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.

A lot of people cannot digest pulses and grains very well like myself. I do a lot better on meat, fish, eggs, dairy, veg and fruit

Yes the advice for the fad of the time changes but essentially the boring, basic healthy balanced diet never changes.

But it's boring old healthy eating so will never get media coverage or people blindly raving about it.

https://overcomingms.org/latest/digesting-pulses

there are ways to make digestion easier, both by cooking practices & eating other foods to help with the digestion

I think some MNers know the calorific value of everything and the nutritional value of nothing.

I have days when I know that I've eaten a fair bit of crap but I also have a lot of days when I eat a lot more sensibly.

I eat fruit and veg each day, I cook from scratch most of the time, I limit rice, pasta to only twice a month and potatoes two or three times a week.

I make stews and casseroles with pulses, lentils, pearl barley, split peas etc. and I eat nuts most nights, almonds and cashews, sometimes walnuts too.

I don't eat meat every day, I eat quite a bit of salmon and sometimes no meat or fish at all just a veg meal.

I do the best I can but eating the odd doughnut or bar of chocolate probably won't kill me and I like a treat every now and then. Life would be rather sad if I didn't.

I just eat to my cravings and hunger
which to most means my diet is a load of shit but im happy
I dont like wasting my small appetite on food that dont excite me

Reminds me, i need more hot cross buns

I buy blueberries but no other fruit as food is too expensive.

I do eat nuts and seeds daily.

I have made a determined effort over the last few years to try to mainly eat food that bears a strong resemblance to what it looked like originally and doesn't contain ingredients or additives that I can't pronounce or know what they are.

So my typical week day is a big bowl of greek yoghurt with handful each of mixed seeds, walnuts, flaked almonds, a couple of handfulls of berries (fresh or frozen) with a big squirt of honey across the top. I eat this around midday.

Then about 6ish, some chicken breast (that has marinaded all day in spices and soy sauce or a fish sauce for a salty flavour) I fry that using a bit of butter, this is served with leafy greens, broccoli and whatever other veg has taken my fancy that week.

Snacks - usually a hard boiled egg (if DS hasn't raided my pre-cooked batch in the fridge), handful of nuts, melon or whatever fruit has taken my fancy that week.

I have gone back to butter rather than a spread made of things I can't pronounce.

Weekends are a bit laxer. Yesterday I had a slice of chocolate cake in a cafe with DH, then a Greggs sausage roll and a slice of their pepperoni pizza for lunch, so I had my yoghurt and berries for my dinner. Tonight we will have a roast beef dinner.

I have a large Cadburys Easter Egg awaiting demolition next weekend.

So I do eat "processed crap" and I like it when I do, but I just try to keep the main bulk of my diet as recognisable food.

He’s not vegan. He said that he eats about 80% less meat and fish now. He still eats meat.

Your preaching and scaremongering is bad for folk's stress levels.

Same!
I enjoy an egg every day and I enjoy lean meat or fish every day.
I love cheese, butter and mushrooms.
I eat four servings of salad and vegetables every day.

I do have rolled oats with nuts etc for breakfast.
But I only eat one or two pieces of fruit per day or I feel bloated.

I love real wholemeal bread, honey, icecream.

I love many cups of tea, iced water.. but no alcohol nor fruit juice.. again because I don't like how I feel bloated.

I eat that most days

Haha you're describing what I grew up on as a child. And it was home made sourdough bread. With a mum working ft. Don't know how she did it. Sadly I'm not as good as she was health wise for my children 😔

@LivelyLemonQuoter , where are you getting this advice to eat a minimum of three portions of fruit a day? Fruit has been selectively bred to be very sweet and we don’t need it. I agree with a previous poster insofar as supermarket bread regardless of its wholemeal nature is barely more healthy than a doughnut. I get my nutrition advice from Tim Spector, Giles Yeo and Chris Van Tulleken mostly and I think they’d all gently recommend that you read a bit further around the subject.

Agree with this. I’ve not been able to eat beans and pulses since I was a child, (including Heinz baked beans!) I’ve been sick when I’ve eaten them out of politeness at someone else’s house.

A lot of people still equate low calorie to the only metric of healthy, other than that I think it depends on other factors so isnt really possible to conclude x is the healthiest diet. It depends as well, I play a sport at county level so not professional or anything but I spend a lot of time training so my priorities for fuelling my body are different from someone who is largely sedentary.

Processed meat is.

Real meat isn’t.

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

Fruit definitely has an impact on blood sugar levels

Ask any diabetic

Most food “has an impact”. Eveything in moderation and fruit is absolutely fine and healthy for the vast majority of people.

I don't think OP is referring to diabetics though.

I can't eat pulses and nuts, flares up my ibd. I've been much better since I gave up gluten.

Write me a menu plan please.

Actually unprocessed meat does have an effect

You only have to look at the healthiest and most long lived groups and most if not all are Vegan

Problem is most people’s idea of veganism and some vegans themselves eat too much processed food

Any research to back this claim up?

I am so happy that Weight Watchers is going bankrupt. I never thought I would see the day.

I am happy because, while their diet seems healthy, it encourages unhealthy behaviours in people (I'm guessing mostly women). Most people do know what a healthy diet is and reliance on plans like WW takes away their agency - apart from the accountability aspect, which is good. I have always found it outrageous that they made millions because their diet plan didn't work for most people who just stayed in WW paying subs for their whole lives.

I am not however happy that the reason they are going bankrupt is due to the availability of diet injections like Ozempic. Even one of WW's spokespeople (Oprah, I'm looking at you) had to resign from WW because she found Ozempic was more effective
.