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Ways to start eating insects

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Ways to start eating insects

#51

Post by SolaceQuantum »

tomp wrote: post #14
pheroden wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some soy is fine, but if we're talking as completely replacing your meat, it could be too much estrogen like compounds. Hence breasts in men and an increased risk of breast cancer in women. I haven't seen enough studies to definitively rule these out. Besides, variety is always good. It's never wise to put all your eggs in a single basket.

There's just one thing I don't get... Too much carbohydrates are supposed to be bad. Too much soy is supposed to be bad. But the Japanese live the longest, so obviously they can't be that bad. So one of these assumptions must be false: - Japanese eat a lot of rice and/or soy (or products made from them) - Japanese have different genetics that allows them to avoid the negative effects of carbs/soy. We could probably t…

Actually the Japanese and also many Chinese are running into problems with health because of high salt and such. Soy not as much, and I don't really believe the breast cancer stuff or east asian countries would be the no.1 place for those kinds of cancers.

Re: Ways to start eating insects

#52

Post by noondip »

tomp wrote: post #14
pheroden wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some soy is fine, but if we're talking as completely replacing your meat, it could be too much estrogen like compounds. Hence breasts in men and an increased risk of breast cancer in women. I haven't seen enough studies to definitively rule these out. Besides, variety is always good. It's never wise to put all your eggs in a single basket.

There's just one thing I don't get... Too much carbohydrates are supposed to be bad. Too much soy is supposed to be bad. But the Japanese live the longest, so obviously they can't be that bad. So one of these assumptions must be false: - Japanese eat a lot of rice and/or soy (or products made from them) - Japanese have different genetics that allows them to avoid the negative effects of carbs/soy. We could probably t…

> Too much carbohydrates are supposed to be bad.

Carbohydrates are your body and brain's preferred energy source. What makes you think consuming too many is, "bad"? If derived from whole plant sources, carbs are fantastic and shouldn't be restricted.

Re: Ways to start eating insects

#53

Post by noondip »

pheroden wrote: post #8
phreeza wrote: post #3

So why should we eat insects? The standard answer is: it is a cheap and sustainable source of protein. But I have yet to see a convincing argument that it is cheaper and more sustainable than soy protein, aka tofu.

Some soy is fine, but if we're talking as completely replacing your meat, it could be too much estrogen like compounds. Hence breasts in men and an increased risk of breast cancer in women. I haven't seen enough studies to definitively rule these out. Besides, variety is always good. It's never wise to put all your eggs in a single basket.

> Some soy is fine, but if we're talking as completely replacing your meat, it could be too much estrogen like compounds.

Are you aware there's estrogen found in virtually all animal products, in concentrations and potency many times greater than any phytoestrogens could possibly deliver?

> Hence breasts in men and an increased risk of breast cancer in women.

Your source for this claim? I've only found evidence to the contrary, e.g.,

"Thus, the evidence to date, based largely on case–control studies, suggest that soy food intake in the amount consumed in Asian populations may have protective effects against breast cancer. Overall data based on Asian women, mainly derived from case–control studies, show a dose-dependent, statistically significant association between soy food intake and breast cancer risk reduction. There was an approximately 16% risk reduction per 10 mg of isoflavones intake per day."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18182974

"This nested case-control study found an inverse association between plasma genistein and the risk of breast cancer in Japan."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18316793

"Soy isoflavones consumed at levels comparable to those in Asian populations may reduce the risk of cancer recurrence in women receiving tamoxifen therapy and moreover, appears not to interfere with tamoxifen efficacy."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19221874

"In summary, this follow-up study among a population-based sample of breast cancer patients suggests that there may be a beneficial effect of high intake of flavones and isoflavones on all-cause mortality."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18006917

"Our study is the third epidemiologic study to report no adverse effects of soy foods on breast cancer prognosis."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21357380

Re: Ways to start eating insects

#54

Post by briHass »

PerfectElement wrote: post #34
BenderV wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I asked myself the same question. Why do we need to replace meat by something? Are vegans really lacking protein? Moreover, even if it's true, if we just take into account an important diminution of the meat consumption, will people lack proteins? I'm assuming we eat more meat than we ever did in our history.

Right, vegans are not protein deficient and many people thrive on high carb diets (see blue zones, adventist health studies, etc.) Unfortunately we've all been bombarded with the protein myth (more protein == healthier) and even the smart people of HN can't seem to question this belief objectively.

Probably because it's not a myth that high protein diets are healthful. High protein diets typically result in better maintenance of lean mass (muscle) and better health markers if compared with one that replaces protein with carbs (http://examine.com/faq/how-does-protein-affect-weight-loss/)

Many studies have shown that replacing fat or carbs 1:1 (by calories) with protein leads to better body composition and (sometimes) slight weight reduction. (http://authoritynutrition.com/how-protein-can-help-you-lose-...)

That's not to say that everyone should be eating bodybuilder levels of protein, but the evidence seems to support that focusing on it ahead of fat/carbs is probably a wise move.

Re: Ways to start eating insects

#55

Post by riffraff »

such_a_casual wrote: post #18
TeMPOraL wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably because the main argument behind starting to eat insects is that meat production in the West is unsustainable and devastating ecologically; the main reason we even get to enjoy meat is, from what I've heard, heavy subsidizing of meat production. I've read people saying meat is 10x cheaper than it should be, based just on production costs alone.

This isn't unique to meat and leaving out that information is misleading. Food in the US is heavily subsidized and overseen by the government for obvious reasons. Just like water is too important to leave to the free market, food is heavily regulated to ensure the health of the nation.

> Food in the US is heavily subsidized and overseen by the government for obvious reasons

To be fair, you might be fine with some regulations but very little subsidies.

E.g. corn in the US is heavily subsidized, but rarely used for human consumption; or historically, Iceland used to grow their own bananas until 1960 as fruit import was heavily taxed.

Re: Ways to start eating insects

#56

Post by nyan4 »

SolaceQuantum wrote: post #49
ekianjo wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But I have yet to see a convincing argument that it is cheaper and more sustainable than soy protein, aka tofu. This, and I'd like to see a convincing argument that it's actually delicious to eat. Eating is not just about surviving, it should be a pleasure as well, and I think you need to overcome a lot of barriers before you can actually put an insect in your mouth, no matter how "good" it's supposed to be for you…

All of east asian and indian cuisine would like to have a word.

If you are implying that insects are staple food in asia, that is simply not true.

Re: Ways to start eating insects

#57

Post by such_a_casual »

riffraff wrote: post #55
such_a_casual wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't unique to meat and leaving out that information is misleading. Food in the US is heavily subsidized and overseen by the government for obvious reasons. Just like water is too important to leave to the free market, food is heavily regulated to ensure the health of the nation.

> Food in the US is heavily subsidized and overseen by the government for obvious reasons To be fair, you might be fine with some regulations but very little subsidies. E.g. corn in the US is heavily subsidized, but rarely used for human consumption; or historically, Iceland used to grow their own bananas until 1960 as fruit import was heavily taxed.

Well regulation and subsidizing of agriculture in the United States is a direct reaction to the Great Depression. The country was fine without it for over 100 years. It's there in case shit really hits the fan, not because people can't figure it out on their own most of the time.

Re: Ways to start eating insects

#58

Post by nradov »

Why bother raising maggots on food waste and then feed them to pigs? Wouldn't it be easier to just give the food waste directly to the pigs? That's what my uncle always did. The pigs didn't seem to mind.

Re: Ways to start eating insects

#59

Post by [deleted] »

ekianjo wrote: post #44
phreeza wrote: post #3

So why should we eat insects? The standard answer is: it is a cheap and sustainable source of protein. But I have yet to see a convincing argument that it is cheaper and more sustainable than soy protein, aka tofu.

> But I have yet to see a convincing argument that it is cheaper and more sustainable than soy protein, aka tofu. This, and I'd like to see a convincing argument that it's actually delicious to eat. Eating is not just about surviving, it should be a pleasure as well, and I think you need to overcome a lot of barriers before you can actually put an insect in your mouth, no matter how "good" it's supposed to be for you…

[deleted]

Re: Ways to start eating insects

#60

Post by nyan4 »

such_a_casual wrote: post #18
TeMPOraL wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably because the main argument behind starting to eat insects is that meat production in the West is unsustainable and devastating ecologically; the main reason we even get to enjoy meat is, from what I've heard, heavy subsidizing of meat production. I've read people saying meat is 10x cheaper than it should be, based just on production costs alone.

This isn't unique to meat and leaving out that information is misleading. Food in the US is heavily subsidized and overseen by the government for obvious reasons. Just like water is too important to leave to the free market, food is heavily regulated to ensure the health of the nation.

> food is heavily regulated to ensure the health of the nation

Oh the irony.

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