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Basic nutrition questions

User
Posted 27 Nov 2024 at 04:26

Hi, new to healthy eating here... don't understand nutrition. Carbs, fats, sugars, protein... like I know what they are, but there's so many things out there that make it difficult to understand.

Why do people think carbs are bad? I thought they turned to energy.

Should you still eat high protein if you're not working out? Does the average body need high protein?

Is a low fat diet good? What types of foods are low fat? Are there "good fats"?

And what about cholesterol? Like I thought eggs were a good healthy breakfast, but people tell me no because there's too much slope game cholesterol.

Edited by member 04 Dec 2024 at 01:27  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 27 Nov 2024 at 08:01

The advice on eggs changes about once a decade. the advice on carbs about once every 8 years and usually is the opposite to whatever the advice is on protein. Every so often they discover a "good" fat, and last month's "good" fat turns out to have been a "really bad" fat.

You wouldn't think food could change it's properties like that would you?

Dave

User
Posted 30 Nov 2024 at 12:00
Dorissim, the problem with nutrition is that there are so many different points of view out there. And actually humans are amazingly adaptable about their diet at least in the short term (probably due to our hunter-gatherer ancestors) and the question is whether there is an optimum to minimise longterm health problems.

I think the key is probably "moderation in all things". We need some protein, some carbohydrate, some fat and some fibre, but too much of any of those might not work out well eventually.

Carbohydrate, as people say above, is our main energy food. However it is best to eat carbohydrates that are absorbed slowly, if they are absorbed quickly they produce a spike in the blood glucose concentration which is the risk factor mentioned for eventual insulin issues (diabetes). The fastest absorbed carbohydrate is the simple sugar found in sweets or cakes, so those are definitely things to have in moderation. Interestingly although the same simple sugars are found naturally in fruits, because they eaten in combination with so much fibre they are absorbed more slowly. Even relatively slight processing of the fruit, for example turning it into a juice which still contains fibre, speeds up the absorption.

The same is true for more complex carbohydrates, for example the starch found in wheat. Those carbohydrates are absorbed more slowly than simple sugars because they need to be broken down first. However after the wheat has been milled to make flour, purified to make the flour white, and then processed to make bread or pasta, the speed of absorption is faster. You are better off taking some of your carbohydrate as wholewheat bread or pasta, and brown rice, and carbohydrate-containing vegetables cooked simply.

Personally I think the most important nutritional advice is actually "don't snack". It is much better for your insulin levels and risk of diabetes if after eating a meal you let it all get absorbed and turned into energy, including the carbohydrate that goes into short term storage to keep producing energy after insulin levels have fallen. If a couple of hours after your last meal there is more food in your stomach your body will use that preferentially, keeping the insulin levels raised and encouraging the extra calories to be stored as fat (long term store).

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User
Posted 27 Nov 2024 at 07:18

Hello mate.

I'm  eating meals, stood up on one leg, thereby ensuring a well balanced diet.

Joking apart. I'm 68 years old, and eat what I want. Having prostate cancer has not effected my taste buds and I've made no dietary changes. If I start putting on a bit of weight, I eat slightly less. 

I know nothing about food groups but have become extremely knowledgeable about cancer groups.

 

User
Posted 27 Nov 2024 at 08:01

The advice on eggs changes about once a decade. the advice on carbs about once every 8 years and usually is the opposite to whatever the advice is on protein. Every so often they discover a "good" fat, and last month's "good" fat turns out to have been a "really bad" fat.

You wouldn't think food could change it's properties like that would you?

Dave

User
Posted 27 Nov 2024 at 09:25

Carbs are your main energy source, so that depends how much energy you are expending. The problem comes if you consume more carbs than your energy consumption, and it does take a lot of exercise to burn off not much food/carbs.

Treatments change food requirements too. Quite a few people find hormone therapy requires increasing protein (with exercise) to reduce muscle loss. Protein is also required when recovering from surgery, and so is energy.

A balanced diet with variety is always important. Deciding not to eat any category of foods is a significant risk to a balanced diet.

User
Posted 27 Nov 2024 at 12:16
Hi Carbohydrate foods like potatoes, pasta, bread and anything with added sugar are all best avoided unless you are running marathons.

Carbohydrate foods tend to displace high quality (expensive ) food hence they are a staple of the fast and processed food industry.

Eggs are a wonderful high quality food source eat them!

Cholesterol is no longer the problem it was once thought to be, the real enemy is insulin, to avoid insulin issues (diabetes) avoid carbs simples!

User
Posted 30 Nov 2024 at 12:00
Dorissim, the problem with nutrition is that there are so many different points of view out there. And actually humans are amazingly adaptable about their diet at least in the short term (probably due to our hunter-gatherer ancestors) and the question is whether there is an optimum to minimise longterm health problems.

I think the key is probably "moderation in all things". We need some protein, some carbohydrate, some fat and some fibre, but too much of any of those might not work out well eventually.

Carbohydrate, as people say above, is our main energy food. However it is best to eat carbohydrates that are absorbed slowly, if they are absorbed quickly they produce a spike in the blood glucose concentration which is the risk factor mentioned for eventual insulin issues (diabetes). The fastest absorbed carbohydrate is the simple sugar found in sweets or cakes, so those are definitely things to have in moderation. Interestingly although the same simple sugars are found naturally in fruits, because they eaten in combination with so much fibre they are absorbed more slowly. Even relatively slight processing of the fruit, for example turning it into a juice which still contains fibre, speeds up the absorption.

The same is true for more complex carbohydrates, for example the starch found in wheat. Those carbohydrates are absorbed more slowly than simple sugars because they need to be broken down first. However after the wheat has been milled to make flour, purified to make the flour white, and then processed to make bread or pasta, the speed of absorption is faster. You are better off taking some of your carbohydrate as wholewheat bread or pasta, and brown rice, and carbohydrate-containing vegetables cooked simply.

Personally I think the most important nutritional advice is actually "don't snack". It is much better for your insulin levels and risk of diabetes if after eating a meal you let it all get absorbed and turned into energy, including the carbohydrate that goes into short term storage to keep producing energy after insulin levels have fallen. If a couple of hours after your last meal there is more food in your stomach your body will use that preferentially, keeping the insulin levels raised and encouraging the extra calories to be stored as fat (long term store).

User
Posted 30 Nov 2024 at 21:23
Starch, complex carbs, whatever, they all end up in your blood and drive an insulin response.

The simple fact is we evolved to eat carbohydrates seasonally and as gluts. We did not evolve to eat them constantly at every meal. Doing so causes problems for humans in the form of metabolic disease.

User
Posted 02 Dec 2024 at 21:02
Francij, it is a fascinating question of quite what the human (or pre-human) lifestyle was when natural selection pressures shaped our current metabolism.

I would definitly argue that we didn't evolve to eat meat at every meal, our forebears may only have had successful hunts every few weeks (but ate the meat over the next few days). However the fact we have lost the ability to synthesise some amino acids suggests our ancestors relied on a consistent if occasional supply of protein-rich food (meat or fish) in our diet.

As you point out most plant-based foods have a seasonality about their availability. But there again, the fact that we have lost the ability to synthesise a number of plant-based nutrients (for example what we now know as vitamin C) suggests our ancestors had a fairly consistent if perhaps sporadic year-round source. Other modern apes with similar ancestry, such as chimpanzees, do seem to get plant-based nutrition - mostly carbohydrate - at all times in the year. And plant-based foods can be stored for later consumption in a way which is unsafe for meat, meaning temporary gluts may not restrict more regular consumption.

And having the insulin response is a perfectly normal and necessary response after any meal. Type 1 diabetics who can't mount an insulin response used to die in childhood. It is only a problem if it is excessive (due to fast absorption of purified simple sugars) or continual.

User
Posted 03 Dec 2024 at 21:22
The body can produce all the glucose it requires directly from protein. Even this limited supply would be too much for a type 1 diabetic and with no insulin response blood sugar levels would become toxic.

It is vital that an effective insulin response is maintained, the best way to do this in modern times is by avoiding carbohydrate laden foods (bread, potatoes, pasta, high sugar fruits). Indeed it is now mainstream that type 2 diabetes can be cured by adopting a low carb diet. This will effectively resets your body's insulin response.

The big question for prostate cancer is will this same metabolic fix slow cancer growth?

User
Posted 03 Dec 2024 at 22:06

The OP didn't mention PC or give any details of same, so some guesswork is needed.

Regardless of the presence of cancer anyone over the age of [about] 60 will need more protein in their diet. Guidelines suggest ~ .7 gm per kg of body weight per day for lower age groups but somewhere between 1.2 and 2gm/kilo of body weight/day for older people. There's also some studies that suggest that the same is true for prostate cancer patients on HT particularly. There's several links in my profile though I see at least one has passed on.

If you start to count the gm/day it's obvious that getting up to 2gm takes a certain amount of planning. Added to that, there are some guidelines suggesting that we should lower our protein intake, particularly red meat and other fatty meats. Fish and nuts are good replacements for red meat but amongst all the other requirements of a healthy diet please keep an eye on your protein intake.

Jules

 

 
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