8 ms·

What does healthy even mean?

by ses1984 7y ago

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
chiefalchemist 7y ago
Exercise. Avoid sugar. Lean towards nutrient dense foods (i.e., not too many simple carbs). Low / no alcohol. Etc.
makeszerosense3 7y ago
Organic, ripe, in season fruits and veggies. Raw as much as possible. No animals foods of any kind.
- Broken_Hippo 7y ago
  This is certainly not correct. One does not need to eat organic foods to be healthy. I'll add that not everyone has in season fruits around. I live in Norway. Do you know what is in season during January in Norway? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Doubly so if you aren't eating animal products. I'll add that avoiding all animal products has its own perils, namely the sort that results in vitamin deficiencies. And while a diet filled with whole grains and mostly plant-based foods is considered healthy, we simply don't know enough about nutrition to have one way or another. Or even to get vitamin doses right. I say all this while eating mostly vegetarian myself. I eat fish about once a week. I don't like it so much, but it is healthy.
- vbtemp 7y ago
  Username checks out
- scns 7y ago
  Raw fruit is fine, veggies not really. Many contain substances that should deter animals from eating them. The digestibility of veggies usually increases when they are cooked. wheat contains Phytic acid for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytic_acid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytic_acid which can be reduced with the correct dough process. The beta-carotene in carrots is fat soluble and the cells are pretty robust, so you get more out of them if you cook them in fat. Champignons contain a mild poison, which is not deadly for humans but destroyed when heated, digestibility increases too.
  - makeszerosense3 7y ago
    If heat is required to consume something, it's a sign you should not be eating it.
    - fpoling 7y ago
      The is good evidence to suggest that human ancestors started to use fire to cook meat and/or starchy vegetables more than million of years ago. It is enough for evolutionary adaptation. There are even suggestions that it was cooking by opening untapped sources of calories that allowed for a bigger brain to evolve.
    - sambal 7y ago
      These sorts of completely out-of-left-field’s-left-field beliefs absolutely fascinate me, I’m not being disingenuous here. Are you part of a proper subculture that engages with this? If so, where do you all hang out, what do you read?
- meerita 7y ago
  Good luck trying to get all the 15 nutrients that only are present on animal food.
  - atomi 7y ago
    Check out the Daily Dozen. It does require a vitamin B12 supplement. If you take a B complex it will include niacin as well which will help with cholesterol. https://youtube.com/watch?v=MqmSMunAtss https://youtube.com/watch?v=MqmSMunAtss Also, lose weight. The body induces some beneficial activity while fasting.
    - meerita 7y ago
      Nice, that sounds amazing to take pills instead eat natural food. B12 synthetic, or Cyanocobalamin, is the most dangerous thing you can eat. You can become inmune to B12, and increase your deficiency and, die faster, basically. Check papers about this. The best higher quality methylcobalamin is only obtained from nature.
      - atomi 7y ago
        Your claims aren't credible without sources.
tim333 7y ago
I think a practical guide might be to look at the groups of people who live longest, such as in Japan and Greece. Some factors off the top of my head include strong community, moderate exercise, a simple diet - mostly veg and some fish and low pollution. eg see https://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/2013-03-29-where-people-live-the-longest/ https://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/2013-03-29-where-people-li...
Broken_Hippo 7y ago
In general: Eat a varied diet, leaning towards plant-based foods. Whole grains if you can. Don't unreasonably cut out whole categories of food. Being vegan is HARD, vegetarian (or mostly so), not so much. Watch the sugar, including the fake type. Eat your calories instead of drink them. Also, get some activity. Walking for 15 minutes daily is better than nothing, but try to get more than that most days. IF you can have fun doing it, great! If you lack motivation, do something on the easy side as it is easier to talk yourself into. It is better to this half-assed than not at all, after all, because it still counts. Keep an eye on stress as much as possible. If you smoke, try quitting (I suggest a vape or e-cig). Drink in moderation, but do have some coffee. Once you get these general things done, you are well on your way.
- bardworx 7y ago
  Can someone explain why this comment is being downvoted? Perhaps the topic is complex and nuanced but the advise in the comment seems fairly good in the general healthy spectrum. Besides some opinion being thrown in, what do you disagree with?
  - DanBC 7y ago
    The over-emphasis of "being vegan is HARD". It's not, it's mildly tricky, and there's not much evidence that people following a vegan diet are nutritionally worse off than the people who don't think about their food at all, many of whom don't eat any fresh fruit or veg across a week.
    - viraptor 7y ago
      It's much harder to eat out, apart from specialised places. And those are much more common in large cities than small towns. This makes social meetings harder as a result.
    - Broken_Hippo 7y ago
      Compared with being vegetarian or mostly vegetarian, it is. One must pay much more attention to their diet and intake. In addition, most folks need to take supplements. As the other response said, it is also harder to eat out. Vegetarian is much easier - the addition of things like eggs and cheese helps out tremendously. I read ingredients, sure, but it isn't an issue most times. It would take more mental work to keep out all animal products. I might be mostly vegetarian and eat eggs and cheese and fish once a week, but I usually tell folks to reduce their eat. Sometimes I say instead to make sure they eat enough fruit and veg and whole grain. I say this stuff because it is easier for most folks to concentrate on things like this to improve overall diet without feeling like they have to spend days figuring things out.
tomp 7y ago
Noone else mentioned it but... avoid processed food (industrially processed - traditional processing such as pickling is likely fine).
dmitryminkovsky 7y ago
Everything in moderation?
- sethammons 7y ago
  Including moderation
carbocation 7y ago
There is some evidence that specific dietary patterns influence the risk of developing coronary artery disease: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1605086 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1605086

What does healthy even mean?

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

chiefalchemist 7y ago

Exercise. Avoid sugar. Lean towards nutrient dense foods (i.e., not too many simple carbs). Low / no alcohol. Etc.

makeszerosense3 7y ago

Organic, ripe, in season fruits and veggies. Raw as much as possible. No animals foods of any kind.

Broken_Hippo 7y ago
This is certainly not correct. One does not need to eat organic foods to be healthy. I'll add that not everyone has in season fruits around. I live in Norway. Do you know what is in season during January in Norway? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Doubly so if you aren't eating animal products. I'll add that avoiding all animal products has its own perils, namely the sort that results in vitamin deficiencies. And while a diet filled with whole grains and mostly plant-based foods is considered healthy, we simply don't know enough about nutrition to have one way or another. Or even to get vitamin doses right. I say all this while eating mostly vegetarian myself. I eat fish about once a week. I don't like it so much, but it is healthy.
vbtemp 7y ago
Username checks out
scns 7y ago
Raw fruit is fine, veggies not really. Many contain substances that should deter animals from eating them. The digestibility of veggies usually increases when they are cooked. wheat contains Phytic acid for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytic_acid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytic_acid which can be reduced with the correct dough process. The beta-carotene in carrots is fat soluble and the cells are pretty robust, so you get more out of them if you cook them in fat. Champignons contain a mild poison, which is not deadly for humans but destroyed when heated, digestibility increases too.
- makeszerosense3 7y ago
  If heat is required to consume something, it's a sign you should not be eating it.
  - fpoling 7y ago
    The is good evidence to suggest that human ancestors started to use fire to cook meat and/or starchy vegetables more than million of years ago. It is enough for evolutionary adaptation. There are even suggestions that it was cooking by opening untapped sources of calories that allowed for a bigger brain to evolve.
  - sambal 7y ago
    These sorts of completely out-of-left-field’s-left-field beliefs absolutely fascinate me, I’m not being disingenuous here. Are you part of a proper subculture that engages with this? If so, where do you all hang out, what do you read?
meerita 7y ago
Good luck trying to get all the 15 nutrients that only are present on animal food.
- atomi 7y ago
  Check out the Daily Dozen. It does require a vitamin B12 supplement. If you take a B complex it will include niacin as well which will help with cholesterol. https://youtube.com/watch?v=MqmSMunAtss https://youtube.com/watch?v=MqmSMunAtss Also, lose weight. The body induces some beneficial activity while fasting.
  - meerita 7y ago
    Nice, that sounds amazing to take pills instead eat natural food. B12 synthetic, or Cyanocobalamin, is the most dangerous thing you can eat. You can become inmune to B12, and increase your deficiency and, die faster, basically. Check papers about this. The best higher quality methylcobalamin is only obtained from nature.
    - atomi 7y ago
      Your claims aren't credible without sources.

tim333 7y ago

I think a practical guide might be to look at the groups of people who live longest, such as in Japan and Greece. Some factors off the top of my head include strong community, moderate exercise, a simple diet - mostly veg and some fish and low pollution. eg see https://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/2013-03-29-where-people-live-the-longest/ https://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/2013-03-29-where-people-li...

Broken_Hippo 7y ago

In general: Eat a varied diet, leaning towards plant-based foods. Whole grains if you can. Don't unreasonably cut out whole categories of food. Being vegan is HARD, vegetarian (or mostly so), not so much. Watch the sugar, including the fake type. Eat your calories instead of drink them. Also, get some activity. Walking for 15 minutes daily is better than nothing, but try to get more than that most days. IF you can have fun doing it, great! If you lack motivation, do something on the easy side as it is easier to talk yourself into. It is better to this half-assed than not at all, after all, because it still counts. Keep an eye on stress as much as possible. If you smoke, try quitting (I suggest a vape or e-cig). Drink in moderation, but do have some coffee. Once you get these general things done, you are well on your way.

bardworx 7y ago
Can someone explain why this comment is being downvoted? Perhaps the topic is complex and nuanced but the advise in the comment seems fairly good in the general healthy spectrum. Besides some opinion being thrown in, what do you disagree with?
- DanBC 7y ago
  The over-emphasis of "being vegan is HARD". It's not, it's mildly tricky, and there's not much evidence that people following a vegan diet are nutritionally worse off than the people who don't think about their food at all, many of whom don't eat any fresh fruit or veg across a week.
  - viraptor 7y ago
    It's much harder to eat out, apart from specialised places. And those are much more common in large cities than small towns. This makes social meetings harder as a result.
  - Broken_Hippo 7y ago
    Compared with being vegetarian or mostly vegetarian, it is. One must pay much more attention to their diet and intake. In addition, most folks need to take supplements. As the other response said, it is also harder to eat out. Vegetarian is much easier - the addition of things like eggs and cheese helps out tremendously. I read ingredients, sure, but it isn't an issue most times. It would take more mental work to keep out all animal products. I might be mostly vegetarian and eat eggs and cheese and fish once a week, but I usually tell folks to reduce their eat. Sometimes I say instead to make sure they eat enough fruit and veg and whole grain. I say this stuff because it is easier for most folks to concentrate on things like this to improve overall diet without feeling like they have to spend days figuring things out.

tomp 7y ago

Noone else mentioned it but... avoid processed food (industrially processed - traditional processing such as pickling is likely fine).

dmitryminkovsky 7y ago

Everything in moderation?

sethammons 7y ago
Including moderation

carbocation 7y ago

There is some evidence that specific dietary patterns influence the risk of developing coronary artery disease: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1605086 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1605086