Gransnet forums

Chat

Healthy diet

(82 Posts)
kittylester Fri 23-Jan-15 10:06:59

In view of all the changing advice we are given, are there things you feel you must (or indeed must NOT) eat to help keep you healthy?

Galen Fri 23-Jan-15 20:56:03

Ana I have the same problem, and I've had it for over 20 years!

rosequartz Fri 23-Jan-15 20:23:32

I would not have thought that 'cold pressed' rapeseed has gone through that process.

The trouble is that the food industry giants have so many vested interests we cease to believe many of them in the end.

Ana Fri 23-Jan-15 20:18:30

Although the article I was reading at the doctor's said heartburn and/or acid reflux was the most common symptom.

Ana Fri 23-Jan-15 20:17:42

What swallowing problems? shock

I find if I'm stressed I have problems swallowing (or I ^think I will have^), and this is the second time today I've read something which indicates it could be a sign of oesophagal cancer!

Faye Fri 23-Jan-15 20:12:44

rosequartz canola is actually rapeseed oil. Canola oil and vegetable oils go through a process using solvents and bleach. I found this link for you.

vampirequeen I know you know it's not good for you besides now research has shown it causes weight gain it also causes ill health. It must be vey addictive.

I know I go on a bit but have spent the last few years reading so much about food. Ever since my mother died of cancer of the eosophagus and I realised I was just starting to get the same swallowing problems she had had for years, but hers started at a much later age. It frightened me and I started changing what I ate and it stopped those problems. Then my niece before the age of thirty started having the same problems, it must be in our genes, and she also had to change her diet.

vampirequeen Fri 23-Jan-15 19:24:53

I know aspartame is bad for me, Faye. That's why I'm trying to reduce my diet coke intake. It's addictive and causes more thirst which you try to quench with more aspartame laced diet coke. That's why I've introduced my water target. Once I've managed to achieve this target I'll change it and reduce my diet coke intake even further. I have tried many times to give up and failed miserably each time. I reckon reducing is better than nothing and the extra water will help to flush my system.

KatyK Fri 23-Jan-15 18:52:54

No rose you don't. Thinking back the lady I described had just been through an horrendously stressful time so I wouldn't be surprised if that contributed. Poor lass.

absent Fri 23-Jan-15 18:41:38

rosequartz There is no reason why you shouldn't use olive oil for cooking. The Mediterranean diets are said to be among the healthiest in the world and no Italian or Spanish cook would dream of using anything else. However, it is not really suitable for deep-frying because it has a relatively low flash point.

rosequartz Fri 23-Jan-15 18:37:53

You just never know, do you, KatyK.

And perhaps it is just as well.

The environment, stress, genetics, all have a part to play.

KatyK Fri 23-Jan-15 18:35:03

Incidentally both of these ladies were very slim - no weight issues there.

KatyK Fri 23-Jan-15 18:33:19

Falconbird - I agree with the luck theory although obviously we have to try. I have had a couple of friends who were extremely health conscious and died in their early 50s of cancer. One of these was a lady I worked with. She was always advising us to put seeds on our cereal, eat avocados, avoid alcohol etc. We used to have a little party each Christmas for which we would buy typical party food - sausage rolls, sandwiches, mince pies etc. This lady would never touch the food but would bring a salad and a bag of grapes. She was dead at 53 from cancer. Everything in moderation maybe?

rubysong Fri 23-Jan-15 18:25:33

We mostly cook from scratch. I have porridge 4 days a week, no breakfast on two days (5:2) and egg on toast on Sundays. I also put All Bran in my porridge and drink two large glasses of water each day. We have stopped having cartons of orange juice as it is so high in sugar.

rosequartz Fri 23-Jan-15 18:25:14

Is canola oil rapeseed oil? Why should you not use it?

Please enlighten me then, Faye, as we use organic rapeseed oil for cooking and cold-pressed organic rapeseed oil as well in preference to the olive oil we used to use (which apparently should not be used for cooking). I have 3 bottles of it in the cupboard!

One week something is healthy, the next week it's not. Can't keep up.
Quite honestly, there are so many scare stories around, some which should be listened to and others which are myths.

crun Fri 23-Jan-15 18:09:40

Two years ago I was in the middle of a six month wait to find out if I had bowel cancer, which tends to make you a bit more curious than average how healthy your diet is. Rather than jump to conclusions I decided to set up a sreadsheet and find out, but I didn't have very high expectations as I'm the sort who regards cookery as a chore and not a hobby. I was astonished to find that my diet meets all the current FSA nutrition recommendations, most of them by a country mile. It's a myth that you have to cook everything from scratch to get a healthy diet, it's about what you eat, not who cooks it.

Ariadne Fri 23-Jan-15 18:00:11

Michael Pollen is my guru! Such eye opening common sense.

Faye Fri 23-Jan-15 17:53:57

The things I won't eat are canola and vegetable oil. I would never consume aspartame or diet coke, or diet anything, vampirequeen what are you thinking? Aspartame is poison. Aspartame is also found in low fat yoghurts and in fact low fat anything, some people feed it to their children. confused

What I do eat or drink every morning are almonds, water, pepitos, sunflower seeds, one date, fruit, ginger all in my smoothie. I make my own bread or if I do buy it try for something that doesn't burn my stomach. I use coconut oil in everything instead of butter, dates or raw honey instead of sugar. I am, after years of eating, I thought quite sensibly, now very sensitive, so don't eat bleached flour or package food and do not eat processed sugar, nor meat (48 years now) and barely any dairy. I am now the oldest I have ever been and have never felt better. smile

apricot Fri 23-Jan-15 17:37:50

I don't eat bread or any manufactured foods. Fruit for breakfast, soup or salad for lunch, veggie supper. No alcohol but lots of black coffee.
I'm still quite overweight because I'm greedy and have a very sweet tooth.

rosequartz Fri 23-Jan-15 17:17:10

too

rosequartz Fri 23-Jan-15 17:17:02

Me to, so finding the biscuits didn't help.

Falconbird Fri 23-Jan-15 17:09:22

rosequartz - I think you could be right about genes. Also I think a lot of it could be to do with weight. Trying to lose about a stone at the moment.

rosequartz Fri 23-Jan-15 17:04:46

My friend's DGM ate mainly biscuits and lived until her 90s.
Thank goodness I don't like coca cola as well as biscuits!

Fish with spinach, tomatoes and peas tonight

Falconbird A lot of it is down to genes I think.

rosequartz Fri 23-Jan-15 17:02:11

jingls I could post some to you in an envelope (could be a bit crushed by the time they get there, but would still taste the same!), also a small box of Ferrero Rocher (don't like those much anyway).

We did not buy these goodies, they were given to us.
The trouble is with M&S shortbread, once opened they are very moreish .....

vampirequeen Fri 23-Jan-15 15:56:29

I try to eat a lot of fresh food but I'm addicted to diet coke. Well more accurately I'm addicted to the aspartame in diet coke. I've tried to give it up many times but tbh giving up smoking was easier. So I've set myself a new rule. I have to have four bottles of water before I can have my first can which usually means I can get to lunchtime. Then I can't have three cans in a row. They have to be interspersed with preferably water or at worst coffee.

I know it sounds daft but it's better than the half dozen or more cans a day that I was drinking.

Falconbird Fri 23-Jan-15 15:47:41

My mum was border line anorexic and lived on bread and butter, ham and biscuits.

She smoked from the age of 15 and lived to be 90.

She worried about everything all the time and used to shake with nerves and temper.

The first time she had to go to hospital was when she was in her middle seventies.

Dad ate a good diet, provided by mum who often didn't eat what she cooked, didn't smoke or drink had a placid nature and passed away at 55 from a stroke.

Guess a lot of it is down to luck.

jinglbellsfrocks Fri 23-Jan-15 14:33:38

rosequarze envy. I wonder if I squirrelled anything away.

Can't have. Already searched the house from top to bottom. sad