Another depressing thread

Caleo

Truth to tell, healthy food generally takes longer to prepare than processed food. There are exceptions such as tinned prunes against constipation, and quick porridge made in tbe microwave.

What other healthy food does anyone know of that is just a s easy for the laziest among us to prepare?

Baked potatoes with all sorts of different fillings.

Almost any kind of egg.

Wholemeal toast with sardines.

Air-fried chicken covered in pesto (to prevent it drying out).

Most salad items will keep for a couple of days, covered in the fridge, so only need to be prepared once.

Batch cooking in the slow cooker and frozen in portions.

Fish fingers and baked beans - UPF but not that unhealthy (protein and plenty of fibre).

twaddle

Caleo

Twaddle{ : " What's wrong with this country is an entire population with declining life skills, lazily filling in the gaps by living at second hand online."

Without a native tradition for healthy food such as other European countries have, British people are hard nuts to crack.

I agree, but I think there's a lot more to it than that. If I had to start somewhere, I 'd start with trying to support local communities, to reduce social isolation, so that people supported each other, sites for shops and cafes were better planned, less need for comfort eating.

That would be lovely.
I am housebound but my sons go to venues like that.
There is the local ' Dog Cafe' which welcomes people with that common interest in dogs and dogs are literally catered for .The other venue is a sociable sort of pub which is owned and run in an old house where the owners live upstairs and are known by their first names same as the customers. As a result this pub is well patronise, like a home from home

twaddle

Caleo

Truth to tell, healthy food generally takes longer to prepare than processed food. There are exceptions such as tinned prunes against constipation, and quick porridge made in tbe microwave.

What other healthy food does anyone know of that is just a s easy for the laziest among us to prepare?

Baked potatoes with all sorts of different fillings.

Almost any kind of egg.

Wholemeal toast with sardines.

Air-fried chicken covered in pesto (to prevent it drying out).

Most salad items will keep for a couple of days, covered in the fridge, so only need to be prepared once.

Batch cooking in the slow cooker and frozen in portions.

Fish fingers and baked beans - UPF but not that unhealthy (protein and plenty of fibre).

Way to go!

I think eating too much is as bad for us as eating processed foods. That and lack of exercise, and decline in primary care services meaning that many health problems are not picked up early enough could account for these depressing statistics.

I think those are good points, winterwhite. Processed food has become a sort of bogeyman. I don't think there's much wrong with them, if eaten only occasionally. One advantage of any processed food is that the nutrition is printed on the back of the pack, so you know exactly what you're eating, which is handy if you're counting calories or reducing saturated fat or carbs. Eating too much for individual needs is what makes people put on weight.

If you can find some exercise you like, there really are many advantages.

I certainly agree with the decline in primary care services. Patients are reluctant to bother the doctor and often get fobbed off with a nurse or pharmacist anyway. Even if you do get to see a doctor, they don't have enough time to examine/talk to you properly and lack of continuity of care means they don't know what's normal for you.

Somebody scoffed at the Greens suggesting that the wealth of the nation should be judged on well-being rather than GDP. It's an impractical idea, but I think the Greens have a point. I just get the impression that people aren't very happy.

eazybee

I would say poor diet, smoking/vaping and lack of exercise has more to do with it.

Definitely! And drugs of course.

Finlanders are the happiest people in the world.

Look at their mortality rate and health outcomes all higher than average.

There's a lot of evidence that many UHP foods not only encourage us to eat more calories than we need but also destroys a healthy gut biome which helps to reduce the level of inflammation in our bodies. Eating foods that are not UHP is better at helping us to regulate our appetites. Of course the odd highly processed meal won't harm us but perhaps too many people have too much of their daily diet from these products?

butterandjam

twaddle

butterandjam

Whitewavemark2

The U.K. has now fallen to number 20 out of 21 countries. Healthy life expectancy has fallen to 60.7 years for men and 60.9 years for women.

The decline of our health is so significant that in more than 90% of us, start suffering from serious illness before we reach pension age.

The findings help explain why 2.8 m people are too sick to work, and deaths are rising in the 25-49 age group,.

Inequalities is health are deep and widening .

We only fall above the USA in health stakes - what an embarrassment.

Health Foundation think tank.

What UK and USA populations have in common, is a massive rise in the consumption of junk/processed food and resultant obesity in ever-younger age groups.

Obesity carries huge risk to physical and mental health.

www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/adult-overweight-obesity/health-risks

True, but the consumption of junk food isn't evenly distributed. It's not national, it's regional. The areas with most obesity happen to coincide with areas with most fast food outlets and lowest income. That suggests there's something else going on beyond a national taste for fast food/UPF.

I was in M and S food this am where affluent people were food at eagerly spending a lot of money on a vast range of highly processed ready made food and meals designed to appeal to middle class people with aspirations to eat "quality food".

They are buying a heavily advertised expensive delusion of eating healthily.

I'd argue that in UK the consumption of HPF,, is NOT limited to the poor or the uneducated. Increasingly, it's the lifestyle choice of affluent people with lots of money + a microwave/ airfryer. People who watch umpteen middle class cookery shows showing them how to cook; then buy it ready made from Marks and Spencer.

What's wrong with this country is an entire population with declining life skills, lazily filling in the gaps by living at second hand online.

Not everyone is capable of spending hours peeling, chopping, cooking, every day.
Some of us resort to ready meals sometimes and that is not because we have been persuaded by advertising, are particularly affluent, aspirational nor are we delusional.

Nor are we lazy.
I've cooked for over 65 years, with my mother, for a family, for DH and myself and if we want help from M&S, Charlie Bigham or whoever else, I'm not ashamed to accept it.
We grew a lot of our own vegetables and try to still grow some now too.

All my DC cook from scratch, apart from an occasional takeaway.

You cannot generalise.

Doing away with proper Domestic Science and Cookery lessons at secondary school was a huge mistake.

So many young and not-so-young people haven’t a clue how to cook nourishing, economical meals nowadays.

Boiling up a bit of pasta and making a few brownies seems to be the extent of food preparation, according to one mum I spoke to recently.

I never had a cookery lesson at school, apart from the first year at High School. Somehow I've managed.

I blame councils for all these takeaways, vape shops.
Selling off school playing fields, my mums garden wall is what was our school wall. We used to run up & touch it when doing cross country, before running what seemed miles back.
Now miles of new houses.
No money spent on recs.
I noticed the poorer areas have the Astro pitches, super, duper flood lights & fancy fencing all around.

Calendargirl

Doing away with proper Domestic Science and Cookery lessons at secondary school was a huge mistake.

So many young and not-so-young people haven’t a clue how to cook nourishing, economical meals nowadays.

Boiling up a bit of pasta and making a few brownies seems to be the extent of food preparation, according to one mum I spoke to recently.

This.

Whitewavemark2

Finlanders are the happiest people in the world.

Look at their mortality rate and health outcomes all higher than average.

What do they eat, ‘fish’?
Ours is all full of micro plastics 😩

Yes blinking drugs. Our town stinks of cannabis. Police & council don’t seem to bother as I’ve seen people openly smoking it walking through the town centre.

MT62

Yes blinking drugs. Our town stinks of cannabis. Police & council don’t seem to bother as I’ve seen people openly smoking it walking through the town centre.

Sorry replying to Oreo

& Greens want to legalise all drugs 🙄

MT62

Calendargirl

Doing away with proper Domestic Science and Cookery lessons at secondary school was a huge mistake.

So many young and not-so-young people haven’t a clue how to cook nourishing, economical meals nowadays.

Boiling up a bit of pasta and making a few brownies seems to be the extent of food preparation, according to one mum I spoke to recently.

This.

It's not the young who are obese. It's the baby boomers, who apparently did have domestic science lessons (if they were female).

Allira

I never had a cookery lesson at school, apart from the first year at High School. Somehow I've managed.

Neither did I - not even in the first year at secondary school. I did learn about nutrition in biology and learnt how to read recipes. Sorted.

I never had cookery lessons at school. Am not interested in cooking but, having a brain in my head, I know about nutrition. Luckily, M&S supplies all our food requirements.

Just AI’d a typical Finnish weeks worth of food.

Very simple and wholesome. They eat a lot of leftovers as well. Eating in the works canteen also seems common.

Rye bread is consumed at every meal I think. I guess it can be an acquired taste, but I find it “sour”.

Peas are a snack. They sell bags of peas in their shells in season and people eat them as we would crisps etc!
Fih is an important part of the diet in Finland; there is a huge amount of fish for sale in the markets. They also eat a lot of berries in season.

Whitewavemark2

I think diet (processed food) is a huge factor.

Another factor is the poor state of the NHS.

I agree. Perhaps people could scratch cook really food, apart from eating processed foods, takeaways and ready meals.