I can’t deal with Atkins 2.0
Diet beliefs are a religion for some people.
Counterpoint: East Asians eat craploads of rice and do not get fat. When China started getting more protein and fat is when they start seeing more fatties.
It probably coincides with when they started getting more middle class desk jobs as opposed to strenuous physical labor out in the fields.
That’s not a bad point. My grandma had to carry the water.
Sugar, specifically refined, and also refined wheat (e.g. Macdonald’s buns). The counter to your counterpoint is already in his books. :)
Gary Taubes has a book called “Why we get fat.”
It’s an interesting look at the diet paradigm you’re espousing, specifically regarding “being more active.”
There are several doctors putting the blame pretty much squarely on increased consumption of sugar, and claiming the mainstream advice given stems from ignorance and desperation at best, through to wilful negligence and ego at worst.
Examples:
https://www.amazon.com/Obesity-Code-Unlocking-Secrets-Weight/dp/1536682187
Plus the entire paleo movement.
yes ofcourse there are some who treat it like dogma and religion, which is ironic because it stems from questioning the original dogma (eat less, move more, count calories.)
Read the books, they’re interesting.
People are never going to agree on a diet discussion on the internet because most of us are gonna be like, “of course don’t eat SO MANY sugars, and eating SOME fat is okay.”
But what’s too many sugars and what’s some fat?
I don’t drink soda, I eat cereal once a month. I drink my coffee black. I don’t put butter on my toast. Meanwhile got friends who’ll say, ahh no, you need fat in your diet. Sure you do. But how much? Nobody really knows right? Ok, so they slabber 600 calories of bacon on then add 200 more with butter. Any dietary change with the goal of losing weight cannot ignore the energy density of fat.
I think it’s a psychological problem, not an engineering/science problem. Some people can eat a load of fries and fat and keep eating. I eat fried foods and I’m full, I won’t eat anything more. My body pretty much knows how much to eat. I think some people seem to lack an internal satiety counter, particularly with regards to fat.
You’re missing sugar.
Neither high fat nor high carb diets necessarily make you fat. Combine them, though, and add shitloads of added sugars, and you have the expressway to type 2 diabetes otherwise known as the Standard American Diet. We’ve been exporting that for decades.
I don’t have a problem conceding that extra sugar is bad, my problem is with some people’s arguments that seems straight out of the a Texas Cattlemen’s association press release. It just seems too convenient to lay all the blame on soda and HFCS and say eat all the red meat you want.
Don’t get me wrong, I love red meat. I am just under no illusions it’s particularly healthy, not to mention the environmental impact.
From what I’ve read, meat is actually very healthy for you.
The problem comes when the animal you’re eating has been force-fed a tonne of refined grains and antibiotics etc, which seems to be standard practice.
You are what the thing you are eating, ate.
Well there’s a very simple argument which is that it is very difficult to actually eat alot of meat in one sitting, without fries etc.
Call it your internal satiety signal mechanism, that tells you when to eat and when not to. This is where the concept of empty calories comes in, calories from foods that you eat and eat without triggering the warning that you’re full.
This is why you always seem to have room for ice cream after a big meal.
Seriously, how much steak can you eat in one sitting? My record is 20 ounces, when I was 18. Versus 22 slices of pizza from the Pizza hut buffet, without the crusts because that was how we were keeping score.
Now how much refined sugary carb could you eat?
How many delicious pancakes drizzled with maple syrup? How many waffles with ice cream? How much popcorn when watching Infinity war, like I did yesterday (answer, a medium sized bucket all to myself and I could have had another one, quite easily?) I could also go through bowls of sweets (candies) and bowls of frosted flakes and other cereals. They’re delicious.
This is making me hungry. I am considering purchasing a waffle iron and one of those speciality pancake pans. They’re my greatest indulgence right now, especially as alcohol is rarer and of less appeal to me. I’ve got several bottles of booze in my flat and they remain untouched.
How much fish or shellfish could I consume in one go? Not nearly as much calorie wise as the popcorn.
That is why a diet of red meat would be preferable over a diet of breads. Better yet a diet of fatty meats and offal.
Yes there’s an environmental aspect to consider, a huge thing to think about, but is this a discussion on what diet is best for human health or not?
I just reread “Why we get fat,” so to paraphrase the conclusion:
Summary
Basically, any diet that reduces your insulin production is good, and whatever does the opposite is bad. Your individual reaction and sensitivity will vary.
Do this with any diet and you are in for some fun.
And it is far more widespread than adding sugar to your coffee. There is a tonne of sugar added into almost anything.
Indeed. There are plenty of documented diets of both, with no adverse effects.
Define “extra” sugar. Because,. reading food labels, in nearly everything there is added sugar.
taken to the logical, impractical, conclusion, the only sugars you should be eating are raw honey and in season unprocessed (preferably wild) fruits.
Unlikely. Now, I adore pastries etc, but I am under no illusions that they are doing my body any good whatsoever.
Totally anecdotal, but when I was in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand for 6 weeks, the one group of food that was conspicuously absent was dairy. Some butter, but zero cheese or milk.
That’s generally true in Asia, due largely to lactose intolerance.
Yes and no. In India paneer is very common, and it is a form of cheese. Kinda. Also milk in tea is common.
Now cheese like we do in the US, as a topping? Fairly rare. But dairy as a form of vegetarian protein was pretty popular.
But mostly as paneer.
God I love Paneer. So many variations. But I specifically did not call out India b/c they love their dairy! (and I might add, a lot of Indians are getting a wee bit on the heavy side).
Which is awesome. And actually, pretty easy to make.
Why so? I looked into this and it seemed that the benefit was negligible. Honey is delicious and awesome though.
The reasoning is that the less refinement of a sugar that happens, the better (or less bad). Like I said, a simplification and reduction of the argument.