6 replies to this topic

[Rogerdodger]

Mediterranean diet at risk as globalisation bites...

Eating a Mediterranean diet has long been a byword for healthy living, but the very people who coined it are straying from sun-kissed fruits and legumes and their waistlines are paying the price.
The bottom line is that many in southern Mediterranean countries, from Egypt to Lebanon, Morocco and Turkey, are piling on the kilos, struggling increasingly with obesity and chronic diet-based diseases, the UN's food agency said.
The famous diet is based on cereals, vegetables, pulses and a moderate intake of fish and meat, but tourism, urban development, depletion of natural resources and a loss of traditional knowledge are altering the menu.
"Globalization, food marketing and changing lifestyles -- including changes in the roles women play in society -- are altering consumption patterns in the Mediterranean," the report said.

[MaryAM]

Mediterranean diet at risk as globalisation bites...

Eating a Mediterranean diet has long been a byword for healthy living, but the very people who coined it are straying from sun-kissed fruits and legumes and their waistlines are paying the price.
The bottom line is that many in southern Mediterranean countries, from Egypt to Lebanon, Morocco and Turkey, are piling on the kilos, struggling increasingly with obesity and chronic diet-based diseases, the UN's food agency said.
The famous diet is based on cereals, vegetables, pulses and a moderate intake of fish and meat, but tourism, urban development, depletion of natural resources and a loss of traditional knowledge are altering the menu.
"Globalization, food marketing and changing lifestyles -- including changes in the roles women play in society -- are altering consumption patterns in the Mediterranean," the report said.

Health tips from top Japanese doctor
clear

Doing the email rounds today:

Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your heart only good for so many beats, and that it...don't waste on exercise. Everything wear out eventually. Speeding up heart not make you live longer; it like saying you extend life of car by driving faster. Want to live longer? Take nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiency. What does cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So steak is nothing more than efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef also good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And pork chop can give you 100% of recommended daily allowance of vegetable product.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that mean they take water out of fruity bit so you get even more of goodness that way. Beer also made of grain. Bottom up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have body and you have fat, your ratio one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No pain...good!

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU NOT LISTENING! Food are fried these day in vegetable oil. In fact, they permeated by it. How could getting more vegetable be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise muscle, it get bigger. You should only be doing sit-up if you want bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy?!? HEL-LO-O!! Cocoa bean! Another vegetable! It best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming good for your figure, explain whale to me..

Q: Is getting in shape important?
A: Hey! 'Round' a shape!

[Rogerdodger]

So you recommend the Japanese diet over Mediterranean?

[stocks]

The overwhelming weight of the evidence speaks to considerable genetic involvement in obesity, both on the individual and group level; to the lack of a causal effect on health or lifespan; and to the total failure of interventions – especially the two most commonly prescribed ones – diet and exercise – to significantly impact it.

The much hyped PREDIMED trial from Spain (Estruch et al, 2013) of the “Mediterranean diet,” which claimed to find a reduction in cardiac deaths in the treatment group, failed to make a significant reduction in all-cause mortality. This is addition to the many other methodological problems with this trial (like stopping early).

Additionally, there is the Look AHEAD RCT (also here) of diet and exercise on diabetics in the U.S. Its findings are summed up here:

The study randomly assigned 5,145 overweight or obese people with Type 2 diabetes to either a rigorous diet and exercise regimen or to sessions in which they got general health information. The diet involved 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day for those weighing less than 250 pounds and 1,500 to 1,800 calories a day for those weighing more. The exercise program was at least 175 minutes a week of moderate exercise.

But 11 years after the study began, researchers concluded it was futile to continue — the two groups had nearly identical rates of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular deaths.

[…]

But the outcome is clear, said Dr. David Nathan, a principal investigator and director of the Diabetes Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. “We have to have an adult conversation about this,” he said. “This was a negative result.”

The nature and implications of these findings, which is rather damning considering the conventional prescription for heath, is captured well by Tomiyama, Ahlstrom, and Mann:

We believe the ultimate goal of diets is to improve people’s long-term health, rather than to reduce their weight. Our review of randomized controlled trials of the effects of dieting on health finds very little evidence of success in achieving this goal. If diets do not lead to long-term weight loss or long-term health benefits, it is difficult to justify encouraging individuals to endure them.



https://jaymans.word...y-facts/#health

[brucekeller]

Don't eat simple carbs, burnt stuff, and limit Omega-6 intake(fried food etc) while eating foods high in 3's, take some anti-oxidants; most problems solved.

[Rogerdodger]

The diet involved 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day

IMHO, almost all diets erroneously concentrate on calorie intake and "low-fat".

My wife's high diabetic A1C level was to the point of requiring insulin injections.
However it was dramatically improved by a low carb, high fat diet (Ketogenic Diet).
The diet involves reducing carbohydrates until ketosis is reached by greatly limiting carbs.
(Similar to the Mediterranean diet but no pasta or bread.)

We paid NO ATTENTION to calorie intake and she lost weight easily because fats satisfy hunger.

I see the heredity part as a problem in that, like her father, she avoids exercise, smokes and loves carbs (and is hard headed).
A little more exercise would help lower the blood sugar even more.

I go with what I see working in real life and counting calories always seems to fail eventually.

Edited by Rogerdodger, 15 June 2015 - 09:48 AM.

[Rogerdodger]

Here's my new "Instant 6-Pack Ab Diet"


Is it "Just Genetics"?

Do diet and lifestyle have any effect?
In the 1960's we didn't have a fast food stand on every corner.
People were not glued to a Facebook page all day.
Kids played ball not Minecraft.

CDC: Average Woman Now Weighs As Much As Average 1960s Man...
The CDC data shows that both sexes have gained almost an inch in height from the 1960s, which factors into some of the overall weight gain. But women have seen an 18.5 percent increase in weight gain from 1960 and men have shown a 17.6 percent increase in overall weight gain.
Today’s American male weighs nearly as much as 1.5 American females from the 1960s, with today’s U.S. male weighing an average 195.5 pounds and having a nearly 40-inch waist circumference (39.7 inches).
American women today have an average waist circumference of 37.5 inches and weigh in at 166.2 pounds, up from about 140 pounds in 1960.

Just Genetics?

Edited by Rogerdodger, 15 June 2015 - 10:14 AM.