Anger and Nutrition
 

something i am struck by every time i visit this forum is how upset people get when talking about diet. and it doesn't matter how educated someone is; those that know more of the research simply throw more numbers into their angry responses. the target varies - some get really worked up about the atkins diet, some get worked up about low fat, some hate vegans/vegetarians. but the result is usually the same: flame wars. sometimes it seem like politics and religion incite fewer flames.

i don't know if it's possible, but please try to explain what it is about diet that makes you angry. please do so without mentioning the specific aspect of diet that makes you angry, eg. atkins, vegans, low-fat ... just post here why you think it angers you.

I wouldn't say that people's diets anger me, that is kind of a ridiculous idea but I guess some people may have that problem...

I do feel strongly (negatively) about certain diets, but it doesn't make me angry. I just feel like people should do less following blind when it comes to something as important as nutrition. Most of the diets out there right now are "fad" diets (well, most diets I think are fad diets). I guess I think of fad dieters the same way I think of poseurs.

I have never been on a diet of any kind. I have a fast metabolism and have never been higher than 150lbs. That said I don't understand what its like to try and lose weight, and I don't understand the desperate measures some will go to in order to accomplish that goal. I still think some of the dieting that people do is unbased on any real scientific or nutritional data. People just do whatever seems to get weight off for a bit and then try the next diet once they've put it back on.

I get angry when people try every fad diet that comes along for a couple of weeks at a time, and then stop using them or switch to a new one, and THEN wonder why they aren't losing weight or aren't keeping off the weight they lost.

I also get angry at the people who make up these diets, as they give people the impression that their diet will be the one that will let people lose weight. They manipulate people's health and self esteem for their own personal gain.

I don't get angry, at people who need to have certain diets because of physiological problems, for example, thyroid problems. It's obvious that they need to have a specific diet, and more power to them if they find one that works. Vegetarians and vegans I don't get angry at either, as they are standing up for something they believe in, or they just hate the taste of meat, or they just hate plants and want to kill them all by eating them :p . Basically, I have no problem with people who choose diets for valid reasons, instead of bouncing around from diet fad to diet fad wondering why the hell they dont work.

And people who sit on their butts drinking diet soda and skim milk with their slim fast ice cream bars (like my mom) while wondering why they don't get in better shape and lose weight when they're eating "diet" foods really moisten my diapers.

The healthiest thing most people could do for their bodies, IMO, is exercise and eat a bit of everything. It's what worked for our ancestors way back in the day, there's no reason it shouldn't work now.

While I am passionate about the idea of losing weight myself; I am not at all passionate about others doing so. My general theory of dieting is to use more calories than I consume. When I do that I lose weight. When I don't, I know that is the reason I am not losing weight. I have a requirement to tightly regulate blood sugar. Medical restrictions on my caloric intake preclude consuming what some refer to as "wasted" calories.

I read all posts regarding training and nutrition for the information content alone. I don't regard casual conversation, online or otherwise, as necessarily sound medical or training advice. When new products (bars, drinks, etc.) are mentioned, I am grateful for the tip and promptly research for more information.

The "passion" you mention in the original post, tends to elicit more information and I appreciate that.

People have strong opinions about their lifestyle and don't like it challenged or their ideals disproved.

I would think that for most dieters, the diet itself is pretty strongly tied up with their body image. And since people tend to be quite emotionally invested in their body image (myself included, sadly) critiquing a person's diet can be tantamount to criticizing them on a very personal level.

and folks just don't like that :)

Although I've never posted to the fact I'm guilty of hostility toward the entire low carb coven. I'm not so bothered by its existence, but by the fact that it's somehow come to be considered healthy. I think it's the misinformation that bothers me the most. I have no doubts that it will cause you to lose weight, but pretending like it's good for you is way over the line. If they just stuck to the weight loss factor then I wouldn't mind, but when you get people who believe that eating bread is unhealthy it really begins to bug me.

Nutrition is something that very few people people really understand well. it angers me when people speak authoritively on a topic that they don't understand very well.

Nutrition is something that very few people people really understand well. it angers me when people speak authoritively on a topic that they don't understand very well

well said.... people can get really defensive regarding diet.

Bingo! We have a winner!

Cheers.....

Tell you what, if you ever want a laugh....have a look at some of the crap people are spouting in the training & nutrition forum. I'm surprised some of them are still alive!!!

:D

see, the first half i agree with, the second i have an issue with. the idea that anything anyone has said in these forums has "disproved" anything is frankly kind of amusing to me. the reason there are so many ideas about something like diet is that there exists no proof of superiority for any given method, either in the literature or anecdotally. it simply can't be done; suggestions can be made based upon what research indicates to be true, but that's it. the body is a black box and all we can do at this point is try to infer something from what is typically some very messy data.

personally, i think that diet, like other ideologies, lends itself to group identification. so the "us and them" philosophy comes into play. and that in and of itself would seem to me to be a problem for those who want to do unbiased research - everyone doing a study is trying to prove something right or wrong, and wants to see certain results.

Very astute and logical post.

You have no place here.

Let's all go for ice cream cones and be friends again. 'Kay?

Low carb works, but hard to stick with... Most diets end up with some form (thru abstinence by choice or taste) of caloric deficiency. You just gotta burn more than you put in... It is not easy, especially if genetics is also not in your favor. From one who definitely knows.

I get mad when I get a bad meal at a restaurant. However, I don't take it out on the poor server.

The anger thing is more of a personality trait than a nutrition issue. Some folks just can't handle a different opinion than theirs. It's an immaturity/confidence problem.

Al

Some peoples ideals about diet and nutrition can be "disproved" rather easily, I think that is the spirit in which the post was written. As stated in another post there are indivuduals who go on a diet that have no idea what they are doing or why, believe me I have talked to a few, ask them a few questions and you get blank stares. Some of these fad diets work for a short time but so does starvation.