Al.canoe

I watched the rebroadcast of thee NIH/FDA press conference early this AM on C-SPAN. It appears that the FDA has finally caught-up with the science. I think I'll order a copy for the discussion sections. I'm sure it's pretty heavy/dull reading if one hasn't kept up with this stuff. For the athletes/physically active folks, especially those who do moderate to strenuous activity exceeding an hour, Carmichaels Food for Fitness sounds like it might be the better and the easier to read reference. The nutrition books and the government guidelines have historically tended to be written (unintentionally, mostly) for couch potatoes. I'll know more of course after I read the FDA report.

Interestingly, they have upped the Potassium requirement. My wife Kristin and I learned to do that back in the late '60s to cure our physical-activity induced headaches. That led us to start using ERG mixed with our drinking water. It's still the best out there (for us, at least); far more in sync with the guidelines than Gator Aid which has way too much Sodium. The new guidelines apparently reduce the recommended table salt intake level once again.

Al

DnvrFox

Here is a simplified "consumer guide"

No surprises to any of us who care about nutrition, though.

Man, this means that 95% of the food in most supermarkets needs to be thrown out! And McD's and others need to shut down!

You suppose that the American public will follow any of these?

Al.canoe

Those two topics were covered in the press conference during the question and answer period with the apparently poorly informed and skeptic reporters. One of the FDA's stated objectives for the report and other measures is to get the food industry to clean up it's act. There are some cases already where this has happened. Also,the now dwindling Atkins craze (a shorter half-life than most) did remove a lot of empty calories from some processed food I have noticed personally.

The head of HHS (FDA is under HHS), Tommy Thompson I think, told the reporters that in the final analysis it's up to the individuals to eat less, to eat correctly and exercise up to 90 minutes a day. However, they were going to actively promote the correct behavior more than they have in the past as well as put pressure on the food industry. A staffer of the FDA said that their polling indicates a mind shift in the population. They think folks are finally getting the message. They hope that this means that American's thinking on life style may be getting near a tipping point.

Time will tell. I'll say one thing, there have been a lot more reasonably intelligent articles on lifestyle in the media lately than I've seen in the past.

Al

DnvrFox

Wouldn't it be great to go to McFastFood and find

1. Whole wheat bun with a grilled chicken sandwich

2. Selection of carrot sticks and celery instead of french fat fries

A couple of good things right now at McD's - their fruit yogurt parfait ahs only about 150 calories and is low fat. Their ice cream is still low fat, and you can get a cone with also about 150 calories.

But, I still see folks "en mass" walking back fromthe counter with super double and triple burgers dripping with fat and a huge amount of FF's along with a full-sugar super-size coke!

I think we have a long way to go.

bsyptak

[QUOTE=DnvrFox
Man, this means that 95% of the food in most supermarkets needs to be thrown out! And McD's and others need to shut down!
[/QUOTE]


That's right. In fact, if you go to a health food store, there's a reason why they're typically about 1/10 the size of a supermarket. No junk.

I used to go into Wild Oats and think that there was nothing to eat in there. Now I go into the supermarkets and my eyes glaze over until I get to the teeny tiny health foods section. Everything else is empty boxes to me. I like the small store format. In and out in 10 minutes without a shopping cart full of trash. Just healthy, fresh foods without the pesticides/hormones/antibiotics.

'nother

I think it would be nice to go to McFastFood and find that they've boarded up the windows and moved to another state

Seriously, it would be nice if food manufacturers would pay some attention to the sodium guidelines at least. For those of us with high blood pressure who are watching sodium intake, even some of the "good" in terms of fat, etc. is still off limits because of sodium levels. And a lot of it is from preservatives (sodium benzoate, etc.) not necessarily "salt" flavor. I think they should take it down to 2,000mg/day. Research suggests your body only requries about 500mg/day.

webist

Most of the supermarket style stores I've been in have a produce section, a seafood and meat section, a dairy section and a bakery or bread section. For the most part, randomly selecting foods from these sections will generally yeild a healthy diet as long as you limit the amount you eat.

It's the rows of beverages, snacks, sweets and prepared convenience foods that usually get me in trouble.

FXjohn

A lot of those concerns are just paranoid hype.
You don't have any actual evidence one way or the other about organic food.
Organic food by definition is allowed a certain amount of those so called scary substances.
Wash your veggies! People just need to moderate the junk and exercise, as simple as that, you sound like the food police.

DnvrFox

Hey, FXJohn - I am sorry you did not recognize my response as a humorous comment!

FXjohn

Oh, I was quoting the second guy Denver, we're cool, let me fix those quotes

DnvrFox

Yes, my doc wants me on a "low sodium" diet.

I have not added salt to anything for about 10 years, yet still you get overdosed simply from the food processing.

I had some canned regular "Campbell's Soup" last week, and, honestly, it tasted like flavored sea water!

Checked the sodium content and I had just passed my daily allowance!

bsyptak

I'm not the food police. YOU can eat whatever YOU want. It's a free country.

You are right about certain foods being OK, mostly foods with thick skins that get discarded like bananas and oranges. But in fruits like strawberries, the pesticides are in the fruit, not just in the skin.

Personally, I just don't want to eat pesticides. If a pesticide is toxic enough to wipe out every living thing in a field of crops, I think there might be some small chance it's not too good for me. If I can buy strawberries that are not sprayed, why shouldn't I be able to?

Oh, and you must be joking about the evidence. Google. Most of the results come from sites ending in .edu and .gov. Oh and regulations abound.

FXjohn

No, I just said that you didn't have any evidence

nick burns

Yup, unfortunately you are spot on correct. Just for example, to be classified organic, a farm has to go pesticide/herbicide/synthetic fertilizer free for 3 years. Many pesticides & herbicides are persistent in the environment for well beyond 3 years. And some degrade into other nasty compounds over time. The only way to be sure to avoid all of those substances is to grow your own in a controlled environment. And then you have to wonder about your seed stock...

In other words, it's extremely difficult to completely avoid those substances. It is, however, good practice to try to limit your exposure to them.

Al.canoe

I have to buy my cereal in the Publix organic section to avoid partially hydrogenated oil, Corn Syrup and over-sweetening in general. I don't really care all that much about organic for foods grown in the US. There's no research (yet) showing an advantage.

Al

H23

Actually, Chipotle, which is owned by Mcdonalds does make steps in this direction. It is quite possible to order up a fairly healthy burrito (although, it is best to leave out the tortilla).

DnvrFox

The typical "non-naked" Chipotle burrito has about 1,100 calories and 12 or more grams of saturated fat! But you are right - the "non-burrito" burrito is not so bad. But, in essence, you are eating a salad.

https://www.skatelog.com/nutrition/fresh-mex-cpsi.htm

trirmk

Agreed. I think some of this organic business is taken a bit too far and people just get too crazy with it. We do need to make a TON of changes as a whole to improve our waistlines and food choices. I think this can all be done without falling into this organic food craze. Eat sensibly, exercise regularly....what's so hard about that?

IMO, I don't think we're ever going to stop the growing waistline of Americans. I've read all the guidelines months before they were publicized and while they make sense to all of us who care and understand, the government doesn't seem to realize that the people they're targeting with these recommendations really don't care to hear about it for the most part. They are the people you see walking back from the McD's counter with the super-triple-bacon-extra cheese-monster burger.....oh yeah, with super-duper-duper-extra super sized fries, and a 400 oz. coke. What good is it to have these recommendations if the target audience isn't going to get the point??? And it's not like the restaurants or chains are helping because they will never take that super burger and large fry infused with trans and saturated fat off the menu. Just my two cents.

FXjohn

You're right of course, and another thing you brushed upon is the fries and cocke.
Much worse for you than the burger I think.
I mean, for the most part, meat is meat, and a person is only going to want to eat so much of it at a sitting.
Mcdonalds and the like need to sell other things to drink, like good juice, smoothies, gatorade, etc.
Maybe they do sell bottled water, I'm not sure.
Too bad they don't sell a combo that's just a burger, some steamed veggies and a bottle of water.
That would make the meal about 200% healthier.
They could easily handle frozen veggies boiled or steamed and make good money also.
The nice thing about frozen veggies also is the minimal mess they make to prepare.

trirmk

I think McD's is trying to give their consumers healthier choices like that...I think they have the water and juice available. But until they eliminate those other choices (fries, soda), we're still going to see people making poor choices. One thing I like about Wendy's is that they just recently allowed a choice of sides with their combo meals (however, bottled water isn't yet there...it's still soda). You can choose a side salad, potato, or chili instead of fries. But another problem is that the side salad comes with dressing that has somewhere around 23g of fat! Seems like they gave the consumer those choices not for health reasons, but for financial reasons because people like the extra choices and may eat there more. But still, for whatever reason, I think it's good how they at least gave people a chance to not get the fries. (A small order of fries has something like 5g of trans fat ( ) if my memory serves me)

nick burns

You're on the money again. Get rid of the extras, special sauce crap and it's not the worst thing in the world to eat. Although the frying process does create known human carcinogens.
A veggie kabob would be an excellent alternative.

H23

Indeed!

But the nice thing is that you can tell them to hold the cheese, guac, as well as roughly communicate portion size, etc..

I am pretty sure, unless I'm missing something big, that my "bol" from that place comes in at around 500 Calories and possibly less. The guys from work that I do lunch with think I'm being fussy-- but then, I'm not the one who's nearly passed-out at work after downing a cheesy meat-filled burrito the size of cat.

trirmk

Ok ok, so we need to get rid of all fast food joints except Chipotle! I can't live without a huge burrito after a good ride!

FXjohn

If a variety is truly good for you...I think a person who's active will recognize it as such and be able to go back time after time, Sounds like I wish we had a Chipotle's....

And Avacodo/guac should be pretty darn good for you if you don't go overvoard on it.