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DailyDirt: Eating Better Ain't Easy

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Fri, Sep 20th 2013 5:00pm — Michael Ho

Dieting myths are everywhere. Fads tell us to avoid too much protein or to avoid carbs and only eat protein. Hopefully, as more science enters this field, we'll get some definitive solutions on what we're doing wrong and get beyond the diet fads. Here are just a few interesting links on eating healthier and challenges to doing so.

There are a lot of nutrition myths out there. Among them, it is still widely believed that a low fat diet is somehow healthier than other diets. However, studies of low fat diets show no prevention of heart disease or any weight gain reduction. [url]
Sleep deprivation can lead people to eat more and gain weight. Sleep deprived people seem to crave junk food more and have less willpower to resist high-calorie foods. So get your 8 hours, if you can. [url]
It's not so easy to change menus to encourage people to eat healthier. The presence of healthy items on a menu can actually encourage people to choose the less healthy options (via "vicarious goal fulfillment" where people think that merely making an effort to seek out a menu that includes healthy foods is enough to eat better), and listing calorie counts doesn't matter -- people will still eat about the same amount of calories despite the listed calorie information on a menu. [url]

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Filed Under: calories, diet, food, healthy food, heart disease, myths, nutrition, sleep deprivation, weight gain

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Anonymous Coward, 20 Sep 2013 @ 5:12pm

Dieting fads are a billion dollar industry!
Why don't you think of those poor companies selling diet books and food point systems..?
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A Non-amorous Cowherd, 20 Sep 2013 @ 6:48pm

That study Popsci cited about low fat diet and weight loss? I'm not convinced that it says what Popsci thinks it says.

Popsci says: "The diet did NOT prevent weight gain."

The study says: "Weight loss was greatest among women in either group who decreased their percentage of energy from fat."
And also:
"A low-fat eating pattern does not result in weight gain..."

That's pretty much the exact opposite isn't it?

And of course there is also the fact that a single study proves jack monkey squat (results must be consistently repeatable), the study relied on self reporting to determine what the participants were eating (protip: people lie), and the participants were restricted to postmenopausal women and therefore might not apply to the general population.
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ChrisB (profile), 21 Sep 2013 @ 7:23am

Exercise
Maybe another myth can die. That exercise is useful for weight loss. Exercise is weakly (and sometimes inversely) correlated with weight loss, yet this is the first suggestion out of peoples mouths. Exercise is great for general health, though.
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- Anonymous Coward, 21 Sep 2013 @ 10:54am
  
  Re: Exercise
  The point of exercise isn't weight loss - it is making the weight you are carrying healthier essentially. Better to have 10 lbs of fat converted to 10 lbs of muscle than just losing 15 lbs.
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Anon-Y-Mouse (profile), 22 Sep 2013 @ 10:08am

Take a look at what our closest genetic cousins eat.
It isn't grains. It's fruits, vegetables, and meat. We are evolved to eat them. Furthermore, our bodies for the most part know how to regulate their intake. For example, our gut stops producing the enzymes needed for breaking down meat and fat when the body has met it's needs. The same can't be said for sugars and starches. They get converted to simple sugars and absorbed from the gut irregardless of need.

When you eat is also important. There is an old saying along the lines of: "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.". It holds great wisdom. Recently published studies have shown food eaten late in the day are much more likely to be stored as fat than when eaten early in the day. So, skip breakfast at the peril of your waist. After switching to a diet where I eat a 3 to 4 eggs omelet with sausage, bacon, or ham for breakfast, a half pound of beef for lunch, and salads and veggies for dinner, I've lost 25lbs. Yes, I am active throughout the day so I need the calories. My total daily calorie intake hasn't changed much, if anything it may be a bit higher. I just now eat most of them at breakfast and lunch rather than at dinner. If you are wondering about my cholesterol levels because of all those eggs and meat. They have also dropped, and are now well below normal rather than just on the low side of normal.

If you're still having trouble loosing weight, get a gut bacteria transplant from somebody who is skinny and healthy. ;)

Friend citizen, are you not happy? It is treason to not be happy. - The Computer
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