WE ARE WHAT WE EAT

[Tizer]

Verner Wheelock! That name's a blast from the past for me. I remember him from my time in the food industry. He was a food consultant and worked at various times at Reading, Nottingham and Bradford universities. It sounds like he's got his whole family working for the business now. He's obviously changed sides - he used to be keen on low-fat diets!

[Wendyf]

I think a lot of people have seen the light and changed sides Tiz, a lot more to go though! In Canada 200 doctors have signed a petition to the government asking for a change in their official nutrition recommendations, the same needs to happen here. We still hear the "fat clogs your arteries" argument trotted out time and again!

HERE

[Stanley]

"The man who never changes his mind is like stagnant water and reptiles breed in his mind". Blake........

[Tizer]

I've looked at that link Wendy and note that it's a group of Canadian doctors asking Health Canada (the government's health organisation) to change the country's dietary & nutrition recommendations. However it's still a very contentious issue and if you looked at the views of scientists, rather than doctors, you'd find it's a mixed bag with no consensus either way. The Canadian document with 200 names can give the impression that most Canadian doctors support a change in the recommendations, but we must keep in mind that there are more than 77,000 doctors (physicians, GPs) in Canada, so the letter represents only about 0.25% of them. What do the other 99.75% think about the issue?

I remember in the late 1990s when an organisation that supported the fossil fuel industries set up an online poll to find out how many scientists didn't believe climate change was happening. They boasted when they obtained about 17,000 names and then claimed that most scientists didn't believe in it. I remember writing to a science magazine to point out the flaw in the argument - there were several million scientists and engineers working in the USA. And the poll was online and taking names of foreign scientists too, so it was even worse!

I'm glad to hear that the tide has turned and that there is more acceptance of fats and saturated fats again. I did my bit to try and move things in that direction but we have to be careful of moving too far in the other direction or we'll end up with a different problem. I still believe that the major diet & nutrition problem now is people simply eating far too much for their level of energy expenditure.

[Stanley]

I think you're right Tiz in that the consensus on saturated fat seems to be moving towards what we have always advocated as common sense but as you say, the cardinal rule is that to avoid gaining weight you have to burn off as much energy as you take in. My body had no problems at all in regulating my weight at a constant 168lbs when I was working like a horse no matter what I ate!

[Wendyf]

Fat fills you up and stops you feeling hungry while carbohydrates make you hungrier. If you follow the recommended low fat, high carb, calories in/calories out diet your metabolism slows down and most folk give up after a while. You can lose weight without exercise eating fat and restricting carbs. I bet you were eating plenty fat when you were working hard and staying slim Stanley!

[Whyperion]

Im none too certain where to get fat from, other than the odd boiled egg, some cabbage fried in sunflower oil and butter on the multigrain toast (the cats like the butter too).

[Tizer]

Here's an independent web site that's easy to read but presents the scientific evidence for low-carb diets v. low fat diets:
`23 Studies on Low-Carb and Low-Fat Diets – Time to Retire The Fad' LINK

[Stanley]

You're right Wendy, when I was picking milk up I always stole a drink of the cream on top of the kit containing last night's milk when I picked up Marton Scar milk on my first run of the day. It was the highest solids not fat analysis milk we took in. So the day started with a pint of unpasteurised cream! Nothing to beat it. I have always said that the Industrial revolution was fuelled by cholesterol and saturated fat and if it was so bad for you why did God put it in Mother's Milk and eggs!

[Tizer]

You eating cream like that reminds me of Mrs Tiz's grandfather in New Zealand and how he loved butter. If we went to a restaurant he'd collect up the little foil-wrapped butter servings and eat them like sweets! Mrs Tiz and her dad chose a healthier addiction - if you left a bowl of olives in their reach it would be empty before you got a look in.

[Stanley]

I would Hoover up the olives these days......

[Big Kev]

Proba ly not the healthiest treat but I made some whiskey and chocolate truffles today. 300ml double cream, 200g of 70% cocoa solids chocolate a pinch of salt, a large glass of Jamesons and half a dozen gingernut biscuits crushed to a powder to roll the truffles in. I exercised portion control by making the individual truffles with a small measuring spoon (1tablespoon size). I have eaten 2 and the plague of locusts that is family sorted the rest.

[Stanley]

I found a fascinating seam of videos on Youtube yesterday. Dial in street food and watch the incredible skill of the roadside vendors in Asia. Hypnotic!

[Tripps]

Thanks for reminding me. This is one step up from the roadside, and I'm surprised to see it is still trading. I ate in this place (chicken biriani), fifty years ago.

Makan bagus lah
Victory Restaurant, Arab Street, Singapore

[Stanley]

I'll bet his hands are soft.........

[Tizer]

I ate in this place (chicken biriani), fifty years ago. [/url]

Have you recovered yet?

[Tizer]

`Modern life responsible for ‘worrying’ health in middle aged'. Here is the press release from Public Health England: LINK
I notice that the Daily Express has done its usual daily dose of misleading information on this topic. Its front page leads with the story but says the report is all about the worrying level of Type 2 diabetes in this age group. That's not the point, the report is about the levels of obesity which then make people more likely to get Type 2 diabetes. But the Express doesn't like to use the word `obesity' in case it offends its readers.

[Stanley]

The really strange thing to me is the widely held conclusion that many people completely lose the ability to recognise when they are becoming obese. It seems to be beyond simply ignoring it, their ability to monitor their body image fails completely and they see nothing wrong to ignore. I reinforce my efforts to remain a reasonable weight by noting how fat some people are. It seems as though most people see obese people as 'normal' and thus reinforce their own failings. Funny old world......

[Tizer]

Unfortunately, the evidence from studies is that they also don't recognise their children are obese and thereby condemn them to illness and disability as adults. That leaves the problem of how do you get the family out of that vicious circle?

[Stanley]

Rationing?

[Julie in Norfolk]

Today, we hope to finish up the goodies we brought into the office for our pre-Christmas lunch. Little actual planning had gone into this feast, Whereas normally we decide exactly what is to be on offer and from whom, we left it more open, and had another couple of people join us. Luckily my Christmas dinner was more nutritious and less sugary. Ah well, 3 of us go back onto diets of some description in the New Year.

[Stanley]

I think I did well over Xmas despite a natural urge over the last few months to eat for comfort. I haven't fought too hard against this but am addressing it now! I have a blood test during the next week and a diabetes assessment so it will be interesting to see how much damage I have done by putting on about 6lbs.....

[Tizer]

Unfortunately, the evidence from studies is that they also don't recognise their children are obese and thereby condemn them to illness and disability as adults. That leaves the problem of how do you get the family out of that vicious circle?

I didn't go far enough with this - a Public Health England lady this morning said the same but added that some obese people even believe their fat children are underweight. Poor children.

[Wendyf]

Here's an interesting idea, using Teenage rebellion as a way of making a change.

[Stanley]

I heard her say that as well Tiz. The same thought struck me. Wendy, I like that man Sammy Pepys.... Almost tempted to buy the book! By the way, 100 year old man came through the door yesterday.