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).

"inflammation" is what I see mentioned everywhere. It's very convenient way of peddling product. Inflammation of what? How do you test it? Answer: oh it's 'general inflammation' and 'you just feel better'

You've missed the point they are all blended and seasoned sometimes with freshly made chicken stock.

But fresher and with possibly more nutrition than tinned as I use the freshest veg not just left over stuff which companies throw in soup.

I don't know what you're hoping to gain with your posts. You're coming over as bit goady.

You don't have to eat soup .

There’s no such thing as ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’ food.

People go on about food in a quasi-religious way: ‘nasties’, ‘meanies’ in food; eating ‘rubbish’ or ‘crap’; conversely, ‘eating healthily’, It’s all nonsense.

Food is more plentiful and better kept than it ever has been. Preservatives and additives have improved the range and quality of what we can eat. We really can’t improve our health by ‘cooking from scratch’ or obsessively reading labels in shops.

If you prefer the taste and texture of dishes you make yourself, great. I do. But there’s no health benefit to it.

Again, people just need varied diets. That’s all. Food should be enjoyed, not feared.

Inflammation is easily tested. Any detailed blood tests shows it.
It's the cause of numerous illnesses from rheumatics, to heart disease and worse.

"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"

How is it puzzling? Do you mean patronising and dismissive of life wrecking symptoms?
I got rid of some of them by cutting out a lot of processed food and sugar. Eat crap, feel crap.

What is tested? Inflammation of the gut? The heart? The blood stream? My DC have non-ige allergies which presumably cause inflammation but there is no test for them.

I completely agree with you! One thing worth thinking about is that, in middle income families, young girls are far, far more likely to die of an eating disorder than of type 2 diabetes! The obsession with eating healthily can often spill over into anorexia - I’ve seen it happen in my own family.

Totally agree.
Give it ten years and the current protein obsession will be out of fashion.
Everything goes in cycles.

My point is entirely in response to this (smug)
comment:

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

I have the money and the knowledge and I am motivated. I eat healthily due to genetic increased risk of bowel cancer which I have already had one symptoms of.

I chose to do that in a convenient way because I know the impact of my tin of heinz vs your pan of lentils and carrots is negligible.

I do somewhat agree - there's always some new fad (usually fuelled by someone hoping to make a profit). However, it does seem sensible to eat whole and natural foods rather than something industrially processed and designed to make us eat more than we would otherwise. As with most things, moderation is the key and some people take it to ridiculous extremes.

You have something called a low locus of control and the opposite have a high locus of control. It’s just a differing viewpoint on health behaviour.

Diet interacts with every single part of your system from the destruction of cancer cells to the quick work of the brains neurotransmitters. Your entire body is made from food and every second of thought or action is run by food. Can it fix everything? No. Over time does it have one of the biggest impacts on health of any known human action? Yes.

The whole Zoe thing is not a grift, and it’s based on scientific fact. However, it is also very much for the middle class worried well, and Zoe has made a lot of money for their investors.

Michael Pollan had it right when he came up with the line “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”

The trouble is, that line is really hard to monetise, which is why you don’t hear it much…

I always get the impression that the orthorexics assume the public take their bad diet to extremes too, whereas the reality is far more nuanced.

many young people eat very badly in their late teens 20s. Does it cause chronic disease on or shorten their life? Very unlikely provided they, as the majority will, improve their diet when they get older and settle in a home, routine, family etc.

Many young people drink excessively and vape.
Again, at a young age you can get away with this provided you stop, or in the case of alcohol reduce, as many do. At 25, it is unlike to cause lasting damage.

people have - as the great Taylor swift demonstrated-eras. They don’t start eating daily take out and Greggs at 18 and they’re still doing it at 56.

many people eat upf occasionally. Many people eat a take away and actually just buy chicken and rice from Nando, or pasta and sauce, or a curry from their local Indian restaurant. They’re not buying some alien food made from ground up mad cow brains (like we were in the 80s)
These things are treats and not unhealthy in that sense.

many people eat the occasional ready meal buy look at the ingredients and chose one that has the same ingredients as home made. Many people realise that pre chopped cabbage is no different to buying a unchopped cabbage.

People cling to diet because, frankly, there isn’t much else. We don’t like to face it, but our medicine is pretty feeble. We can barely cure anything. We can’t even cure the common cold. We can treat cancer and dementia and Parkinson’s and MND and all the other horrors our bodies inflict on us, but we can hardly ever cure them. And let’s face it, an African shaman could treat you, I could treat you.

I don't know what you're hoping to gain with your posts. You're coming over as bit goady

The irony! 😆

food does not destruct cancer cells - are you sure that’s what you meant to write? Neither is your body made from food. Fuelled by food yes.

The NDNS is a study that looks at how people in the UK eat and actually you’re being far more generous than orthorexics are being cruel. Brits of all ages don’t eat enough fibre or vegetables/fruit and eat too much meat, convenience food, sugar sweetened drinks and saturated fats. People DO eat Greggs everyday at 18 and continue until their 60s. Over 60% of adults are overweight… 30% are obese!

I never said it destructs cancer cells… it plays a role in it though.

Dietary habits directly modulate apoptosis (programmed cell death) by regulating signaling pathways, influencing the balance between cell survival and destruction, particularly in cancer prevention. Consuming nutrient-dense foods (e.g., fruits, veggies) contributes to healthy systems that perform apoptosis in damaged cells, while diets high in sugar, refined carbs, and processed meat suppress these systems allowing dysfunctional cells to survive.

Where did you get that from?

Nope. There is no irony, just lack of ownership for comments you made.

I gave an example of a cheap meal in response to your first post about healthy food sometimes being expensive.

You tore into my example of a homemade soup, said it was revolting (more or less) even though you'd never made it yourself.

Then you acknowledged you ate a tin of Heinz.

Then you made it obvious you don't have a clue about how to make soup as you didn't appear to know the veggies are blended!

If you don't like carrot and lentil soup, fine. I really don't care.

It was an example of how to make a nutritious lunch for under £1.

But you didn't have to be rude or so confrontational.

Diet interacts with every single part of your system from the destruction of cancer cells

How does diet destroy cancer cells @LadyCrustybread?

I’m doing dietetics at university and its something we have briefly looked at. The above was paraphrased from Oxford Academic - please find one source below:

https://academic.oup.com/carcin/article-abstract/28/2/233/2476711?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Nope. There is no irony, just lack of ownership for comments you made.

@OliviaWhatshername yiu need to reread your posts. You came across smug & condescending hence why posters have disagreed with you.

Take ownership? Did you mean to write that as it doesn’t make any sense 😆

Notice I said interacts with the systems that destroy cancer cells. I’m not saying that broccoli gets rid of your cancer. Diet has a role to play in apoptosis as I explained before you commented. Also see the study provided above.

It doesn't, not just the way the poster has written it.

Having a healthy gut microbiome means that our immune system is able to regulate cell growth and division and help prevent rogue (cancer) cells growing.

Immunotherapy for cancer works better when the gut microbiome is healthy. There is international research on this and it goes as far as suggesting patients on immunotherapy should not be on antibiotics (which upset the microbiome) before treatment starts.