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I'm curious - what is the thinking behind "...makes food less healthy"? Is the thought that fridges give off some kind of chemical that affects the food? Is i

I'm curious - what is the thinking behind "...makes food less healthy"? Is the thought that fridges give off some kind of chemical that affects the food? Is it the act of making the food cold itself that makes it less healthy? Is she opposed to electric refrigeration, or would something like an old school icebox[0] be objectionable too? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icebox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icebox

csours 10y ago
Not to answer for dax's mother in law, but it could possibly be due to the fact that refrigerated food can be kept longer, and thus is less fresh.
stephengillie 10y ago
The word "healthy" is often a too-vague description of the benefits. It's become a catch-all phrase to describe numerous attributes. Some foods, like bread, are simultaneously healthy and unhealthy.
NikolaeVarius 10y ago
The word healthy means almost nothing. Its an arbitrary term that we use to create a general idea of what we 'should" be eating and what we "shouldn't" be eating. It's why the debate about whether or not milk/eggs/bread are healthy rages on and on. There is no definition of the word healthy so anyone can make their own interpretations of what makes those foods healthy or unhealthy.
daxfohl 10y ago
The coding term would be "FUD". I'm sure you've noticed the trend for older people in all cultures to believe every email that gets forwarded to them, and forward it on. In Chinese culture, a large chunk of that is FUD related to health stuff. Remember Chinese medicine goes back millennia, so there's a lot of confusion about what to believe among that generation too, so they feel like they better follow everything just to be safe. To this issue specifically, I think it's more of a shelf-life concern, that you can't artificially lengthen the shelf life of a food without corrupting it somehow. In that regard, I can't say she doesn't have a point. That the movie "Better Life Through Chemistry" is a satire is somewhat telling.

csours 10y ago

Not to answer for dax's mother in law, but it could possibly be due to the fact that refrigerated food can be kept longer, and thus is less fresh.

stephengillie 10y ago

The word "healthy" is often a too-vague description of the benefits. It's become a catch-all phrase to describe numerous attributes. Some foods, like bread, are simultaneously healthy and unhealthy.

NikolaeVarius 10y ago

The word healthy means almost nothing. Its an arbitrary term that we use to create a general idea of what we 'should" be eating and what we "shouldn't" be eating. It's why the debate about whether or not milk/eggs/bread are healthy rages on and on. There is no definition of the word healthy so anyone can make their own interpretations of what makes those foods healthy or unhealthy.

daxfohl 10y ago

The coding term would be "FUD". I'm sure you've noticed the trend for older people in all cultures to believe every email that gets forwarded to them, and forward it on. In Chinese culture, a large chunk of that is FUD related to health stuff. Remember Chinese medicine goes back millennia, so there's a lot of confusion about what to believe among that generation too, so they feel like they better follow everything just to be safe. To this issue specifically, I think it's more of a shelf-life concern, that you can't artificially lengthen the shelf life of a food without corrupting it somehow. In that regard, I can't say she doesn't have a point. That the movie "Better Life Through Chemistry" is a satire is somewhat telling.