Because I don't know what the fuck to eat anymore!

[MissusWrex]

I'm almost ready to give up.

It's in the news today that a high carb low fat diet is bad for you and that a high fat low carb diet is the way to go with lots of protein.

Though not too much red meat according to the stories a few months ago.

I suppose you could have eggs? Are they bad or good I can't bloody keep up anymore!

I know I know. The advice I should listen to is to just have a healthy balanced diet but I've never had that. I had a terrible diet growing up and still have a very poor relationship with food.

So asking me to just follow a 'healthy balanced diet' is the equivalent of asking me to build a rocket to Mars using only the contents of my bin.

Ive tried to research what exactly constitutes a healthy diet but there is so much contradiction...

I've a few stone left to lose but have been following the low fat high carb route ( no low fat or sugar foods though, I cook from scratch as often as I can)

Will someone more knowledge my that me just tell me what's good and what isn't in a easy to understand format that won't change tomorrow.

Is that too much to ask?!

[MissusWrex]

• more knowledgable than me

[GibbousHologram]

Oh Missus, I hear you. I've been following low fat (unsuccessfully) for so long, I don't know what is normal either.

And how do you eat low cal when fats are very much not low cal?

[Footyfan16]

I eat a low carb high fat/protein diet.

I've lost tons of weight, perform better in the gym and my blood tests including cholesterol are perfect.

Life has only gone wrong in terms of nutrition in the last 30 years because of simple carbs. I am not talking complex carbs here which should be eaten in moderation.

High fat / low carb does not mean no veg - I fill up on plenty of salad, green beans, broccoli, asparagus etc.

The issue is when people eat both carbs and high fat diets.

[Footyfan16]

GibbousHologram because fat fills you up very quickly so you do not feel hungry

[EponasWildDaughter]

YANBU I feel the same.

I think straw that has broken the camels back for me is 'fruit is just sugar and is bad for you too' thing now.

I honestly thought you couldn't go wrong with a bloody apple. sigh.

[HapShawl]

What makes you feel your best healthwise and gives you the energy to do the things you need and want to do on a daily basis?

I tend to eat LCHF but it suits my lifestyle and makes me feel well. Your mileage may vary, so you need to listen to your body and how it responds to things. Some people feel better if they eat less bread, for example. Others feel better when they eat less meat.

[RiverCambs]

I've given up and just eat whatever the hell I fancy now.

I try to eat two pieces of fruit and SOME veg (even if it's just some tomatoes and cucumber) a day, as well as at least three glasses of water.

If I do that, I find I don't feel guilty about eating chocolate etc.

I Googled 'Is drinking water when you're not thirsty bad for you?' earlier. Needless to say I didn't even bother going into my search any further!

[RainbowsAndUnicorns5]

Oh gawd me too, so fed up with all the conflicting advice I've given up
Which news article is that btw? I'd better read it I suppose.

[acasualobserver]

Eat everything ... with moderation in all things.

[Helenluvsrob]

Things swing in and out of fashion!

I'm trying to "heath up" my diet with more fruit and veg and less processed food and low added sugar. Stuff faddy eating! Eat real food that is as little mucked about with as possible!

And low alcohol - that definitely is empty carbs beyond a little enjoyable red wine :) Yep lots of water too

[tangerino]

The report this morning isn't a change in the official guidance, by the way- Public Health England have said that it goes against the research they've seen.

[theredjellybean]

eat what you feel like but only eat if you are hungry and before you eat anything ask:
'am i hungry? is that what i really feel like eating right now?'

do not eat for any other reason

Eat less calories than you use ( if you want to lose weight)

I lost 4.5 stone doing this and have kept it off for 5 yrs now
this is on a background of 40 + yrs of fad/yoyo dieting and very very mixed up attitude to food

[theredjellybean]

when i worked that out i found that often what i wanted was not cake/chocolate/crips but veg and ' clean ' simple food.

[nialopes]

lol I love your title

[MissusWrex]

Sorry RainbowsI haven't figured out links yet, if you just google 'low fat'and 'news' it should come up.

I've never really tried low carb so wouldn't know how it would make me feel. My go to healthy lunch usually involves a jacket potato so I'm guessing that's a no no?

I do eat plenty of vegetables and a couple of pieces of fruit a day.

Hang on Epona fruit is bad now?!

Fucks sake 😂

[MissusWrex]

I know it's not 'official' advice but when they say STUDIES have shown it I always end up thinking no smoke without fire. Then I usually see that there are a billion other STUDIES saying the exact opposite thing. I'm starting to think STUDIES can fuck off but I always end up wondering anyway.

I just want someone who knows the secrets of the universe to pop round, sit me down, and explain all there is to know.

'This is great eat as much of this as you want'

'This is bad, never eat this. It will fucking kill you!'

'This is alright unless you eat too much of it. Here are the exact quantities you may eat of it without cocking up your healthiness'

It could happen, right?

[WindPowerRanger]

This chap is my new discovery and he is very clear: www.davidkatzmd.com.

He says of fat:
"Mechanistic studies suggest less inflammation and atherogenesis when saturated fat intake is reduced, and replaced by unsaturated fats. Intervention studies show similar benefits when a baseline diet with many liabilities, a high load of saturated fat among them, is replaced with either a Mediterranean diet high in unsaturated fats, or a diet low in total fats. Dramatic declines in cardiovascular disease at the population level over a span of decades have been observed in North Karelia, Finland, where a reduction in saturated fat intake was among the priority interventions."
"Also in the real world, the longest-lived, most vital populations on the planet vary widely in their intake of total fat, but none has a high intake of saturated fat. The idea that a diet high in saturated fat “could” be as good is a leap of faith. The call to “jump” is more often than not issued by those with something to sell you."

He recommends either a plant-based, low fat diet or a Mediterranean diet relatively high in unsaturated fat. No one recommends sugar.

The current thinking also seems to include three meals a day, the last meal not eaten too late in the evening, as little snacking as possible and keeping junk and/or processed foods to a minimum.

[MissusWrex]

WindPower that's very helpful thank you!

[SlimCheesy]

I am SO with you all on this.

Actually I ended up going to a nutritionist last week because I said that I genuinely no longer understand what to eat. The basic outcome was to eat loads of fruit and veg, a bit of whole grains, no refined carbs, good quality oils like olive and sesame oils, a little bit of dairy, meat and fish and to drink mostly water and herbal teas.

Fine. That makes sense to me.

[minipie]

In general: the more natural and unprocessed food is, the healthier it is.

So veg, fruit, eggs, meat are all good as they are "as nature made them".

Dairy is not too far from nature

Cake, bread, pasta are quite a lot further from nature (think about how many things have to happen to wheat before it becomes bread or pasta)

Haribo, Supernoodles etc are obviously the furthest of all

As it happens this approach also tends to work out as high fat/protein and low carb.

[Grumpyoldblonde]

You won't go far wrong if you think 'natural food' rather than low this and high that.
I was amazed today listening to a radio debate how people seemed to think a high fat diet meant burgers, fries and cakes are part of that, rather than unmucked about with food, so olive oil, butter, full fat milk, cream is fine. Processed, fake food not fine. It always makes me laugh every January when people are piling their trolleys with Weightwatchers crisps and biscuits, which is crap. Nuts and a bit of dark chocolate is much better.

[enjoyingscience]

It's exhausting, isn't it.

I think the truth is likely to be that a simple diet made of real ingredients (like butter, cheese, veg, fruit, eggs, high quality meat etc) is healthy, and a complicated processed diet full of 'low fat' alternatives, refined sugar etc is likely to be bad. We evolved to eat real food, and that's what our bodies do best on.

As long as I can still drink wine, I'll be fine (and will ignore all studies that point to the contrary).

[Madbengalmum]

Decent levels of fat, no low fat products at all, low carb and dont have any weight issues. I do believe that it is the low fat calorie control stuff that causes issues,and have thought that for some time.