The future of our health

[chaz345]

good point! Grains don't seem very healthy at all.

Grains in an of themselves are fine, it's what we tend to to to them before eating them that causes the problems.

 

[FaithPrevails]

Grains in an of themselves are fine, it's what we tend to to to them before eating them that causes the problems.

Agreed. It's also the amount of consumption. "All" things in moderation, eh? If we eat moderate amounts of any one food, I highly doubt they would do us in health-wise.

I believe in following the 80/20 rule. I eat a clean/healthy diet 80% of the time. 20% of the time, I allow myself to eat things that I love that aren't good for me, but I eat them in moderation. If I'm craving a candy bar, I eat a Peppermint Patty. If I'm craving ice cream, I eat a bowl of frozen yogurt.

Eating that way, I have managed to remain relatively healthy and maintain a healthy weight.

If I deviate from that pattern, that's when I struggle with weight issues.

 

[JaneFW]

None of them said eat any old way you want..smoke..do drugs never excersize..eat processed foods too as long as its not meat or dairy and you will never get heart disease..

Yeah like Arthur Agaston saying that you don't have to exercise! No exercise, just stop eating carbs, and you will be 100% healthy. Um, okay. Even though that goes against what every nutritionist or doctor will tell you, just quit eating bread. Duh.

 

[JaneFW]

Contrary to popular belief, food that is fried properly has only a tiny amount more fat in it that if it's prepared in another way. Saw a food science guy on tv make fish and chips( American style fries actually) for 4 people and he carefully measured the frying oil before and after and in 4 servings there was a total of less than 2 tablespoons of oil added to the food in the frying process.

And is that the way that it is generally prepared, or is that the way that one 'food science guy' on tv made it?

From my lengthy experience of fish & chips, the fish are coated in batter and then deep fried. I mean, I can take photographs when I go back to England if you like, but my memory serves me well on this one. And in a restaurant - trust me - nobody is taking the time to stand there and measure out a tablespoon full of oil. I have been on that side of the restaurant (the kitchen) in my student days doing silver service waitressing for the extra bucks - and the practices in most restaurants kitchens are pretty slapdash. Like calling them "roasted potatoes" when in fact they have been fried in the deep fat fryer. Yuck.

I am proud to say that I have never had a fryer. In fact, we were in Target looking for a food processor Saturday and I stopped and looked at this piece of equipment and lifted the lid, and looked all over it, completely unaware of what it was until my h said "er .. that's a deep fat fryer .. I don't think we need that for a whole foods diet."

I'm proud to say that I have never had chicken fried chicken fried steak fried .. whatever. And never will. Ugh.

 

[JaneFW]

Mercury poisoning from fish is just not an issue for adults. Heavy metals affect small children and a human fetus' brain development, but in adults where the brain is already developed the small amounts of mercury in fish won't hurt or kill you. The positive benefits of eating nutritionally sound fatty fish far outweighs any of the risks associated with eating those fatty fish.

Evidently there is a risk otherwise there wouldn't be guidelines. Those guidelines are for ordinary adults too, not just pregnant ones. I would rather err on the side of caution, that's all.

 

[FaithPrevails]

Mmm...fish and chips. Bangers and mash. Shepherd's Pie. I'm craving me a trip to our favorite Irish pub now.

 

[FaithPrevails]

Mercury poisoning from fish is just not an issue for adults. Heavy metals affect small children and a human fetus' brain development, but in adults where the brain is already developed the small amounts of mercury in fish won't hurt or kill you. The positive benefits of eating nutritionally sound fatty fish far outweighs any of the risks associated with eating those fatty fish.

This site states that almost all people have a trace amount of methyl mercury (an organic compound) in their bodies.

While it's true that human fetuses, infants, and children are more susceptible, adults are not completely risk-free. At least not according to this excerpt that I took from the article which is posted below:

The factors that determine how severe the health effects are from mercury exposure include these:

the chemical form of mercury;
the dose;
the age of the person exposed (the fetus is the most susceptible);
the duration of exposure;
the route of exposure -- inhalation, ingestion, dermal contact, etc.; and
the health of the person exposed.

 

[chaz345]

And is that the way that it is generally prepared, or is that the way that one 'food science guy' on tv made it?

From my lengthy experience of fish & chips, the fish are coated in batter and then deep fried. I mean, I can take photographs when I go back to England if you like, but my memory serves me well on this one. And in a restaurant - trust me - nobody is taking the time to stand there and measure out a tablespoon full of oil. I have been on that side of the restaurant (the kitchen) in my student days doing silver service waitressing for the extra bucks - and the practices in most restaurants kitchens are pretty slapdash. Like calling them "roasted potatoes" when in fact they have been fried in the deep fat fryer. Yuck.

I am proud to say that I have never had a fryer. In fact, we were in Target looking for a food processor Saturday and I stopped and looked at this piece of equipment and lifted the lid, and looked all over it, completely unaware of what it was until my h said "er .. that's a deep fat fryer .. I don't think we need that for a whole foods diet."

I'm proud to say that I have never had chicken fried chicken fried steak fried .. whatever. And never will. Ugh.

He did nothing all that exceptional other that use fresh non-hydrogenated oil and make sure it was at the right temperature. The point being that contrary to what most people believe, frying foods does not dramatically increase the fat content, not if it's done right. And doing it right requires no huge amount of special equipment or crazy amounts of knowledge.

 

[JaneFW]

He did nothing all that exceptional other that use fresh non-hydrogenated oil and make sure it was at the right temperature. The point being that contrary to what most people believe, frying foods does not dramatically increase the fat content, not if it's done right. And doing it right requires no huge amount of special equipment or crazy amounts of knowledge.

And like I said - fast food places don't care about that stuff. Nor do many restaurants. And most people just stick it in the deep fryer and press the button. Therefore, while it may be perfectly okay to fry your own stuff in a little oil - and I do this in the oven, crisping up veggies and making them biteable - but I wouldn't expect a restaurant to do that. The vast majority of restaurant food is mush.

 

[chaz345]

And like I said - fast food places don't care about that stuff. Nor do many restaurants. And most people just stick it in the deep fryer and press the button. Therefore, while it may be perfectly okay to fry your own stuff in a little oil - and I do this in the oven, crisping up veggies and making them biteable - but I wouldn't expect a restaurant to do that. The vast majority of restaurant food is mush.

I wasn't talking restraunt versus home though. I was talking about the notion that all deep frying dramatically increases fat content. On that show where only a couple of tablespoons of oil were added to the food, that was after having them swimming in a bath of hot oil in a deep fryer. He measured the oil in the fryer both before and after the cooking and only a couple of tablespoons were absorbed by the food, virtually the same amount as if you had put some oil on them before putting them in the oven.

 

[visionary]

http://d.yimg.com/nl/australia/site/player.swf?vid=24472661&repeat=0&browseCarouselUI=hide

Meat Glue

 

[JaneFW]

One thing that does bug me - and has for years - and it also came up on this documentary, is the terrible content of restuarant food for children. I have only one child left that is that age, but we frequently skip the children's menu and either I share an adult meal with him, or he will choose an appetizer as his main course. We have eaten at many different restaurants, but the common denominator of the children's menu is -- corn dog, pizza, burger, toasted cheese, chicken nuggets, fish sticks with, of course, the ubiquitous fries. Oh, wait a minute, sometimes you can get creamed potatoes instead. <big eye roll> Really? I mean, is there no way that resturants such as, for instance, Olive Garden not make a smaller version of their dishes for a child? They do have pasta dishes for children, but they are basically a ton of pasta and a little bit of ketchup-flavor sauce. (I personally loathe Olive Garden but that's another story.) When the adult menu boasts a variety of dishes that are healthy in some way or other (whole grain pasta, low fat etc) why on earth are children totally ignored? Generally, children's meals are not that much cheaper than adult meals. It's perhaps a $2-$4 difference, and so for a smaller quantity of what is pre-cooked food anyway, I don't see why it would be so hard to give children healthier options. This dumbing down has an affect on children's palates, and their imagination and their health. True, we have always refused to let that happen, and our kids eat a wide variety of foods, including Indian and Thai and (proper) Italian, but what about those parents who aren't as clued in? It goes on generation after generation - fries, coated, fried chicken, everything covered in cheese or fried, or a combination of all of the above. Oh, and covered with "gravy" too. Salad has to be soaked in ranch.

It's a personal bug bear of mine, obviously. Off my soap box now.

Oh and school food too, lol. Terrible stuff. Our HS son has a choice of sandwich or fried food pretty much. Or nachos. I dont' know if anyone knows who Jamie Oliver is, and his attempts to bring healthy food to schools in England and America. Saddest thing I ever saw was when he showed perhaps 5 or 6 elementary school kids exactly how "chicken" nuggets are made - all the crap that goes into them - and at the end, when he'd done it from scratch, describing what went into them, and he cooked them, all of the kids said they still wanted to eat them. The look on his face was absolute astonishment. He had tried that in England, and the kids said "yuck, no". But these kids said "darn right I want that garbage." How totally sad.

 

[JaneFW]

http://d.yimg.com/nl/australia/site/player.swf?vid=24472661&repeat=0&browseCarouselUI=hide

Meat Glue

Yeah, I have experienced that. I can't remember what company makes this "turkey breast" that I have gotten, but basically if you take the "net" off, the whole thing falls to pieces because it's pieces just put together. Gross. And just look at all that fat.

 

[dallasapple]

"Back to the insulin equation for a second… It is no secret that the United States is facing a very real epidemic of insulin sensitivity, Type 2 Diabetes, insulin resistence and obesity. If the corresponding rates of disease and weight gain with grain consumption over the last 130 years aren’t enough to convince you, consider this: when ground into flour the surface area of a grain is increased to 10,000 times the surface area of the grain itself. The resulting high-starch food is biologically similar to consuming pure table sugar. Consider the fact that flour is often mixed with sugar to create recipes (or used to make wall-paper paste, your choice) and you have a virtual diabetic coma in a bowl (or can).END QUOTE

But you have to consider the GI LOAD..if its consumed with lots of fiber(or lower carbohydrate foods)..the sugar doesnt rush into your bloodstream like eating pure sugar..thats why things like WATERMELON which has TONS of sugar..is safe for a diabetic (of course in moderation) because its also high fiber..thus the rate in converts into suger and goes into your bloodstream is lower..

You have to look at the whole meal too..what your eating the WHOLE wheat (or rye ..or brown rice etc) WITH..how its broken down as we digest it with other foods affects how fast it breaks down into glucose and goes into our system..

White sugar..white flour..and white RICE are not good for you ..that is true..but WHOLE wheat..BROWN rice..whole RYE ..WHOLE grains eaten with other WHOLE foods is not "toxic"..and isnt going to cause a diabetic coma..

My husband got diabetes despite the fact he wouldnt touch a whole grain wth a 10 ft pole..his fiber intake on any given day was around ZERO.White bread isnt WHOLE grain..and even though he didn't eat much rice when he did it was WHITE rice..usually chinese food smothered in some sugar laden syrup(like sesame chicken or "sweet and sour" chicken or the white rice used in sushi)..or a "rice crispy square"...cereals like captain crunch..which is basically "processed" CORN with sugar added..

IOW his diabetes wasnt from eating HIGH fiber grains ...like I said in fact I dont think he EVER ate "whole " grain.

My husband is a TEXTBBOK American diet case of diabetes..High protein.(animal protien)..white bread ...lots of added fat on top of his steak fat (as in what vegetabels he did eat?Iceburg lettuce with oil drenched sweetened salad dressing honey mustard his favorite WITH croutons in every bite)..fried foods galore(including LOTS of Wendys and Jack in the Box and Burger King)..fried pies..donuts..cookies..twinkies..ding dongs..etc..Rarely would he eat a piece of fruit or steamed let alone raw veggies..Classic 'potatos"..was his veggie..Mashed..or baked or french fried..Throw in NO excersize..and maintaining an "overweight"(not obese) status for 2O + years..

Whole wheat rye pumpernickle breads..whole grain brown rice.flaxseed.etc..as PART of an otherwise healthy diet ..would NOT have resulted in him becoming diabetic at 43 years of age I would bet my life on it.

Dallas

 

[chaz345]

Oh and school food too, lol. Terrible stuff. Our HS son has a choice of sandwich or fried food pretty much. Or nachos. I dont' know if anyone knows who Jamie Oliver is, and his attempts to bring healthy food to schools in England and America. Saddest thing I ever saw was when he showed perhaps 5 or 6 elementary school kids exactly how "chicken" nuggets are made - all the crap that goes into them - and at the end, when he'd done it from scratch, describing what went into them, and he cooked them, all of the kids said they still wanted to eat them. The look on his face was absolute astonishment. He had tried that in England, and the kids said "yuck, no". But these kids said "darn right I want that garbage." How totally sad.

I like Food Revolution but if he's going to be effective on a widespread basis he needs to think bigger, a LOT bigger as in taking on the federal guidelines that govern school lunch programs. That's where the real problem lies because the guidelines and requirements are driven as much by food production lobbyists as they are by nutritional science. He's shown that it can be done fresh/non-processed for only slightly more money,and that the kids will eat it, but in a school setting only slightly more money often isn't possible.

 

[Conservativation]

Yea, like the San Antonio program that's costing the federal gubmit a few million dollars so they can video tape the school lunch trays when the kids get them, then again when they toss the trash. I love stuff like that, trillions in debt and we are video taping kids lunches, man I wish the gubmit would get more involved in everything, things would be so much better

 

[dallasapple]

Yea, like the San Antonio program that's costing the federal gubmit a few million dollars so they can video tape the school lunch trays when the kids get them, then again when they toss the trash. I love stuff like that, trillions in debt and we are video taping kids lunches, man I wish the gubmit would get more involved in everything, things would be so much better

Our physcial health..or lets say or declining health in this country is costing us big time..One in five FOUR year old American children are in the obese cateragory...ONE in three born today will develop type 2 diabetes..children in elementary school are developin hypertenison Cons..

If you dont think the state of our health..isn't costing our country big time..dont know what to tell you ..

And school lunches are part of it..They are offered CRAP for food..We should be ashamed of ourselves that we offer 6 yo's pizza with macaroni and cheese with chocolate milk and an "apple crumb cake" slice for "desert" for their lunch.. I am...

Dallas

 

[united4Peace]

Why are kids buying lunches at school? Much cheaper to make them and much healthier. Sure I give my kids money once a month to buy a hot lunch but usually they get a sandwhich...brown bread or white bread depending...turkey or chicken, sometimes pepporoni and sometimes PB! Carrots (cut up), apples, banana's, oranges or grapes. A couple cookies, sometimes store bought (Preventia) or homeade. Homeade lemon loaf...and either a bottle of water, a juice box or chocolate milk to drink...again I switch it up.
I couldn't imagine sending them everyday with money...our bank would be depleted! This way I know they are eating healthy (unless of course they forget their lunch which in that case they go hungry tell 330 or 4:00-Im soooo mean ).

 

[chaz345]

Our physcial health..or lets say or declining health in this country is costing us big time..One in five FOUR year old American children are in the obese cateragory...ONE in three born today will develop type 2 diabetes..children in elementary school are developin hypertenison Cons..

If you dont think the state of our health..isn't costing our country big time..dont know what to tell you ..

And school lunches are part of it..They are offered CRAP for food..We should be ashamed of ourselves that we offer 6 yo's pizza with macaroni and cheese with chocolate milk and an "apple crumb cake" slice for "desert" for their lunch.. I am...

Dallas

I agree that school lunches are bad. It's actually a perfect illustration of why we need LESS federal government and not more though. School lunches are the way they are because of federal guidelines and requirements. If that were handled on a state or local level, schools would be free to do what they want in terms of providing more nutritious choices.

Food Revolution has shown that the overall cost of producing school lunches with fresh and unprocessed ingredients is only slightly higher but with many schools receiving free food from the government, until it changes at the federal level, it won't change at the local level.

 

[chaz345]

Why are kids buying lunches at school? Much cheaper to make them and much healthier. Sure I give my kids money once a month to buy a hot lunch but usually they get a sandwhich...brown bread or white bread depending...turkey or chicken, sometimes pepporoni and sometimes PB! Carrots (cut up), apples, banana's, oranges or grapes. A couple cookies, sometimes store bought (Preventia) or homeade. Homeade lemon loaf...and either a bottle of water, a juice box or chocolate milk to drink...again I switch it up.
I couldn't imagine sending them everyday with money...our bank would be depleted! This way I know they are eating healthy (unless of course they forget their lunch which in that case they go hungry tell 330 or 4:00-Im soooo mean ).

For those who qualify for free or reduced lunch, it's actually a lot cheaper to get the school lunch. Can't make a home made lunch for 40 cents and you certainly can't make one for free.