From what I'm reading, it is in general a healthy move to replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats. Also, I've been using Saffola margarine. It's delicious and apparently has a great fat makeup as well:
Not really. It's full of polyunsaturated fats, which, like geckahn says, you need to avoid.
Also, not sure about replacing saturated with unsaturated. There are some monounsaturated fats that are essential, so you need them. But unsaturated is not any healthier than saturated in general.
Safflower. Not sunflower. It's basically all monounsaturated.
(edit) Though reading more, I've seen stuff tell me that polyunsaturated is what helps with cholesterol. And that safflower is actually high in it, contrary to that chart. This stuff is friggin' confounding.
Safflower isnt too bad. It's got more poly-unsaturated then olive oil but less then the other industrial seed/vegetable oils.
The main thing with polyunsaturated fat that you need to understand is that there are two main dietary types - omega 3 and omega 6. omega 6 intake should be minimized as much as possible. omega 3 should be maximized. So any time you see a health benefit attributed generically to "polyunsaturated fat", be wary. And by wary I mean you should just ignore it.
I tend to use olive oil when cooking when butter isn't a huge part of the taste because well, it's not bad. I also tend to use bread dipped in olive oil with spice because as far as I can tell butter/margarine/cream cheese are a lot of caloric intake for not much taste.
I'm also pretty sure Canola has a good profile of the right sort of fat and all.
Edit: It does make a sort of sense, but then again we evolved in environments that were similar/different in a vast number of ways, and can't predict which of those factors has changed for the better or worse.
I mean we evolved brachiating limbs, this doesn't mean it makes sense for us to live exclusively in trees.
The thing with olive oil and other similar healthy oils was that I remember reading about how it had a low flash point or something. So you could only use it to cook at low heats. Any higher (if it started smoking basically) would cause it to become really carcinogenic. Any truth to this?
The thing with olive oil and other similar healthy oils was that I remember reading about how it had a low flash point or something. So you could only use it to cook at low heats. Any higher (if it started smoking basically) would cause it to become really carcinogenic. Any truth to this?
I think what happens when you bring unsaturated cooking oils to their flashpoint is that it basically starts turning into trans fat. Not totally sure though.
olive oil is definitely a good sauteeing and cold use oil. Anything involving real cooking and I'll go with coconut oil or lard (from pastured pigs). Lard has the added benefit of making chicken and beef taste extra delicious.
Some quick googling says in repeated articles that it's a myth. A small amount will turn to saturated fat (not trans fat), but this is incredibly miniscule. As in, you'd have to heat that oil up, and keep it heated for several hours to produce a significant amount of saturated fat.
Edit: Extra Virgin Olive Oil's smoking point is around 410 degrees Fahrenheit (just over 200 degrees C). The lower the quality, the lower the smoke point though. Apparently it is also one of the most resistant oils to oxidation and hydrogenation, so it is one of the healthier options when it comes to oil.
The real key is caloric intake. The problem is that the FDA sets levels in the assumption that people are both currently healthy and living a healthy lifestyle. The FDA says healthy adults should have an intake of no more than 2000 Calories a day.
Which is absolute bullshit, and will probably kill you, or at the very least give you diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Why? Because the average person, without significant amounts of cardiovascular exercise, only burns 700-1000 calories a day.
Every fast-food chain has individual sandwiches that exceed that amount.
The trick is not just watching your intake (like a hawk), but choosing the less calorie-dense foods so that you don't feel like you're not eating enough. Unfortunately, it's carbs that are most dense and therefore easiest to get rid of. But also, carbs don't break down like simple sugars, and are more likely to get stored as fat than be burnt off as energy.
So kids, each green vegetables, poultry, and seafood. You'll get your fill and not rack on the extra poundage.
If you watched the lecture, Taubes dismisses the 'toxic environment' argument by showing examples where there is obesity epidemics amongst populations that are malnourished and poor.
That's because you need stuff besides calories, but the things that people think of as cheapest (i.e. most calories per dollar) have nothing but calories. If you eat a lot of fish and vegetables, you'll feel fuller of fewer calories because your body will have everything it needs.
o_O
No amount of vitamins or minerals would have prevented their obesity.
The problem isn't that they had nothing but calories. The problem is that their carb intakes were extremely high, and fat and protein intakes very low. One population was basically living off of coffee and white bread, and, despite the fact that the amount of calories they eat were starvation level, 40% of their women and 25% of their men were obese.
Read it again, then try to bone up on the difference between "malnourishment" and "undernourishment." You can starve quite easily while obese. All you have to do is eat nothing but butterburgers (I just googled this to make sure I wasn't accidentally disparaging the butterball burger division, and it turns out that it's a popular dish in Wisconsin, singlehandedly explaining the state's 22% obesity rate).
The real key is caloric intake. The problem is that the FDA sets levels in the assumption that people are both currently healthy and living a healthy lifestyle. The FDA says healthy adults should have an intake of no more than 2000 Calories a day.
Which is absolute bullshit, and will probably kill you, or at the very least give you diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Why? Because the average person, without significant amounts of cardiovascular exercise, only burns 700-1000 calories a day.
I don't have a problem with most of what you said, but one thing I should mention is that we don't know how much the average human burns in calories. That is entirely dependent on how much they eat. If they eat a shit ton of food, then the body will upregulate the metabolism in order to be able to burn the calories that it cannot store.
Didn't you earlier say that Japan is so thin because it consumes next to no calories?
Also, you could probably keep your metabolism up by spreading your calories across breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner and supper. Apperantly, this is a very old strategy for fighting off hunger and lethargy when eating on a tight budget.
Some quick googling says in repeated articles that it's a myth. A small amount will turn to saturated fat (not trans fat), but this is incredibly miniscule. As in, you'd have to heat that oil up, and keep it heated for several hours to produce a significant amount of saturated fat.
Edit: Extra Virgin Olive Oil's smoking point is around 410 degrees Fahrenheit (just over 200 degrees C). The lower the quality, the lower the smoke point though. Apparently it is also one of the most resistant oils to oxidation and hydrogenation, so it is one of the healthier options when it comes to oil.
You really shouldn't use EV olive oil for cooking. Smoke point is too low. You'll get better results with plain ol' olive oil, which also runs cheaper.
ElJeffe on
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Exactly. People being obese and malnourished doesn't mean that they're getting too many calories from carbs instead of fats, it means that the nourishment they're lacking is something other than calories.
I don't know which "millions of people" you are looking at, because last time I checked, obesity rates were skyrocketing across all age groups, and people who were on low fat/moderate-carb diets were struggling with various CVD risk factors. Maybe that fact changed between the time I look at the data and you posted on this thread, though.
I mean, you're probably young (I am - not saying that to be condescending), so you may not have had to deal with that stuff yet, but it is a real threat for a large portion of the population.
I'm not shitting on a low-carb diet, but if you're trying to say that's the only way to eat healthily you are a fucking loon.
I am arguing that it is much healthier than diets that have moderate/high carb levels.
There are 300 million people in America. Are you saying that all of them are unhealthy? I mean, if even 1% of them are healthy and relying on a moderate carb diet, that's "millions".
Also, I'm 35. I have stress-based IBS, but other than that I'm a picture of health. Low cholesterol, healthy weight, good heart rate, great blood pressure.
edit: I used to be in great shape when I was playing racquetball, but I've stopped exercising regularly for the last six months or so and so I'm not quite as spry.
ElJeffe on
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We evolved on diets that basically didn't have carbs, except for maybe some fruit, which tends to be rather low-calorie. It makes sense to me that carbs, which are almost always processed foods (except for fruit), might not be ideal as the basis of our diets.
We evolved to make the best of what we had. For example, we evolved to eat raw meat but cooked meat isn't worse for us. Similarly, carbs have been processed to be compatible with our dietary profile, so evolutionary biology can't really tell us much.
One thing I've learned is that fats tend to be bad if you have a problem with eating too much in a sitting rather than eating too frequently because they tend to have higher calorie density (I remember the Science Times talking about how several then recent studies had shown that fullness is determined by mass)
I don't know which "millions of people" you are looking at, because last time I checked, obesity rates were skyrocketing across all age groups, and people who were on low fat/moderate-carb diets were struggling with various CVD risk factors. Maybe that fact changed between the time I look at the data and you posted on this thread, though.
I mean, you're probably young (I am - not saying that to be condescending), so you may not have had to deal with that stuff yet, but it is a real threat for a large portion of the population.
I'm not shitting on a low-carb diet, but if you're trying to say that's the only way to eat healthily you are a fucking loon.
I am arguing that it is much healthier than diets that have moderate/high carb levels.
There are 300 million people in America. Are you saying that all of them are unhealthy? I mean, if even 1% of them are healthy and relying on a moderate carb diet, that's "millions".
Also, I'm 35. I have stress-based IBS, but other than that I'm a picture of health. Low cholesterol, healthy weight, good heart rate, great blood pressure.
edit: I used to be in great shape when I was playing racquetball, but I've stopped exercising regularly for the last six months or so and so I'm not quite as spry.
I live on bagels, cheese, fish, chicken, and lettuce and have low blood pressure and cholesterol. Of course, I have postural hypotension when thirsty and my doctor's told me that she'd suspect an absorption problem if my cholesterol was much lower, but they're still low, damnit!
I'm 23, ate mostly beans/bread/veggies and a moderate amount of meat for college, and still basically do. It was easier to live with a vegetarian when our groceries were basically the same.
I'm the picture of health! Cholesterol/blood pressure/etc etc all within the best possible ranges. That may have a little something to do with being 23, though.
It sounds like the biggest problem is just food being cheap.
Carbs aren't necessarily bad for you. But cheap bread that hasn't had time to properly ferment is.
Fat isn't bad for you. But cheap oils are.
Meat isn't necessarily bad for you. But cheap, industrially produced meat can be terrible.
That said, it's very easy to purchase inexpensive food if you're willing to cook. Unless you're talking stuff like ramen, it's actually cheaper to buy non-packaged food and healthier.
ElJeffe on
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It sounds like the biggest problem is just food being cheap.
Carbs aren't necessarily bad for you. But cheap bread that hasn't had time to properly ferment is.
Fat isn't bad for you. But cheap oils are.
Meat isn't necessarily bad for you. But cheap, industrially produced meat can be terrible.
That said, it's very easy to purchase inexpensive food if you're willing to cook. Unless you're talking stuff like ramen, it's actually cheaper to buy non-packaged food and healthier.
I think in America, that's where the problem lies. So many people don't cook, they eat out or buy pre-made things they can reheat.
Well, I go to sardines for most of my omegas. The cans tell me they're full of omegas, so hard to argue that.
Also, mayo and especially lowfat mayo is a crazy source of omegas. Check out the nutrition data on that low/non fat mayo, the stuff is basically just omega cream.
The best meat may be expensive, but that doesn't mean you can't eat non-organic meat without being unhealthy.
ElJeffe on
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I meant low-cal; low fat doesn't even make sense >_<
They basically just water it down, don't add salt, and for companies that add sugar to their regular mayo they don't add any sweetener to their light brand.
Also, to reiterate my point in the OP, Eskimos gain weight only if they start eating the starchy food that they buy from the civilized towns. This happens despite keeping overall calorie intake the same (essentially replacing some of the protein and animal fat with carbs = weight gain!).
Were the caloric intakes actually measured to see if they were the same, or is it just assumed? Additionally, has there been an investigation into people who eat traditional high-carb diets suddenly adding in a lot of fat?
I'm a sucker for doing dumb things with my lifestyle because they sound neat, or because I want to learn more about how they work. Like the four months I spent sleeping only two hours a day. Good times.
Despite being underweight by any measure, and having a low body fat percentage to start, I've been eating low carbohydrate foods for the past two months. Much of the reasoning behind why high fat diets not only work for weight loss, but are also healthy and sustainable is counter to everything I was taught in the biology labs and at home, but one doesn't have to look very hard to find some manner of evidence - either people or papers - that high fat diets just might work. And doing it yourself is so much more fun than reading a book.
At only two months in I think it's too soon to say what a high fat diet has done to me. I'm going to get a blood test next month, namely to see what the effect of a diet stupidly high in cholesterol has had on my HDL, LDL and triglyceride levels. On top of that I've been recording values of my weight, body fat (using a ghetto D.I.Y. method: callipers!), performance in aerobic and anaerobic exercises and largely unscientific notes on how I feel and how awesome I look. I'm hoping that at the three month mark I can read through my results and maybe further my knowledge of what makes my body tick.
Do bodies tick?
Yeah, I think so.
I don't think I have much of worth to contribute, but I'm eating tonnes of fat and I'm not dead yet. Will notify you all when that changes.
You should get a book deal for your experiments. Or at least start a thread.
That eskimo thing can't be used in a scientific arguement. When populations are isolated, metabolism changes or evolves based on the available nutrition in the area. (By change, I mean their bodies adapt to a certain set of food and how to digest it with a certain efficiency. By evolution, I mean that over generations the people whose metabolism doesn't work so well die and don't breed; the people who just happen to have metabolisms that can handle that diet well breed like crazy.)
In Asia, virtually everybody eats rice like crazy. Carbs are a large part of the diet. And in Japan, it's totally not just because the portions are small. Meals here are pretty dam big, most Japanese just have a genetic metabolism that can handle it. Most foreigners that come to Japan and live on a regular Japanese diet, using the same portions, gain fat unless they already ate like shit.
The best meat may be expensive, but that doesn't mean you can't eat non-organic meat without being unhealthy.
So many negatives...
Ain't it not the anti-truth.
ElJeffe on
I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
In Asia, virtually everybody eats rice like crazy. Carbs are a large part of the diet. And in Japan, it's totally not just because the portions are small. Meals here are pretty dam big, most Japanese just have a genetic metabolism that can handle it. Most foreigners that come to Japan and live on a regular Japanese diet, using the same portions, gain fat unless they already ate like shit.
This is a common myth. The average Japanese diet actually consists of at least 25% fewer calories than the American diet. They have excellent portion-control. In fact I've seen numbers as small as 1400 calories per day. So, contrary to your belief, their diet does not actually contradict the low-carb diet at all. It just means that low-fat/high-carb diets can work if overall calorie intake is kept to ridiculously low amounts.
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In Asia, virtually everybody eats rice like crazy. Carbs are a large part of the diet. And in Japan, it's totally not just because the portions are small. Meals here are pretty dam big, most Japanese just have a genetic metabolism that can handle it. Most foreigners that come to Japan and live on a regular Japanese diet, using the same portions, gain fat unless they already ate like shit.
This is a common myth. The average Japanese diet actually consists of at least 25% fewer calories than the American diet. They have excellent portion-control. In fact I've seen numbers as small as 1400 calories per day. So, contrary to your belief, their diet does not actually contradict the low-carb diet at all. It just means that low-fat/high-carb diets can work if overall calorie intake is kept to ridiculously low amounts.
Yeah, the crazy amount of food they give you at their restaurant is due to the fact that they know you're a fat American with no control.
In Asia, virtually everybody eats rice like crazy. Carbs are a large part of the diet. And in Japan, it's totally not just because the portions are small. Meals here are pretty dam big, most Japanese just have a genetic metabolism that can handle it. Most foreigners that come to Japan and live on a regular Japanese diet, using the same portions, gain fat unless they already ate like shit.
This is a common myth. The average Japanese diet actually consists of at least 25% fewer calories than the American diet. They have excellent portion-control. In fact I've seen numbers as small as 1400 calories per day. So, contrary to your belief, their diet does not actually contradict the low-carb diet at all. It just means that low-fat/high-carb diets can work if overall calorie intake is kept to ridiculously low amounts.
Yeah, the crazy amount of food they give you at their restaurant is due to the fact that they know you're a fat American with no control.
Similarly, how can the French eat such rich foods without getting as fat as we do? Is it because chocolate, wine, butter, and cheese combine to make some sort of super-food?
No it is because the French eat significantly less over a longer meal period.
Edit: So of course, the French show that high-carb diets also work, with moderate portion control.
Oh hey checking the exact calorie counts of France I got this page
Obviously the Daily Mail isn't exactly a reputable scientific source, but the general commentary is interesting. Most of the places listed have average caloric intakes of 2,000 or so, and are overall less fat than Britain/The US.
Oddly it seems as though the places with a lot of home cooking, little snacking, and a generally varied diet in reasonable portions have fewer fat people and better overall health indicators.
I'll get back to you guys on why I think this indicates that diet consisting of exclusively legumes will keep you healthy into your 100's.
Hmmmmm, it may just be the area I live in then. Or it could be I'm getting tricked by the foods having a much lower calorie density. By volume, the food is definitely bigger than what I was eating in the states.
Actually, yah... lower calorie density. But it is proportionally more carbs.
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The thing with olive oil and other similar healthy oils was that I remember reading about how it had a low flash point or something. So you could only use it to cook at low heats. Any higher (if it started smoking basically) would cause it to become really carcinogenic. Any truth to this?
Switch: US 1651-2551-4335 JP 6310-4664-2624
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I think what happens when you bring unsaturated cooking oils to their flashpoint is that it basically starts turning into trans fat. Not totally sure though.
olive oil is definitely a good sauteeing and cold use oil. Anything involving real cooking and I'll go with coconut oil or lard (from pastured pigs). Lard has the added benefit of making chicken and beef taste extra delicious.
Edit: Extra Virgin Olive Oil's smoking point is around 410 degrees Fahrenheit (just over 200 degrees C). The lower the quality, the lower the smoke point though. Apparently it is also one of the most resistant oils to oxidation and hydrogenation, so it is one of the healthier options when it comes to oil.
Read it again, then try to bone up on the difference between "malnourishment" and "undernourishment." You can starve quite easily while obese. All you have to do is eat nothing but butterburgers (I just googled this to make sure I wasn't accidentally disparaging the butterball burger division, and it turns out that it's a popular dish in Wisconsin, singlehandedly explaining the state's 22% obesity rate).
You can still become obese while undernourished.
Do you disagree with any of these statements?
Didn't you earlier say that Japan is so thin because it consumes next to no calories?
Also, you could probably keep your metabolism up by spreading your calories across breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner and supper. Apperantly, this is a very old strategy for fighting off hunger and lethargy when eating on a tight budget.
You really shouldn't use EV olive oil for cooking. Smoke point is too low. You'll get better results with plain ol' olive oil, which also runs cheaper.
Exactly. People being obese and malnourished doesn't mean that they're getting too many calories from carbs instead of fats, it means that the nourishment they're lacking is something other than calories.
There are 300 million people in America. Are you saying that all of them are unhealthy? I mean, if even 1% of them are healthy and relying on a moderate carb diet, that's "millions".
Also, I'm 35. I have stress-based IBS, but other than that I'm a picture of health. Low cholesterol, healthy weight, good heart rate, great blood pressure.
edit: I used to be in great shape when I was playing racquetball, but I've stopped exercising regularly for the last six months or so and so I'm not quite as spry.
We evolved to make the best of what we had. For example, we evolved to eat raw meat but cooked meat isn't worse for us. Similarly, carbs have been processed to be compatible with our dietary profile, so evolutionary biology can't really tell us much.
One thing I've learned is that fats tend to be bad if you have a problem with eating too much in a sitting rather than eating too frequently because they tend to have higher calorie density (I remember the Science Times talking about how several then recent studies had shown that fullness is determined by mass)
I live on bagels, cheese, fish, chicken, and lettuce and have low blood pressure and cholesterol. Of course, I have postural hypotension when thirsty and my doctor's told me that she'd suspect an absorption problem if my cholesterol was much lower, but they're still low, damnit!
I'm 23, ate mostly beans/bread/veggies and a moderate amount of meat for college, and still basically do. It was easier to live with a vegetarian when our groceries were basically the same.
I'm the picture of health! Cholesterol/blood pressure/etc etc all within the best possible ranges. That may have a little something to do with being 23, though.
Carbs aren't necessarily bad for you. But cheap bread that hasn't had time to properly ferment is.
Fat isn't bad for you. But cheap oils are.
Meat isn't necessarily bad for you. But cheap, industrially produced meat can be terrible.
That said, it's very easy to purchase inexpensive food if you're willing to cook. Unless you're talking stuff like ramen, it's actually cheaper to buy non-packaged food and healthier.
I think in America, that's where the problem lies. So many people don't cook, they eat out or buy pre-made things they can reheat.
Apparently, the only good meat is grass fed.
Good luck finding that at an affordable rate from your local grocery store.
Omega 3 content, though it isn't the only good meat to eat.
Depends on where they come from.
Apparently, farm raised fish is terrible.
You mean I've been holding live tilapia over my lawn for NOTHING!
Depends on whether or not the chickens are fed flaxseed and the fish are wild.
Fed the chickens, fish, and the cows corn and those animals won't produce the same amount of omega 3's.
Also, mayo and especially lowfat mayo is a crazy source of omegas. Check out the nutrition data on that low/non fat mayo, the stuff is basically just omega cream.
Your best bet is from a local farm.
http://www.eatwild.com
I just bought 1/4 of a cow, about 65lbs of ground beef and various steak cuts for about 400 dollars.
So many negatives...
definitely. It's not that bad, you can do alot of things outside of improving meat quality.
I meant low-cal; low fat doesn't even make sense >_<
They basically just water it down, don't add salt, and for companies that add sugar to their regular mayo they don't add any sweetener to their light brand.
Were the caloric intakes actually measured to see if they were the same, or is it just assumed? Additionally, has there been an investigation into people who eat traditional high-carb diets suddenly adding in a lot of fat?
You should get a book deal for your experiments. Or at least start a thread.
In Asia, virtually everybody eats rice like crazy. Carbs are a large part of the diet. And in Japan, it's totally not just because the portions are small. Meals here are pretty dam big, most Japanese just have a genetic metabolism that can handle it. Most foreigners that come to Japan and live on a regular Japanese diet, using the same portions, gain fat unless they already ate like shit.
Ain't it not the anti-truth.
Holy shit. Thank you for this site. Time to buy another fridge.
This is a common myth. The average Japanese diet actually consists of at least 25% fewer calories than the American diet. They have excellent portion-control. In fact I've seen numbers as small as 1400 calories per day. So, contrary to your belief, their diet does not actually contradict the low-carb diet at all. It just means that low-fat/high-carb diets can work if overall calorie intake is kept to ridiculously low amounts.
Yeah, the crazy amount of food they give you at their restaurant is due to the fact that they know you're a fat American with no control.
Similarly, how can the French eat such rich foods without getting as fat as we do? Is it because chocolate, wine, butter, and cheese combine to make some sort of super-food?
No it is because the French eat significantly less over a longer meal period.
Edit: So of course, the French show that high-carb diets also work, with moderate portion control.
Oh hey checking the exact calorie counts of France I got this page
Obviously the Daily Mail isn't exactly a reputable scientific source, but the general commentary is interesting. Most of the places listed have average caloric intakes of 2,000 or so, and are overall less fat than Britain/The US.
Oddly it seems as though the places with a lot of home cooking, little snacking, and a generally varied diet in reasonable portions have fewer fat people and better overall health indicators.
I'll get back to you guys on why I think this indicates that diet consisting of exclusively legumes will keep you healthy into your 100's.
Actually, yah... lower calorie density. But it is proportionally more carbs.