After all there is no unhealthy food, but there are unhealthy diets.... DISCUSS!

[pupuce]

Now I saw that statement on the menu given by the catering company that does DS's school dinners....
Does anyone agree with this ? Can someone convince me that this is factually correct????
Please do because I am about to write a stroppy letter to that catering company !
I will aslo e-mail this to the JO website !

BTW... that little statement comes with (other gems!)
The general principles of a balanced diet are:

1. Eat a variety of different foods everyday
   
2. Eat plenty of foods rich in startch and fibre like breads, cereals, potatoes, rice and pasta
   
3. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables
   
4. Eat a moderate amount of meats, fish, vegetarian alternatives and dairy foods
   
5. Do not eat too many foods that contain a lot of fat, salt and sugar.

[happymerryberries]

It is true.

but serving things like turkey twizlers make it very difficult not to go over the recomended fat and salt intake guidelines. Serve them every day and it is going to make it almost impossible for kids to eat a healthy diet. And the reality of the situation is that if you give the kids a choice of Junk vs real, the vast majority of kids will pick junk. And those kids who eat more junk at home (and need the good stuff even more) are even more liley to go for the junk and refuse to try anything new.

So wheras you could eat a good days diet and have the odd 'bad' food item, that isn't the pattern that you see when kids are gibven free choice.

[pupuce]

Aren't chips or some industrial chicken nuggets,... technically UNHEALTHY????
I think so...?

[Enid]

I would say that turkey twizzlers are definitely unhealthy - after all, what is in them that is healthy?

[Tinker]

But chips are just potatoes. Guess few unhealthy foods just unhealthy ways of preparing and/or processing them

[happymerryberries]

Horrible? Yes!

But in the end, on a biochemical basis protein is protein. We need amino acids and yuo get them from proteins.

Now if you ask me if I'd rather get my (and my kids) protein from a nice chicken breast, or from mechanicaly removed flesh (ie crappy bits) I'll go for the former! Much more yummy.

But if my cells need amino acods they don't care where they come from.

Now a rider on this. Chicken nuggets are high in fat and salt, and so cannot be eaten often without risking a poor diet. But of themselves they are not 'unhealthy'.....just plain nasty!

And some 'healthy' food, if eaten to excess can be positvly dangerous. Carrots are great for you but too much can wreck the liver. A ballance is the key.

And oven chips are a good source of complex carbohydrate and not too much fat. Deep fried in lard is another issue!

[happymerryberries]

I think the issue with the flyer is that it is being used to justify providing crap on a reguar basis....and that is quite a different thing. they are being rather disengenuous

[GeorginaA]

I agree with hmb - I don't disagree with the statement that there is no unhealthy food only unhealthy diets, but it sounds to me like they're using the phrase to justify some very dodgy business practises.

[tamum]

Spot on hmb. I have exactly the same view on this (can you spot the scientists? ). Not actively good for you is not the same as unhealthy. Unless it causes food poisoning, of course.

[donnie]

is pure lard good for anyone? I bet not!

[iota]

fat is an essential part of a good diet donnie - just not too much

[happymerryberries]

Every day? No. As an occasional component of, say, a beautiful mince pie? Not a problem.

Pure water is wonderful stuff, until you get too much of it. Then it can kill you!

Moderation in all things.

We even need cholesterol. We can't live without salt (none of our nerves would fire) but too much is the killer

[HUNKERMUNKER]

Just do a quick google of transfats - that's unhealthy!

[Tinker]

But transfats don't occur naturally, they are processed fats, non?

[HUNKERMUNKER]

Oh, yes, they're not naturally occurring (partially hydrogenating oils isn't natural) - I think that if you eat a balance of whole food (ie not processed, not like toddler tantrums over broken bananas!), you can't really go far wrong.

[Pruni]

Message withdrawn

[WideWebWitch]

Hmm, I'm inclined to think that this 'there's no such thing as an unhealthy food' is a notion invented by the processed food industry. I'll be interested to read the views you get Pupuce.

[HUNKERMUNKER]

Wonder how much transfat there is in a twizzler? They're 'fake food' as the child talking to Jamie Oliver said so beautifully.

[WideWebWitch]

aah! Possibly DID originate from the food industry! although this is just a quick google search.

[pupuce]

There is transfat in MANY MANY things including cakes and biscuits.. not just Turkey twizzlers

[mummytosteven]

yep it's just their neat little ploy of absolving all responsibility for providing processed junk food every meal time.

[HUNKERMUNKER]

I know, Pupuce. I try very hard not to buy things with it in - vile fake thing that it is.

[dinny]

HM (sorry to hijack) thanks for email. ds and dd both poorly at the moment. will email you properly if we ever emerge from the lurgy. xx

[HUNKERMUNKER]

Hijack over

[pupuce]

anyone else?

[SofiaAmes]

My father is a big believer in everything is ok in moderation, but he does draw the line at hydrogenated vegetable oils. He truly feels that they are so awful that you really shouldn't consume them even in small amounts. Ironically they are are used as a substitute for butter and lard because everyone got all agitated about how bad animal fats were some time ago. But the hydrogenated fats are far worse.