Which diet advice is to be believed?

[TheDeadlyDonkey]

I've started reading John Briffa's Escape the Diet Trap. It makes for very interesting reading, but has made me question the usual run of the mill low fat type diet advice.
If Briffa is to be believed, low fat diets are unsustainable and can contribute to ongoing obesity issues and increasing the risk of diabetes.

I've also recently heard that if milk is to be drunk, full fat milk is better, as the majority of vitamins and minerals are in the fat.

I'm also hearing varying reports on cholesterol, and how it maybe isn't playing the dangerous role that many drs are telling us.

So, after DH's stroke (which wasn't in any way a lifestyle issue) he has been advised to be cautious and cut down on fat and use benecol spread and yoghurt drink (I have read that these aren't good for you, but can't remember where, could have been on here)

So when there is so much conflicting advice, who do you trust? What do you believe?

John Briffa's book is really convincing, quotes trials, uses scientific charts etc, and makes sense.
I myself have struggled with low fat diets, and failed more times than I care to admit.
I am in no way qualified to interpret scientific trial data (along with the majority of the population) and am growing more and more confused about the conflicting advice that is out there.

I'm not really sure what I'm expecting from this thread, but I'm interested to see what others think about this, and who you trust when it comes to diet advice?

And that's the problem - who defines 'healthy'?!

... although I certainly agree that avoiding processed foods and artificial ingredients HAS to be a good thing

Healthy has to be something that comes down to individual needs and goals - weight loss or weight gain or stay the same, medical conditions, age, activity levels....all play a big part in determining what is a healthy diet. Without a doubt clean, home cooked food is the best starting point regardless of individual needs.

I agree. I'm always shocked at how little home-cooking or cooling from scratch is done these days

I hope what folk can take away from this thread is that there are lots of pictures of what a healthy diet can look like, and should be room for individuals to experiment and find what fits them best (always a work in progress, anyway).

BIWI The thing about dental health and fruit is bizarre IMO and E ; (imo its the high acid diet of lots of sugar and salt and fizzy drinks that causes the bad teeth)

I've got all my own teeth and they're good ;after all Gorillas eat just fruit and veg do they all have bad teeth? My DM also has no false teeth (she's 85 BTW) and she eats a lot of fruit.

So fruit is all sugar and bad now, is it?

Fruit is fine. It appears on any superfoods list you care to look at, especially berries and tomatoes. It contains all sorts of trace elements you can't get anywhere else as well as fibre and the more common nutrients.

As for the teeth thing, yes there is an element of truth in that - just look at any toothpaste advert these days - but it can be managed. A bit of fruit is not going to make your teeth rot is you just follow normal mouth hygiene habits.

But BBB since when did adverts tell the truth? They just want to sell their crap products IMO. The products are generally crap esp. the heavily advertised ones because the companies have to make enormous profits after spending on the adverts they have no money left for quality.

Thinking about it the adverts are as responsible as anyone for the shxx food and drinks that a lot people are addicted to. There was a thread on here about Coke and sooo many of the posters thought it quite okay to drink stuff with additives and or 9 spoonfuls of sugar in it. It's the power of advertising to normalise shit. (sorry for the rant).

I don't know if you have seen some of the adverts here where they are selling toothpaste which protects enamel. They acknowledge that fruit is good for you and we should be eating it but that the acid can attack the tooth enamel so dental hygiene is important. DS's dentist said the same without flogging any toothpaste.

I don't think they are disputing that crap food will have a worse effect but that fruit isn't without its risks - it is more acidic than veg for example.

They are trying to get the healthy eater who thinks perhaps that they don't have as much to worry about as those who live off a diet of donuts and coke when perhaps they should be careful too.

Whether the product actually works is another matter. My dentist is sceptical. I don't think I dispute idea just the usefulness of the product.

Interestingly I used to use that particular toothpaste it worked for a while when my teeth were sensitive but stopped working until I decided to eat really healthily and my teeth are not sensitive any more (i use a non fluoride one from a HF shop) I do also "oil pull".

ppeatfruit The thing about dental health and fruit is bizarre IMO and E ; (imo its the high acid diet of lots of sugar and salt and fizzy drinks that causes the bad teeth)

Yes and fruit is sugar! So if you're eating a lot of fruit, by definition you are eating lots of sugar.

One of my clients is a manufacturer of toothpastes, so I do know just a little about what I'm talking about. And it's not just based on what they say as a manufacturer, but on the basis of the very many dentists and dental hygienists that I have worked with.

BBB - as far as I am concerned, as a low carber, fruit simply isn't worth including in my diet. There is far too much sugar in it, and I get all the nutrients I need from the amount of veg and salad I eat (as well as all the other good stuff). However, it's a great food if you're not low carbing. As I was saying earlier.

What is/isn't 'good' or 'healthy' varies according to which way you choose to eat.

BIWI But it's not like refined sugar beet is it? Fructose (which occurs naturally in fruit doesn't spike BSLs like the refined stuff it releases its energy more slowly) I'm not talking about high fructose corn syrup which is the worst of all, maybe the dentists are thinking about that stuff.

Just about everyone except perhaps not on this thread knows that too much fruit is not good for you. It used to be a rare thing you would have at harvest time. We all know man is a meat eater, fish eater etc

A lot of rather fat British women think if they eat a ton of fruit and main line their children on orange jucie they are going all healthy. They would be better cutting back on the ftuit a bit although it (the fruit not the juice) is better for you than junk and for many people not eating the junk food is hard enough. If they substitute the junk food with a a massive load of grapes and 4 bananas that is a huge achievement. However it is not ideal and it is still sugar.

Very wrong, Xenia. Hunt down your own animals and bring them down with your claws and teeth, do you? Chomp down on raw flesh? No? Why not?!

Health-wise, we are better off eating no meat, and no animal products. You have been lied to. Watch Forks Over Knives, a documentary based on the book The China Study.

No, ppeatfruit, it's exactly the same in terms of its action in the mouth/effect on pH levels.

To be precise, it is the combination of the carbohydrate from the fructose and the acid from the fruit itself that has its effect on tooth enamel.

Look, ppeat, I'm not trying to say that fruit is 'bad' - knock yourself out and eat as much of it as you like, if that suits you/your dietary ambitions.

I'm simply pointing out that there are reasons why some people might want to restrict their intake.

Either from a very specific dietary point of view - i.e. like me you are low carbing or, from a more general dental health point of view. The fact that one company has spent considerable amounts of money developing a product to deal with this issue would tell you that there is a problem here for some people. People who eat a lot of fruit and drink a lot of fruit juice (and those who also drink a lot of wine) are especially at risk, because of the effects I've already talked about.

It worked for me once I stopped dieting. Eat less, keep it fairly low fat, don't snack and exercise much, much more. I eat lots of fruit. I would like to say 'keep off alcohol' but I don't always manage it.

Hmm. And The China Study is not entirely convincing either ...

BIWI - I thought it was a myth that all fruit was too high carb for a low carb diet. Not all fruit is the same surely? Some of them have nutrients you can't easily find in veggies - again the purple colouring of berries that gives them their health benefits are hard to find in veg.

Of course if you don't like fruit, fair enough but don't write it off on the basis of it being 'just sugar' or just carbs because it isn't.

No, not all fruit is too high in carbs - berries are great, and rhubarb is fab (although technically, of course, it isn't fruit!)

I'm not writing fruit off at all.

But it is still sugar ...

I don't know why I actually have to defend this by the way, as it is actually true! In just the same way that potatoes and carrots are high in carbs, which means that they are sugar!

You choose to eat fruit. Absolutely nothing wrong with that if it's in line with the kind of diet you want to pursue. And I'm not arguing with your beliefs or choices.

All I'm pointing out is that for those of us who choose to low carb, fruit (or too much/the 'wrong' kind of fruit) is something we choose to leave out of our diets.