Is this just a coincidence?

[StrangeSox]

Please debunk any of it.

 

It's kinda hard to do that without references and cites. That's a pretty good indicator of pseudoscience.

[StrangeSox]

Over the years, I swear, every food we eat has been found by one study or another to both cause, AND prevent, cancer.

 

I think that has something to do with this:

 

[iamshack]

Touche.

 

But I've done a ton of research since I've changed my diet/lifestyle and study after study shows that people on primarily plant based diets have much lower cancer rates.

Sqwert, have you ever heard of this?

 

As other posters have said, the studies are incredibly contradictory and confusing. The problem is, many of them are funded by groups seeking to promote their industry or product or way of thinking.

 

The fact is, science really does not know nearly as much as it claims to know about what is good and what is bad for us to put in our bodies.

 

In my view, the best choice is simply to use common sense and moderation.

 

I don't know about your milk argument, but my guess is that much of the problems begin not because of the milk itself, but because of all the chemicals/hormones that we have either directly or indirectly introduced into the equation whether it be to the animal's food source, the animal itself, or to the milk after it leaves the animal.

 

The key seems to be to get back to the basics and try to eat food that is fresh and as local as is feasible. Of course then you get into inefficiencies of smaller scale agriculture vs. huge scale, and it all gets so complicated.

 

Just use common sense and moderation.

[BigSqwert]

Sqwert, have you ever heard of this?

 

I'm very familiar with Pollan's work.

[BigSqwert]

It's kinda hard to do that without references and cites. That's a pretty good indicator of pseudoscience.

Here's some additional info from the Former Chief of General Surgery at Seton Medical Center and Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Robert M. Kradjian, MD.

[Balta1701]

WaPo piece from over the weekend on a small Kentucky town.

The town has a retro, lived-in look. The downtown movie theater is gone, though the marquee is still visible. There has clearly been economic suffering. There is a medium-security federal prison on the edge of town, out past the gas stations that sell fried chicken and pizza.

 

"You don't have family cooking here in the restaurants," Pam says. "Mostly it's fast foods."

 

The intersection leading into town features a McDonald's, a Wendy's, an Arby's and a Subway.

 

And just beyond that, there's a Burger King, a Long John Silver's, a Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken and a Pizza Hut.

 

Not far from the Pizza Hut, there's a Wal-Mart. At the Wal-Mart, there are snacks -- cotton candy and potato chips and caramel corn -- sold in supersize helpings.

 

Manchester moments:

 

Half a dozen little kids are standing in line at the McDonald's. Four are clearly overweight.

 

A man and two kids emerge from a pickup, heading into the Arby's. The man is huge, the little girl is not, the little boy is. A little boy, overweight, balances his tray at the Wendy's. A burger. Big fries. Big soda.

[mr_genius]

WaPo piece from over the weekend on a small Kentucky town.

 

well, according to government statistics 'food service' is one of the few job growth industries. these outrageous fatsos are saving the economy!

 

 

 

 

[kapkomet]

If that's a growth sector, it'll be next on Obama's list to "take care of".

[iamshack]

So this thread inspired me to finally read In Defense of Food, and it scared the s*** out of me.

 

So today was my first time shopping at Whole Foods Market. It was as if I had never been grocery shopping before. I dunno how I feel...

[Balta1701]

If that's a growth sector, it'll be next on Obama's list to "take care of".

There we go, now we're getting Kap on board defending fast food, fewer vegetables, more salt, and greater intake of HFCS as the path to health in this country, since Michelle Obama has the audacity to suggest otherwise.

[NorthSideSox72]

So this thread inspired me to finally read In Defense of Food, and it scared the s*** out of me.

 

So today was my first time shopping at Whole Foods Market. It was as if I had never been grocery shopping before. I dunno how I feel...

Whole Paycheck? LOL

 

Actually it really is great stuff. I remember saying a few years ago, food SOURCE will continue to grow in importance to more people, and will eventually be right up there with calorie and fat counting in people's minds. As it should be. We try to get as much organic as we can, especially for our kid, but we're by no means perfect. And its pricier to do it that way, unfortunately.

 

[Balta1701]

Whole Paycheck? LOL

 

Actually it really is great stuff. I remember saying a few years ago, food SOURCE will continue to grow in importance to more people, and will eventually be right up there with calorie and fat counting in people's minds. As it should be. We try to get as much organic as we can, especially for our kid, but we're by no means perfect. And its pricier to do it that way, unfortunately.

After sitting around with a bunch of biologists at my old school, my response on organic is that yeah, a lot of those pesticides/preservatives/hormones are just bad, but OTOH, with a good number of them, there's a reason why they started being used; because improperly preserved food can make you sick quite readily as well. There are plenty of horror stories of people eating stuff that wasn't preserved properly and getting sick too.

 

Unfortunately, I don't have a good way of evaluating a good way to do things. The food preparation industry has succeeded in divorcing the food we eat from information on how it got there so effectively that even if I had more, I wouldn't know how to process it.

[BigSqwert]

So this thread inspired me to finally read In Defense of Food, and it scared the s*** out of me.

 

So today was my first time shopping at Whole Foods Market. It was as if I had never been grocery shopping before. I dunno how I feel...

We started doing a CSA this year.

 

Here's one that has drop offs in Vegas: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/M25638

[Balta1701]

We started doing a CSA this year.

 

Here's one that has drop offs in Vegas: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/M25638

How has that worked for you?

 

I know it's certian to be different here, but my worry has been that I'd wind up getting lots of stuff at one time that I wouldn't use, or that I'd wind up throwing out like 1/2 of the stuff I get because i'm forced to take what's there.

[BigSqwert]

How has that worked for you?

 

I know it's certian to be different here, but my worry has been that I'd wind up getting lots of stuff at one time that I wouldn't use, or that I'd wind up throwing out like 1/2 of the stuff I get because i'm forced to take what's there.

We're sharing a box with another couple and split everything each week. At the pickup location there's a swap box where you can swap things from your box with things that other people don't want. That's worked very well for us. Last week we exchanged a s***load of green onions for some additional broccoli.

 

They also provided us with a great farmer's market cookbook that has recipes for all the things they offer.

 

And if we have things we're probably not going to get to we just juice it in our Jack Lalanne juicer.

[JPN366]

Mississippi weighed in for the sixth year in a row as the fattest state, with 33.8 percent of its adults obese, while Alabama and Tennessee tied for second (31.6 percent).

 

Yay! It's the food down here.

[iamshack]

We started doing a CSA this year.

 

Here's one that has drop offs in Vegas: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/M25638

Awesome, Sqwert, thanks. I didn't even think they'd have them here because we are in the middle of the desert, obviously.

 

I'll look into that!

[iamshack]

Whole Paycheck? LOL

 

Actually it really is great stuff. I remember saying a few years ago, food SOURCE will continue to grow in importance to more people, and will eventually be right up there with calorie and fat counting in people's minds. As it should be. We try to get as much organic as we can, especially for our kid, but we're by no means perfect. And its pricier to do it that way, unfortunately.

Yeah, it's pretty expensive, and half the stuff I haven't seen since I was a little kid or have never heard of at all. But I think it's probably worth it in the long run. We are spoiled because our food in this country is so cheap; but it's also not as good as the food our parents and our grandparents were able to buy. Because of the way our huge-scale farms have degraded the soil and focused only on the highest yielding strains of crops, we're basically eating produce that is on average, 1/4-1/2 as nutritious as the same produce was 50 years ago.

 

So evidently, while non-organic stuff is much cheaper, it's also much less nutritious. I have come to the conclusion that I'd rather pay more for the food I eat now and hopefully avoid some of the health issues I have down the road.

[BigSqwert]

Yeah, it's pretty expensive, and half the stuff I haven't seen since I was a little kid or have never heard of at all. But I think it's probably worth it in the long run. We are spoiled because our food in this country is so cheap; but it's also not as good as the food our parents and our grandparents were able to buy. Because of the way our huge-scale farms have degraded the soil and focused only on the highest yielding strains of crops, we're basically eating produce that is on average, 1/4-1/2 as nutritious as the same produce was 50 years ago.

 

So evidently, while non-organic stuff is much cheaper, it's also much less nutritious. I have come to the conclusion that I'd rather pay more for the food I eat now and hopefully avoid some of the health issues I have down the road.

Ditto

[iamshack]

Ditto

Sqwert, did you read the book? I am amazed that it hasn't stirred up more controversy than it has...

[kapkomet]

There we go, now we're getting Kap on board defending fast food, fewer vegetables, more salt, and greater intake of HFCS as the path to health in this country, since Michelle Obama has the audacity to suggest otherwise.

 

 

When will you get the point that it's not the government's f***ing place to tell us this kind of crap? While not a government official, Michelle My Belle is hypocritical as hell.

 

Do I think it's a good idea? Sure. But AGAIN it's not the government's place to do this.

[iamshack]

When will you get the point that it's not the government's f***ing place to tell us this kind of crap? While not a government official, Michelle My Belle is hypocritical as hell.

 

Do I think it's a good idea? Sure. But AGAIN it's not the government's place to do this.

The government has been doing this for the last 50 years, Kap, between the "food pyramid," the FDA standards, the subsidizing of certain crops such as wheat and corn (and certain strains of those crops), and all the BS studies they pay for and the nonsensical recommendations that come from those.

[ptatc]

When will you get the point that it's not the government's f***ing place to tell us this kind of crap? While not a government official, Michelle My Belle is hypocritical as hell.

 

Do I think it's a good idea? Sure. But AGAIN it's not the government's place to do this.

 

I generally agree that the goverment tries to get it's hands on too many things that they shouldn't. I'm torn on this one. It's not in the country's best interst to have a fat lazy population and the healthcare costs will increase for everyone in any plan. While it does keep me in business, it seems that at times the American public needs to be told to be not so stupid.

Edited July 14, 2010 by ptatc

[iamshack]

I generally agree that the goverment tries to get it's hands on too many things that they shouldn't. I'm torn on this one. It's not in the country's best interst to have a fat lazy population and the healthcare costs will increase for everyone in any plan. While it does keep me in business, it seems that at times the American public needs to be told to be not so stupid.

It's exactly the opposite. The American public has been mislead by the government and has been eating on the government's tab since the Nixon administration, which is part of the reason the rate of chronic disease is so high with all populations eating the "Western Diet."

[BigSqwert]

Sqwert, did you read the book? I am amazed that it hasn't stirred up more controversy than it has...

 

No I haven't.

When will you get the point that it's not the government's f***ing place to tell us this kind of crap? While not a government official, Michelle My Belle is hypocritical as hell.

 

Do I think it's a good idea? Sure. But AGAIN it's not the government's place to do this.

I miss the good old days of you going ape s*** when Nancy Reagen would tell us not to use drugs.