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This thread is incredibly depressing. All the people complaining about this diet being a fad are just regurgitating the fads from their childhood as facts. Veg

by monochr 12y ago

This thread is incredibly depressing. All the people complaining about this diet being a fad are just regurgitating the fads from their childhood as facts. Vegetables and fresh fruit needn't form anywhere near a majority of a diet for you to be healthy, there are enough traditional societies for this. The problem for the modern diet is that we have the appetites of an animal that should burn about ~4000 calories a day yet only expend around ~3000 on average. Now if you want to be healthy as well as skinny instead of lowering your calorie intake you're much better off increasing your exercise.

a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
Reconstructions of what medieval people ate indicate they were often downing over 4500 calories a day. And their food was probably a lot more nutrient dense than ours in terms of minerals and vitamins. I think with typical modern foods it is somewhat difficult to get adequate micronutrient intake on a sub 3000 calorie diet. This is where the calorie in/out idea falls down. If you undereat you are going to tank your metabolism and also have some deficiency problems. Not only are we made to be walking around getting exercise for much of the day, it is critically important to realize we are made to be doing it outside. Sun light exposure is a huge deal for health. People who spend time outside live longer. Just light exposure on its own boosts metabolism.
- victorhooi 12y ago
  Yes, but we probably aren't half as active as those medieval people... I agree with you about the activity though. It's like you go to rural China, and you see the farmers eating tonnes of rice and vegetables. And I'm sure the low-carbohydrate crowd is going "OH NO! You'll get fat!!". Well, no, they're farmers, and they work damn hard outside all day. Or the fact that professional swimmers down 20,000 calories a day - well, yes, if you're in the pool 6 hours a day and doing weights out of it. You're still going to look like Thor...
blisterpeanuts 12y ago
There is evidence of a "hunger gene" or "starvation gene" that tells us to gorge when we can, because there may be no food for a week. It seems to be more strongly expressed in some groups than in others, for example some of the native Americans who have huge obesity problems in the modern era, apparently because their systems don't know how to handle so many white carbohydrates e.g. sugar. The "thrifty gene" hypothesis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrifty_gene_hypothesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrifty_gene_hypothesis For them, it seems that meats, vegetables, fruits and native whole grains probably should be the majority of their diet, and adding sugars, processed grains, and toxins like alcohol have been disastrous.

by monochr 12y ago

a8da6b0c91d 12y ago

Reconstructions of what medieval people ate indicate they were often downing over 4500 calories a day. And their food was probably a lot more nutrient dense than ours in terms of minerals and vitamins. I think with typical modern foods it is somewhat difficult to get adequate micronutrient intake on a sub 3000 calorie diet. This is where the calorie in/out idea falls down. If you undereat you are going to tank your metabolism and also have some deficiency problems. Not only are we made to be walking around getting exercise for much of the day, it is critically important to realize we are made to be doing it outside. Sun light exposure is a huge deal for health. People who spend time outside live longer. Just light exposure on its own boosts metabolism.

victorhooi 12y ago
Yes, but we probably aren't half as active as those medieval people... I agree with you about the activity though. It's like you go to rural China, and you see the farmers eating tonnes of rice and vegetables. And I'm sure the low-carbohydrate crowd is going "OH NO! You'll get fat!!". Well, no, they're farmers, and they work damn hard outside all day. Or the fact that professional swimmers down 20,000 calories a day - well, yes, if you're in the pool 6 hours a day and doing weights out of it. You're still going to look like Thor...

blisterpeanuts 12y ago

There is evidence of a "hunger gene" or "starvation gene" that tells us to gorge when we can, because there may be no food for a week. It seems to be more strongly expressed in some groups than in others, for example some of the native Americans who have huge obesity problems in the modern era, apparently because their systems don't know how to handle so many white carbohydrates e.g. sugar. The "thrifty gene" hypothesis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrifty_gene_hypothesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrifty_gene_hypothesis For them, it seems that meats, vegetables, fruits and native whole grains probably should be the majority of their diet, and adding sugars, processed grains, and toxins like alcohol have been disastrous.