To think there's a growing amount of people who think food can fix everything?

[StructuredChaos]

Was listening to some ZOE podcasts, and love eating healthy foods myself, so it isn't a criticism of nutrition awareness. I'm a bit of a cooking nerd so love all of this stuff and finding new recipes, but I am noticing more and more people who seem to believe that eating low upf and fresh fruit and veg can add 'decades' to a human lifespan.

It certainly won't shorten it!
Surely this is an oversimplification, though?

I have always eaten in a kind of 'ZOE' way, and whilst I don't have any metabolic disease, weight problems or other issues, I am not so confident that I am going to outlive my peers due to this. It's something I can control, yes, and that's great, but I think it's deceptive to think we won't ever get cancer, heart disease, dementia or auto immune diseases if we eat in a 'clean' or ideal way.

Not to mention the 'ideal' keeps bloody changing!

I don't think life is that simple at all, even though I do champion healthy, fresh diets.
I see people who claim their spots, headaches, IBS, brain fog, joint aches and other issues immediately cease when they start eating fresh fruit and veg, or low histamine, or low inflammatory diets...... What puzzles me, as someone who has always enjoyed high fibre and fresh foods, is how nebulous those symptoms are, and not very well understood by GP's.
It allows for all manner of snake oil claims online, since the placebo effect is strong.

Just saw a vid with Tim Spector claiming that eating the ZOE way will certainly add 10 extra healthy years to your life. So if we use myself as an example of this, it doesn't take into account my familial heart disease, stroke risk, potential genetic cancers, and a world of non food related risks, of which there are countless examples.

It reminds me of those people who think they will never get ill because they don't smoke. Neither did my parents, but they died before their time (sepsis and vascular dementia).

The other thing which drives me potty is that people lie or fool themselves into framing their current fad as something with longevity.

We’re all older. We were there listening to this shit with atkins, 5 a day, Gillian mckeith. We all know that 20 years ago you didn’t know what a UPF was and would laugh your arses off at 30 plants a week.

You might’ve been Zoe’s biggest fan for the last 5 years but that is NOTHING over the course of your life and 5 years of some fad shite plays no role in your life long health.

If you kept it up for the next 40 years, it will, but we don’t believe you will because you’ll be onto the next fad soon enough.

I fixed recurrent UTI ''s that I'd had for 13 years just with a change in diet and a few carefully chosen supplements.

I was part of a forum of people who weren't getting answers from the medical profession and had come together to say what worked, so a lot of advice came from there.
It wasn't easy. It took committing to a drastic change and it took about 11 months and a lot of faith in what I was trying. I'd come to the point where I was looking at having to give up my job, which was even more drastic than the changes I made. As was the invasive testing that was the next step if I hadn't taken responsibility.

Yes I think diet is responsible for a lot. So is sleep, stress and so is circadian rhythm, lack of exercise. So I would say lifestyle rather than just food.

I’m fairly sure it’s diet related- little meat and being in nature a lot. He doesn’t strike me as the type to be munching on Dominos, drinking Monsters and smoking 20 per day.

I definitely think some chocolate or a big slice of cake with a cup of tea can fix pretty much anything. Not sure that's what you mean though.

Comfort eating for the win.

If I was wealthy I would pay someone to cook me all the nutritious stuff

I’m a fairly sure its wealth and class related

I'm sure that helps, but he does keep busy and has an active mind which I think helps a lot. People who keep their minds and bodies active as they age do seem to fare better.

As I said, he isn’t eating Dominos and drinking Monsters.

Does he? I mean we don’t know the guy but as much as I adore him, his documentaries have always been occasional and his early years were spent in senior management in the bbc. Doesn’t particularly strike as a nose to the grindstone type.

Well he might be. Wealth doesn’t mean healthy diet. It means better outcomes for reasons far more complex than food, which is really so simplistic (I think this is why it appeals to people as a cure all tbh)

There’s also the whole issue of healthcare & having access to decent healthcare.

He's 100 this year and I think it's a bit unfair to question his dedication and work ethic. He's written and narrated around 100 documentaries in that time and written many books. He's obviously kept his mind very busy.

I thought there were centenarians with bad habits?

I don't know about Mr. Attenborough, but any of the centenarians and beyond that I've read about cite enjoying a tipple or two a day. So alcohol as a preservative FTW!

They do often seem to!

Health starts in the gut. I doubt it'll add decades to your life, but your gut plays the most important part in determining how healthy you are, both mentally and physically. Immune cells reside in the gut lining, and serotonin is produced in the gut.

Well, for a couple of months I was eating lots of fruit and also double dosing a vitamin and yes I did feel really good. Strong and healthy, more solid or something

This is true. But its also dangerous to peddle that with healthy food all will be well. UK life expectancy is 83 years for women and 79 for men. So Spector giving us 10 more year means women die at 93 and men at 89. We need to have all the other pieces of the puzzle in place to support that. What is more interesting is that UK's healthy life expectancy is much lower, 62 for both women and men. So this is what needs to change and again it will take more than food (including social networks and support). Another discussion that things like Zoe podcasts dismiss is how costly the healthy foods to get you that extra 10 years are for most family (my kids love fennel and cavolo nero. Fennel is £5 a bulb at the local sains. And that not even organic! CN is also expensive but at least we can afford that regularly). To an extremish example and Zoe specifically, the gut health bundle would cost an individual about £33 a month when you subscribe i.e. 133 down from 180 (Excluding other things we "need" like kefir, good quality dark chocolate, etc). So a family of 4 need to add £132 to their monthly bill (but don't despair. That's 4 fancy measuring spoons with it!). To be fair you can make it yourself probably for cheaper.
And then there is the fact that good food is generally home made, knowledgeably made food. Unless you can afford a personal chef or something, this burden will largely fall on the already exhausted, burnt out women of his majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Thanks Sir Humphrey Appleby!). Increasingly, at least in our area, I see adverts of professionals seeking a second part time "job" to patch up finances so who has the time or energy to buy and make fresh foods and sprinkle seeds and berries on it, then exercise, meditate, drink 17 cups of green tea or whatever latest herbal tea from the amazon? Apologies @Ghostspritz am putting so many posts into one not just replying to you.
@StructuredChaos take the wisdom and leave the additives. I do think there are great things that people like Spector have done, like increasing awareness of gut health and the importance of fibre. But as it typical in our world there is a part that has been kidnapped by the capitalist monster and starts peddling fluff. Do what you can!

You don't need to buy the Zoe products. Your post is full of negativity. Or you're being sarcastic.

You can eat healthily very cheaply using beans, pulses, veg etc.

Yesterday I made a huge vat of soup ( 3 litres) with 3 carrots, an onion, red lentils and some grated ginger.
Used one lot and froze the rest.

It's not money, it's knowledge and being motivated that is the issue.

I work in healthcare with a strong emphasis on lifestyle and I agree OP. A healthy lifestyle is always a good thing but luck and genes play a huge part in someone's health. I definitely see better recovery rates in people that have invested in their health though.
I'm not a fan of ZOE - its previous business model was preying on people's ignorance about blood glucose levels and made an extortionate amount of money doing so, therefore I don't trust them as a company.

Hear hear

Your post is full of negativity. Or you're being sarcastic.

No it isn’t, it’s realistic.

Yesterday I made a huge vat of soup ( 3 litres) with 3 carrots, an onion, red lentils and some grated ginger.

That sounds depressing!

YANBU food is not a “cure” although eating more healthily is obviously better for you. But there is still so much superstition and fear relating to fatal conditions such as cancer and dementia ( in the last century, things like TB also). I think people WANT to think that people who get these have done something “wrong” and therefore, they will be fine.

I haven't heard anyone suggest "decades" and it's not so much that food can fix things, as the wrong food causes so many health issues.

I think people WANT to think that people who get these have done something “wrong” and therefore, they will be fine.

I think that’s a big part of it.