Nutritional myths masquerading as fact.

Alf Veedersane

Just as an aside...applying science isn’t about finding a single study or a handful of studies to support a position.  It’s about looking to see what the bulk of the literature says.  Science is consensus-driven.

worded

Ninap wrote: »

"Organic food is better for you". No it's not. It's wallet-lightening though. (It may taste better, but that's a different issue.)

Monsanto genetically engineered foods are dangerous
Bees have been filmed dropping dead on contact with modified crops
We are being poisoned

This 3 minute interview is excellent
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ovKw6YjqSfM

bmurph16

the zika virus is bs. its just the fact that monsanto gm foods dominate brazil

rawn

GreeBo wrote: »

Sorry, but my teeth also break down fruit, its soft fruit, not lumps of meat!

The benefits of having a thick smoothie for someone who wouldnt otherwise be eating that fruit outweight (har har) any negative effects of the fructose.

Also, a proper smoothie is a meal, if you are treating it like a dessert, expect the same results as eating a dessert.

Do you chew your fruit to smoothie consistency?? :pac:

Luke92

bmurph16 wrote: »

the zika virus is bs. its just the fact that monsanto gm foods dominate brazil

Left past the space ship, 100 yards, you'll see JFK and 2Pac smoking a joint. Ask them and they'll show you to the conspiracy theory forum.

bmurph16

virus:

an infective agent that typically consists of a nucleic acid molecule in a protein coat

feelgoodinc27

BlibBlab wrote: »

It can be, grass fed vs meal fed cows for example.

Whats the issue there? Is it cows that are fed a predominantly meal based diet or grass supplemented with meal?

feelgoodinc27

annascott wrote: »

of course it is! It hasn't been sprayed or injected with chemicals/growth hormones etc.
The common misconception is that all organic food is fresh. Sometimes the vendor keeps it too long and all you have are sorry looking wilted vegetables with a high price tag...

Over use of antibiotics and the use of growth hormone are typical of intensive American food production not much smaller scale Irish farms, in fact growth hormone is illegal here.

Latatian

Ziphius wrote: »

Organic food also uses pesticides. And also can also contain lethal amounts of E. coli from 'organic' fertiliser.

Most notably the 2011 outbreak in Germany where over 3,000 people got sick and 53 died from eating bean sprouts.

It's amazing how many people you come across who don't know that organic food uses pesticides, chemicals etc. They're not chosen for whether they're safer, more environmentally friendly etc. than regular ones but whether they're 'natural'. If you had a safer, less toxic to bees and butterflies etc. pesticide that was 'artificial' you wouldn't be able to use it instead of the inferior 'natural' ones. That doesn't make sense to me.

NiallBoo

Latatian wrote: »

Most notably the 2011 outbreak in Germany where over 3,000 people got sick and 53 died from eating bean sprouts.

Isn't the "organic" part a bit of a red-herring here?

Contamination is much more likely to occur during sprouting.

Sounds much more like a hygiene issue in the sprouting facility than anything to do with how the seeds are grown.

Do you know if the seeds were actually grown there rather than just sprouted there?

Christy42

Ziphius wrote: »

How so? Are you saying coconut water actually "will do everything from beautifying your skin to boosting your immunity"?

Or that it isn't " rich in saturated fats"?

I would guess the first two are technically correct. I am not bothered checking out the details of it because if it does you wouldn't notice unless the rest of your diet kept up. Heck I would be amazed if there wasn't a single vitamin that contributed to both the immune system and the skin as the body is pretty resourceful. I will repeat that while the claims are probably technically correct, the difference with a few glasses a day would be incredibly minor and I doubt it would even be noticeable (and presumes you don't get enough of the relevant nutrients without it).

Saturated fats from a coconut are fine on the ridiculous presumption you don't get much from anywhere else. This is why it is so easy to claim something is healthy these days as most things could be an important part of a diet if it is structured in a very specific way.

What gets me is the stupid ad saying why do something complicated, just drink coconut water. Surely normal water from the tap is a lot easier:P.

Ave Sodalis

Ziphius wrote:

How so? Are you saying coconut water actually "will do everything from beautifying your skin to boosting your immunity"?

Is it not coconut oil in dispute?

I had a friend tell me that she's cutting carbohydrates out of her diet. I asked her how the constipation is going. Confused, she replied that she doesn't have it as she was eating fibre, and insisted that fibre is not a carbohydrate. It turns out she's just replacing potatoes with more veg. Honestly, this "no carb" fad is getting ridiculous. Those on it don't seem to have the first notion what a carbohydrate is, or what it does. The scary thing is, this girl has done all the same nutrition modules as I have, and yet still completely ignored them in order to justify her new diet.

Ziphius

sup_dude wrote: »

Is it not coconut oil in dispute?

Yes, but the other said the article I linked was total garbage so I though we'd found ourselves another myth. :pac:

Blacktie.

sup_dude wrote:

I had a friend tell me that she's cutting carbohydrates out of her diet. I asked her how the constipation is going. Confused, she replied that she doesn't have it as she was eating fibre, and insisted that fibre is not a carbohydrate. It turns out she's just replacing potatoes with more veg. Honestly, this "no carb" fad is getting ridiculous. Those on it don't seem to have the first notion what a carbohydrate is, or what it does. The scary thing is, this girl has done all the same nutrition modules as I have, and yet still completely ignored them in order to justify her new diet.

Can't you discount fibre though as your body doesn't absorb it? Like people going on keto do that as far as I know... Fibre isn't a big deal for knocking you out of ketosis. I'm not Positive on this as the whole keto fad never really appealed to me. Knock out a whole macro. No thanks.

Dolbert

sup_dude wrote: »

Is it not coconut oil in dispute?

I had a friend tell me that she's cutting carbohydrates out of her diet. I asked her how the constipation is going. Confused, she replied that she doesn't have it as she was eating fibre, and insisted that fibre is not a carbohydrate. It turns out she's just replacing potatoes with more veg. Honestly, this "no carb" fad is getting ridiculous. Those on it don't seem to have the first notion what a carbohydrate is, or what it does. The scary thing is, this girl has done all the same nutrition modules as I have, and yet still completely ignored them in order to justify her new diet.

Most veg has very few net carbs though, you generally wouldn't count the fibre as it's indigestible. I thought you were going to say she was going low-carb, but replacing potatoes with bread or something.

Alf Veedersane

Dolbert wrote: »

Most veg has very few net carbs though, you generally wouldn't count the fibre as it's indigestible. I thought you were going to say she was going low-carb, but replacing potatoes with bread or something.

This.

I had about 400g of frozen veg with my dinner last night cos I got home late. 12g carbs, 11g fibre. 250g of steamed potato would have bene of the order of 40g carbs and maybe 5g fibre.

There's a world of difference.

Thefriend was possibly saying the fibre offset the carbohydrate rather than not being a carbohydrate.

El_Dangeroso

jh79 wrote: »

According to this article it raises both good and bad cholestrol and other claims have yet to be shown in humans.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/15/truth-about-miracle-foods-chia-seeds-coconut-oil

Other factors could explain low heart disease in pacific islanders.

What other factors would cause eating 50% of your calories from something supposedly harmful for other humans on the planet not to harm them?

That coconut oil study was short term, loads of good things raise cholesterol in the short term as a result of clearing fat from the liver. Talk to me when you have a 2 year long study. Up til that point the idea that coconut oil is harmful remains bunk.

jive

I reckon the obesity crisis has been solved in this thread.

Eat 500g of green veg at every meal before you eat anything else. Gain weight now ya big heap

In b4 green veg is lovely with a lashing of butter. In b4 better be grass fed unsalted butter. In b4 bullet proof coffee. In b4 I have bullet proof coffee in the morning and I'm so bloody full and my brain function is so amazeballs that I forget to eat for 7 days

Blacktie.

jive wrote:

In b4 green veg is lovely with a lashing of butter. In b4 better be grass fed unsalted butter. In b4 bullet proof coffee. In b4 I have bullet proof coffee in the morning and I'm so bloody full and my brain function is so amazeballs that I forget to eat for 7 days

Has to be organic veg.

hardCopy

jive wrote: »

I reckon the obesity crisis has been solved in this thread.

Eat 500g of green veg at every meal before you eat anything else. Gain weight now ya big heap

In b4 green veg is lovely with a lashing of butter. In b4 better be grass fed unsalted butter. In b4 bullet proof coffee. In b4 I have bullet proof coffee in the morning and I'm so bloody full and my brain function is so amazeballs that I forget to eat for 7 days

I cook my veg in coffee :cool:

Ave Sodalis

Dolbert wrote:

Most veg has very few net carbs though, you generally wouldn't count the fibre as it's indigestible. I thought you were going to say she was going low-carb, but replacing potatoes with bread or something.

Fibre is still defined as a carbohydrate though. What she's doing is regulating her food based GI, in a way. However, she's also cut out wholewheat rice/pasta etc. But would still eat porridge. Then she also still eats chocolate and sweets.

Latatian

NiallBoo wrote: »

Isn't the "organic" part a bit of a red-herring here?

Contamination is much more likely to occur during sprouting.

Sounds much more like a hygiene issue in the sprouting facility than anything to do with how the seeds are grown.

Do you know if the seeds were actually grown there rather than just sprouted there?

The seeds were bought in and were contaminated- the sprouting facility itself was inspected and seemed to be fine. They reckon the culprit was manure or contaminated water where the seeds were grown.

El_Dangeroso

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

What other factors would cause eating 50% of your calories from something supposedly harmful for other humans on the planet not to harm them?

That coconut oil study was short term, loads of good things raise cholesterol in the short term as a result of clearing fat from the liver. Talk to me when you have a 2 year long study. Up til that point the idea that coconut oil is harmful remains bunk.

Who said it was harmful??

Questioning whether it has any real benefits ?

jam_mac_jam

GreeBo wrote: »

Sorry, but my teeth also break down fruit, its soft fruit, not lumps of meat!

The benefits of having a thick smoothie for someone who wouldnt otherwise be eating that fruit outweight (har har) any negative effects of the fructose.

Also, a proper smoothie is a meal, if you are treating it like a dessert, expect the same results as eating a dessert.

A smoothie is not a meal. Its much more similar to a desert or treat and should be treated like that, as in eating it very rarely. I find it hard to believe an adult would eat no fruit whatsoever.

rawn

jam_mac_jam wrote:

A smoothie is not a meal. Its much more similar to a desert or treat and should be treated like that, as in eating it very rarely. I find it hard to believe an adult would eat no fruit whatsoever.

My 31yo partner won't eat fruit, or most veg. I trick him into eating it in similar ways you would use on a child

El_Dangeroso

jh79 wrote: »

Who said it was harmful??

Questioning whether it has any real benefits ?

And like I said, what do you want from it? It's food, it gives you energy, it doesn't harm you in the process, isn't that what a food is supposed to do?

Latatian

The other trouble with smoothies is how much is in them. Fruit tends to be higher calorie than vegetables, so it would be easy to underestimate the calories in them and overconsume them. Look at the side of an innocent juice bottle- you'd take a lot longer to consume the actual fruit listed, and if you swapped that fruit for a similar quantity of vegetables the calories would likely be much lower. They have a 'health halo' so you tend to forget how much of them is just sugar- not bad in and of itself, but not good if you get too much either.

And drinks tend to be less-satiating, you can have more of them before you get full, so that adds to it

Latatian

The other trouble with smoothies is how much is in them. Fruit tends to be higher calorie than vegetables, so it would be easy to underestimate the calories in them and overconsume them. Look at the side of an innocent juice bottle- you'd take a lot longer to consume the actual fruit listed, and if you swapped that fruit for a similar quantity of vegetables the calories would likely be much lower. They have a 'health halo' so you tend to forget how much of them is just sugar- not bad in and of itself, but not good if you get too much either.

And drinks tend to be less-satiating, you can have more of them before you get full, so that adds to it

2nd Row Donkey

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

A smoothie is not a meal. Its much more similar to a desert or treat and should be treated like that, as in eating it very rarely. I find it hard to believe an adult would eat no fruit whatsoever.

rawn wrote: »

My 31yo partner won't eat fruit, or most veg. I trick him into eating it in similar ways you would use on a child

My partner wont each fruit either. nothing. Not so much as a strawberry or a grape. Nothing.

She's the same with vegetables. Doesn't eat a single one except ..... water chestnuts. Thats right - the weird sliced things they put in satay's and other dishes in your local Chinese restaurant. God she loves a water chestnut. I've seen her push strangers and young children out of the way to get at the water chestnuts. Strange one.

MissFlitworth

Sugar is terribly bad for you but if you get your sugar in the form of honey, granulated fructose, brown rice syrup, agave nectar, whatever the fancy grade of maple syrup etc. etc. at a cost of €7.99/100mls then that's totally not actually sugar and actually maybe even a superfood.

Now that beets appear to be a superfood a friend and I are going to make our millions reintroducing sugar beets to Ireland and selling Beetrose and Beet Nectar.