To be confused about "healthy eating"

[Van34]

It's not that I don't understand what foods are and aren't healthy (or so i thought). But I have no idea how to eat healthily. Bear with me.
I used to have a jacket and tuna (with a dash of mayo) but then I was told that it was as unhealthy as sandwiches. So then I tried salads but remain hungry no matter how much I had. Went onto soup but was then told that they are also unhealthy and ultra processed. What should I have?
I understand moderation but portion sizes are minute. One portion of cereal is enough for a toddler. That's not going to fill me up until lunchtime. Is a slice of toast healthy? It used to be a staple breakfast when I was growing up. Or should we be having something else (not a tiny portion if cereal)
We eat home cooked food everyday, no ready meals. But are they healthy? Chilli, steak and chips, chicken in pittas, fajitas, mince and dumplings. All staples from childhood and all filling. But are they healthy? I know what's in them so they should be...
It's a minefield. No red meat. No wine. Low sugar. Low salt. Low carb. High fibre. Low fat. No fat. High protein. Low cal. But so many of these diet foods are processed....
I am so confused about it all.

People talk such nonsense about food and it’s one of those ubiquitous subjects, like the weather. There’s research that shows that even a relatively small drop in calories triggers an obsessive interest in food (Incidentally the Minnesota Starvation Experiment is still one of the best sources of properly researched information) and most of the time people hone in on one ingredient and declare it unhealthy.

I highly recommend speaking to a dietician if you can afford to - they will take into account your individual needs, age, lifestyle, food preparation skills, preferences and work out a plan with you.

It was the best money I’ve ever spent - I’ve been eating so well for the last three months. I’ve lost my spare tyre, but I’m never hungry. But I’m still fielding nonsense comments about my unhealthy choices.

Some foods are not recommended with specific medical conditions - eg my mil avoids dark green cabbage and grapefruit because she takes the blood thinner warfarin. They’re not unhealthy foods but they interact with that particular drug. Did the doctor have a specific reason for suggesting a jacket potato is not advisable for your condition? Again, a dietician will clear this up and be able to suggest lots of alternatives. You could ask the gp for a referral.

I agree with asking for a referral to a dietician.

It sounds like you may have specific health issues that affect what you should and shouldn’t eat so general advice may not apply and may even make those conditions worse.

I ended up confusing myself with so much conflicting advice.
I’ve ended up making my own rules which seem to work for me.
I have a breakfast of full fat Greek yogurt, I add2 dates, fruit and a teaspoon of chai seeds.
Mid afternoon I have a small Buddha bowl
tea varies depending on who is making it.
I only have alcohol once a month, if that. I have cut out surgery snacks.
I have one coffee a day and drink water the rest of the time.
im beginning to feel miles better than I did a few months ago.

It depends what your issues are. In your position OP you do not mention having to address a particular problem like being overweight, borderline diabetes, gluten-free eating, high blood pressure etc etc. Agree with previous advice to look at the NHS website and take advice from there rather than randomers on MN who shun carbs and are stuffed for weeks on a "massive salad". Lots of variety, made from scratch, keep the cakes and biscuits to a minimum.

A tuna baked potato or a tuna/salad sandwich IS A HEALTHY LUNCH, an unhealthy lunch would be a Gregg's steak bake, a can of Coke and a doughnut.

Personally I have been told I have high cholesterol so I am cutting out all red meats and saturated fats in things like cheese, cakes, pastry, butter. And adding in lots of oily fish, avocados and those wee benecol yoghurt drinks. You need to tailor the advice to your particular situation.

Everything in moderation, and don't beat yourself up over the odd doughnut or glass of wine.

What I do notice in town is the large queues in Greggs and the amount of people walking round eating pasties, sausage rolls and donuts - and I suspect some people probably eat a lot of this type of food as a main part of diet rather than the home cooked protein and veg type meals we are all advocating - I asked my son about this as he has a habit of it too and he said people do it because it's cheap and filling- I know it's speaking the obvious but clearly high food prices often push some people in a direction of unhealthy choices. - personally I would rather have beans on toast!

100% agree with you @Van34! It's a total minefield that I've tried to figure out for years and I'm absolutely sick of it, so not doing it anymore!

I consider "healthy foods" to be foods that have nutritional value and I leave it at that. I've just had my lunch - a wrap with turkey slices, tomatoes, bit of philadelphia, celery, pickles and spinach. Some people might say that the wrap is unhealthy and I should instead put everything on rice crackers, but I like wraps, they're fine. Others might say the cheese was a bad idea because you shouldn't have dairy, but I like cheese and it's fine.

I know that if I would have it with a bag of crisps then they'd be the "unhealthy" part of it, but also know that if it fits in with my calories then why not have the crisps? It's not taking away any nutritional value from the rest of the meal.

All I do now is try and make sure that the majority of the food I eat has nutritional value and that I still have some treats in moderation. I still drink wine, eat chocolate/crisps, won't say no to a slice of cake. I track my calories every now and then to make sure I'm not over or under eating and it's the easiest way of eating/managing my weight I've found. Gives me flexibility whilst making sure I'm eating well. And I don't read articles or take any advice anymore!

Jacket potatoes are a really good thing to have- carbs and fibre and keep you full.

They became unfashionable due to low GI diets and low carb.

Apparently carbs don't fill you up and everyone needs 120g of protein a day.

I could eat most meat and fish, nuts and cheese until they come out of my ears before I'm full whereas with a jacket potato, high fibre bread, wholewheat pasta, puy lentils, brown rice I find really filling and much easier to keep the calories down.

And most people have enough protein anyway as they eat too much red and processed meat.

Thing is I disagree that things like Greggs bakes are actually filling

The are certainly tasty and yummy and moreish and cheap but I don't think filling in th same way a proper dinner is

I'd focus on five things:

• Plenty of veg, particularly green and cruciferous vegetables
• Not too much food overall
• Plenty of fibre
• Keep things with added sugar to a minimum- obviously sweet things like cakes and biscuits
• Keep ultra processed food to a minimum

Other than that unless you have any particular conditions - some people can't eat fibrous food, some people need to reduce starchy carbs due to blood sugar, some need to reduce cholesterol - there is no need to cut out whole food groups or reduce particular macro nutrients.

Generally speaking, the closer a food is to its natural state, the "healthier" it is for you to eat.
So, try to stick to foods that are unprocessed or minimally processed as much as possible for most of the time.

A bowl of highly processed cereal alone will not sustain you until lunchtime and may spike your blood sugar up too high, causing a subsequent dip. You could try adding chopped nuts and/or seeds to it and having natural yogurt with it instead of milk. Or have porridge instead, or something else, such as an omelette.

I make my own granola (recipe from Michael Moseley's Clever Guts book), which is very simple to make and have it with yogurt and a handful of berries.

OP trust your instincts and stop listening to idiots who don't know what they're talking about

Baked potatoes, tuna and salad is a normal healthy meal

Did you miss the update where she says her doctor told her the jacket potatoes were not ok for her particular health conditions?

That a doctor said this and that the OP has some health conditions would have been really useful to know up front.

Or maybe we should add caveats to every single response we write on face value.
This is my advice unless - you were told by a doctor/have health conditions/are ND/have a very important drip feed etc

We don't know what health conditions she has.

Exactly- which means we can't really offer advise or say her opinion is right and her doctor is wrong

Well, by that logic I should have had diabetes by now.. I eat in excess of 200g carbs a day. I am healthy weight, have 20.5% fat mass, heart rate of an athlete and no indication of high sugar in my recent bloods.
It may be wise to limit carbs if you already have diabetes. On the other hand, I am not aware of any RCTs that show direct relationship between consuming carbs and developing diabetes. In fact, as far as I am aware, the biggest risk factor for diabetes is obesity and one can become obese by eating any food group (including "healthy foods") in unusually large quantities over time.

MN is the last place I would ask for diet advice. It's full of people who have jumped on the low carbs, high protein bandwagon, and have a fear of UPF foods. Everything is about moderation.

our bodies is very capable of maintaining normal blood sugar levels when we eat carbs. yes simple carbs can cause blood sugar spikes, but that is not a predictor of diabetes.

Yes, this. I have PCOS. My mother had type 2 diabetes. I am definitely at risk and have insulin resistance so there is a strong argument that I must be careful of carbs.

For people in the population who are at lower risk, there's no reason to believe that eating carbs will give them diabetes.

Risk factors include genetic factors (family history and I believe people of certain backgrounds are more inclined to it), and significant excess weight in particular. If you do not have those factors, you are relatively unlikely to get Type 2 diabetes.

This kind of hysterical generalisation is a huge problem.

@aswarmofmidges i totally agree -

you must have met some pretty awful doctors! obviously depending on specialty but it's in the medical school curriculum and GPs should have a good working knowledge of nutrition. most phyisicians are pretty well versed and often have expertise on nutrition relating to their specialty as well eg. renal diet for renal physicians etc.

You say you have health complaints. Are you taking medication for these?

I ask because I started taking medication for the first time in my life a few years back and I put on weight - having always eaten relatively healthy. Not loads, but enough to bother me.

I discovered that this was for a few main reasons:

1. My hormones were out of whack.
2. The meds affect how I metabolise certain foods
3. The meds were making me deficient in certain vitamins and minerals.

To address this, I started taking a multivitamin, crucially at the same time as my meds, to counter whatever they're doing. And I discovered Metabolism tea, to address that issue and balance my hormones, too.

The result: The weight fell off.

In short, you seem to be eating healthy enough, so I'd look into what else might be at play. Hope this is helpful.

No major health conditions (diabetes etc). Suspect PCOS but have to wait until summer next year for my referral to consultant. Also have a GI condition that the Dr's have been unable to diagnose for many years. The Dr seems to think that the cure for both of these is for me to eat healthy and lose weight (I am chunky but not obese) I much thinner when I met DH and had similar issues. The whole jacket soup sandwich conversation stemmed from one of those Dr's visits.
"Oh well you need to eat healthy, that will help your symptoms"
"I do? I have a jacket and tuna for lunch most days or a tin of soup"
Recoils in horror "Jacket potatoes aren't healthy"
She was then unable to give me a better alternative. Wish I was there to see her lunch....

I would say that a jacket potato and tuna for lunch, then a full portion of cooked dinner, is a lot of calories. Depending on your activity level obviously. i work from home and usually don't have lunch, just a few snacks. if you have a desk job, you don't need three full meals.

I agree, messaging around healthy foods is so inconsistent and confusing! I work with someone who swears blind fruit is bad for you because it contains sugar.

But OP I really wouldn’t ask on MN about food issues, ever. Too many posters have undiagnosed eating disorders and there’s also been an increase in pro-ana posts