To think there is a poor understanding of a healthy diet?

[LivelyLemonQuoter]

I think most people think they know what a healthy diet looks like, but in reality they do not. I see so many comments on MN that demonstrate this.

The most common one is that fruit should be limited because of its sugar content. This is very bad advice. Sugar in fruit has little impact on our blood sugar levels. And most people in the UK do not eat enough fruit.

The other is concern over eating any carbs. Wholemeal bread and pasta is fine, carbs in pastry and doughnuts is not great though.

And most people need to eat more nuts. Nuts are very good for you and should be part of your regular diet.

do you have a recipe?

dont worry i have found one

this is a job for DH,
who often makes delicious cakes but can turn his hand to bread also,
i dont think he would agree with the dead easy part though!

I think there are different scales used to measure it. I don’t know if it’s a country thing; as in some countries use one and some the other. This explains it though. It seems the old/original way is the percentage, which are the lower numbers.

https://patient.info/diabetes/diabetes-mellitus-leaflet/tests-for-blood-sugar-glucose-and-hba1c

edited as I forgot to post the link!

Not read all the thread but it’s proved OPs point.

OP, single study papers aren’t how consensus is reached on anything in science. You need systematic reviews looking at all the high quality available data to do this.

And that’s pretty clear that you don’t need to exclude food groups or obsess about a single food like flax, but simply eat a wide variety of foods, and have plant based food forming the main volume in your diet.

My DH has type 2 diabetes and the advice is to eat a range of fruit in moderation as the fibre content will slow down the absorption of the sugar content and avoid spikes. Some fruits like grapes, melon, mango, fresh pineapple should be limited because of the high sugar content, and generally concentrated fruit juices as well as dried fruits are to be avoided as they contain little fibre and can spike blood sugar. I think moderation is the key as well as monitoring your body’s reaction, as everyone is different.

Completely disagree with this. In "the west" people typically eat toast/some kind of bread product or cereal for breakfast, they may have a sandwich for lunch and then eat pasta for dinner. Thats a lot of carbs - there is nothing wrong with carbs but oily fish for example is incredibly good for you and not enough people eat healthy proteins.

Also, you cite wholemeal bread as being great but its not for me- it gives me gut ache and bloating.

Why is it then that some people thrive on Keto and some one else a vegan diet? Or a raw food diet or a paleo diet.
everyone is different and everyone should eat according to their body.
threads like this just confuse people more.

Most long distance runners would disagree with you on that.

Making bread to me is reserved for emergency situations

not a weekly activity

My sanity would disagree on the need for carbs

Comfort food at its finest

My own theory is that it’s not that complicated, but too many people with skin in the game have manipulated research to make it seem a lot more complicated than it is; The Coca Cola company’s manipulation of research is fairly well documented as one example. And the behaviour of Nestle in developing countries is no secret, they’ve been subject to many sanctions, so it’s not a huge leap to imagine that they have a similar level of regard for their customers in Europe and the US too.

Basically before the advent of processed food, humans knew perfectly well what to eat and the biggest factor preventing this would’ve been poverty. Fruit, veg, meat, grains, pulses and dairy - as close to its natural state as possible. So potatoes yes, potato waffles no.

There might be personal variations - potatoes don’t agree with you or whatever but as a general rule that works fine.

I think there's a poor awareness of the role of the microbiome and which foods to eat/avoid to maintain a healthy microbiome.

Even if I don't run I can't not eat carbs, I find I get hungrier even when I eat tons of protein.

However porridge makes me ravenous so it's only eaten on my long run/bike ride day.

Right now I'm eating a hot cross bun with butter, so many things for people to have a fit at... carbs, dried fruit, fat, salt... but that's kind of the point. Someone will always come along and tell us we shouldn't be eating that no matter what it is.

I’m not a fan of sourdough. It’s ok toasted with jam, but I can’t eat it as a sandwich.

i had a slice of sour dough yesterday with more expensive healthy peanut butter,
it was disappointing

You literally put the ingredients in a bowl. Combine. No kneeding. Put On a very well floured oven tray. Slice a cross on the top ( all the way to the bottom) and bake.
The only hard bit is mearuring 3 ingredients

To make the buttermilk just squeeze lemon juice or add a dash of vinegar or some yoghurt to milk and leave for 10 minutes
Or buy buttermilk

delicious!

I’m sorry OP but you just don’t know how to read research.

You’’ve just created yet another faddy diet but are ego centric enough to think you have found ‘the truth’.

are flowers necessary or just for design

I am interested to know Biwi’s dietary credentials- she has a whole seemingly, Mumsnet endorsed, chain on the low carb stuff, giving advice and doing bootcamps.Think it’s good to get away from white carbs and sugar and carb laden stuff and the diet seems to work for some but limiting fruit and stuff like lentils - doesn’t seem great.
Is Biwi a dietician? If so, great!

Only in the newspapers, we shouldn’t be taking the journalists twist on diet which is written for click bate and ultimately revenue.

neither keto nor Paleo nor raw food diets are recommended by scientific consensus to the general population.

You can eat well or very badly on a vegan diet.

Science is fairly clear what a healthy diet looks like. There is some quibbling about fat levels but other than that.

🤣🤣🤣
I had no idea what you were talking about there

well spotted. ! She races back up thread to correct the spelling. I think 🥴

I haven’t slept yet. My hot chocolate before bed has kept me awake worrying all night after reading this thread 🤣

Pickingmyselfup

I have to agree with you on porridge, I don’t eat before an hour gym session but I regularly cycle and force myself to eat half a cup of oats to keep me going. They are a great breakfast with mixed berries or raspberries to fuel for a ride

That’s not a proper spike - and I say that as someone with Type 1 diabetes. It’s normal for your blood sugar to go up after eating. More than that, your graph shows a very quick insulin response - ie things are working well.

The drop into the red you mention isn’t actually ‘red’ at all - unless you’re on insulin and thus at risk of hypos. People without diabetes often go into the 3s. It’s only a risk for those on meds like insulin as, unlike non-diabetics, our blood sugar won’t stop there but can continue to go down, potentially leading to hypoglycaemia, seizures, etc. More then that, the Libre and other CGMs often over-estimate low blood sugars and that’s why people with diabetes are told to fingerprick to check what their blood sugar actually is.

I certainly don’t think everyone should get a CGM! They’re making money from the worried well and helping to spread silly ideas about food. Because I have diabetes, people sometimes ask me about their blood sugar, having bought a Libre or other CGM. The questions they ask are usually…well, neurotic. All based on the normal movement of blood sugar up and down.

I could write a book about it. No, actually, I could write a book wibbling on about blood sugar in normal healthy people, list lots of daft rules - and make a fortune from it like some popular influencers.

Anyone wondering what a healthy diet is, can look at the Mediterranean Diet, which has been shown to be one of the healthiest. They can also look at How Not To Die, which contains loads of studies. That diet is plant-based, which some people won’t like or won’t be able to do, but taking that diet and adding a bit of animal protein is one way forward. People are joking about beans and pulses above. Check out the Blue Zones programmes and books.

I think the problem with diet is extremes. People don’t want to only eat the perfect healthy foods, so they think “F* it! I might as well eat what I want” then over-indulge in addictive junk food. The answer is a middle way. Base your diet on healthy foods and have occasional treats.

You don’t mention meat and egg which pretty much has all nutrients we need

The work of Weston A Price is what I consider a healthy diet. Ancient wisdom.