<p>I think this thread shows just how screwed up Americans are when it comes to food and health. Here you have a group of very intelligent adults, and everyone has a different idea of what is the key to eating healthy. Everying had read the “latest study” that shows something different that the last study. In areas like Asia and Europe, they have a food culture to draw on and don’t worry about the lastest “study.” We do not have that kind of tradition. </p>
<p>As a result, we’re always guilty. I remember reading that in France, if you mention chocolate cake, the average reaction is a celebration, whereas here, the average reaction is guilt. We get more and more obsessed with healthy eating, but we’re never sure what it is. </p>
<p>Personally, I find Michale Pollan a very intelligent voice on food. In his view, we have enough evidence showing that our diet and lifestyle are producing more heart disease and cancers than other industrial cultures, but we don’t know what it is about our diets that causes that. Is it the fat? The saturated fat? The processed carbohydrates? The portion sizes? The lack of exercise? The evidence simply isn’t clear yet.</p>
<p>His advice, ofter quoted, is to eat food (meaning as little processed food as possible), mostly plant and not too much.</p>
<p>There is definite proof that eating less prolongs life.</p>
<p>Marathon running is for the young IMO. I ran marathons since I was 14 and ran my last one at 50. The joint/knee problems are just not worth it. The nice part is that when you’re training, you can eat whatever you want whenever you want. I consume many fewer calories these days, even with considerable exercise.</p>
<p>I also like Michael Pollan and his eating philosophies. We attempted to eat ‘local’ for a month and found it incredibly time consuming. We have settled into eating mostly locally grown/raised/caught foods but have gone back to buying several things that aren’t. We’ve cut meat back to twice per week and eat many more fish and vegetarian meals. We eat very, very few processed foods now. The energy boost has been amazing.</p>
<p>I agree with my3sons, and I have been plenty guilty of this obsessionism on what is “nutritious” myself.</p>
<p>I’m in the middle of Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food” which makes all kinds of great points as mentioned here. Our food system is so screwed up, so that it’s very difficult to eat “normally,” leading to what he calls “nutritionism”–trying to figure out what nutrients are optimal, rather than what foods, and mostly doing a lousy job of it.</p>
<p>Some of his points: as a country, obesity ballooned (so to speak) with the advent of the low fat mantra, which led to copious amounts of refined carbohydrates. None of that is how most people would naturally eat.</p>
<p>Also, the huge increase in sugar in our diet (and to the chemical avoiders here–there is nothing natural about the use of sugar in our society–not the dollops of it in our coffee, soft drinks, etc. nor the sugar additives in most processed food. For instance, high fructose corn sugar is ubiquitous, and absolutely foreign to our systems–personally, I’d take my risks with Splenda before that stuff.)</p>
<p>He makes the point that the French don’t see the paradox in “French paradox”, it’s just eating what makes sense and tastes good.</p>
<p>Nutritionism also takes the pleasure and attention out of eating, so we’re never really satisfied–eating as medicine rather than as cultural and social customs.</p>
<p>Those are just a few of his points (well-documented) that come to mind. I’m not done reading it, but it’s certainly giving me…food for thought.</p>
<p>garland, just a small correction to what you’ve said: what is sold in stores as sugar is sucrose (a compound made of fructose and glucose, which the organism has to break down to the two components (and spend some energy in the process) to be able to absorb/metabolize them), and is structurally different from fructose. I totally agree that overindulgence in carbs is what made our society fat. A huge percentage of what we eat nowadays is derived from corn. We, Americans “snack” too much compared to the rest of the world.</p>
<p>That article on getting healthy with 7 minutes of daily exercise refers to the effects of exercise on blood sugar levels - important, to be sure, but I don’t consider that the sole hallmark of being “healthy.” For example, 7 minutes a day doesn’t do much for cardiovascular health.</p>
<p>As overseas says, to each his own. I have three small meals a day plus a snack before bed, because I’ve found that this routine keeps my blood sugars at a pretty stable (and almost normal) level. Some of those meals contain artificial sweeteners, but all of those meals are pretty healthy (veggies, lean protein, very few carbs.) I also exercise vigorously every day for 45 minutes. Before my diabetes diagnosis, I ate the same way (maybe I didn’t exercise as much, but still…) And guess what - I got diabetes anyway…</p>
<p>Food is fuel - tasty, yes, but still fuel. But I admit, it’s awfully hard to divorce food from the emotional baggage it often carries.</p>
<p>I am a foodie, love to cook and eat, but I’ve also come to see food as fuel. The 2 can coexist!</p>
<p>What to eat and when comes naturally when you think of food as fuel. I eat my carbs before exercising, protein heavy meals after. I pay attention to fiber content in every meal–this is something essential that I never considered in the past. I also pay attention to protein/carb balance to avoid blood sugar spikes.</p>
<p>It is amazing how well you can eat on very few calories but it takes a lot of time to plan and prepare these meals and snacks which is a problem for many.</p>
<p>BB–sorry, I wasn’t clear. I know sugar is sucrose, and I also know that it was not a regular (much less huge) part of our diet until the last 100/150 years or so. Our ingestion of it is not “natural,” though it may be.</p>
<p>I think both the use of hf corn sugar, and sugar in general, are big parts of our current health problems.</p>
<p>With a teenage boy in our house it is very, very difficult to eat less meat
We do not eat processed foods at home, never did as I have always cooked from scratch, but we are guilty of stopping for a burger when on the road etc…</p>
<p>I grew up in Europe so it is very natural for me to shop for food daily and cook dinner according to what looked best at the market. I miss farmers markets, open here only from mid July through September and are very, very minute.</p>
<p>Going back to the original question. DH started running over a year ago. He runs daily, or almost daily, about 15 minutes , usually in the morning. He was always skinny, with fabulous metabolism but as a result of running he has lost about 10 pounds and looks really good and fit. He did have borderline BP before, now back to nice and low. But the biggest benefit of his running routine is the fact that he did not catch a cold or anything this past year! Everybody in the house have been down with something this past winter, but not him. Running/exercise is a huge stress reliever.</p>
<p>Sugar - we do not use it. Honey when craving sweet tea :)</p>
