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Ask HN: What should we eat?

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Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#101

Post by Gormo »

risotto wrote: post #65
donaldc wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Avoid dairy products is not something everyone agrees on.

My body sure agrees on avoiding dairy. I suppose I'm mildly lactose intolerant, but once I stopped eating dairy I started feeling a lot better. Less gas if nothing else. Anecdotal for sure but most of the people I know who take diet seriously agree that dairy is bad. I also believe the saying that humans are the only animals that drink milk after infancy.

Fermented dairy products, e.g. yogurt, kefir, are usually fine even if you're lactose intolerant. They're also high in protein and help maintain healthy intestinal flora.

Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#102

Post by eavc »

zoomzoom wrote: post #95
eavc wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No need to be disingenuous. You don't know me from Adam, so your surprise is just rhetorical. Mine was genuine and aimed at getting additional responses, maybe responses more in line with the intent of the OP. In adjacent sentences, you say that there are no probably no universals, science can tell us nothing, but that we have certain foods that are proven to work. Yes, there are common themes in this thread, and tha…

Look - I think that my sparse history of commenting on HN says more than I can express here about my stance on flame wars. I don't want to start one. But this whole food issue is something that I feel quite strongly about. My surprise is hardly rhetorical, and while I may have treated you as a straw man for a moment, I think that the larger point is still valid. The attempt to get scientific about eating strikes me a…

Your strong feelings are evident. Thanks for taking the time to share your viewpoint.

I disagree with much of what you say, but I want to let you know that I did read it. Beyond that, we'll agree to disagree.

Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#103

Post by zoomzoom »

eavc wrote: post #102
zoomzoom wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look - I think that my sparse history of commenting on HN says more than I can express here about my stance on flame wars. I don't want to start one. But this whole food issue is something that I feel quite strongly about. My surprise is hardly rhetorical, and while I may have treated you as a straw man for a moment, I think that the larger point is still valid. The attempt to get scientific about eating strikes me a…

Your strong feelings are evident. Thanks for taking the time to share your viewpoint. I disagree with much of what you say, but I want to let you know that I did read it. Beyond that, we'll agree to disagree.

Thanks. And while I am still thinking about it - you might be interested in reading about Linus Pauling's take on nutrition and health. Something like this book: http://www.worldcat.org/title/vitamin-c-and-the-common-cold/....

Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#105

Post by tomhoward »

I've generally adhered to a "paleolithic diet" this year and have seen a steady improvement in my health. Meat, eggs, fish, vegetables.

More recently I've become wary of gluten, particularly its harmful effects on the gut and on the Thyroid.

I found this article very enlightening: http://thehealthyskeptic.org/the-gluten-thyroid-connection

I'm now avoiding gluten altogether and plan to stay this way for several months. So far the results are positive.

Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#106

Post by alexfarran »

eavc wrote: post #89
alexfarran wrote: post #77

I recommend Eat Drink and Be Healthy for credible advice grounded in scientific research http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Drink-Be-Healthy-Harvard/dp/068486...

Thanks, Alex. Yours is one of the few answers in the entire thread that attempts to give me what I'm looking for. Do you know of any other resources that more directly address the criticisms of nutritional science set forth by Taubes and Pollan?

No I'm afraid I haven't read either of those books. On a more general level I recommend reading Bad Science and Trick or Treatment. They'll equip you with the tools to form your own opinion on health issues.

Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#107

Post by modeless »

eavc wrote: post #86
modeless wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fine, but personal diet anecdotes aren't what eavc is asking for. What trustworthy sources are these decisions based on?

Thanks, modeless. You seem to understand where I'm coming from. Is this something you are personally interested in as well or were you just passing through?

Just passing through really, though I have been thinking lately that I need to improve my diet and was hoping to find some interesting sources to read through in here.

Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#108

Post by da5e »

Bdennyw wrote: post #94
da5e wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"specifically the no GMO part" That's a huge unscientific leap to say that. We don't know GMO is safe. And it's certainly not logical to say that concerns about them are crap.

Whats more unscientific; genetics are scary and we should never intentionally modify genes for our benefit, or lets investigate what can be done with this new tool? I'd say that investigation and experimentation would be the scientific thing to do.

Sure experimentation is great, but they're doing it on people. Those food aren't even labeled as such in the markets in the US and the effect they are having on agriculture is enormously problematic. e.g. Monstanto suing farmers. And how do they modify those organism? With radiation. This is not your father's brand of genetics.

Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#109

Post by punteney »

oomkiller wrote: post #32
cpearce wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I prefer fish to meat As much as I like fish, and though it is in general good for you, commercial fishing is emptying our oceans at an alarming and unsustainable rate. If humans keep fishing at the current rate, we'll have emptied the oceans of fish by some time in the later half of this century. We'll be left with jellyfish, worms and krill as our only seafood. Do you want your grandchildren to eat fish? Only buy…

Where does sustainable start? I was looking into farm raised fish today and it seems they cause problems for wild populations, AND are worse for you. One example I read was about farm raised salmon having almost no Omega-3 and lots of Omega-6.

You might want to check out Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program for guidance. They have both small cards fold up guides you can keep with you or an iphone app that gives recommendations on the type of seafood that can be eaten sustainably and which ones you should avoid. http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_i...

Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#110

Post by huhtenberg »

pradocchia wrote: post #5

This is tangential, but does anyone know of a field of study that specifically investigates traditional dietary frameworks in different parts of the world? Not what people actually eat per se, but what local tradition advises? The comparative philosophy of food, the anthropology of normative diets? In China, for example, some foods are considered "heating", while others "cooling". Based on the time of year and your o…

> some foods are considered "heating"

Tangential anecdote - pregnant women apparently should not eat lamb, because it is "heating food" and will cause the growth of myomas (uterus tumors). No scientific confirmation what-so-ever. Can't eat it just because it's "heating" and causes "things to grow". Try countering this when talking to a pregnant wife choke-full of interesting mind-altering hormones :)

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