Thoughts on diet and health

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NibbanaBanana said:
Rural Polish and Russian peasants around the turn of the twentieth century ate a diet that consisted entirely of potatoes and brown bread. They worked very hard, under very harsh conditions, and were very healthy.

Rural Africans in the mid twentieth century (and today) ate a traditional starch based diet. Cardiovascular disease, type 2, breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, Crohn's disease, IBD, Lupus, MS, rheumatiod arthritus, etc, all of the common western diseases were unheard of in all of rural Africa. Not rare, unheard of. Same with other rural populations eating starch based diets.

So no, a wide variety of foods is not necessary or helpful.
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And the Irish of course
 
Tom NJ said:
This seems to be a popular subject here on BITOG, and one that often makes me smile and bite my tongue. So I thought I would jot down some thoughts for what it’s worth.

Most people’s beliefs on nutrition and healthy diet are not formed by scrutinizing volumes of gold standard studies, i.e. randomized, double blind, placebo controlled, statistically significant, peer reviewed, and published by a reputable journal. Instead our opinions are usually formed or influenced mainly by media reports and repeated headlines as this is what we have access to, and the information we glean is both dubious and ever changing.

Media makes its money by readership and so has a strong driver to sensationalize to get attention, even to the extent to intentional distortion. Any study that associates a nasty disease such as cancer with a common food, no matter how bad the study was, will generate headlines for years until it becomes an excepted fact. That is until the next study contradicts it. How many times have we heard that coffee is good for you/coffee is bad for you, wine is good for you/wine is bad for you, eggs are good for you/eggs are bad for you, margarine is good for you/margarine is bad for you, meat is good for you/meat is bad for you, etc., etc., etc. The result of this flood of profit driven information is often false, incomplete, or misleading “facts” that become imbedded in the minds of otherwise intelligent people and debated ad nauseam.

As an example, I Googled “health benefits of garlic” and in short order found 73 diseases, ailments, or conditions that garlic is purported to cure, prevent, treat, or support, ranging from nine different cancers to erectile dysfunction! This was not a surprise because if a study, any study, finds that garlic has, say, an anti-inflammatory component, no matter how small, food and supplement marketers will jump on it and connect garlic with every ailment that has ever been “associated” with inflammation. If it nudges your cholesterol down a couple of points it instantly becomes “heart healthy” and even earns (or buys) a symbol on the label to prove it. This same nonsense exists for numerous other common foods, vitamins, and supplements in an endless effort to sell or promote some product.

And this should come as no surprise. The fact is that the chemistry of our bodies, the food we eat, and the processes they undergo and interact with is extraordinarily complex, so much so that trying to isolate a single food chemical component and quantify its long term effect on health and longevity is virtually impossible. There are just far too many variables to correct for, even in most gold standard studies, making cause and effect conclusions bewildering at best and absurd at worse. A perfect playground for marketers to peddle their wares. The lack of a scientific consensus is apparent when one considers that there are literally thousands of books written by doctors on diet and health, loaded with much disagreement and conflicting information. If we actually knew the facts we would only need one book.

So what should we believe? In this complex and ever changing subject that is a difficult question. At least be sure to carefully consider the source of the information you are reading – the words “study” and “doctor” guarantee nothing, and most social media sources are infiltrated with endlessly repeated nonsense. Even apparently credible TV reports, newspapers, and magazines fall victim to the same need to gather readers for profit, and the internet seems to have more clickbait than facts. Shun testimonials, and avoid confirmation bias by reading opposing opinions. If no reasonable and scientific consensus is apparent then avoid forming and spreading unsupported opinions. Debating is useful, but preaching is not. In short, question what you read and hear, and think critically – blind faith leads to blindness. It’s okay to not know the answer to everything.

Personally I have always found my mother’s advice to be rather sensible – eat a wide variety of foods with nothing in excess. Perhaps she should have written a study! So finally, take all information you read on nutrition and healthy diet with a large grain of salt (oh wait, never mind, salt is unhealthy!).
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Ya. Too often people use non-peer reviewed studies to support their anecdotal examples/beliefs
 
What's reasonable to one, may not be reasonable to others; there's no one size fits all. I know my faults, and trust me there are many. It's easier for me to have none, than to stop at one.
 
The_Sheriff said:
.
That’s quite a lecture and reprimand.
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Nothing personal.

The_Sheriff said:
FOR ME, all things in moderation works. Oh yeah, that’s what I said in my first post. Of course I was negligent in saying what my personal “all things” are, and that is how it shall remain because I will not get into it.
.
Click to expand...

For my dad, he did great smoking 2 packs a day, right until he got cancer and passed away a few months later in the prime of his life. Others smoke until they die at a ripe old age and not from cancer. We know with 100% certainty that smoking increases your risk (to put it mildly).

Just because a poor choice hasn't caught up to you, doesn't mean it's a healthy choice or that it's ok to smoke in moderation.
 
Pablo said:
Processed food kills. This is undeniable in 2025. It just takes longer for some than others. Not a belief. Statistics.

Smoking kills.

For some - maybe not all - eliminating grains/grain flours, seed oils, sugar, juices is the ONLY way to metabolic health.

Some things we know with clarity in 2025.
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People often cite somebody they know who did all the wrong things and still lived a long life. OK, sure. That can happen. But how many people smoke, drink, and eat like trash and don’t live a long life? That’s a more important statistic in my book.
 
"All things in Moderation".........yeah, that works, IF all the foods you're eating are good for you and your specific body/blood type.
Besides diet, you have to get plenty of water, excercise, sleep, thoughtful fasting, stress and environmental controls, etc. Our food today
has a fraction of the nutrition available 50-100 yrs ago. That plays a role. So you can't compare great Grand-Dad or Grandpa to the diet a young person gets today. Even the earths magnetism (grounding) and exposure to daily early sunlight each all plays a role in optimum health.

One thing for certain, the general population is deficient in Vit D3 approx half the year, from Oct through March. Only exceptions are
those living near the tropics and/or getting an Eskimo diet FULL of fatty fresh fish, milk, etc. Lack of Vit D3 is probably a contributing factor in many diseases and illness. You won't get adequate Vit D3 with a standard American diet. Not even close.

I also feel supplementing is needed even if you have a great diet. I've read dozens of books on nutrition and body chemisty, including the actual studies, and authors who did meta studies on such data. There's certainly a lot of bunk out there.....but also good information. Go to NutritionFacts.org for starters. That's a legitimate source.

I take a potent NOW brand (Adam) multi-vitamin with extra vit B's, A, C, trace minerals, etc.. And I still supplement daily with D3, C, K2 with MK-7, Mg glycinate, Kyolic aged Garlic extract. If I feel a cold or virus coming on I add in Quercetin, Zinc, Black Seed Oil, more Vit C, Tumeric, aspirin, etc for several days. There's no real risk to doing that. In the summer months with strong sun I back off the Vit D3 as I can get that from mid-day sun from 11 am to 2 pm.
 
Lubener said:
I believe in vitamin and mineral supplementation. A multi vitamin alone just doesn't cut it. It is very difficult to get everything the body needs just by consuming a healthy balanced diet. If we could absorb all the good that healthy eating has to offer, we would be all set. For most, that's not the case.
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Vitamins (especially cheap ones) have poor absorbtion/bioavailability where food usually is much better. You can ask AI tool of your choosing to help break down your foods vitamin content.

I personally workout 3 days a week and target 1.6g/kg of protein from whole foods. The rest fits in. I do supplement though multi/fish oil/creatine, and a B complex.

Honestly what has been a good thing for my health has been to create a chat with AI with all my medical records and ask questions, supplementation advice.. etc.
 
Tom NJ said:
This seems to be a popular subject here on BITOG, and one that often makes me smile and bite my tongue. So I thought I would jot down some thoughts for what it’s worth.

Most people’s beliefs on nutrition and healthy diet are not formed by scrutinizing volumes of gold standard studies, i.e. randomized, double blind, placebo controlled, statistically significant, peer reviewed, and published by a reputable journal. Instead our opinions are usually formed or influenced mainly by media reports and repeated headlines as this is what we have access to, and the information we glean is both dubious and ever changing.

Media makes its money by readership and so has a strong driver to sensationalize to get attention, even to the extent to intentional distortion. Any study that associates a nasty disease such as cancer with a common food, no matter how bad the study was, will generate headlines for years until it becomes an excepted fact. That is until the next study contradicts it. How many times have we heard that coffee is good for you/coffee is bad for you, wine is good for you/wine is bad for you, eggs are good for you/eggs are bad for you, margarine is good for you/margarine is bad for you, meat is good for you/meat is bad for you, etc., etc., etc. The result of this flood of profit driven information is often false, incomplete, or misleading “facts” that become imbedded in the minds of otherwise intelligent people and debated ad nauseam.

As an example, I Googled “health benefits of garlic” and in short order found 73 diseases, ailments, or conditions that garlic is purported to cure, prevent, treat, or support, ranging from nine different cancers to erectile dysfunction! This was not a surprise because if a study, any study, finds that garlic has, say, an anti-inflammatory component, no matter how small, food and supplement marketers will jump on it and connect garlic with every ailment that has ever been “associated” with inflammation. If it nudges your cholesterol down a couple of points it instantly becomes “heart healthy” and even earns (or buys) a symbol on the label to prove it. This same nonsense exists for numerous other common foods, vitamins, and supplements in an endless effort to sell or promote some product.

And this should come as no surprise. The fact is that the chemistry of our bodies, the food we eat, and the processes they undergo and interact with is extraordinarily complex, so much so that trying to isolate a single food chemical component and quantify its long term effect on health and longevity is virtually impossible. There are just far too many variables to correct for, even in most gold standard studies, making cause and effect conclusions bewildering at best and absurd at worse. A perfect playground for marketers to peddle their wares. The lack of a scientific consensus is apparent when one considers that there are literally thousands of books written by doctors on diet and health, loaded with much disagreement and conflicting information. If we actually knew the facts we would only need one book.

So what should we believe? In this complex and ever changing subject that is a difficult question. At least be sure to carefully consider the source of the information you are reading – the words “study” and “doctor” guarantee nothing, and most social media sources are infiltrated with endlessly repeated nonsense. Even apparently credible TV reports, newspapers, and magazines fall victim to the same need to gather readers for profit, and the internet seems to have more clickbait than facts. Shun testimonials, and avoid confirmation bias by reading opposing opinions. If no reasonable and scientific consensus is apparent then avoid forming and spreading unsupported opinions. Debating is useful, but preaching is not. In short, question what you read and hear, and think critically – blind faith leads to blindness. It’s okay to not know the answer to everything.

Personally I have always found my mother’s advice to be rather sensible – eat a wide variety of foods with nothing in excess. Perhaps she should have written a study! So finally, take all information you read on nutrition and healthy diet with a large grain of salt (oh wait, never mind, salt is unhealthy!).
Click to expand...
To summarize the above, too much of anything is bad for you.
 
What worked for me won't work for everyone.

I cut back significantly on what I was eating while becoming far far more active at my new job. Lost 100lbs in about a year.... Though now I can barely tolerate anything with gluten/wheat in it, it wreaks havoc with my stomach. Then again, maybe I always had a sensitivity to it and just blamed it on being 300lbs and in general eating like garbage.
 
Anatomically modern humans have existed for let's say 300000 years at the lower end of the estimations. Sedentary civilisations (not hopping around all the time and able to cultivate foods that need consistent attention and time to grow) appeared about 12000 years ago.
Of these 12000 years, only the last 300 or so (if that) are a time when humans started to eat in a way where every meal was not possibly the last and when famine wasn't peaking behind every corner.

Our bodies are amazing machines, trained through countless generations into squeezing everything out of the food that gets in, and slapping the excess in storage for lean days. They carry the memories of countless famines.

Maybe some day the human body will be able to be instructed "This meal is for energy, and that one is for the taste and fun". Till then, it will remain a mechanism that requires special attention with today's food abundance.

Once again, I can't recommend enough "Eat to live" from Dr Furnham.
 
Pew said:
Food is happiness.

Bacon is food.

Thus bacon is happiness.

Follow me for more health tips (y)
Click to expand...
Pigs are glorious animals. You can feed them anything and they can turn it into bacon… and pork chops. 😋

IMG_0021.webp
 
This thread is just a variant of 'thick vs thin' or 'flow vs filtration'. I just lost a cousin in Connecticut who was very healthy 65 until he was sick and diagnosed with anaplastic thyroid cancer and died 12 weeks later. Eat & live, try to keep the good stuff and avoid the bad stuff and remember NOBODY gets a guarantee to live a long life without grief or incident.
 
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