I've done way too much research about nutrition. I listened to actual dieticians and read papers, but also randos on Reddit. After all this time spent I've come up with 2 things:
1. Everyone's "ideal" diet is different. Everyone's body, nutritional needs are surprisingly different. What works for one person won't work for another.
2. Most people seem to benefit from: eat whole (minimally processed, https://www.verywellfit.com/what-is-a-whole-foods-diet-22419...) foods, 2-4 times a day, eat to satiety but don't binge, exercise for at least 60min/day moderate intensity, treat yourself but only occasionally, visit your doctor and get lab work done regularly. General, boring advice you will hear from almost everyone, but it works. At least for most people, see 1)
As someone who struggles to put on / keep weight, I'd love to know:
1. Is red meat (e.g. beef steak) actually meaningfully unhealthy?
2. Is eating fat (e.g. what is on a steak) bad for you?
3. Is drinking a gallon of whole milk a day on top of your normal meals likely to lead to problems (i.e. blocked blood vessels, heart attack, stroke)?
4. Is fast food, e.g. a quarter pounder from mcdonalds, unhealthy?
It seems like what is conventionally known to be 'healthy' food also happens to be low-calorie food. I wonder if that is mostly because a lot of people are overweight, and so for them whatever makes them consume fewer calories is healthy?
- Fat is good for you, and saturated fat / cholesterol is fine unless you have certain genes that make you susceptible to heart attacks. Regular checkups / lab work should reveal this
- A gallon of milk a day isn't good, try to find more balanced ways to get your calories in
- Fast food is fine occasionally (e.g. once a week) but again, try to eat less processed high-calorie foods instead
Some examples of high-calorie whole foods: nut butters, fatty fish, cheese, yogurt, whole grains, potatoes, foods with with olive oil / butter
> It seems like what is conventionally known to be 'healthy' food also happens to be low-calorie food. I wonder if that is mostly because a lot of people are overweight, and so for them whatever makes them consume fewer calories is healthy?
Yes. What's healthy for a skinny person vs. an obese person vs. a sedentary person vs. a marathon runner is all different. For a starving person, even fast food and donuts are better than nothing. But, high-calorie whole foods are even better, because they have micro-nutrients as well as calories.
Lots of conventional diet advice (e.g. low-calorie = healthy) is geared towards the average American, and sadly lots of conventional diet advice sucks.
What about half a gallon of milk every day and some carbs and nothing more? It is known that a great mathematitian Grigory Perelman used to follow exactly that kind of nutrition for years.
1. Everyone's "ideal" diet is different. Everyone's body, nutritional needs are surprisingly different. What works for one person won't work for another.
2. Most people seem to benefit from: eat whole (minimally processed, https://www.verywellfit.com/what-is-a-whole-foods-diet-22419...) foods, 2-4 times a day, eat to satiety but don't binge, exercise for at least 60min/day moderate intensity, treat yourself but only occasionally, visit your doctor and get lab work done regularly. General, boring advice you will hear from almost everyone, but it works. At least for most people, see 1)