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?!

Here's a talk he gave to google-a bit sciences but a condensed version of the book.

How Not To Die: Discover the foods scientifically proven to prevent and reverse disease https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1447282442/ref=cmswwrcpptai_hd2qxbNA0EGPT

I did say I like him, didn't I?

The gut environment is covered in Greger's book, I agree it's very interesting.

I'm a medic and he does discriminate between studies which are robust and those which are anecdotal. He believes there is a reluctance in America to publicise proper nutritional advice because the doctors don't make money from doing it (they make money looking after sick people) and the drug companies benefit from mass illness.

Also he says that if you tell people they should eat mainly veg, pulses and fruit the government thinks it is too steep for most people, so they dumb it down to '5 a day, eat less crap' so that people aren't overwhelmed into doing nothing.

Same with exercise, really we would benefit more from being active most of the time, not just a few hours here and there, but they give out diluted advice like '20mins three times a week' in the hope that most people find that doable.

He thinks we should know the real information and decide ourselves what to do with it.

Much cheaper and more profitable to grow a field of wheat than a herd of cows.

Ultimately, a lot better for the environment, too.

Which is what really throws a spanner in the works.

I agree that the exercise advice is very conservative. I have a disability which makes a lot of exercise difficult, painful and even pretty dangerous for me, but still manage 60K steps on a typical week and an hour of good walking, most days.

Still fat, mind.

"He thinks we should know the real information and decide ourselves what to do with it."

I suppose if your objective is to make people accept or ignore the guilt for their poor health, that's the right approach.

However, if your objective is to maximise benefits for the most people, then your advice would be tailored towards an approach that best achieves it.

I think everyone is individual too. For me carbs breeds carbs - if I eat them, I want more. Bread is my absolute weakness
Porridge for breakfast and a Jaffa cake mid morning and my blood sugars were so low
The more protein and fat, the more stable my sugars are and I stop craving bread
So a day might be
B - FF Lidl Turkish yog, berries, crushed nuts
L - goats cheese salad, balsamic, loads of leaves etc
T - chicken, veg and more veg!

I slip and I have to really focus on sticking to it because the minute I touch bread I can't stop eating it

Cuntrolling - I'm in the USA and it really isn't the medical industry or even the pharmaceutical industry controlling the health message. It's the food industry, "Big Agra" basically. They legally spend millions each year lobbying the government, the FDA and the USDA (Department of Agriculture.) It is shocking how many people retire at the top level in the USDA and literally walk into a job in with a multinational food corporation. There have been many studies showing how out of whack with current health advice the official government food pyramid is, but it can't be changed due to the lobbying efforts from this industry, that got pizza labeled as being in the vegetable group in school dinners (the tomato marinara magically turns the whole pizza into a healthy vegetable!)

I have my own issues with our for-profit medical industry but all the doctors I know (married into a family full of them) are not happy about the state of obesity here, especially childhood obesity. They certainly aren't happily skipping to the bank on the basis that obesity increases profits for them.

Also don't see why Japanese diet is good as it's very high in salt.

Japan has the highest life expectancy in the world, maybe not purely down to diet, but they're doing something right. The obesity rate is very low too.

Salt has been unfairly demonised along with fat. There is growing evidence that people with normal blood pressure don't have to worry about their salt consumption.

We need to forget about the whole 'salt increases blood pressure' and 'saturated fat clogs your arteries' because both are probably untrue or the effects are minor compared to the much worse effects of sugar.

Trying to get my Hubby to eat "sensibly", then, he will say "Ha, now, fat, salt, etc. is not bad for you. I was completely veggi for about 30 years, had bags of energy, no gut problems.Now IBS, (was badly bullied at work started that) Diverticulitus. I now eat fish chicken, but with enjoyingscience simple diet. But foget stupid faddy diets like the Gwinnie Paltrow clean stuff, everything raw. and the silly Hemsley sisters, Low fat alternatives ie yogurt have a huge amount of added sugar. Even when I was veggi, I didnt eat 5 portions of veg a day, the portions are just HUGE. By, the way does wine count as part of your five a day as its made from grapes (joke!!)

Re the Japanese diet: lots of fermented foods (good for you in many ways); small portions; high in fish oils; lots of trace minerals (seaweed).

CuntTrolling I downloaded his book last night and it's very interesting, I don't eat much meat anyway.

Can you cut all meat and dairy products out while breastfeeding though?

And I do bloody love my cheese

MissusWrex Gorillas manage to feed their babies ok don't they? I think they supplement with a few insects though!

I am not popping out in to the garden to munch bugs!

Small portions are very important - we all, well, a lot of us, I think, over-eat. A lot of us were brought up to 'finish our plates' - we learn to over-ride our natural 'full' feeling, and continue eating. I know I was - my dad had an obsession about us finishing our meals - I can actually remember cramming that last morsel in when not hungry anymore.

I watched a program about the Okinawa diet - not a 'diet' diet - but what the real people eat - and the grandmother was saying 'only eat until 80% full'. How many of us eat until we're stuffed, and then find room for a pudding. I know I do sometimes.

Their food also consists of lots of stir fry veg, fish, tofu, rice etc - v healthy. Far less likely to over-eat that, than say, a takeaway curry with naan bread. Or a Dominos.

It's all really simple. Just eat as mankind has jsut about always eat and you'll be fine so eat normal fish, eggs, veg etc. You can't go far wrong.

Didvide your plate up into quarters.

One quarter brown rice, quinoa, whole grain bread, potatoes in skin not mashed etc nothing too white preferably but not the end of the world if it is.

One quarter protein or at tiny bit more , including eggs x 2 , pulses, tofu, seitan, chicken, fish, (red meat not too much) nuts, hoummous, plain yogurt
milk (if not dairy intolerant)

2 x quarters. eg the whole other half plate leafy vegetables peppers etc

If you want to lose more weight have a little less of the starchy part.
Do not get hungry or you might go for carbohydrates incl sugar.

Good oil raw one tablespoon p d.

Avoid processed - this includes orange juice smoothies - health sugar.
Mashed potatoes instead of whole.

Avoid very sugary fruit, but have a little whole fruit berries are good.

A little very dark chocolate.

The food pyramid with the large base of starch carbohydrates at the base, fat and sugar equal at the top ended up being that way because of lobbyists. It was all bunk.

It was probably what caused all the problems we are seeing today.

I ignore most advice now, I don't think they really know what's good for us.

I eat meat 1 time a weeks, fish 1 time a week and the rest of the time it's veg meals. Do eat 3 fruit a day.
I do use blue top milk, proper butter.

I make all meals from scratch because I have to much time of my hands as I'm home with ds I also make my own bread, cakes as wells as I think when things are processed they are worse for me.

I keep chickens for eggs too

I have eaten this way for years and it has lost we weight or maintained bel ending on my calories intake.

Well we can eat in a similar way to gorillas ; loads of veg, plants, fruit of course and a little protein like some fish and or nuts.

Interesting programme on the science of food recently where they said that peanut butter is healthy (they forgot about the people who are allergic to them) and also they forgot to mention not if plugged full of sugar and palm oil. I like pnut butter on rye toast. with marmite!

God I SO agree. It is a minefield. And I really want to try to get it right.

Like you, OP, I want clear guidance. General 'listen to your body' and 'moderation in everything' just doesn't work for me merely results in me binging on baguettes or similar

When they say fat is now GOOD, do they just mean the fats that wear a halo, like avocado, fatty fish and nuts? Or is it really fine to scoff loads of cheddar/cream? I can't get my head around the latter being true, but maybe it is?

I understand the Atkins notion of losing weight even if you eat 'bad' fats, but if you want to have a healthy heart AND lose weight, presumably it's only the 'good' fats we are supposed to be loading up on.

Or not? What do I know? Totally confused (and I have a bloody Masters).

NotdeadyetBOING it's sugar that's the real problem.

It turns into fat in your body.

Yes, apparently fats are fine, sugar is bad.

The advice to eat low-fat to protect your heart was bogus. It should heave been sugar.

The recommended amount of refined sugar should be zero.

This article explains how we went down the wrong path on fat and sugar for so long

I am such a sugar addict! But very overweight. I'm not going to like this but I think I will have to cut out sugar at some point soon.

I do think sugar/refined carbs are addictive. I find eating them makes me hungrier - much hungrier than if I've not had them iyswim. The more I eat, the more I want.

Trouble is, these sugary carbs, they're everywhere, and they taste nice. Take 'cake' for example. You can't move in everyday life now without being tempted by cake. It's everywhere. Pop to a coffee shop somewhere - bloody huge slices of cake right there in front of you. Coffee morning - cake on offer. School pick-up - cake sales. Go to my mum's - cake. DH goes to bluewater - comes back with cake.

I can't take the temptation