who has got it right

Eat anything you like, but in moderation. Obviously if someone disagrees with you then eat them too!

Peanuts - the advice was "do not give peanuts [whole nuts] to children under 3". if inhaled, they are impossible to remove and the child has damaged lungs/bronchi or wherever the nut lodged. Peanut butter was not/should not have been banned. It is rich in all the fats and proteins that children need. Why else would it be prime constituent of energy/protein mixes given to under/malnourished children?

Anya - but you run the risk of eating too much fat/carbs/protein! Can't win, can you?

How on earth did my Great Granny live to 104 by eating room temp butter and read meat, by drinking a 1/4 bottle of whisky and smoking 20 cigs every day?

Grannypiper can I suggest that she was part pickled and part smoked? Both processes are know to preserve the shelf life!!

That's funny Anya

My littlest DGs was fully breast fed, when weaned he ate everything the rest of the family did for about a year but about 6months ago he developed a moderate allergy to peanuts other nuts and lentils peas etc. All legumes and egg. Poor little sausage. It makes feeding him more difficult.
I started perusing all the lables on stuff we might be feeding him when he came over at Christmas.
When I was feeding littlest's mum I snacked on peanut butter on Ryvita all the time.

The easy part is eating what you feel is right for you. The harder part is to enjoy it without feeling guilty.. Just remembe we are older than most of the experts, who in any case constantly change the advice.
77 years is long enough to get to know your body and its needs, and if that includes chocolate and wine, follow your instincts.

Brilliant!

That was meant for anya...

I have a thought about giving up all the so called, usually lovely things that are bad for you.

It is not that you live any longer.
It's just that you are so bloody miserable, that your life feels longer than it should be anyway.

MIL is 102. She has lived off sugar for many years and is doing well.

Like it anya

I decided to lose weight and be more active so that I would feel better, which did work. I feel that those of us retired have already lived past the time when most did one hundred years ago and if we want to continue fit and well in old age we need to be moderate, boring as it is. I'm sure if I hadn't given up smoking, I would now have a cough and COPD. It's still nice to have an occasional treat of favourite foods or wine.

MIL 94 and carers remind her not to eat too much chocolate so we smuggle it in!!!! Her other pleasure is fish and chips. I say let her enjoy it.

I do think that a lot of these "health warnings "in the press are put about by food manufactures/producers, A couple of years ago a certain paper wrote how good beetroot is for us, I turned to the next page and lo, It said the farmers were having a glut of beetroot nd were looking for more buyers at the markets!! Makes you think if it was all planned, I believe in moderation but I enjoy my food, I don't fry but grill when I can , I love chocolate but not too much, and I like my toast brown , I was born in 1947 and we ate what was put in front of us including butter, I think these low fat spreads are tasteless and probably more harmful with all the additives .

My mum lived to 90 and she ate badly and very little. Her favourite foods were apricot jam and cheese sandwiches and sponge cake and custard. Her heart was strong until the end. She smoked and didn't have any breathing problems. She didn't drink and was a terrible worrier but she reached 90 without any serious health problems.

Obviously these health diktats are not hard and fast rules as we all know people who break them and live a long and healthy life, My MiL is 97, smokes, drinks and eats 3 hearty meals a day with lots of sugary snacks in between. It's a bit of a genetic/ environmental lottery as to what affects you or not IMHO.

My dad used to say ..' take it all with a pinch of salt '...Or another expression was medioca in all things !
So I rarely worry about these news alerts,.
I do worry as to how much these alerts will have on my grand children, growing up under all this pressure to be perfect !
Some of the older ones under 30yrs do frequently tell me they know better than I ?
I merely put a point of what I have lived ! And hope they will achieve more in their lives !
Then quietly note Their hic-ups

We will all die anyway, so eat and drink what you like in moderation. I dont mean eat until you are obese or drink until you pass out everyday but if you want butter on you bread or a small glass of wine have it and enjoy it, life is for living not listening to up themselves experts who will change their mind next week ( they will die too ). Here's to &

I agree grannypiper, a little of what you fancy and moderation in all things.
Personally, I don't want to live forever, I can't afford it for a start, and I don't want to be stuck in a home.
cheers!

I never ate much red meat was a vegetarian for several years, I hate burnt toast and also brown chips etc, I have dieted and yo yo d up and down but always tried to eat healthily. I still got bowel cancer. If anyone says chocolate causes cancer then that will be what caused mine, chocolate is my one weakness. An old friend eats bacon daily, has red meat for her dinner and makes old fashioned puddings with suet etc and she's 80 in a few weeks time, she is plump but not fat swims like a fish and walks miles. She has never had cancer and she loves the burnt bits on anything.

My Mum regularly burnt her toast and ate it, she lived to be 101! She would buy loaves with a burnt top from the baker and cut off the burnt crust and eat it.