I say a balanced diet made up of plant sources, including veggies, fruits, and grains, AND animal sources, such as low fat cheese and lean meat, is a healthy and normal diet for humans.

So, let 'er rip - what do you all think?

I agree. Although I'm a vegetarian and don't get the benefit of easy protein from lean cuts of meat. I do eat eggs and dairy products so they are staples in my diet as far as protein consumption goes, specifically: whole eggs, 1% milk, non-fat cottage cheese, low-fat cheese, and whey protein powders. You didn't mention fish, LKS. Important for your omega-3 fatty acids. I take fish oil supplements to help me in that regard.

my cardiologist has me on something called the mediterrain diet. it is high in fruits, vegetables and grains. it calls for some lean meat.

quote:

Originally posted by h.c.:
I agree. Although I'm a vegetarian and don't get the benefit of easy protein from lean cuts of meat. I do eat eggs and dairy products so they are staples in my diet as far as protein consumption goes, specifically: whole eggs, 1% milk, non-fat cottage cheese, low-fat cheese, and whey protein powders. You didn't mention fish, LKS. Important for your omega-3 fatty acids. I take fish oil supplements to help me in that regard.

Yes, but you don't liken the choice between beef and pork to choosing cocaine or heroine.

You just don't find too many militant BBQers out there, but say you like meat to a vegan and they'll call all sorts of things.

You're right hc, I left out fish. I don't care for fish much, but do try to eat tuna a couple of times a week.

One of the biggest problems for me is that I'm allergic to tree nuts, so lose out on their benefits.

quote:

Originally posted by LKS:

quote:

Originally posted by h.c.:
I agree. Although I'm a vegetarian and don't get the benefit of easy protein from lean cuts of meat. I do eat eggs and dairy products so they are staples in my diet as far as protein consumption goes, specifically: whole eggs, 1% milk, non-fat cottage cheese, low-fat cheese, and whey protein powders. You didn't mention fish, LKS. Important for your omega-3 fatty acids. I take fish oil supplements to help me in that regard.

Yes, but you don't liken the choice between beef and pork to choosing cocaine or heroine.

You just don't find too many militant BBQers out there, but say you like meat to a vegan and they'll call all sorts of things.

You're right hc, I left out fish. I don't care for fish much, but do try to eat tuna a couple of times a week.

One of the biggest problems for me is that I'm allergic to tree nuts, so lose out on their benefits.

True, I'm no vegan. Tree nuts, LKS?

quote:

True, I'm no vegan. Tree nuts, LKS?

Walnuts, almonds, stuff like that. Peanuts (which, of course are not really a nut) are Ok for me.

Walnuts, especially, are something I avoid - they give me terrible mouth sores. Very irritating.

Tree nuts. Of course ... A colleague of mine isn't able to eat things like almonds and walnuts because she also ends up with the mouth sores. The doctor told her it was the L-arginine (amino acid) content that triggered the sores.

I think the key is eating more healthy foods like fruits, veggies, nuts, fish, lean meat, whole grains. Avoid fatty meats, fried and high-temperature cooked foods, trans fats and foods containing trans fats, white flour.

I use this tool to check calories, fats, proteins, carbohydrates, sugars, and other nutrient content of foods: http://www.healthassist.net/nutrients/

BTW, even healthy foods may have somewhat negative effects: http://www.healthassist.net/food/side-effects/side-effects.shtml

quote:

Originally posted by Christine:
I think the key is eating more healthy foods like fruits, veggies, nuts, fish, lean meat, whole grains. Avoid fatty meats, fried and high-temperature cooked foods, trans fats and foods containing trans fats, white flour.

I use this tool to check calories, fats, proteins, carbohydrates, sugars, and other nutrient content of foods: http://www.healthassist.net/nutrients/

BTW, even healthy foods may have somewhat negative effects: http://www.healthassist.net/food/side-effects/side-effects.shtml

Christine,

That is a good link. Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by Pecos:

quote:

Originally posted by Christine:
I think the key is eating more healthy foods like fruits, veggies, nuts, fish, lean meat, whole grains. Avoid fatty meats, fried and high-temperature cooked foods, trans fats and foods containing trans fats, white flour.

I use this tool to check calories, fats, proteins, carbohydrates, sugars, and other nutrient content of foods: http://www.healthassist.net/nutrients/

BTW, even healthy foods may have somewhat negative effects: http://www.healthassist.net/food/side-effects/side-effects.shtml

Christine,

That is a good link. Thanks

Actually, I think that most of the things on this list are wrong (or based on faulty research). Plus you have the very, very old papers - the paper showing that meat causes high blood pressure is dated 1982.

I also noticed that most of the papers (or the ones I spot checked anyway) were based on Epidemiology and statistical studies. Like they say, correlation is not causation (global temperature increases correlate nicely to the decline of pirates, for instance).

A great article recently came out in the NY Times magazine on this topic:
Do We Really Know What Makes Us Healthy?

quote:

Originally posted by LKS:

quote:

Originally posted by Pecos:

quote:

Originally posted by Christine:
I think the key is eating more healthy foods like fruits, veggies, nuts, fish, lean meat, whole grains. Avoid fatty meats, fried and high-temperature cooked foods, trans fats and foods containing trans fats, white flour.

I use this tool to check calories, fats, proteins, carbohydrates, sugars, and other nutrient content of foods: http://www.healthassist.net/nutrients/

BTW, even healthy foods may have somewhat negative effects: http://www.healthassist.net/food/side-effects/side-effects.shtml

Christine,

That is a good link. Thanks

Actually, I think that most of the things on this list are wrong (or based on faulty research). Plus you have the very, very old papers - the paper showing that meat causes high blood pressure is dated 1982.

I also noticed that most of the papers (or the ones I spot checked anyway) were based on Epidemiology and statistical studies. Like they say, correlation is not causation (global temperature increases correlate nicely to the decline of pirates, for instance).

A great article recently came out in the NY Times magazine on this topic:
Do We Really Know What Makes Us Healthy?

LKS, You are assigning me a lot of reading today. ..... Thanks, it was informative!

quote:

Originally posted by LKS:
Actually, I think that most of the things on this list are wrong (or based on faulty research). Plus you have the very, very old papers - the paper showing that meat causes high blood pressure is dated 1982.

The study about meat and blood pressure was published on December, 2005. It was fifteen-year "multicenter, population-based, prospective study" started on 1985–1986. Also, from what I saw, there are many other recent studies on the list that were taken from NCBI. And I don’t think that NCBI is full of faulty research.

quote:

Originally posted by LKS:
I also noticed that most of the papers (or the ones I spot checked anyway) were based on Epidemiology and statistical studies. Like they say, correlation is not causation (global temperature increases correlate nicely to the decline of pirates, for instance).

Although epidemiological studies do not prove causal relationships, they are very important source of information for health research. Moreover, it is sometimes not practical or ethical to perform randomized controlled trials to answer a question. For example, if there is reasonable evidence that smoking causes heart disease, then persuading a group of non-smokers to take up smoking in order to test this hypothesis would generally be quite unethical. Also, I saw several randomized controlled trials on the list.

Perhaps I missed the random studies. But epidemiological studies are not a source of information, but rather a source for establishing a hypothesis for further study.

Read the article in the Times Magazine, it is clear that very, very few epidemiological studies have resulted in results that were supported with real research. Smoking, of course, is one. But the role of saturated fat in obesity is one that was, as they say, wide of the mark.

I think the biggest problem is portion control. Not eating too much. A meal should be roughly the size of two fists. However, because we are sucha wealthy nation, we are more used to portions being the size of 4 fists. Eating too much of anything is fatening, no matter what it is.

quote:

Originally posted by Gruvholmes:
I think the biggest problem is portion control. Not eating too much. A meal should be roughly the size of two fists. However, because we are sucha wealthy nation, we are more used to portions being the size of 4 fists. Eating too much of anything is fatening, no matter what it is.

I would agree that portion control is important. Anyone see the recent TV news stories about how to trick yourself into eating less by using smaller plates and tall skinny glasses? They did some preliminary studies on it and it may make a difference in how much we eat.