Nutrition Thread: Discussion & Resources

[ehrenfest]

I am starting this in analogy with "the Food Thread". The point of this is to thread is to house people's comments and to collect their resources and to foster discussion about the highly important and relevant-to-our-daily-lives topic of human nutrition. I want people to post here particularly healthy meals that they have discovered as well as particularly unhealthy meals that they want to warn people against eating. I want people to post here their concerns and questions and dilemmas associated with how to consume food and beverages in such a way as to optimally supply your body with what it needs.Here are some useful resources that I have found for nutrition:

1. The book "Understanding Nutrition" by Eleanor Ross Whitney is now in its 11th Edition and I think it is the most commonly used book in introductory college level nutrition classes:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0534622267/?tag=pfamazon01-20

I checked out the 9th edition from my university's library and from Chapter 1 it began debunking my misconceptions about nutrition and opening up my world to a whole new outlook on eating. Basically everything I knew about nutrition before I read this book, I learned from my parents and from my first grade teacher which is sad because nutrition is a thriving field of science and thus deserves a lot more attention and consideration than just learning about it from hearsay and popular mass-media magazines. 2. "Nutrition Today" magazine. I read the three most recent issues and I was really impressed by the professional quality of the articles. The articles range from the history of nutrition to the regulation of nutritional labeling to the forefront of nutritional science.

3. http://www.mypyramid.gov/ This is of course the standard point of entry for someone interested in nutrition in the United States although I have personally had some trouble making effective use of that site.

 

[Evo]

This is my favorite website for nutrition information on food. At the top right you can select the food you want nutrition values for.

http://www.nutritiondata.com/

 

[Kurdt]

Unhealthy = 2 Big Macs + 8 cans of lager.

 

[cristo]

Unhealthy = 2 Big Macs + 8 cans of lager.

...but tasty! (there's no "licking lips" smilie!)

 

[rootX]

I ate spicy chicken burger for breakfast and fish burger for my dinner, every single day for my last term. I didn't want to get lost in making choices every day.

And, cafeteria people told me that I will get life threatening disease if I don't stop.

 

[lisab]

Unhealthy = 2 Big Macs + 8 cans of lager.

Hmmm...for some reason, a Big Mac sounds delicious right now. I haven't had one in about 10 years!

 

[BobG]

I am starting this in analogy with "the Food Thread". The point of this is to thread is to house people's comments and to collect their resources and to foster discussion about the highly important and relevant-to-our-daily-lives topic of human nutrition. I want people to post here particularly healthy meals that they have discovered as well as particularly unhealthy meals that they want to warn people against eating. I want people to post here their concerns and questions and dilemmas associated with how to consume food and beverages in such a way as to optimally supply your body with what it needs.


Here are some useful resources that I have found for nutrition:

1. The book "Understanding Nutrition" by Eleanor Ross Whitney is now in its 11th Edition and I think it is the most commonly used book in introductory college level nutrition classes:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0534622267/?tag=pfamazon01-20

I checked out the 9th edition from my university's library and from Chapter 1 it began debunking my misconceptions about nutrition and opening up my world to a whole new outlook on eating. Basically everything I knew about nutrition before I read this book, I learned from my parents and from my first grade teacher which is sad because nutrition is a thriving field of science and thus deserves a lot more attention and consideration than just learning about it from hearsay and popular mass-media magazines.


2. "Nutrition Today" magazine. I read the three most recent issues and I was really impressed by the professional quality of the articles. The articles range from the history of nutrition to the regulation of nutritional labeling to the forefront of nutritional science.

3. http://www.mypyramid.gov/ This is of course the standard point of entry for someone interested in nutrition in the United States although I have personally had some trouble making effective use of that site.

It's people like you that are creating the crisis with Social Security. Big Macs + 8 cans of lager is good! In fact, it's downright patriotic! You owe it to the country to withdraw less funds in Social Security benefits than you've contributed in payroll taxes!

As long as you have health insurance, of course. If you're going to die a slow death at the expense of Medicare, then it kind of defeats the purpose.

 

[ehrenfest]

Advice to all: "potato wedges" are just french fries with a different shape. I stupidly at 5 wedges today thinking that they were just wedge-shaped pieces of a potato with no damage done to them

 

[~christina~]

Just eat vegetables and fruits and drink water.
(and limit the fried things)

Grilled things are not good because of those burned parts.

Steamed vegetables taste nasty so I go with stirfried food.

Plain banana milkshakes with milk are delicious as long as the bananas are ripe. (no needed added sugar) This as opposed to ice cream milkshakes.

 

[ehrenfest]

Just eat vegetables and fruits and drink water.
(and limit the fried things)

But then you leave out 3 of the 5 food groups!

 

[~christina~]

But then you leave out 3 of the 5 food groups!

True, but I think that people eat too much of the other groups, right?
The most important food groups get left out. (the ones above)

 

[cristo]

Grilled things are not good because of those burned parts.

Really, I always thought grilling things was healthy! (I do try not to burn food, though!)

 

[B. Elliott]

This is my favorite website for nutrition information on food. At the top right you can select the food you want nutrition values for.

http://www.nutritiondata.com/

Aww. No listing for Star Crunches.

 

[Moonbear]

Grilled things are not good because of those burned parts.

That's the best part!

Actually, summertime is the best time to eat healthy since you have plenty of access to fresh fruits and veggies.

 

[AhmedEzz]

How much water do you drink a day?

For me its a glass or two at most.

 

[ehrenfest]

How much water do you drink a day?

For me its a glass or two at most.

You may not realize that many foods contain a very large amount of water that you consume when you eat them and don't add to the "number of glasses of water you drink a day". Here is some data from Whitney's "Understanding Nutrition":

Yogurt, apples, grapes, oranges, and carrots contain 80-89% water. Strawberries, watermelon, lettuce, cabbage, celery, spinach, and broccoli contain 90-99% water.

 

[Moonbear]

How much water do you drink a day?

For me its a glass or two at most.

What size glass? Are you counting just plain water, or any liquid? I rarely drink plain water unless I'm really working hard and sweating a lot and just need to rehydrate quickly. A lot of people get carried away drinking way too much water. Though, I certainly could be healthier to substitute plain water instead of the other beverages I drink, I just don't want to. All together, probably about 6 cups (that's 8 oz each, just to be clear I mean measuring cups not glasses of indeterminate volume) of beverages in a day (that's counting the ginormous cup of coffee in the morning). You get a lot of water from fruits and vegetables too. I've been drinking a bit more water lately, because I've gotten salted sunflower seeds in the shell that I've been nibbling before bedtime, so they make me thirsty. Those seem to be a pretty good snack. The bag I have is supposed to have 5 servings in it, but I've eaten them for 5 nights already and am only about halfway through the bag, if that far. It takes so long to eat them that I think my stomach has more time to register that I'm getting full than if I just gulped them down already shelled. If someone had to worry about sodium intake, then unsalted ones would probably be just as good.

 

[Kurdt]

When I was younger I used to drink very little. On weekends I'd be out from breakfast until bed time with only meals in between which had no liquid intake. I used to pass lots of brown urine. I still don't drink enough but I'm not quite that bad.

 

[chroot]

My guidelines are simple:

1) I have some kind of high-quality protein for lunch and dinner, usually chicken or fish
2) I eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, including seasonals
3) I stick to whole grains whenever possible -- breads, bagels, cereals, etc.
4) My snacks generally consist of nothing but raw foods, like nuts, strawberries, carrots, etc.
5) I study and carefully consider the labels on all prepared foods
6) I do not drink soda, or any sweetened beverage

I have a few more rules of thumb, I guess. I have a protein shake every day for a snack, and if I'm hungry despite having already eaten a lot of food, I'll eat carrots or protein shakes, which provide a sense of fullness without many calories.

Things get more complicated on days I'm doing long bike rides, but that's another story.

- Warren

 

[Moonbear]

My guidelines are simple:

1) I have some kind of high-quality protein for lunch and dinner, usually chicken or fish

Hmm...chicken or fish for breakfast...no thanks. Maybe if I visit Japan, I'll chance it. (Edit: drat, somehow you snuck an edit in that I didn't notice.)

2) I eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, including seasonals

Yep, agree on this entirely!

3) I stick to whole grains whenever possible -- breads, bagels, cereals, etc.

Better yet, skip the bagels. Those beasts are enormous amounts of calories. You can get away with it because of all the biking, more sedentary people can't.

4) My snacks generally consist of nothing but raw foods, like nuts, strawberries, etc.

Um, I prefer my nuts roasted.

5) I study and carefully consider the labels on all prepared foods

And then opt to leave them on the store shelf? (Sorry, couldn't resist that one...between me being a scientist and dating a lawyer, that statement couldn't go unquestioned as written.)

 

[chroot]

Hmm...chicken or fish for breakfast...no thanks. Maybe if I visit Japan, I'll chance it. (Edit: drat, somehow you snuck an edit in that I didn't notice.)

I'm a sneaky bastard, I know.

And then opt to leave them on the store shelf?

Actually, that's pretty much exactly what happens. I'm as susceptible as anyone to being drawn in by well-designed packaging and marketing. Yet when I actually pick up that flat of Oreos and realize each cookie is almost two miles on the bike, I lose interest. My only "vice" is Ben & Jerry's ice cream, which I only permit myself to purchase every so often...

- Warren

 

[Kurdt]

Wow! You're all health freaks. I'm on microwave meals, pot noodles and 4 beers a day. I'll probably put on 5 stones when I hit 26 and have to reconsider what I eat.

 

[AhmedEzz]

Do you think one's diet affects his height? (assuming he can still grow taller)

 

[lisab]

Do you think one's diet affects his height? (assuming he can still grow taller)

Yes, but only negatively, i.e., if the person is malnourished.

Your genetics set your maximum height, excepting disease that affects growth such as giantism.