The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

tom9980

Try Jamie Olivers watermelon and feta salad, normally something I would never even try or order but it is very nice indeed. Obviously may have to wait for watermelons to be more in season.

zagubov

I was quite old by the time I started to like cheese but I just don't get feta.

Don't hate it, just frightened I'll somehow die of boredom before I finish eating it.

LydiaJ

Pyxis wrote: »

This is the thing; you just don't know what to believe.

I never take any notice of anything to do with dietetics. As far as I can see, almost none of it is based on evidence that I would consider to be both reproducible and valid, and that is not unrelated to the observation that if you wait a decade or two, you can be sure that they'll be saying the opposite, anyway.

I aim for moderation and variety in eating, and refuse to categorise any food or ingredient as bad or forbidden. I also refuse to weigh myself, but instead judge whether I am too fat or not according to the holes of my belt, and which clothes I fit into or otherwise.

zagubov

I think nutrition is regarded as one of the most controversial areas of science. That factoid about one sixth of science being eventually disproved is immensely overweighted by the sheer complexity and downright subjectivity involved in people reporting their food consumption.

At least dieticians are a protected profession (you can't claim to be one without an approved qualification) but nutritional science seems to be full of evidence-less theories with enormous consumer appeal.

Less is more (especially for energy intake). Variety's important.
Not much sure what else I can be certain of.

GDB2222

The small studies of foods that get over-quoted! If you're a large producer of XXXXberries, get 10 small studies done on their efficacy. Bury the 9 studies that show they are useless, and get lots of exposure for the one that shows they are beneficial.

zagubov

GDB2222 wrote: »

The small studies of foods that get over-quoted! If you're a large producer of XXXXberries, get 10 small studies done on their efficacy. Bury the 9 studies that show they are useless, and get lots of exposure for the one that shows they are beneficial.

There's a general (and in my opinion alarming) trend in Science to produce smaller and smaller studies to increase impact metrics for ensuring future employability. It also undermines reliability and validity.

Pyxis

The paper popularly known on MSE as The Daily Fail is a past master at the sensational new health/nutrition article. The trouble is that some of its reporting is probably correct, but other bits are based, as you say, on small sample or selected research.

Do you remember the thing years ago, in the 80s I think? or 90s?, when Samantha Fox promoted a new wonder drink? I can't remember, or find the details...... it might have been a make of green tea or something like that........ that apparently science had proved would allow you to lose all your excess weight overnight, cure everything and make you live forever?

Ok, I exaggerate, but it was one of the earliest examples I can remember of this sort of thing, and anti-oxidants hadn't really been a publicly-known 'thing' before then.

It was sold in pharmacies and I think she made a huge amount of money out of it before it was debunked.





Edit....... found it....... Bai Lin Tea. It's a speciality black tea, not green. Sam Fox's boyfriend at the time was a serial con-man who used her and other celebrities to promote it. He went on to do other similar naughty things.....

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1415316/A-criminal-career-built-on-vulnerable-women.html

PasturesNew

Growing up we used Stork block margarine for everything. Sandwiches, toast, shallow frying eggs and fish fingers, deep frying chips, cakes/buns. Stork was what we used - and there was also some lard in the fridge that I think was used for Yorkshire puddings and roast spuds.

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

Growing up we used Stork block margarine for everything. Sandwiches, toast, shallow frying eggs and fish fingers, deep frying chips, cakes/buns. Stork was what we used - and there was also some lard in the fridge that I think was used for Yorkshire puddings and roast spuds.

But, could you tell it from butter?

ukmaggie45

I saw an NHS dietician after having blood test that found I had high cholesterol of the "wrong kind". I refused to take statins mainly because of the reported side effects, most of which were things I had problems with due to ME, so didn't want to take the risk of making things worse.

She was very helpful, and recommended The Portmanteau Diet which involved eating a handful of almonds every day amongst other things. I did try hard to stick to it, but hated the almonds, probably because OH bought the ones in their skins that taste incredibly bitter. Prob would have managed if he'd bought nibbed almonds. Also started eating more fish, oily fish at least once a week, plus other fish too. A year later cholesterol was much improved. OK I know n=1 isn't a scientific test, but the diet seemed to help me.

Since got the diverticulosis diagnosis in 2016 have changed my diet a lot more. Our basic standby breakfast is now home made humus on toast with a mixed salad. Sweetcorn, beetroot, celery, spring onion, cucumber, tomatoes dressed in olive oil and wine vinegar and garlic dressing. Do cheat with a fry up a couple of times a month. Really should get a repeat of cholesterol test one of these days to see if it's improved even more.

The other really useful thing dietician told me was that I shouldn't take VitD tablets with tea (as I was doing ) as the tannins in it prevented absorption. So I force the horse pill sized things down with coffee now! All her advice was sensible and helpful, could have gone back for further help but felt prob didn't really need to. So she discharged me, but told me I could get GP to refer me back again if I wanted.