• jittery3291@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Has it improved health or reduced obesity, though? That’s kind of the interesting thing, here. What has happened to overall calorie consumption?

  • sandbox@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Everything about public health policy sucks. The best way to improve nutrition and health is by making eating healthy affordable and easy. It’s too hard and expensive for working people to prepare healthy meals for a family also working 40+ hours a week.

    So many myths and pseudoscience around health, wellness, etc. Basically everything that is talked about is based on really shaky science at best, and outright lies and nonsense at worst. Way too much emphasis is put on weight loss, dieting, waist circumference and so on. Dieting is hugely unhealthy, weight cycling (losing and regaining weight) has worse health implications than just remaining at your original weight, and for most people the weight they are is fine, the health risks around weight are hugely overstated. The BMI is a worthless metric without any scientific basis. Almost everything that people say about sugar is wrong - it’s not physiologically addictive, it doesn’t cause hyperactivity and it’s not poisonous, and it doesn’t cause type 2 diabetes - the causes of type 2 diabetes are generally not well understood.

    The most important thing is having a varied diet with some fruit and vegetables and getting some regular activity - something that you enjoy! Doesn’t have to be major or whatever, if it’s just going for a walk or paintball or whatever, that’s great!

    Fad diets are hugely unhealthy, in general, and should be avoided.

    • AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      Time to plan, shop for food, and cook. Time is the only thing separating the healthy and unhealthy. It’s a travesty.

    • VeganPizza69 Ⓥ@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Healthy food doesn’t get advertising or status symbolism. When’s the last time you saw an ad for cabbage, carrots, or dry lentils?

      The affordability is less of a problem than you think.

      • sandbox@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        If healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, pulses, etc. were subsidised instead of animal products then they’d essentially be free. Affordability is a huge problem, at least here in the UK. Thousands of people use food banks because they’re struggling with the cost of living. vegan btw

        • VeganPizza69 Ⓥ@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Grains and beans being subsidized would be great, but it would probably make them negative in price. You’d get paid to get them from a store.

          People who think that “vegan diet” or “plant based diet” means “you eat mostly fruits and veggies” are simply and dangerously wrong.

      • sandbox@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        That measures an effect, not an outcome. Is the goal to improve health, or to sell less sugary drinks? All of the evidence we have around using low-calorie sweeteners is that it does not displace the consumption of other dietary sugars, because there is a compensatory effect.

        I invite you to point out what part of my advice you consider to be “shitty”, and back up your case with evidence - because I actually know what I’m talking about.

  • havocpants@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    Yep, and all our pop now tastes like ass with the vile sweeteners so fewer people drink it.

    • threeganzi@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      A lot of people don’t seem to mind it, but to me it really tastes terrible. Even if I got it for free I wouldn’t drink it.

  • IcyToes@sh.itjust.works
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    5 months ago

    And increased amount of aspartame and asulfate k, that can have an even worse effect on blood sugar than sugar can. Industry still making a killing.

    Remind me when they tried to cut CO2 by pushing folk to diesel…

    But yeah, only Coca-Cola is really drinkable now as most moved to artificial sweeteners which IMHO taste like chemicals.

    • VeganPizza69 Ⓥ@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      There are lots of Americans online who believe that artificial sweeteners are great and technology can fix anything, such as replacing the evil of sugar with something else and keeping the nice consumer product.

      Most people don’t even understand blood sugar levels and are afraid of a line going up. It’s pointless to talk to them, they don’t want to change and will reject anything that actually means change.