To wonder if eating healthily is worth it?

[Doesitmakeadifference]

I'm late 30s, throughout my life my diet hasn't been very good but it probably hasn't been horrendous either. I've never eaten enough veg.

Several years ago dh and I were in a rut and our diet became very bad, loads of takeaways, way too much junk processed food. Both put on weight.

So a few years ago we turned our whole lifestyle around and now eat well, we exercise every day. Every so often we go on a complete health kick and eat very clean. We go to bed early, rarely drink generally I'd say we have a very healthy lifestyle.

I do wonder though sometimes how much difference it honestly makes. To be honest nearly everyone I know eats what they want. Dh often tells me while he's eating his salad or healthy sandwich or homemade whatever all his workmates are eating Greggs, pizza, sausage rolls crisps chocolate bars.

Apart from being slimmer I can't honestly say I feel massively different to when I was eating junk food all the time. Can't say I've got glowing skin or that I'm full of energy.

@Namechangedforthis25 - yes you are quite right. I think I have spent too much time on MN threads lately, especially ones about keeping young! I'm not usually so grumpy. And of course it makes sense to take care of the things that are within your control when so many things aren't. It's just that sometimes people don't admit, or perhaps realise that luck does play a part (sometimes a big part). A bit like saying there's a person in their 80s who does marathons. I mean, yes it's fantastic, and they may well have lived an extremely healthy life as regards diet and exercise, but to pretend that they haven't been lucky to escape illness is somewhat disingenuous imho.

I’m very careful about what I eat (although I have tended to binge eat sugar when stressed) and I rarely drink. I walk 4 miles a day, go to the gym and do yoga.

I’m 50 and I look embarrassingly young. Yes I know people are rolling their eyes but people are genuinely confused when I tell them my age and a gp had to check she’d got the right person. However, my energy levels are very low to the point that I can’t do a full time job. If I don’t do the above, they’re even lower and my mental health is horrendous.

So who knows? If you look into ‘blue zones’ you’ll see that social support (which greatly decreases stress levels) plays a huge role in longevity. We’re nearly all separated from our tribe so of course we’re all stressed and comfort eating.

The women I work with are all thinner than me, and for lunch every day they have share bags of crisps, white bread cheese sandwiches or jam sandwiches, and two or three bars of chocolate, with cans of pop.

Do people really eat like this? Like a whole bunch of them? How long is your lunch break that they manage to eat a share bag of crisps, a jam sandwich and 3 chocolate bars? I'm in Ireland not the UK but I presume eating habits are similar and I genuinely can't think of a single person I know who would eat this for lunch nevermind a whole table or whatever of women. Maybe a white bread ham sandwich and a packet of crisps maybe even a chocolate bar too but not a share bag, not multiple chocolate bars in one lunch sitting.

The WORSE your genestic inheritance is, the more important it is to look after your health; so that when you develop the familial inherited problems you have the best possible chance of surviving both the disease and the treatment.
DH and I are living proof.

It is always going to be a positive thing to eat as well as you can. A well nourished body is going to perform better than a body fueled by a low nutritional diet, and poor food. Time will tell how those who are eating very poorly will fare.

I agree @2bazookas a friend of mine always had plenty of exercise - walking holidays, dancing etc - and eat very healthily. She had a stroke at 71 due to genetics but her previously healthy lifestyle enabled her to make a complete recovery although she now enjoys cruises rather than walking long distances.

I'm a vegetarian and actually like vegetables. Therefore I don't see it as consciously eating "healthily"; it's just my dinner. I find it a shame that most see eating this way as a tedious chore.

To me it makes a huge difference. I used to eat whatever I wanted, but I had bad skin, was a little overweight (not by much, mind) and I always caught colds.

Now I am more conscious, and while I'm not the healthiest person, I notice a big difference when I eat well compared to a junk food day. I don't get spots anymore, I sleep better, my hair looks better. If I eat crap I feel crap with gas, stomach problems and awful sleep. What you put into your body is so important!

You make a good point. I remember years ago doing all the Disney/Universal Studios stuff in Florida and all the food in the parks was your typical junk - burgers, hot dogs, fizzy drinks etc. I really started to crave fresh food although I had never usually had to think about what I was eating (younger and naturally thin). All that junk made me feel unwell but I never really noticed all the fresh food I ate making me feel actively good (although it was, I just didn’t notice).

My dad was sporty, but meat and potatoes no veg man most of his life. Loved his fry ups. Eventually he had a heart attack and then was registered disabled, and developed diabetes. His doctor told him (this was in the 90s) eat things that say no fat or less fat. So my dad took the drs advice and carried on his meat and potatoes dinners with no veg, with his daily Diet Coke and marshmallows for treats as the packet of marshmallows says low in fat. My dad was not a healthy man in the last few years of his life, had to quit the sports he loved, so no exercise. My dad died of a heart attack at 70, his lifestyle absolutely killed him.

the doctors told many people like my dad to eat stuff that said diet, no fat or low fat. All the crap with extra sugar in. They were told the wrong information as we know now that sugar is a killer. Animal fats are good and healthy with collagen, vitamins and minerals in abundance. Sugar is the enemy with absolutely no nutritional value.

You say you're late 30s. You start seeing the difference in your 40s and 50s. I'm late 50s and have already lost one friend to cancer most probably caused by his prodigious intake of booze and fags.
My Mum died of diabetes complications in her late 70s, following years and years of poor health. Her gran made it to her 90s, so not unreasonable to surmise that if she'd taken a different route, one of moderation, she might still be here and enjoying life.
So yeah it is worth it, you don't see it so much now because you're still young!

So a few years ago we turned our whole lifestyle around and now eat well, we exercise every day. Every so often we go on a complete health kick and eat very clean. We go to bed early, rarely drink generally I'd say we have a very healthy lifestyle.

Define your idea of eating well / health kick / eating very clean / healthy lifestyle, because this all seems a bit vague. People who claim to "eat well" can be blinded by the halo effect, especially when they don't have an objective food diary right in front of them.

What do you mean when you say blinded by the Halo effect in the context of living a healthy lifestyle?

Your post resonates with me OP.

I think for me it’s about feeling more energetic and less sluggish. And the knowledge that I’m looking after the most incredible piece of machinery I’ve been given (my body), with the hope that I’ll be a healthy active older person when I get there, rather than multiple chronic illnesses. It’s an investment for the future.

But I won’t lie - that bit you wrote about ordering a massive pizza with sides and fries 🤤🤤 Part of me really misses that carefree time when I didn’t bother thinking too much.

the doctors told many people like my dad to eat stuff that said diet, no fat or low fat. All the crap with extra sugar in. They were told the wrong information as we know now that sugar is a killer. Animal fats are good and healthy with collagen, vitamins and minerals in abundance. Sugar is the enemy with absolutely no nutritional value.

Amen.

I have always tried to eat a healthy diet and never had an excessively sweet tooth. However, I feel so much better since I gave up sugar altogether!

As you say, sugar is in everything, all the ultra-processed foods are full of it. One often sees already fat/obese people drinking huge quantities of soda - what are they thinking?

Unfortunately, diet sodas aren't much better as the artificial sweeteners trigger the release of insulin and insulin spikes, which ultimately leads to insulin resistance.

I'm slim but my diet is unhealthy and I'm unfit. I just stick within the calorie allowance that means I maintain this weight. Slim doesn't always equal fit & healthy diet but my general health is good so who knows.

@FuppingEll they do eat like that. They eat fast so they can go for a cigarette before getting back to work- we have half an hour.
There's only me and two others who take proper food for lunch.
I'm not making it up.

I've really noticed that when people reach 50ish poor diet and lifestyle can start causing problems and catching up with them.
I know three men in their early 50s who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. One who's 57 and would struggle to go for a 5 min walk due to joint issues, which have been made loads worse by being over weight. Give it 10-15 years and you will notice the difference of eating well and keeping fit.

Eating well and living well can ward off cancer, alzheimers, depression etc etc.

Is it ever too late to reverse some of the damage done? I’ve had a very unhealthy diet since hitting peri menopause and it wasn’t much better before that to be honest.

You mention not having glowing skin, but to me people who live on crap look totally grey in the face.

It does as you get older. The differences started to become very clear once people hit 40.

I feel completely different when I eat healthily. I've had a busy week this week and have been eating lots of rubbish and not much veg. I feel horrible!

A lot of the benefits are long term health benefits anyway.