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Original poster

To think there is a poor understanding of a healthy diet?

604 replies

LivelyLemonQuoter · 12/04/2025 21:17

I think most people think they know what a healthy diet looks like, but in reality they do not. I see so many comments on MN that demonstrate this.

The most common one is that fruit should be limited because of its sugar content. This is very bad advice. Sugar in fruit has little impact on our blood sugar levels. And most people in the UK do not eat enough fruit.

The other is concern over eating any carbs. Wholemeal bread and pasta is fine, carbs in pastry and doughnuts is not great though.

And most people need to eat more nuts. Nuts are very good for you and should be part of your regular diet.

OP posts:
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Semiramide · 14/04/2025 01:22

HangingOver · 13/04/2025 23:38

Another issue with brown rice is it tastes like shredded cardboard

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Try wild rice - delicious!

picturethispatsy · 13/04/2025 23:56

Well @LivelyLemonQuoter got everyone arguing but never came back 😂

HangingOver · 13/04/2025 23:50

YourTidyScroller · 13/04/2025 23:42

I like brown rice. I just buy organic.

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Every year or so I have another go at liking it but it doesn't work

YourTidyScroller · 13/04/2025 23:45

Its just seeds. Not a big deal

ThisFluentBiscuit · 13/04/2025 23:44

HangingOver · 13/04/2025 23:40

Also chia seed pudding is like eating frogspawn

It looks like it; whether it tastes like it or not, I wouldn't know! 🤣

Tapioca also looks like frogspawn.

YourTidyScroller · 13/04/2025 23:43

HangingOver · 13/04/2025 23:40

Also chia seed pudding is like eating frogspawn

Never had that. I just sprinkle it on cereal or in curries.

YourTidyScroller · 13/04/2025 23:42

HangingOver · 13/04/2025 23:38

Another issue with brown rice is it tastes like shredded cardboard

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I like brown rice. I just buy organic.

HangingOver · 13/04/2025 23:40

Also chia seed pudding is like eating frogspawn

HangingOver · 13/04/2025 23:38

APocketFullOfRye · 13/04/2025 03:31

I’m sure we all know brown rice is healthier. Just because other countries eat a lot of white rice means very little as they add plenty of veg and fish ( for example ) to their generally healthier anyway diets.

An issue with brown rice if an awful lot is eaten is the arsenic in it which is on the rise due to many polluting factors. Health line note we would have to eat a lot of it though.

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Another issue with brown rice is it tastes like shredded cardboard

YourTidyScroller · 13/04/2025 23:22

Just eat wholemeal bread, You do not have to overthink it.

Semiramide · 13/04/2025 23:13

I agree.

It's actually quite simple. The problem is that many people have become over reliant on UPF and convenience food. They get confused and don't know how to cook. And last time I checked the NHS website - admittedly a while back - it seemed as useful as a chocolate teapot. I think Harvard Medical, Mayo Clinic are better.

Good resources:

  • books by Chris Van Tulleken, Michael Moseley, Mark Hyman
  • YouTube/podcasts by Jason Jung, Becky Gillaspy
  • Mediterranean cookery books, e.g. A Lebanese Feast, Claudia Roden
  • if new to cooking/don't know where to start: some of Jamie's easy recipes (5 ingredients, 15 minute meals etc)
ThisFluentBiscuit · 13/04/2025 23:06

Peony1897 · 13/04/2025 23:03

So what kind of bread isn’t crap?

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Pumpernickel.

Peony1897 · 13/04/2025 23:03

Eachpeachpearprune · 12/04/2025 21:51

Agree with the bread. Most supermarket bread is full of crap (including the wholemeal).

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So what kind of bread isn’t crap?

YourTidyScroller · 13/04/2025 22:45

Every supermarket sells them. Sprinkle them on cereal/

TheMoonAndTheStarss · 13/04/2025 22:44

Where can you buy chia seeds from and how do you eat them?

GarlicSmile · 13/04/2025 22:40

ASongbirdAndAnOldHat · 13/04/2025 22:25

@GarlicSmile

an anti-sulphite wine spray

Just wondered what this was, and if it meant you could drink wine?

I use this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clean-Wine-Hangover-Clinically-Sulphite/dp/B08LZGV7WB?th=1

It does NOT work for everyone! It does for me <thanks Bacchus, Dionysus and any other wine gods within earshot>

I still get hangovers. They're marketing it wrong, imo.

ASongbirdAndAnOldHat · 13/04/2025 22:25

@GarlicSmile

an anti-sulphite wine spray

Just wondered what this was, and if it meant you could drink wine?

Cel77 · 13/04/2025 21:38

A healthy diet is not rocket science. It's been pretty much consistent for decades if not centuries. A bit of meat, a bit of fish, lots of vegetables, grains,pulses and other wholegrain carbs, fruits, a bit of dairy, a bit of fat (olive oil,butter) and a tiny amount of sugar (but think honey rather than sweets and biscuits).
It doesn't change every week,unless people don't use their common sense and read grabby headlines without thinking for themselves.

godmum56 · 13/04/2025 21:06

Workoutrage · 13/04/2025 11:15

You don’t digest it well in all likelihood, because you don’t eat it enough. The more you make these a regular part of your diet the more your gut biome produces beneficial bacteria and short chain fatty acids making them easier to digest.

Edited
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how long is long enough? would around 50 years do it? Personally I am not prepared to put up with the stomach pain and general incapacitating digestive upheaval to enable me to eat foods that I dislike anyway.

Jacarandill · 13/04/2025 20:44

Lighttodark · 13/04/2025 20:01

Only if you’re following pseudoscience or crap influencers / tabloids

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Not really. The government advice used to be that low fat spreads were healthy. Clearly we know now that they’re not.

Until a few years ago the daily sugar allowance was up to 10% of your daily calorie intake (!!) and the fibre recommendation was just 18g.

They’ve since changed that (although they still say up to 30g of free sugar a day is fine 🤪)

Gov recommendations are the worst kind of evil, because they take donkeys years to reflect new research.

Jacarandill · 13/04/2025 20:34

Lighttodark · 13/04/2025 20:03

It’s normal for blood sugar to go up after eating sugar…

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Yes but it’s not good for it to spike. Ideally you keep your blood sugar fairly stable throughout the day so you don’t experience the horrible crashes.

Protein and fat help to prevent excessive blood sugar spikes and crashes.

I thought this was relatively well understood now?!

Lighttodark · 13/04/2025 20:03

IReallyLoveItHere · 12/04/2025 22:01

You've got some strange ideas there OP.

We are all different, we all react differently. I wore a continuous glucose monitor for a week and didn't find a single fruit I could eat without it rocketing. Best I can do is berries after a form of protein or some fibrous veg.

Similarly I didnt find any grain product I got on with in a 'healthy' form, combined with fat and protein I was OK with small amounts.

So I think yabu in your sweeping statements.

Edited

It’s normal for blood sugar to go up after eating sugar…

Lighttodark · 13/04/2025 20:01

helpfulperson · 12/04/2025 21:19

The problem is that the advice on what is a healthy diet seems to change on a weekly basis.

Only if you’re following pseudoscience or crap influencers / tabloids

GarlicSmile · 13/04/2025 19:58

MikeRafone · 13/04/2025 19:34

there was the cabbage soup diet

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It showed early promise as a means of individual self-propelled jet travel 😉

White cabbage (raw) was a mainstay of my anorexia - all that cellulose expands in your tummy. I ate shedloads of celery, too: not as expansive, but very fibrous and hardly any calories. I still like both, cooked these days, with food rather than instead of it. I sleep alone, so only have to apologise to myself for the consequences!