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?

[amazingmumof6]

good luck, I'd like to know how you get on!

[whowherewhen]

I'm a Xenia fan. 'Ditch anything processed' Don't eat all those processed fats - butter is best (in moderation) Anything natural is to go for!!

[Xenia]

I eat absolutely loads of food. I had lemon soul and spinach for lunch with squash. I also had a bit of brown rice (which I do eat). I eat lots of eggs - I have poached eggs every morning etc. I love sea food, fish.

If you just think back to what man ate for 1 million years and stick wtih that you cannot go very wrong (and some of those people were in the artic with only meat/fat and others were rooting out tubers - so quite a bit of variety, but not man made.
"xenia huh?
so what do you eat? I'm guessing hardy anything.
I mean you can't even eat a sandwich or a soup - even if YOU make it, you have to throw it away...because it's made by a human"


If man made it don't eat it was a quote from I think a 1950s male film start but I forget his name. He was of course pretty fit.

[specialsubject]

for everyone in normal health: it is calories in versus calories out. End of.

Do what the nhs say on their eatwell plate. Learn the difference between simple carbs and complex carbs. Eat your veg, don't pig out, move around.

[amazingmumof6]

I'm sorry Xenia, your diet sounds more than reasonable.
the philosophy about what cavemen ate - not so much.
incomparable circumstances, so makes no sense to me.

And I can't think back what happened a 1 million years ago.
I barely remember what happened last month

glad it's working for you though!

[TheHumancatapult]

No deadly first few weeks were hard but I kept it of for couple months . I have a 7lb weight float thing I get near top end the. I cut it back I use 5/2 to maintain now

[emblon]

I eat a reasonably healthy diet but love food and tend to overeat given the chance. Although not really overweight, my weight has crept up over the last 10 years (since the birth of my second child) by about 20 pounds. I've tried dieting before, but after some initial success have reverted back to old habits and the weight has gone back on.

However, last summer, after seeing the horizon programme I started on the 5:2 diet. I don't strictly calorie count on the two fast days, but I try to eat just one small meal and maybe a banana to keep me going. I've found this surprisingly easy. I still eat loads on the other days and I get through a fair amount of alcohol at the weekends.

I weigh myself about once a month. Although not as 'successful' as some reports of this diet, I have gone from just under 11 stone, to just under 10 stone. There is much more definition to my body and clothes are much looser fitting. I'm confident, that after a few more months I will be down to my pre-children weight. I'm not sure what I will do then - maybe like PigeonPie 'I will just fast on one day a week.

[snoworneahva]

I believe eating nutrient dense foods is probably best for health - I avoid grains, I avoid processed foods, I avoid additives, I avoid sugar. I fast twice a week 5:2 style but it does not result in weight loss for me - been doing it for 9 months - fingers crossed it's giving me positive health benefits elsewhere.
But apart from diet I am a firm believer in exercise, not just to burn calories but for good general health and flexibility and strength through to the retirement years.

[UmBongo]

I am losing weight my own way at the moment. Mainly following the Eat Less Move More diet!

I have a normal weetabix and dried fruit breakfast, small lunch and smaller than before portion of whatever I make for family tea. I'm not faffing about making myself eat "diet food" while making sausages or whatever for the rest of the family!

I am also following the couch to 5k running podcasts off the nhs website.

I have lost 1.5 stone in around 2 months.

[EuroShaggleton]

I think ignoring all fads is key. Eat less, move more, and your input/output in balance to maintain weight, make sure you are burning more than you put in if you are trying to lose. If you don't want to or can't do much exercise, then you are going to have to watch what you are eating.

I don't go for full on paleo, but I do try to eat natural foods rather than chemical-laden non-food (I won't allow marg in the house). I try to eat brown rather than white carbs most of the time, with decent amounts of protein and veg. If I am going to have something sugary, I try not to have it on its own as it tends to give me a sugar crash afterwards, so orange juice with a breakfast of bacon and eggs is fine, orange juice with a croissant and jam will leave me feeling crap.

[Bexicles]

I try to follow the glycaemic index as much I can. I also juice daily and take spirulina. I just think being sensible is the key, calorie restrictive diets don't work long term.

[fatlazymummy]

Use a smaller plate (mine is 8'' diameter)
minimum 5 a day (2 of fruit, 3 veg)
home cooked food, no ready meals or takeaways
Alcohol free.
The odd biscuit or piece of cake is fine, but limit it to 1 or 2, on special occassions.
I still eat bread. I usually have 1 wholemeal pitta for lunch.
Lots of exercise.
I have lost nearly 5 stones through eating like this, and maintained for a year.

[scarecrow22]

DH and I eat almost exclusively home cooked food, with the exception of the odd seeded fish from m and s, or basic pasta base sauce in a jar. When I buy anything processed I try to get things that only have ingredients I understand and could buy individually. Margarine is a total no! If we think we've been eating too much sweet or red meat or whatever we err on the more healthy side for a while, or if we are feeling run down or whatever go for more meat or dark greens, etc. We both normally do moderate exercise - he cycles daily for work, errands, etc. I walk and run/jog normally. Apart from year after babies (just had second) we are both a healthy weight and have good energy levels - the latter being my no one focus after having children in our 40s!!

[scarecrow22]

in terms of who to trust, no one individual, but two books by Felicity Lawrence are a good way to educate yourself about food and the food industry, especially Eat Your Heart Out.
Never follow a diet, I would say, but do listen to sensible eating advice. if you love almond croissants (as I do) have one occasionally, as a meal perhaps, the you won't waste too much time thinking about them and feeling deprived.

[fatlazymummy]

I would also recommend eating the kinds of foods that you like and that suit you, that way you will be more motivated to stick to it.
eg, I find full fat milk disgusting. I'm not going to force myself to drink it because some diet 'specialist' recommends it. I just carried on drinking semi skimmed.

[apatchylass]

The caveman argument is hilariously bonkers. Their life expectancy was 30 years. As our diet has become more varied and complex, we have gained health and longevity. Those who had a wider tolerance for a greater number of food types thrived.

Why do people fetishise good, healthy eating? It's very straightforward and it's stuff most people already know, but there's such a penchant for making it more complicated than it is - creating unnecessary rules and strictures.

Eat fresh food from all main food groups - whatever takes your fancy - in moderation and get moving.

It's that simple. People don't seem to want simplicity.

[Xenia]

It's very simple - eat how we always ate. I don't think people are really disagreeing here. If you eat highly processed junk foods you won't get enough nutrients and we aren't adapted for that. Eating healthy whole foods is not a fad. It is what people have changed to eating in the last 40 years - processed junk which is abnormal and bad for us.

Eating wholefoods is the opposite of faddy.

[chocoluvva]

apatchylass Apparently 'cavemen' ie, hunter-gatherers had a longer life expectancy than the 'farmers' who came after them. I think that's how the idea to eat like a caveman started. (I agree that the idea of a 'paleolithic diet' is very problematic though).

But I agree that the principles of healthy eating are overlooked in favour of "unnecessary rules and strictures". I blame the easy 24/7 availability of cheap, nutritionally-empty, convenient foods designed to appeal to our taste for sweet, fatty/salty foods which blunt our palates and lead to cravings for more of them.

It's so annoying that people who eat all/mainly wholefoods are made out to be faddy by others whose diets are comprised of mostly white flour and dairy.

[Xenia]

choco, yes I agree. The fad, the bad food, the strange awful way of eating is what most people eat from their cakes, biscuits and junk stuff which is so full of so little that is good for you and people who eat what I regard as a normal diet, fish, eggs, veg, sea food etc etc weirdly have been come to be seen as strange whereas go back 60 years and just about anywhere on the planet everyone would eat like I do.

There is an interesting programme about how the UK came to get sugar The others in the series are interesting too on alcohol and tobacco.

[farmersdaughter]

Haven't read the whole thread so apologies if I'm repeating!

Eat less, move more!

[ppeatfruit]

apatctchylass We may be living longer than cavemen but are we all healthy? A good percentage of people I've known have died quite young (4os and 50s) and I'm healthier than most of my friends now (of all ages) just because a food is fresh or home cooked doesn't automatically make it okay for everyone. Ever heard of allergies? tomatoes and oranges give me bad eczema so i don't eat them but a lot of people are fine with them.

That's the reason I follow my blood type.

[Xenia]

I don't think people need to worry about reasons or the history of food and eating. Just eat non processed foods and you'll be fine. That might for some mean they want 100% vegan or vegetarian or it may be mostly meat and fat like eskimo or a mixture but what all those have in common in absence of sugar and absence of processed junk so wherever you fall on the spectrum - veg, meat etc you will feel a lot better.

Also bear in mind you can live on diet coke, coffee, chocolate and be very thin if you don't eat much else and people on those diets tend not to be very healthy. It is not just about weight. It is about what foods long term make you happy (rather than short term sugar, drugs, alcohol high) and which keep you healthy.

I am just about never ill (so far touch wood....) and I eat well. I think there is some connection.

[Minifingers]

"The caveman argument is hilariously bonkers. Their life expectancy was 30 years. As our diet has become more varied and complex, we have gained health and longevity"

We live longer because we don't die in childbirth or infectious illnesses or injuries. We aren't weakened by periods of starvation.

The diseases which kill the majority of people are cancers, liver diseases, circulatory disorders, heart disease, diabetes related complications.

I can't believe that people who were 10 times more active than your average person is now, and who lived on a diet of berries and game would have been subject to these diseases in anything like the way we are today.

[Trills]

A society where people mainly die of cancer and heart disease could actually be a very healthy society - people are not dying of other things first and are living long enough to die of cancer and heart disease.

[ppeatfruit]

I couldn't agree more that it's not just about weight. Before I was on the Paul Mckenna I was 3 stone over my now normal weight but I was healthy!

Yes Xenia if you choose the foods that you're good with, our bodies often tell us.

The problems start when as you say people become addicted to junk; high sugar, high salt foods (the manufacturers of ready made meals and fizzy drinks and most fast foods know it well )