Now I am utterly Confused

[fallen-archie]

The BBC news has just carried a story about the need for us to eat carbohydrates, this follows a recent series of programs also on the bbc saying how a low carb diet would assist those with diabetes! Surely it is possible for dietitians to get their heads together and tell us what we should eat, how much, and how often. There are so many diet plans out there, low fat, low carb, Mediterranean etc etc are we just playing to those who seek to have a best selling book or is there something out there that actually works whilst also being good for you? Asking for a friend!!!

[cee-dee]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45195474

I saw the above this morning and thought "here we go again"......... 

 A while ago I came to the conclusion that a bit of this, a bit of that (and a bit of the other) is good for you. A lot of this to the exclusion of that was bad for you.

I think all those "studies" depended on which particular food those carrying out the study had "a thing" about.

[suzieseaside]

'A little bit of what you fancy does you good' and 'Everything in moderation' seem reasonable guidelines 🙂

[suzieseaside]

But too much sugar not good especially i and too many carbs convert to sugar

[suzieseaside]

Esp not good if prone to diabetes.
Apologies for 3 posts supposed to be one but my new phone doing weird random things 🙄

[bankhaunter]

The simple fact is that research is a constant process and evidence is often discovered leads to a correction in given advice, doctors and dieticians are not always up to date with the latest research.

However do not rely on any journalist's article, always seek out their sources and see what that says, it may not be quite the same.

For normal healthy people, most diet plans come down to nothing more than eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, little in the way of processed food and don't eat too much.

I once had a rat and started giving her a minature version of my dinner arranged on her own little plate.  This meant that, in order her food was healthy for her I had to eat healthy meals as well, fried food and pizzas were a no no.

Not giving her a dinner was out of the question, she always knew when I was getting it ready and would chew at the bars of her cage until she got her share.

[mustard-tree]

If we took notice of everything we read, we wouldn't eat anything.

[023mjc]

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@mustard-tree wrote:

If we took notice of everything we read, we wouldn't eat anything.

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We wouldn't live any longer either.  It would feel like a long time though

I've ignored all the advice for years.  I eat a healthy diet with home grown fruit and veg, but if I want a burger or something dripping in fat, or a whole packet of choccy biscuits in one go,  I'll have it. 

I'd like to know how come there are so many over 80s still alive. Kids during the war and following years of rationing were fed on anything that would fill their bellies - spuds and suet pudding, bread and dripping,cheap fatty meat etc, and it didn't kill them - in fact to have reached their middle 80s they seem to have done very well on it.

[bankhaunter]

When I was small, the family went on camping holidays staying on farms.

Butter and eggs were still on ration but we would buy them from the farmer off ration, we would live like kings for a couple of weeks.

We also had masses of fresh vegetables, the produce of two allotments.

[astrologica]

My father lived to be 85 and my mother 96. I think our genes have a lot to do with it...at least I am hoping that's the case! My father would fry his bacon and new potatoes and then pour the fat all over the potatoes!😯.He liked a pint and enjoyed his chocolate. But for most of his working life he had to cycle to work and back so that kept him fit. (He was a miner.) He contracted Silicosis from the coal dust and that got him in the end.

My mother ate quite sparingly and it wasn't until after she died and I looked back on her life, that I realised that she probably suffered from an eating disorder, as she was quite scathing about people who were carrying a few extra pounds! We tend to think of Anorexia as a modern disease, but I'm sure my Mum suffered from a mild form of that. During their lives, there wasn't any junk food, and they ate fish and meat when they could afford it and lots of vegetables. And they worked very hard..and I think that contributed to their longevity. I was brought up the same way...plain and simple food, and just 6d worth of sweets a week. My Dad grew a lot of our vegetables in the garden.

I think I agree with the previous poster who suggested that everything in moderation is ok. I do try and avoid fat, and I never eat the batter off fish, or the pastry off a pie, and have only two slices of bread a day..no more. But..on the other hand I do love a bar of chocolate, and I have that when I feel like it. When I go into town, I feel sad to see young people, even children, who are grossly overweight. What future is there for their health if they don't shape up?

[023mjc]

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@astrologica wrote:

 My father would fry his bacon and new potatoes and then pour the fat all over the potatoes!😯.

Mmmmm.  I do that.  I also dip the bread in the bacon fat when I have a bacon butty.

 I never eat the batter off fish, or the pastry off a pie,

Those are the best bits !  My grandad called the pastry  "swindle" because it had no meat in it.  I still call it that when I'm telling by sons to  "eat that swindle".

I do eat lots of fruit and veg though - we grow our own, and I never went over 7 stone 10lbs till I was almost 50.

The trouble with todays kids, is many young mothers have no idea what to do with a carrot or a sprig of broccolli and only use the microwave to cook ready meals, and the only excersise the kids get is their thumbs on a mobile phone.

[cee-dee]

Here's another "new" thing they're on about:-

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45171651

And throw in this for good measure:-

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39057146

[bidicus*maximus]

Carbohydrates are the fuel that your body runs on.  Get too many, and your body stores them as fat.  Don't eat them (or consume alcohol, or starch) and your body will covert fat back to carbohydrates and burn them as fuel... thus causing you to lose weight.  If you have diabetes, you should only eat sparingly of "complex carbohydrates" such as are found in natural foods, like fruit.  Refined sugar or corn syrup would be bad for you.

[astrologica]

Reading this, I have just had another memory flash into my mind. Fried bread....did anyone else have that? If there was any fat left in the frying pan, my Dad would drop a slice of bread in and fry it until it was golden brown. And then put brown sauce on it. The devils food...but he loved it!!

[fallen-archie]

Indeed fried bread was always part of a full English breakfast, I also remember bread and dripping with loads of salt and pepper, don’t see it making a comeback anytime soon!

[023mjc]

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@astrologica wrote:

Fried bread....did anyone else have that?

I still do have it.  In fact, if you have a fried breakfast in a cafe, most of them have it on the menu too.

Fried in the bacon juice -delish. You can't have a full english without fried bread !!!

Now I'm hungry......

[023mjc]

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@fallen-archie wrote:
I also remember bread and dripping with loads of salt and pepper, don’t see it making a comeback anytime soon!

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It never left.  I still eat bread and dripping - obviously not the white blocks that you get in the supermarkets, but pure beef dripping left over from a joint.

You must all think I'm really unhealthy, but ( believe it or not) my diet is very balanced and the above is only a small part of it, and obviously not every day.

[theelench]

It doesn't matter what they say is healthy or bad for you.  Or whether you follow the advice or not IMO.

Over the years I've met people who have lived to a reasonably ripe old age who have had "good" diet and others who have ignored all the advice.  Several who have virtually lived on junk food and were obese.  Even a few who ignored medically prescribed diets.  Their bodies managed tolerably well  --  until they didn't.  Then they died, often from something that to me didn't seem at all related to their diet.

What I notice most about the obesity "Epidemic" is that contrasted with how we ate when I was a child, or even a young adult (1950s - 70s) is back then meals were the norm for most.  Now for so many it seems meals are incidental larger servings that punctuate almost constant grazing.  Crisps, biscuits, nuts, cereals and almost anything else that can be eaten while doing something else.

[fallen-archie]

I agree with you QB my OH comes home from a shift and says how in the middle of the night her colleagues send out for take aways! Whilst arriving with crisps, chocolates, biscuits etc etc and then grazing throughout the night! Even when you see staff driving they are constantly chewing! We need to reprogram ourselves to eat smaller portions and only when required! Treats are for special occasions and it should save people money too.

[cee-dee]

Eating is pleasurable, that's why some people are constantly "grazing". Also, food is readily available and comparatively speaking, cheap. The grazers have forgotten the old saying. "We eat to live, not live to eat".