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Science of healthy eating

AN ARMY OF EATERS

Did anyone ever read about how society’s military needs dictated our food habits?

My point is, when you lived with your familiy or small tribe, you produced and ate one sort of foods. As soon as a tribe expands militarily, you need to feed a large number of young men across larger distances. So grain is very important for an army. Are breads, pasta etc. military food?

Military is obviously important to understand human history. What did the armies eat? (We know they had good access to drink and food to make the army an attractive life). But is food for an army the same as «good» and «healthy» food?
 
Lack of exercise is more of a problem.

Indeed.
We live surrounded by a sea of killer chairs: adjustable, swivel, recliner, wing, club, chaise longue, sofa, arm, four-legged, three-legged, wood, leather, plastic, car, plane, train, dining and bar, just to name few ... :eek:
 
I’ve always wondered why Vegans are so desperate to eat synthetic meats. Why not just eat the real thing? Maybe you should have stuck with it and just eaten more fake meats.

A huge proportion of vegans have little interest in these products.

But for those who do, the explanation is usually that they enjoy eating meat but have ethical reservations about it, and thus want to replace it with something similar tasting but ethically acceptable (only the former of which is possible IME, lol).
 
Ethanol, Frcutose, glucose (what carbs turn into) all get used for energy before fat can be used. The body and brain can use fat in the form of BHB (ketone). IMO, fat is the best and most efficient fuel source. Even very low body fat folks have plenty of body fat available for energy. The problem is that most folks aren’t able to access their adipose tissue for energy. It can take some time just eating a healthy diet to become metabolically flexible enough to be able to switch between glucose and fat for energy. Because the liver can make enough glucose for muscle energy on its own, there’s really no need to consume fuel sources other than fats and protein. Carbs are not essential to life.

This may not be healthy advice. Allowing the body to go into ketosis occasionally does offer a number of health benefits, and ketogenic diets do offer some short-term benefits. The long-term outcome of such an unbalanced diet is still in question. IMO, it is best to avoid processed carbs, avoid inflammatory (immune response promoting) foods, keep meat as a smaller part of the diet and eat all vegetable-based foods in their whole condition. Cooking them is fine. Dairy is not only inflammatory, but causes leaky-gut and should be avoided.

Anecdotally, it is known that Dr. Atkins died of a blood clot from hitting his head, but the medical examiner found extensive evidence of arterial disease & heart failure.

In general, and as with nearly all things, balance is best. While fat is an efficient energy source, your body will create it without needing to eat it, and eating too much of it has clear negative repercussions over time, even if it gets you off the insulin yo-yo.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog...mate-low-carb-diet-good-for-you-2017072712089

If you are suffering from foggy thinking and pre-Alzheimer's related brain issues, I would strongly recommend reading Dr. Dale Bredesen's book,
The End of Alzheimer's. I don't 100% agree with some of his assertions (for example, marking tomatoes as inflammatory on almost zero evidence), but he has the weight of a lot of good anecdotal evidence as well as a few studies that seem to support his theories.
 
This what humans were meant to eat. I just ate 2 pounds of prime rib. Yummy!
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I’ve eaten a low carb and high animal protein/fat diet for 8 years now. If eating this way caused heart disease, I’d be dead by now. THE highest predictive test one can undergo for heart disease is the coronary artery calcium scan. There’s no perfect test. But the CAC blows any blood test out of the water. If one gets a 0 score, there’s pretty much a warranty for no heart disease for at least 10 years. If you are a middle aged person, I highly recommend this test. It only cost me $83. Most primary care doctors don’t recommend it or even know what it is.
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From high to low I’ve lost about 100 pounds eating this way. This is what I used to look like. Ive put on about 10 pounds of muscle since I reached my lowest weight in the last 8 months.
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Big (no pun) difference...

Like two different people.
 
Thats great transformation. I recently cut salt intake and things got better. Body looks more lean (salt keep water in the body, I thought it was fat). Cutting also influences mood, you are more calm and easy. Recomended.
 
Let's see... What's for dinner?

Brussels Sprouts/Broccoli/Mushrooms/Sweet Onion sauted/steamed in Olive Oil and a little water, with a few jumbo shrimp, and some Cream of Coconut with Masman Curry, all to put on top of the accompanying Calrose Rice.
 
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A huge proportion of vegans have little interest in these products.

But for those who do, the explanation is usually that they enjoy eating meat but have ethical reservations about it, and thus want to replace it with something similar tasting but ethically acceptable (only the former of which is possible IME, lol).

I would beg to differ, I have family in the industry, of manufacturing and selling synthetic meat products. Usually made of soy. Far as I can tell, business is booming in that industry.
 
I would beg to differ, I have family in the industry, of manufacturing and selling synthetic meat products. Usually made of soy. Far as I can tell, business is booming in that industry.

Given the overall number of vegans is rising by almost 300% per year in many developed countries. So business is likely to be booming relative to what it was before, regardless whether a majority or minority of vegans are eating the products.

However, I admit I'm not an expert in global vegan dietary habits, speaking mostly from anecdotal experience. So I can't stand by my claim as a rigorous statement of fact :)

I do stand by the second part of my statement regarding the reasons for some vegans' interest in these products, however.
 
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@dallasjustice , congrats on the weight loss, that is amazing, and if you got to eat prime rib while doing it, you are living the good life. :)

In all seriousness, though, there is a lot we don't know about the various types of keto diets. For example, Bredesen has shown success in reversing early signs of Alzheimer's with a mostly plant-based keto diet. Don't let your success contribute to an overconfidence in the method and diet, since you might just be one of the lucky ones that have genes that don't tend towards arterial calcification. In most instances, diets that are on the extreme side tend to be detrimental over time. Nothing fires up confirmation bias like food selections.

The study you linked to is interesting. I think there is almost no controversy over the idea that some form of ketosis is beneficial for most people and particularly so for certain people who have diabetes and other risk factors. What is not clear is how best to achieve ketosis, what foods should be eaten and avoided, and how that information relates to specific individuals, since trend data is all well and good right up until you try to apply it specifically.

I think the real tragedy in all of this is that we still just don't fund this research the way it should be. There is nothing to be patented in nutrition science, and so our systems mostly ignore it. I've spoken to medical doctors who tell me that their nutritional training in school could be counted in the tens of minutes. Up until a couple of years ago, we had almost no clue about the fact that many brain chemicals (oxytocin, seratonin) simply cannot be produced in sufficient quantity without the precursors that your gut biome provides. Truly, eating the wrong food can make you sad as well as unhealthy.
 
The author of this thread has highlighted the lack of scientific evidence offered up , I think there’s a bit here but please if you can post relevant documents in support of any anecdotal assertions I’d be most grateful..

Cheers me lovers
 
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