To ask wtf is a healthy diet?

[JazzAnnNonMouse]

I think we eat well, lots of fruit and veg not as much meat as we used to as we prefer to get organic.
We make our own bread, make meals from scratch etc
Eat/drink whole fat things ie milk

I am worried though that somewhere we're doing it wrong as everything I read has conflicting views:
Lower sugar
Lower fat
Lower calories
Lower carbs
Lower fruit

You can't do all of them because you wouldn't end up being able to eat a fat lot.

Aibu to ask what is the definitive good diet and for some examples of a weeks food?

Don't know if they've been rolled out across the country but there are now government backed adverts playing on the radio in London urging people to switch from ordinary fizzy drinks to....diet fizzy drinks.

couldn't believe my years when I heard that.

fizzy drink makers gotta make a profit somehow or other Nancy!

not really my point Suzanne!

I do struggle with the philosophical concept of dairy products as food for humans, or indeed any animal apart from baby cows (sheep/goat, whatever). It's not suprising when you think about it that a lot of us have varying degrees of lactose intolerance. But then, I really like cheese, and a yoghurt is a really convenient low-carb breakfast or snack food, and I do worry about carb intake. Soya yoghurts are clearly evil alternatives as too much soya is going to give you cancer/make you infertile or something. So maybe a dairy yoghurt (with a lactase enzyme pill) is the least worst of the various potential evils.

So basically yes the whole thing is ridiculously confusing, and it's probably not emotionally healthy to overthink it either.

I get the theory behind high carb intake and complex processed carbs being a concern - but grains are a plant food - so why are grains in themselves thought to be inherently evil?

hormalandneedingcheese I'm doing that course too. It's so interesting.

Eat what your grandparents ate when they were young including the portion size.

Low-ish carb, low sugar, high (good) fat, fresh, unprocessed. Heavy on the veg, lighter on the meat, v light on the fruit. Plus a little of what you fancy now and then!

Yesm, I think we all agree.
Eat what your great grandparents ate.
If man made it don't eat it.
Eat natural good foods.
It is all the same message.

if you can shoot it, fish it or pluck it from a tree whole or out of the ground eat it. If not don't.

So that will be no processed foods. It's very very v ery v ery simple but people who are addicted to sugar and usually rather large like to pretend it's so complex they might as well continue to tuck into their sticky buns and chocolates.

And yet elsewhere there are websites promoting a completely different healthy diet involving no animal products of any kind - the idea seems to be "if it has a face or a mother, don't eat it". This is said to reverse the effects of heart disease.

If I followed that diet I'd lose the will to live even if my coronaries were healthier.

Eat a little of everything, not too much of one thing, move more, keep the highly processed sugar filled stuff as occasional treats rather than daily.

Dark chocolate and wine are processed foods and extremely good for you in appropriate amounts.

Nothing wrong with using a jar of LG once in a while, just not daily and don't pretend it isn't convenience food :)

Having read an awful lot about 'healthy diets' in my time it seems the best thing you can do got your health is eat unprocessed and not much. Many extremely healthy people swear by one meal a day or two fast days a week. I think generally we all just eat too much.

HibernoCaledonian It's definitely making me think. I'll be looking out for more after, I've found a Child nutrition one so far.

I have struggled with allergies from the mid 80s when goods became more processed. So I have always slavishly checked ingredients and tend to cook from scratch. I do think the silent huge issue in processed food is vegetable oil. If you look at the ingredients of many foods they don't list what this entails but it isn't just one product. I think (conspiracy here) it is dregs of seed oils. But it can be rapeseed, sunflower, shea, palm, mango,corn etc etc all mixed in. That is cheap filling and not one is in our natural diet.

Re fizzy drinks vs diet fizzy drinks:
I think the man I spoke to who is morbidly obese AND drinks 6 litres (yes, *litres) of full-fat cola every day would in the short-term benefit from switching to a diet variety. If he lost, oh I dunno, 10 stone in weight he may then be able to move a bit more easily and address other issues.

Otherwise I agree: our kids get fizzy drinks as treats on days out and I'd rather they had a sugary variety than diet.

But it's rather worrying that a government has to 'advertise' about this

Dark chocolate and wine are not extremely good for you but if they make you feel good carry on. Wine is sugar and alcohol is not great. Most dark chocolate has sugar in it. People peddling the myth that wine and chocolate are good for you are the reason 60% of this country are over weight and our hospitals are heaving with people with diabetes.

Only drink tap water and you won't go far wrong. even someone on benefits can afford that easy health plan.

This reminds me of some of the gems (bollocks) about food and diet I've read on various forums (sometimes from people calling themselves nutritionists)

• eating fresh fruit is the same as eating doughnuts
• white bread sits in a lump in the stomach for 2 days

-semi skimmed and skimmed milk has sugar added to it

• it's impossible to lose weight if you eat more than one portion of fruit a day
• low fat food makes us fat.

-foods are either 'proteins' or 'carbs' -bread and pasta are 'just stodge' I'm sure there's plenty more. People would get on a lot better if they just used a bit of common sense and a bit of basic knowledge about food. Some food (crisps, biscuit, sweets, frozen pizzas) are crap is they have little nutritional value and therefore should be eaten in small amounts (if at all). Some foods ,(eg. fish, leafy green veg )have a very high nutritional value. Eat as much as you can. Other foods are sort of in between, so don't eat too much of them. And watch your calories. There really is no need to obsess over food though. People throughout history and around the world have to eat what is available and make the most of it. Humans are able to adapt to and thrive on virtually any food source.

As long as what you're eating has significant nutritional value in relation to the fat and calorie content, it's probably fine.

As with anything, moderation is key.

Personally I am with Douglas Adams on nutritionists - on a spaceship with them along with telephone box sanitisers, hairdressers, tired TV producers, insurance salesmen, personnel officers, security guards, public relations executives, management consultants. Into the B Ark with them all.

They aren't qualified, they may have done a course. My degree included much more info that may of the courses I have seen advertised recently.

Dietitians Unite

As fatlazy says just use common sense. If it's a processed food it's not going to be great for you. If you're fat you're eating too much and probably also of the wrong things. if you eat good healthy fats you tend to lose weight as they make you feel full.

I would love a definitive list of the best daily meals for growing children. I spend too much time, money and energy on feeding my children well but wonder if sometimes I could step down a level or are giving them too many fruit and vegetables.

I honestly don't think it's about what you eat, I think it's about how much.

Eat what you like, but half of what you want.

The 'eat what your grandparents ate' makes my teeth itch though - even at great grandparent levels it wasn't a healthy diet. Maybe that's why no male in my maternal line has yet lived to the age of 60.

itsfab how can you give children too many fruit and veg?
Are your children a healthy weight and height (given their genetics re height), are they energetic and reasonably healthy? If so then you're probably giving them a good diet, assuming they don't have too many sweets/crisps/fizzy drinks/McDonalds.
There isn't really a 'definitive list', how could there be? We have thousands of foods available to us.