Low Fat Diets [Science]
2014 Dec 25
From a calorie-control perspective, I find it helps to think of food in terms of satisfaction per calorie. Fat is tops, with meats and vegetables doing well too. Carbohydrates are in the lower part of that list, and drinkable sugars (juice, pop) are rock bottom.
You can drink 400 calories of juice or pop and then have a full meal. Eat 400 calories of butter and you'll feel quite satisfied (possibly even a bit ill) *and* start to crave steamed broccoli. :D
You can drink 400 calories of juice or pop and then have a full meal. Eat 400 calories of butter and you'll feel quite satisfied (possibly even a bit ill) *and* start to crave steamed broccoli. :D
2014 Dec 25
I would agree that the move to lower fats was compensated for by higher sugar, and of the two sugar is the worse.
I think from the viewpoints of efficiency, health, environment, and ethics, a vegan diet is optimal, but it would be a difficult lifestyle change for many.
We need to sort these issues out on the basis of science, but where issues like human health and the environment are concerned, it will take decades of careful observation (well at least most of a human lifetime) before we can reach conclusions.
There is also the confounding influence of the profit motive which leads to distortion of evidence by business which are making profits. Or there is simply human bias.
And even if science tells us to eat this or eat that, we may choose not to. People still smoke, and drink alcohol, and drink diet pepsi. The consensus is these things are not exactly good for you.
I think from the viewpoints of efficiency, health, environment, and ethics, a vegan diet is optimal, but it would be a difficult lifestyle change for many.
We need to sort these issues out on the basis of science, but where issues like human health and the environment are concerned, it will take decades of careful observation (well at least most of a human lifetime) before we can reach conclusions.
There is also the confounding influence of the profit motive which leads to distortion of evidence by business which are making profits. Or there is simply human bias.
And even if science tells us to eat this or eat that, we may choose not to. People still smoke, and drink alcohol, and drink diet pepsi. The consensus is these things are not exactly good for you.
2014 Dec 26
While I agree with you Francis that there are a lot of food-related issues that society has yet to reconcile, that is another topic altogether that has little to do with fat free diets. I started this thread to prevent another from being continually off-topic, so maybe yet another thread is required.
2014 Dec 27
I don't think a fat free diet would be very healthy. You need fats to absorb some nutrients.
Tumeric in curry is fat soluble and quite beneficial.
The Toum garlic paste isn't unhealthy really. There is a lot of oil in it, but you only spread a bit of it on food. As FF says, it's a condiment. Salt, monounsaturated oil, egg white, lemon juice. It's not bad at all.
I was just wondering if I could cut down the oil, or cut out the egg white (and thus make it vegan), but I couldn't find a good emulsifier in place of the egg white. Canola oil or sunflower isn't so bad.
Re: cholesterol. Within the body cholesterol is essential and the body in fact makes it. Whether dietary cholesterol is beneficial or not is another question.
I gave up eating eggs (like boiled, or scrambled, or friend, or poached) years ago, but I will eat goodies baked by my daughters where they have used eggs. Goodies sitting on the counter are hard to resist. My wife keeps saying eggs are a complete protein, but I really doubt I have any protein deficiencies.
I guess I just don't like the taste of eggs, but I do like the taste of broccoli sprouts, which have a sulfurous flavor reminiscent of eggs.
Sometimes you eat something and you can feel the "grease" for lack of a better word, circulating. Usually with animal, as opposed to vegetable fats though. Sometimes my son want to go for a burger and I go with him for father son bonding. Some places give me a "grease" headache and others don't. Maybe it's not the meat at all, but the fillers, or the oil used on the grille. Anyway it's a very occasional thing.
Tumeric in curry is fat soluble and quite beneficial.
The Toum garlic paste isn't unhealthy really. There is a lot of oil in it, but you only spread a bit of it on food. As FF says, it's a condiment. Salt, monounsaturated oil, egg white, lemon juice. It's not bad at all.
I was just wondering if I could cut down the oil, or cut out the egg white (and thus make it vegan), but I couldn't find a good emulsifier in place of the egg white. Canola oil or sunflower isn't so bad.
Re: cholesterol. Within the body cholesterol is essential and the body in fact makes it. Whether dietary cholesterol is beneficial or not is another question.
I gave up eating eggs (like boiled, or scrambled, or friend, or poached) years ago, but I will eat goodies baked by my daughters where they have used eggs. Goodies sitting on the counter are hard to resist. My wife keeps saying eggs are a complete protein, but I really doubt I have any protein deficiencies.
I guess I just don't like the taste of eggs, but I do like the taste of broccoli sprouts, which have a sulfurous flavor reminiscent of eggs.
Sometimes you eat something and you can feel the "grease" for lack of a better word, circulating. Usually with animal, as opposed to vegetable fats though. Sometimes my son want to go for a burger and I go with him for father son bonding. Some places give me a "grease" headache and others don't. Maybe it's not the meat at all, but the fillers, or the oil used on the grille. Anyway it's a very occasional thing.
zymurgist
Forum - Lebanese Garlic Paste
I am guesting for the holidays, and the hostess is "fat free everything" and bragging about it. Um, great. Except that, respectfully, you are as big as a horse and doing the fat free thing the last 30 years clearly is not doing you a speck of good. She is in good company, sadly, because as new research shows, the fat free diet is responsible for the obesity epidemic the last 30 years. Directly connected.
Gawd bless her she's a wonderful woman. But she needs to be brought up to date on basic nutrition.
Here is a good explanation of the problem. I have no idea who this "Johnny Bowden" guy is but his explanation is bang-on with ones I've read in reputable places, and I'm just too lazy to google for a better reference.
jonnybowden.com