Travel Health and Fitness - Fascinating study of diet and weight gain

I thought this would be of interest to this forum. This is a Jane Brody article that describes a very large scale, long term study on diet and weight gain. (http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/health/jane-brody/article_2c7f90c7-f9ab-5b22-b11c-956e6c6401f7.html) A few highlights, calorie counting doesnt work well, different foods have different impacts (linked to the previous point) and eat yogurt and nuts.

Thanks for posting this link. I learned things (and that's good!)

That was a great story! And now I wonder why I wouldn't eat yogurt for so long...


Here's another story I saw in yesterday's WSJ that is on a similar note:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903999904576469973559258778.html?K EYWORDS=salad

this really interested me:
Despite decades of nagging to eat more leafy greens and colorful vegetables, the average American eats a salad at mealtime only about 36 times a year. That's 20% less often than in 1985, when the average annual frequency was 45, according to market research firm NPD Group. Fewer than half of Americans—49%—ate at least one "leaf salad" at home in two weeks, compared with 75% who ate a potato dish and 81% who ate beef.

I guess I'm the exception, in the average week, I eat salad at least 4 times (usually 5-6). Sometimes a big salad is dinner.

That was a great story! And now I wonder why I wouldn't eat yogurt for so long...


Here's another story I saw in yesterday's WSJ that is on a similar note:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903999904576469973559258778.html?K EYWORDS=salad

this really interested me:


I guess I'm the exception, in the average week, I eat salad at least 4 times (usually 5-6). Sometimes a big salad is dinner.

Another good link!

I eat salads 6-7 days a week, sometimes for 2 meals in one day. Yogurt for breakfast every morning.

I keep forgetting about nuts. I think that's a weak spot for me - my diet is actually usually too low in any kind of fat and I know that sometimes I overdo carbs or sugar because of it. This is a reminder to start setting out my little tin of nuts with my vitamins every morning. Isn't important how I eat the nuts - as a snack, add to salad, whatever. I just need to make them a regular thing.

Another good link!

I eat salads 6-7 days a week, sometimes for 2 meals in one day. Yogurt for breakfast every morning.

I keep forgetting about nuts. I think that's a weak spot for me - my diet is actually usually too low in any kind of fat and I know that sometimes I overdo carbs or sugar because of it. This is a reminder to start setting out my little tin of nuts with my vitamins every morning. Isn't important how I eat the nuts - as a snack, add to salad, whatever. I just need to make them a regular thing.

If I'm doing salad for lunch at, for example, Cafe Europa, I'll ask the saladier to add walnuts, which they don't put out, but they are available if you ask for them specifically. Come to think of it, a spinach salad with feta, cherry tomatoes, walnuts and vinaigrette sounds very tasty. :)

If I'm doing salad for lunch at, for example, Cafe Europa, I'll ask the saladier to add walnuts, which they don't put out, but they are available if you ask for them specifically. Come to think of it, a spinach salad with feta, cherry tomatoes, walnuts and vinaigrette sounds very tasty. :)

Or hazelnuts on a spinach salad, feta, few blueberries...

I also like putting pecans and almonds on my salads, but I think walnuts are the healthiest choice.

All nuts are out for me (allergy), so unless I want to die, I can't use nuts as a good food.

All nuts are out for me (allergy), so unless I want to die, I can't use nuts as a good food.

Yeah, same here. It makes me sad too. :(

All nuts are out for me (allergy), so unless I want to die, I can't use nuts as a good food.

Yeah, same here. It makes me sad too. :(

Can you eat yogurt?

Can you eat yogurt?

I can eat yogurt and do pretty regularly.

I am reading a book by Gary Taubes titled "Why we Get Fat" and it is very similar. Although the author often comes across a little salsey, preachy kind of style (I have all the answers) and at times dictatorial, but the information is very good and he goes through various studies over the years - most of which come to the same conclusion. Calorie in calorie out model doesn't work and the whole low fat craze was ineffective also. When they cut out the fat, they add sugar to give it flavor and now they think its the sugar and carbohydrates that make us fat and we've gone so low fat crazy, we have cut out all the good fats as well.

He talks about a really interesting study where rats were studied with and without estrogen and I think the outcome was something like, giving the rats a hysterectomy and restricting their diet did nothing to stop them from gaining weight. They still gained weight after the hysterectomy.

fascinating book if you ever get the chance to read it.

I am reading a book by Gary Taubes titled "Why we Get Fat" and it is very similar. Although the author often comes across a little salsey, preachy kind of style (I have all the answers) and at times dictatorial, but the information is very good and he goes through various studies over the years - most of which come to the same conclusion. Calorie in calorie out model doesn't work and the whole low fat craze was ineffective also. When they cut out the fat, they add sugar to give it flavor and now they think its the sugar and carbohydrates that make us fat and we've gone so low fat crazy, we have cut out all the good fats as well.

He talks about a really interesting study where rats were studied with and without estrogen and I think the outcome was something like, giving the rats a hysterectomy and restricting their diet did nothing to stop them from gaining weight. They still gained weight after the hysterectomy.

fascinating book if you ever get the chance to read it.

Don't need to. ;) Because that's entirely my own experience, too. High-fat foods, in moderation, don't fatten me as quickly or as much as refined carbohydrates, such as sugar and white bread. In fact, fat as a food element doesn't even measure to me, within reason.

Can you eat yogurt?

Yup. Started recently for the calcium boost. Glad to see that it has other health benefits too!

Come to think of it, a spinach salad with feta, cherry tomatoes, walnuts and vinaigrette sounds very tasty. :)

Add chicken take out the tomatoes and its what I had for lunch today!

Add chicken take out the tomatoes and its what I had for lunch today!

Yummy! :)

Don't need to. ;) Because that's entirely my own experience, too. High-fat foods, in moderation, don't fatten me as quickly or as much as refined carbohydrates, such as sugar and white bread. In fact, fat as a food element doesn't even measure to me, within reason.

Agreed. Avoid processed foods as much as possible and it is easy to maintain weight.

All nuts are out for me (allergy), so unless I want to die, I can't use nuts as a good food.

Yeah, same here. It makes me sad too. :(

Its funny that most of these issues of weight gain & allergies are only found in the west.

Simply speaking, these are nothing but bodies that have been un-naturalized by the food & eco system un-naturalization of the west.

Now they are being exported & lobbied else where to spoil those lands, the earth & food chains.

I've had 3/4 times the diet in amounts in India v/s I had in the US and I'd gained crazy ugly weight like a puffiness - even though I was a VEGETARIAN.

The PROCESSING of natural foods into PACKAGED "HIGH SHELF LIFE" CRAP! is the reason why there are 10,001 VARIETIES of MARKETING products in a supermarket.

If it wasn't grown & its processed & wont decay soon then its bad for you.

HAS ANYONE EVEN BOTHERED TO ASK.. HOW.. these so called FOOD CALORIES are measured? Ask!

If it wasn't grown & its processed & wont decay soon then its bad for you.

Shrug. I dislike most vegetables & am allergic to seafood. I've managed to survive so far. Just sayin...

Re: your food calories measured question:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_energy

Cheers.

I fell off my diet/exercise wagon in October.

Well, I went to the doctor recently, and turns out, I've gained 17 pounds since that time. :mad: Sucks!!! :td:

If it wasn't grown & its processed & wont decay soon then its bad for you.

This is actually a really good point. @:-)

I fell off my diet/exercise wagon in October.

Well, I went to the doctor recently, and turns out, I've gained 17 pounds since that time. :mad: Sucks!!! :td:



Sounds like we have a similar metabolism/intake problems....I fall off the wagon for even short periods and I can gain quickly. :( Sucks.

Back on the horse!

Sounds like we have a similar metabolism/intake problems....I fall off the wagon for even short periods and I can gain quickly. :( Sucks.

Back on the horse!

Yes, I have GOT to FOCUS. !!! Not a single bite more of any Pop-Tarts, toffee or chocolate truffles, tasty and tempting though they may be, lol.

I know, it's the Daily Mail, lol :D , but I enjoyed reading this feature:

As the kitchen filled with the smell of caramelised meat, my mouth watered in anticipation of the coming feast: a thick cut of tender steak, fried in butter and olive oil.

This was not a regular treat. In fact, for the previous 26 years I’d been a vegan, eschewing not just meat but all animal products.

My diet was an extreme version of the NHS Eat Well regime, which recommends lots of starchy foods and smaller quantities of saturated fats, cholesterol, sugar and red meat.

According to government advice, I was doing everything right — and yet my health had never been worse. My weight had crept up over the years, until in 2008 I was 14½ stone — which is a lot of blubber for someone who is 5ft 10in — and was classified as clinically obese.

I waddled around, sweating and short of breath, battling extremely high cholesterol and suffering from chronic indigestion. I was always tired and needed to take naps every afternoon. I had constant headaches and swallowed paracetamol and sucked Rennies like they were sweets.

Worst of all, I had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which left me feeling as if I had lead weights in my gut. My belly was bloated and distended after every meal. I was, to use a technical term, knackered...

While Ancel Keys, the scientist whose research in the Fifties first raised concerns about cholesterol levels, suggested that heart disease was linked to large amounts of cholesterol in the blood, he never claimed those levels were linked to the amount of cholesterol we eat.

‘There’s no connection whatsoever between cholesterol in food and cholesterol in blood,’ he said in a magazine article in 1997. ‘And we’ve known that all along.’

Since then, the NHS’s paranoia about cholesterol in food has been replaced by concerns about saturated fat — found in everything from butter, cheese and cream to pies, cakes and biscuits.

They suggest saturated fat increases the risk of heart disease. But this is open to debate.

France has the lowest rate of death from coronary heart disease in Europe, yet the country has the highest consumption of saturated fats...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2105132/Damn-low-fat-diet-How-reformed-vegan-John-Nicholson-gorges-foods-granny-enjoyed--felt-better.html

This approximately mirrors my own personal experience. When I cut down on animal products and increase carbohydrates like pasta and bread, I gain weight and feel tired all the time.

The fats I prefer to use are butter, olive oil and grape seed oil.