After reading about and studying nutrition with great interest since the 1970s, I believe a great deal of skepticism should be applied to drastic claims about which foods are good and which are not.
What I have learned and applied daily, to some degree, since then is to watch one's calorie intake, lay off too many carbs, avoid sugar, eat plenty of protein, do NOT avoid eggs (which contain lecithin which helps break up cholesterol in the bloodstream), and I could go on forever.
In my not-so-uneducated opinion, drastic claims about foods that will PREVENT sickness and SPECIFIC foods that we ALL need to eat if we expect to remain healthy are suspect on their face. They usually.....eventually....get debunked by someone, somewhere, some time---and the debunking will continue.
The latest, almost comical, turn in the thinking and research about nutrition and health can be found on the federal government's website
http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines
It's comical in that the guidelines are titled as being for "2015-2020" and that these latest words of wisdom are the government's 8th Edition of such wisdom. Really now............are we supposed to check back in 5 years to get the next big scoop?
Just another example of our tax dollars at work there. unfortunately.
What I do know about diet is how it affects or does not seem to affect me, personally.
My HDL levels are abnormally high to the constant surprise of my doctor, while my triglycerides and LDL are in normal ranges. I hate sweet foods and desserts, do not eat excessive carbs, but take no special precautions to avoid eggs, cheese, meats, butter, oils, caffeine and many other foods that might show up on some expert's "bad list". I do count calories and have unconsciously, by habit, estimated my intake ever since since I was a young woman.
My husband eats tons of sweets (ice cream, cookies, candy) and all the eggs, meat and butter you can imagine for one person, but he is not on any cholesterol-lowering drugs, has not been diagnosed with heart disease. He does have some health problems , but none that anyone has claimed is due directly to diet.
I would not presume to tell other people from my soapbox what they should or should not consume, when I know good and well that ANY such strident claim is likely to be disproven by someone else later. The only thing it would accomplish is to make me look like a nagging old fool in the end.
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