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.

There’s plenty of academic research that’s contradictory! You’re very naive if you don’t think that’s true.

It’s not though
what if you’re 5ft 10, heavier and lifting weights?

And to counter some of your comments:

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.
Where is the proof of this? Depending on the fruit you’re eating, it can absolutely have an impact on blood sugar levels.

The other is concern over eating any carbs. Wholemeal bread and pasta is fine, carbs in pastry and doughnuts is not great though.
The carbs in wholemeal bread and pasta are very similar to their white variants, therefore the impact on blood sugar will be very similar.

Every day a portion of berries, nuts, flaxseed or chia seeds, three portions of fruit minimum, three minimum of veg, three of pulses.
Why? Who says?

Three portions of pulses a day is not excessive
Really? The carb content of this could well be.

Regular consumption of oats is shown to reduce cholesterol.
Is it? Cholesterol isn’t always a bad thing, given that it’s a healing agent.

Those foods are all low calorie
Why should we be focusing on low calorie foods?

In the west nearly everyone gets enough protein. You do not need to worry about protein.
Really? As we get older, we do need more protein

Diabetics are no longer told to avoid fruit. That advice is very out of date
Depends which diabetic organisation you’re referring to.

I do eat fish and meat, but try and minimise it.
Why? Based on what advice?

For every argument you make, there’s a counter one. Which is to indicate just how difficult it is to claim that there is one, simple, healthy way to eat.

@BIWI Are you simply being contrary?
It is people like you spreading dietary misinformation that just confuses people.

Nope, supermarket wholemeal bread is pretty much the same as a doughnut

Nothing like it

No you are spreading disinformation
You are taking nonsense about this perfect diet
@BIWI is completely correct in all her points above
Look at Gabrielle Lyon or Stacey Sims - they have years of academic work behind them and preach a completely different tune to you.

I've got IBS and that would destroy me for days.

It's just not straightforward for many of us.

YMMV. My skin gets very painful to the point where it hurts to bend my legs if I eat dairy, tomatoes, red meat, aubergines, whole wheat foods, seeds, spices or eggs. All good “healthy” stuff.

🤣

The irony!

I think that a healthy diet isn’t as prescriptive as you say.

For example I rarely eat fruit but easily get 5 portions of vegetables a day.

I noticed that you eat whole meal rice - why do you think that the healthiest countries in the world like Japan and South Korea eat white rice ?

What nonsense.

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.

Sugar has the same effect on blood sugar levels regardless of it's source.

I think it is you who is misinformed...

BIWI is correct.

Your diet sounds lovely... I'm veggie and love veg soups, chickpeas, spinach etc etc, and eat simple foods...
But I have divertular disease and cannot eat porridge or two much fibre even though it is supposed to be good, because I get partial blockages in my bowel and live with chronic pain from my gut.
One diet does not fit all...

BIWI is wrong

Fruit can have a very short impact on blood sugar. Research on diabetics showed the impact was very short and blood sugar quickly returned to normal.

Wholemeal bread and doughnuts are not the same. The flour used in doughnuts is bleached white flour which is different to wholemeal flour.

Every day a portion of berries, nuts, flaxseed or chia seeds, three portions of fruit minimum, three minimum of veg, three of pulses. Based on academic research.

The carb content of pulses is not an issue. Pulses contain carbohydrates, but don’t give sharp rises to blood glucose levels compared to other carbohydrate-containing foods.

We need some cholesterol in our bodies, but too much is bad for us. Most people in the west have a diet that promotes higher levels of cholesterol, which is why eating oats that help to reduce cholesterol is generally good. People who eat oats every day are also far less likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

Tell me a reputable diabetic charity that says eating fruit is bad for diabetics? Not a single one I know does. The advice not to eat fruit is outdated.

Fish and meat are fine in small quantities. Oily fish is good to have in your weekly diet, but not too much is advised as it can lead to consumption of mercury. Red meat in small quantities is advised to reduce various risks such as bowel cancer. But the main reason for eating this in small quantities is there is not much space left after you have eaten daily nuts, fruit, veg, seeds and pulses. So I do things like stir fry with a small bit of chicken and lots of veg. Or casserole with small bits of beef and lots of veg.

I understand that if you have illness or allergies, you may not be able to eat everything that is healthy for someone without that illness. If you have an illness you have to follow what your Dr says. A friend has a life threatening allergy to all fruit, so even though it is healthy she can not eat any fruit.

BIWI is WRONG.

Diabetes UK

"You might think that the sugar content of fruit, and some vegetables, means that you can’t eat them. But the sugar in whole fruit and veg does not count towards free sugars, so it is not this type of sugar we need to cut down on. This is different to the free sugar in drinks, chocolate, cakes and biscuits, as well as in fruit and vegetable juices and honey.
A portion of fruit, such as a medium-sized apple, generally contains about 15 to 20g carbs as well as other important nutrients. And many fruits and veg have a low-to-medium glycaemic index (GI), which tells us whether a food raises blood glucose levels quickly, moderately or slowly."

Academic research is sometimes presented in a way that supports what the end goal is of the researcher. This isn’t just about food by the way. Having known a lot of experts in their fields you realsie just what expert means.

Not much calcium in that diet

@ViciousCurrentBun I have posted links of peer reviewed academic research. That is the point of research being peer reviewed, to check whether other experts agree the methodology and conclusions stand up to scrutiny.
What I have posted is totally uncontroversial in the field of academic research.

Sure you might find some academic research funded by Montezuma, an international food manufacturer that disagrees. Just as there was still research being funded by tobacco firms saying that smoking was not harmful, when ALL of the actual academic research was showing it was very harmful.

It really is totally uncontroversial.
And we should be eating a minimum of ten a day fruit and vegetable portions. The only reason the UK government has not raised the recommendation to ten is because so many people are failing to even meet five a day and the government think it would be counterproductive to increase it to ten.

@Hastentoadd Porridge made with milk. So yes there is dairy. But if you know anything about food, you will know flax seeds and chia seeds are a good source of calcium as are many nuts. My diet is not lacking in calcium.

There is actually a fair amount of calcium in lentils, chickpeas and spinach even. I reckon with the serving of milk you’d be doing ok on that diet. Maybe add some chia seeds.

If you knew as much as you think you do about nutrition you would know that you are not meeting the recommended anoint of calcium daily for an adult which is around 1000–1200mg/day

I considered all the above and it still wouldn’t meet the recommendations,

No the recommended daily intake of calcium for an adult is much lower.
The World Health Organization recommends 500 mg of calcium a day and the United Kingdom sets the goal at 700 mg.

"In the past two decades, several clinical trials involving thousands of postmenopausal women have sought to determine how calcium intake affects the risk of hip fractures. In each study, women were randomly assigned to one of two groups — one to receive calcium and supplements of vitamin D (to aid calcium absorption) and the other to get placebo pills. After several years, the researchers looked at the number of hip fractures in each group. Here's what they found:
Calcium and vitamin D supplements don't prevent fractures. That finding came from two British studies reported in 2005. It was substantiated by a 2006 report from the Women's Health Initiative, which showed that 18,000 postmenopausal women who took a supplement containing 1,000 mg of calcium and 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D were no less likely to break their hips than an equal number who took a placebo pill, although the density of their hip bones increased slightly. Even that small change might have been due to the vitamin D rather than the calcium.
High calcium intake — from either food or pills — doesn't reduce hip fracture risk. This was the conclusion of a 2007 report by Swiss and American scientists who conducted an analysis of more than a dozen studies of calcium."

Whose recommendation? Because it is not what WHO or the UK government say.