Persuade me eating healthily is worth it

[Gwenhwyfar]

Already posted in Health, but I thought I'd try and get additional answers.

I know I should eat healthily and have my 5 a day (currently struggling to get just 1 despite being 90% vegetarian), but even though I know it, I struggle to really understand it if you see what I mean. I know scientists say you should eat fruit and veg and that ideally it should be way more than 5 and I presume that's based on studies of people who've developed certain illnesses, but it's not something I can SEE or FEEL like I can with other things. When I've made an effort myself, I haven't seen any improvement.
I can see that overeating makes you overweight. That's clear.
I can feel that too much sugar rots your teeth. I can feel that happening, but I just can't see the damage I'm doing by eating cheese sandwiches and the like.

I hear people saying things like 'I haven't been eating healthily, I'm craving fruit/veg now' and I'm quite confused by that or 'you may not be overweight, but you'll be really unhealthy inside'. I don't really know what they mean by that.

Can anyone help make it more 'real' for me rather than just something people say.

Thanks in advance.

@Gwenhwyfar aubergine with grated cheese is good! And so is veg risotto, even if it is ready-made. I've been wanting cheese much more since being pregnant and I think it's because of my extra calcium needs, so maybe your body just needs the nutrition from cheese and that's why you feel like eating it...

@Lovelydovey

OP if you need to be convinced why don’t you have a blood test for vitamin and mineral levels (your GP may be willing to do this if you explain or if not, you can get these on the internet (thriva is a good provider). I can guarantee you will be deficient in some areas if you are living off cheese sandwiches.

Of course, up to you if you believe in the research which has identified optimal levels for these....

Well, I haven't been deficient in the past when I've had blood tests done so I wouldn't be so sure about your guarantee. I was under 40 then though and as Snog says, I'm now closer to my final days. I'm not in the UK so GPs where I am aren't so much in the business of 'gatekeeping' but they may still be reluctant to do blood tests for someone who has nothing wrong with them just because she's curious.

OP they don't have to have been "salad munchers" but the range of unhealthy and easily-acccessible foods for them to have eaten was much, much smaller than for those alive today. Mass market food has been trashed by industrial food corporations in the past 20-30 years.

If, as you say, you are in your 40s then your parents will have been born in the 1950s or 1960s and your grandparents probably some time between 1900 and 1930.

For all these, in the UK, meals were 'meat and two veg' with lentil soup or veg soup or pea soup as alternatives and 'stewed fruit plus custard' as a likely pudding. Their bread - if not wholemeal - was not some industrial product such as today. Their eggs would have been fresh and free range; their fruits in season grown - by default , not to sound superior -organically. There were no crisps/salty snacks like today. Fish and chips were a rare treat and the only takeaway.

Yes, you might also have fortunate genes but they only deal with a range of possibilities. Those long-life genes did not have to cope with the onslaught of unhealthy foods that are around today.

Cheese sandwiches are not intrinsically unhealthy as such ( though that rather depends on the bread they are made with). It's just that they offer far too narrow a range of nutrients for lobg-term healthy nutrition.

Also, OP blood tests today aren't kiley to show up problems that are building for the future.

and, re your ancestors. For those who survived, how many lived simply for average lifespan? Or for less? How many altogether are you mentioning, and what proportion are they (by age, weight, ethnic origin etc etcetc) of the overall national population? Without that info, any statistical info is pretty meaningless.

"If, as you say, you are in your 40s then your parents will have been born in the 1950s or 1960s and your grandparents probably some time between 1900 and 1930.

40s and 50s. Correct for my grandparents.

For all these, in the UK, meals were 'meat and two veg' with lentil soup or veg soup or pea soup as alternatives and 'stewed fruit plus custard' as a likely pudding. Their bread - if not wholemeal - was not some industrial product such as today. Their eggs would have been fresh and free range; their fruits in season grown - by default , not to sound superior -organically. There were no crisps/salty snacks like today. Fish and chips were a rare treat and the only takeaway."

Meat and two veg. yes. I never saw or heard of any of them eating lentil soup. They eat soups out of tins and packets from what I remember. I spent a lot of time with my maternal grandmother who cooked a lot and never saw her making soup from scratch. I only found out it was a common thing in adulthood. You're right about the fruit and veg - quite a lot of it home grown.
They all lived to between the 80s and the current decade so they DID know crisps and processed foods. Those things have been around since the 70s at least.
I also eat takeaways very rarely. I get my convenience food from the shop.

"and, re your ancestors. For those who survived, how many lived simply for average lifespan? Or for less? How many altogether are you mentioning, and what proportion are they (by age, weight, ethnic origin etc etcetc) of the overall national population? Without that info, any statistical info is pretty meaningless."

I have no idea about the generations before, but I would have thought that my grandparents and great-grandparents would be more relevant than ancestors from the middle ages or something.

"blood tests today aren't kiley to show up problems that are building for the future."

That's probably true, but someone above claimed to 'guarantee' that a blood test would show up deficiencies, which I found quite funny seeing as they never have done in the past.

As you do already have gastro symptoms what makes you think that these are not a result of your poor diet? And surely they are likely to get worse with age unless you change your diet?

I said I wouldn't engage with you, but I'll explain once again that my gastro symptoms are worse when I eat healthily. Bland and simple food tends to be easier for me to digest.
I don't know about them getting worse.

Have you had your gastro issues medical investigated?

Went to the dr as a teenager, was told to write a diary to see if I was intolerant. I couldn't see a pattern. Didn't consult about it for many years until I then developed acid, which I find is pretty common once you get to middle age. I was tested for h pylori (negative) and given ant-acids. I don't think I have food intolerances because the problems happen with any food or none, although I do find the usual suspects (cruciferous veg, raw onion, the type of things other people have problems with) can be worse.
My gastro issues are not significant. I may have a mild form of IBS, but never diagnosed and these problems are not strongly linked to my dislike for veg or cooking.

There are definitely some digestive problems where eating high fibre or too many vegetables can make it worse .

Do you think that working from home has made your diet worse ? When I was going to the office I would mostly buy a salad for lunch and those plastic tubs of chopped fruit . Now I'm working from home I find I'm eating toast all day .

I have just come back to the thread having posted initially.

Young child generally prefer to eat their favourite food all the time. So if they had a total free choice all the time some would just eat sweets, others biscuits etc. However as adults we have a responsibility to ensure they have a balanced diet.

A child who was only given cheese sandwiches to eat would be a neglected child. ( I am not talking about a faddy eater I mean a child who was not given anything else to eat except cheese sandwiches)

It is interesting that you would choose to eat cheese repeatedly. Can you reflect on your relationship with food as a child compared to now?

"Do you think that working from home has made your diet worse ? When I was going to the office I would mostly buy a salad for lunch and those plastic tubs of chopped fruit . Now I'm working from home I find I'm eating toast all day ."

Definitely. When I worked somewhere with a canteen, I used to get their home made soups quite often. My friend who is healthier than me said they put too much salt in - I couldn't taste it, but I think it was still reasonably healthy.
Obviously, it's easier when not in lockdown as you can eat out for some of your meals. Now, I have to prepare everything myself.

"Can you reflect on your relationship with food as a child compared to now?"

My parents were not particularly into healthy eating. Sunday lunch would be freshly prepared, but the other meals included a lot of processed foods. My DM would put frozen chips and burgers in the oven for my brothers, for example. When I became vegetarian at 12 I took responsibility for my own food so I developed the basic skills to prepare basic food, but never progressed to making more complicated meals and don't have a family to cook for.

As mentioned many times, I've gone through many attempted health kicks when I've bought healthy food with the aim of cooking it, but I never stick to it so decided to stop wasting money once and for all. I obviously don't (yet?) have the motivation to change, which is what brought me here.

"A child who was only given cheese sandwiches to eat would be a neglected child."

I think you'd have a hard time getting that child taken away from their parents based on just that.

Here you go OP: Yes, I feel better when I eat more fruit and veg, and I feel worse when I don’t.

How many/what proportion of people have to say it to convince you to give it a proper go?