Nutrition Again
 

Over the years there have been several threads on this general subject. Since our knowledge and understanding continues to change I thought I'd ask for opinions from this body. I'm always looking for facts that will keep me up to date.

I used to live by the idea that a proper diet was all it took to be healthy. As I grew older I discovered there is quite a bit of disagreement on what a "proper diet" is. I also discovered that soils in which much of our food grows is pretty weak. Then I think I found that my declining metabolism meant that if I ate enough food to get all the needed nutrients I'd be consuming too many calories.

So, I take vitamins in moderate quantities. My ophthalmologist suggested I take a goodly amount of fish oil. And I use a powdered protein supplement to meet the daily amount recommended in the fitness community.

What do you do? Why?

I take suppliments -condroitin sulfate for joints, vit. E and sometimes iron. Mostly I eat my veggies, fish or chicken and little or no red meat. I'm healthy with good energy and disposition almost always.

Vitamin supplementation doesn't seem to be a good idea unless you have some specific deficiency. There's various research that suggests that those who take vitamin pills actually have worse mortality rates than those who don't. Stop taking the pills.

I take 75 mg aspirin daily for its anti-inflammatory effects, there appears to be good data showing it cuts the risk of various cancers. Other than that I'll use whey protein when training to speed recovery and help maintain muscle mass, but I don't really regard that as a supplement, it's just a convenient way of ensuring I get >1 gram of protein per kilo of bodyweight per day. And I eat a fair bit of oily fish, but don't supplement with fish oil capsules.

I try to have at least one Jamocha shake from Arbys each week.

Here are my thoughts on the fish oil thing. Some studies seem to indicate that there isn't much benefit from taking the oil supplements, but there is a benefit to eating oily fish frequently.

The theory is this:

http://theconsciouslife.com/anti-inf...ega-6-fats.htm

To summarize: "...the imbalance between the two omega fats [omega 3 vs. omega 6] can wreak havoc on our health and pave the way for life-destroying illnesses such as Alzheimer’s, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, cancer and other inflammatory diseases."

I've concluded that this is probably true, and not pseudoscience baloney.

But here's the good news: you can easily fix the balance of fatty acids, and there's no downside. In other words, even if that "anti-inflammatory" business is all bull$hit, you won't have damaged your health. All you'll have done is spent a little more money on food. But there's a reasonable chance that you will improve your health.

So, what I do is:So, the nice thing about this strategy is that you won't find anyone who thinks it will negatively influence your health.

Here's more: http://chriskresser.com/how-too-much...making-us-sick

You name it and that food has at some time been bad for your health or good for you. In general don't eat too much Fat- sugar or red meat. The rest of what you eat has to be in moderation so you don't put on too much weight.

I have cut out sodas- cut down on fats and sugars and I can't afford red meat too often so I reckon I have a healthy diet. Have a small vegetable patch so I can control what additives I eat in them and have a fruit cage so I can eat the fruit before the birds do.

Till they decide that I am doing it all wrong again.

In other words- Eat a normal diet and cut out excesses of any type. So only one packet of Fig Newtons on a ride instead of 6.

I go through phases. I have a fishnet bag in my car full of stuff and throughout the day I grab a bit of something and swallow it with some food or water. it is a bit annoying but when I look at others my age and compare fitness, health & physique I rank pretty high. however I always have even when I was in my 20s eating cr*p. I think it's like cigarette smoking, so long as you keep trying. just now I took a daily vitamin for men over 50 and a couple Tylenol cuz I strained my back sometime over the past couple days, and swallowed them with a small handful of chocolate covered raisins. in a bout 1/2 hr I'll grab a bigger handful of choc raisins and do 30 min of weight training, drink my homemade protein/gatorade shake and eat 1/2 a chick salad sandwich.

Some vitamins can be overdone. These are the ones that build up in your system, like E, and A. Vitamin A can be very toxic at high levels. B and C vitamins flush through your system. There is some debate about the value of supplementing with them, but they are not thought to be harmful, even at fairly high levels. Eating a balanced, pre-industrial (i.e. low processed) diet should give you all you need. Some typical modern American diets may actually require supplements.

I try to eat a balanced diet. This is not easy since the wife prefers the highly processed crap. I try to limit saturated fats. I eat peanut butter on wheat toast for breakfast almost every morning. Almost no red meat. I get most of my fish from canned tuna, the only form of fish the wife will eat. Oh well.

I have giving up on any type of meat and fish in the last 5 years . Majority of them are from factory farm and that can not be health for anyone . The only time these animals will get any fresh air is on their way to the slaughter house . I get all of my nutrition from vegetable or seeds . I am not saying my way is the best way but it works for me so far .

I use this as a guide. http://blueocean.org/seafoods/ Some farmed fish isn't that bad, like catfish and trout.

I take lutein 20mg daily to prevent macular degeneration. My mom was diagnosed with MD and started on lutein;
next eye doctor visit the MD was cleared up

Charlie