based job. I’m not tremendously fit, but I’m not wholly unfit either. I feel like I have a ‘fast’ metabolism, like things run quickly for me; my natural walking pace is much faster than most, for example.

Most things I’m reading here are telling me this is all massively ‘wrong’ but, I seem to be doing ok. Yet anecdotally, I seem to contradict most of the advice given out here.

What gives? Am I going to die?

your diet just isn’t very fashionable Cougar.. and from what I’ve read here.. that’s all that matters

yunki +1

Junkyard – Member
oh ok I will join in

Breakfast – nowt

Not having breakfast is possibly the biggest dietary fail around.

Not really – why is it that people who profess to have no interest in diets/healthy eating keep cropping up in these threads to offer their ‘wisdom’?

I read lots of stuff on here. I do find it interesting that people are so weight/food obsessed.

Why the hostility? Bit unhappy are we?

I’m happier now (mid-40s) than I’ve ever been.
**stuffs down doughnut to suppress the misery**

How/what you eat isn’t just about controlling your weight. It’s also about minimising the risks of avoidable future illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jxzv8

A link and reminder for the program, on tonight 9.00pm BBC2, which the thread’s original article is based on: The Men Who Made Us Fat for anybody interested.
For those not interested, please don’t take offence. 😉

Cougar +1. Very similar to me (although I eat cheese). Very high carb diet also which goes against “conventional” wisdom.

I do find it interesting that people are so weight/food obsessed.

I know, ridiculous isn’t it. It’s not as if what we eat has an impact on our everyday lives and future health.

I wasn’t going to return to this thread after yesterday afternoon.

But I’d just like to thank, Miketually, Phil.w, loum, Pedalhead, hmanchester and a few others for keeping the thread mostly on track with useful info and links.

I’ll have to iplayer tonights program as I do not have TV.

Thank you.
😀

Cougar, I don’t think anyone is saying Carbs are bad m’kay.
My interpretation is that excess added sugar/HFCS in processed food is of no nutritional value.
On this “lifestyle* diet” theme, the way I see it is eat as much veg as you like, and some protein, and some fat. For most people, there’s plenty of carbs in veg so it shouldn’t need to be supplemented with extra portions of processed carb-heavy food unless activity levels are particularly high.
Everyone is different and you seem to have found a diet that works for you within your own restrictions. From the stats, you’re more of the exception than the norm. With 2/3 of Brits being overweight, there’s obviously a lot of people who haven’t had that result yet. Maybe they need the guidance more than yourself. Although for all the complications and contradictions, I reckon a simpler message may just be “Eat more Veg”.
One other thing, if you think you’re not eating enough protein have a look at quinoa, its a seed with a higher than average protein content (+ carbs) and the protein is of a very high quality. It contains all the amino acids known to be needed, so is particularly recomended for vegetarians. Myself, I prefer fish 😉

miketually – Member
I had no visible abs and my arms weren’t particularly vascular…

After 6 (7?) weeks of iDave…I’ve got something approaching a 4-pack and veiny arms.

I have know vegetarians who are massively overweight eating carb rich diets and massive amounts of cheese, as well as very skinny veggies.

The same as exercise, some people respond differently to different foods. If your overall health is good and you are happy, that is fine.

But I do agree that there is huge evidence that the change to a high-carb diet has had a detrimental effect on the overall health of the population.

Shred – Member

I have know vegetarians who are massively overweight eating carb rich diets and massive amounts of cheese, as well as very skinny veggies.I put it to you, that fat ‘vegetarians’ who eat skinny vegetarians are not vegetarians, but cannibals.

😆

I recall reading in “Life Without Bread” a couple of years ago, that there are also large number of people who are seriously underweight due to eating too much carbohydrate.

I cant remember the bio-chemistry behind this, but clearly as ever with diet/nutrition its not a case of one size fits all.

You need to find what works for you.

vegetarians who are massively overweight eating carb rich diets and massive amounts of cheese, as well as very skinny veggies.

Modern natural selection at work right there.. survival of the chubbiest

Most things I’m reading here are telling me this is all massively ‘wrong’ but, I seem to be doing ok. Yet anecdotally, I seem to contradict most of the advice given out here.

What gives? Am I going to die?

If it works for you then great – you don’t make it sound like you eat many vegetables though.

But unbelievably, people are different, and general advice that seems to work for most people doesn’t always apply absolutely in every single case.

By the way low GI isn’t an ‘Atkin’s style’ diet. It’s lower carb than what we’ve come to consider normal but it’s not really ‘low carb’ as such. It’s also not really a trendy fad diet, given that it fits in with most current medical healthy eating advice. i***e is a somewhat extreme version of it though.

Cougar I’d echo the comments re quinoa , but if you look at veggie foods there are more proteins than you may first think – mushrooms , peas and beans /lentils as well as tofu and quorny stuff if you like .

Just found this: http://www.fitbomb.com/p/why-i-eat-paleo.html

It’s about the paleo diet, but a lot of the explanation covers a lot of the slow carb stuff.

But I do agree that there is huge evidence that the change to a high-carb diet has had a detrimental effect on the overall health of the population.

And this is the point.

We’re talking about population level changes.

For everyone who, as an individual, appears to buck that trend, great. Carry on.