Fargin' Monopoly! Makes people crazy!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I wasn't going to go here, but I'm sorry, I can't help myself anymore.

Last year, there was a mega-study. Eight years, 50,000 subjects. No, that's not a typo....50,000 subjects were tested for 8 years on the ill effects of fat in the diet, and they discovered several facts that I could have told them for free if only they had asked me .

1. Fat doesn't make you fat.
2. There is no real difference between the health of someone eating high fat and someone eating low fat, particularly regarding cholestrol.
3. The recommended percentage of fat in one's diet is impossible to achieve, even for someone who is trying very hard. In other words, nobody can go that low for long.


In short, the idea that fat is bad for you is a BIG FAT LIE. There are no studies that support it, and this very large one that disputes it. There are vitamins that are ONLY soluable in fat, and if you don't eat enough fat, you will be shortchanging your vitamin intake.

Sugar, on the other hand is killing us in droves. But you never hear anyone saying that. People drink a 32 oz soda and feel all good about because it's a fat free food. Well, it might be fat free, but it sure as hell ain't food of any sort. In fact, consuming enough of it will inhibit your ability to process fat...and THAT is when fat is bad for you.

I don't understand why people are ignoring this study. I would think people would be glad to know they can eat a steak or a burger and not drop down dead.

[Crawley]

Source please.

[Ryu]

you also have to look at the type of fat
different types are worse for you then just plain fat

[MustangErin]

I admit that I am a Monopoly junkie. Though in Canada they have the pieces on the sandwiches. So it is a bit more healthy I guess. I tried the turkey sandwich the other day and it was good.

[Jester]

In short, the idea that fat is bad for you is a BIG FAT LIE. There are no studies that support it, and this very large one that disputes it. There are vitamins that are ONLY soluable in fat, and if you don't eat enough fat, you will be shortchanging your vitamin intake.

Interesting. I wonder (a) how reliable and scientific that study is, and (b) when then my parents, both in their seventies, were put on low fat diets by their doctors. Specifically, they are supposed to avoid trans fats. (I think that's it, anyway.) This diet originally stemmed from the time, years ago, that my stepfather had a 95% blockage and had to get bypass surgery.

[Rapscallion]

Trans-fats - ah, that one. Quite interesting.

Trans-fats have been pretty much proved to cause arterio-sclerosis - narrowing of the arteries. However, the amounts you need to cause this mean you're taking in an amount of fat that is already unhealthy.

The initial studies into hydrogenation of vegetable oils to create hard oils (such as are used to create margarines, spreads, etc) pointed out that partial hydrogenation of vegetable oil created these dangerous trans-fats. What they didn't put out in huge neon letters was that the surveys were commissioned by the US dairy and meat industries, who were somewhat concerned by the threat to their butter and lard sales. It also didn't point out that the research wasn't peer reviewed.

The upshot is that there are few vegetable oils acceptable for use in foodstuffs, so you're avoiding trans-fats. First, you've got the last dregs of olive oil squeezing - darned expensive. Then you get to look at coconut oil - expensive, short shelf life, and makes everything taste of coconut (yummy!). Last, but not least, is palm oil - perfect due to ease of production, longevity, taint free-ness, etc, but the downside is that we get people phoning up to demand assurances that we're not cutting down rainforest and dehabiting ginger monkeys to make this oil in our products.

Rapscallion

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Here ya go. There’s many more, but I got tired of going through them. This study was all over the news. It was in Time, Newsweek, there were huge articles in local newspapers. It was all over TV and the radio. It floors me the number of people who don’t know about for this reason.

I’d say this is good news if you like to eat.

Jester, I know what you are saying. But doctors have hardest heads of anyone, anywhere. A friend's dad was put on Ornish for his heart. He went on to need a triple bypass while on that diet. His daughter, overweight and with high blood pressure, thought she'd go on it, too. Gained seven pounds on it, and her bad cholestrol shot through the roof.

She lost 40 pounds and all her blood chemistry and pressure corrected itself when she quit trying to do low fat. Well, well, well. I know that does not science make, but it's worth mentioning.

Anyway, on with the articles….

Lots of very nice links within text of this first one

http://livinlavidalocarb.blogspot.co...w-fat-lie.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/he...rssnyt&emc=rss

http://www.ninaplanck.com/index.php?..._Low_Fat_Study

http://livinlavidalocarb.blogspot.co...fat-study.html

http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/feb2006/nhlbi-07.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...020701681.html

http://www.ynhh.org/healthlink/womens/index.html

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/258735_diet08.html

http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/low-f...omen_9977.html

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...pagewanted=all

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...h&pagewanted=3

http://www.fightcolorectalcancer.org...at_diet_di.php

http://mednews.stanford.edu/releases.../whi-diet.html

[Dips]

The actual articles can be found here:

http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/vol...sue6/index.dtl

The articles are long and detailed. Of all the links that RK provided, the best one is the one to the NIH (this one http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/feb2006/nhlbi-07.htm). The information at that link most closely resembles the conclusions of the study and is written to be easy to understand. By the way, some interesting conclusions are:

“The results of this study do not change established recommendations on disease prevention. Women should continue to get regular mammograms and screenings for colorectal cancer, and work with their doctors to reduce their risks for heart disease including following a diet low in saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol,” said National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D. [emphasis mine. Note: the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute is one of the major sponsors of the study]

“This study shows that just reducing total fat intake does not go far enough to have an impact on heart disease risk. While the participants’ overall change in LDL “bad” cholesterol was small, we saw trends towards greater reductions in cholesterol and heart disease risk in women eating less saturated and trans fat,” said Jacques Rossouw, M.D., WHI project officer. [emphasis mine. Note: The WHI stands for "Women's Health Initiative" the title of the studies]

The study also found that following a high-carbohydrate, low-fat eating pattern does not increase body weight, triglycerides or indicators of increased risk of diabetes such as blood glucose or insulin levels in women. [this was taken from the article on the NIH site, but data from the study supports it]

Oh. And read everything with skepticism. Even what I'm telling you.

[Spiffy McMoron]

The upshot is that there are few vegetable oils acceptable for use in foodstuffs, so you're avoiding trans-fats.

You can add canola oil to that list, as it gives the consumer many of the relative health benefits of olive oil, although not to the same degree. But, in Canada anyway, it's also a damn sight cheaper.

[Seanette]

My own admittedly non-scientific position is to not worry about the nutritional gospel of the week. It'll change soon anyway. X food will kill you instantly one week and make you immortal the next. About the only constant is that if it tastes at all pleasant, it's pure evil poison. First it's "all fat is evil", then it's "it's the carbs that'll get you", et cetera ad nauseam, creating a degree of stress that's probably just as unhealthy as any food around. I figure moderation, balance, and not living my life in deathly fear of a calorie or a fat gram is probably the best strategy. After all, we're all going to die sometime, so might as well enjoy life within reason, IMO.

I frequently wonder if the health-gestapo-correct types really live longer, or if it just feels longer because they're stressed out, scared of everything in the world, and totally unable to ever enjoy anything.

[Becks]

My own admittedly non-scientific position is to not worry about the nutritional gospel of the week. It'll change soon anyway. X food will kill you instantly one week and make you immortal the next.
<snip>
I figure moderation, balance, and not living my life in deathly fear of a calorie or a fat gram is probably the best strategy. After all, we're all going to die sometime, so might as well enjoy life within reason, IMO.

I frequently wonder if the health-gestapo-correct types really live longer, or if it just feels longer because they're stressed out, scared of everything in the world, and totally unable to ever enjoy anything.

I totally agree with you.

Oh, and btw...everything causes cancer.

[Demolition Man]

Either that or they must have to sensationaize something on the news no matter how trivial or stupid it actually is. But we know that some people (who need a tin foil hat) will fall for it.

[Seanette]

I totally agree with you.

Oh, and btw...everything causes cancer.

Exactly. If you're desperately trying to avoid everything that *could* *conceivably* cause death, illness, etc., you're too late. Once you're conceived, you're on your way (after all, Mom *could* ingest something that *might* cause trouble).

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Because just about every scientific study is funded by someone with an agenda, I find the best thing is to learn all you can about human metabolism, nutritions, and whatnot, then apply your own logic and common sense to what you have learned.

I believe a certain way for three reasons:

1. Following the generally accepted belief that certain foods were bad and others were good were not making me healthy. In fact, the opposite was happening.

2. I began to think about the generally accepted belief and began to realize that it didn't make any sense.

3. I discovered another way that did make sense to me and I tried it. It worked for me, so I made it my lifestyle.

I would recommend this to anyone. Not my lifestyle per se, but my way of figuring out what was best for me.

[Jester]

The most common cause of death...is life.


As for eating healthy, blah blah blah, as has been said, it changes constantly. When I was a kid, sugar was bad, which is why they invented artificial sweetener. Later on, fat was bad, so everything became low fat. And suddenly artificial sweetener was bad, causing cancer in lab rats, so sugar was okay again, to a degree. And then carbs were bad, for about fifteen minutes.

As far as the people who are trying to lose weight, the problem is not whether to eat this or that or not to eat this or that. American society is lazy and is looking for a cure-all, and shockingly there IS one. There is one way where you will be healthier and lose weight and become fit. It's called eat intelligently and get up off your lazy ass and exercise and stop looking for a miracle cure that you don't have to do any work for! Problem is, most Americans won't bother with something as simple as the formula that has worked since, oh, I dunno, forever.

And by eat intelligently I just mean don't eat too much damn junk, eat balanced food, and don't gorge yourself. I personally consider subs and pizza to be healthy foods. Think about it....both have EVERYTHING YOU NEED right there, ready to be eaten. Grains, dairy, fruits, vegetables, meats...all right there on that hoagie roll or in that slice. And this also applies to vegetarians, lactose intolerant people, etc. (My vegetarian friends are huge fans of Subway!)

The three things that keep me healthy are my brain (intelligent balanced diet) my bicycle (exercise) and my job (exercise). The main thing that fights these things is my laziness (not cycling enough) and beer. Which means something has to go. Right. I need to start cycling more.

You really didn't think the BEER was going, did you?