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Ask HN: What should we eat?

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Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#71

Post by bmj »

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.

We're also one of the few animals to actually prepare our food, too. Does that mean we shouldn't do it?

Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#72

Post by rimantas »

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.

Some cows quite successfully milk themselves.

Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#73

Post by Devilboy »

bmj wrote: post #71
risotto wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

We're also one of the few animals to actually prepare our food, too. Does that mean we shouldn't do it?

Cooking just denatures the proteins. It doesn't change that much. And highly processed food is indeed worse than fresh food.

Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#74

Post by c1sc0 »

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…

My wife is Chinese & one thing I noticed is that I have never felt better than when I stayed for extended periods in China. They take that hot/cold stuff seriously & based on anecdotal evidence I think I'm living a healthier lifestyle & eating better when I'm in China.

Also, Chinese traditional medicine healed an ailment for me that stumped the best (european) specialists, even though I had absolutely no faith in that nasty chinese medecine.

One of the things that may make a difference is that more traditional cultures take food more seriously. We tend to think about food as either a trendy thing to do, like eating out, or just 'filling up on calories', like junk food. A healthy middle ground where people actually take the time to cook & enjoy fresh food seems to be lost.

Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#75

Post by philwelch »

Devilboy wrote: post #73
bmj wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're also one of the few animals to actually prepare our food, too. Does that mean we shouldn't do it?

Cooking just denatures the proteins. It doesn't change that much. And highly processed food is indeed worse than fresh food.

Some anthropologists think cooking changes everything--that the invention of cooking was a vital step in human evolution: http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/culture-society/articles/i...

Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#76

Post by tzs »

I'd go with Pollan, as "In Defense of Food" contains extensive cites to sources (including a lot of peer reviewed science journals) so you can check for yourself if he's giving good information.

Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#78

Post by eavc »

I'm surprised and disappointed at how many of the recommendations here are pure anecdote, intuition, or folk wisdom.

If I wanted to eat based on common sense or a fad diet, I'd do so. I was hoping to be pointed to something more scientific. Walter Willet's book is probably a good recommendation, but Pollan (as well as Taubes) have so impugned the track record of nutritional epidemiology that I think a resource that directly responds to those attacks is necessary.

I suppose I can continue the search on my own, but it's kind of amazing that with 74 comments in this thread, even a community as science-minded and educated as this one is relatively in the dark about this stuff.

Re: Ask HN: What should we eat?

#80

Post by larrywright »

As a number of other people have pointed out, the prevailing opinion on what is good and what is bad changes regularly. I'm inclined to go with Michael Pollan's advice of "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." as a good place to start. Skip most processed foods (ie, anything in packaging). Also pass on refined sugars (HFCS, etc). Drink lots of water instead of soda. Eat fresh fruit, vegetables, lean meats, eggs, etc. If you live in an area with a farmer's market, take advantage of it. Learning to prepare food for yourself is very rewarding.
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