# "Healthy foods" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 14, 2007, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978 "2007-05-14T01:33:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/61 "2007-05-15T15:39:39Z")
You said that eating a high-fat food even once is “harmful,” presumably because of the blood-pressure spike. You have no evidence that it produces any actual medical harm. In fact, there is evidence that something else that causes blood-pressure spikes is good for you. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/62 "2007-05-15T19:12:29Z")
[QUOTE=fluiddruid] True, but there’s validity in saying some foods are not healthy. Sure, one deep fried Twinkie won’t kill you, and could be a part of a healthy diet, but that doesn’t mean that a deep fried Twinkie is just as healthy as an apple. There is greater nutritional value to foods like broccoli, 100% whole grain bread, and dry roasted peanuts than there is to gummi worms, Ho-Hos and Goobers. A diet rich in the former and sparing on the latter is more healthy in general terms. For example, you can lose weight eating the latter, but it’s more difficult, as they’re nutrient-poor and calorie-dense. Saying “there are no bad foods” is, in my opinion, misleading; it’s better to say “there are no forbidden foods in a healthy diet, but some foods are better for you to eat than others”. [/QUOTE] Blowfish, improperly prepared - bad food. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/63 "2007-05-16T08:56:15Z")
[QUOTE=pizzabrat] Jeeze, so I won’t make any food pittings anymore… [/QUOTE] You can make all the food pittings you want . . . once you learn what the hell you’re talking about. Ya know, arsenic, taken in small enough quantities, may not harm you. But that doesn’t make it a “healthy” food. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/64 "2007-05-16T09:48:26Z")
Since this thread got bumped (I wasn’t going to do it), and before it goes away, I have to say this… [QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] Did I say it did? Do you think that the fact that eating certain foods causes a spike is a benign sign? And if you already, knowingly or un-, have blood pressure or heart problems those spikes can’t be good. [/QUOTE] According to that article, > [@](#): > > Both meals contained about 825 calories. Among students who ate the **fast-food eggs, sausage and hash browns** , blood pressure measurements were up to 1.5 times higher than among those who breakfasted on cereal with skim milk, cereal bars, non-fat yogurt and an orange drink. That’s one stupid bullshit article alright. Beyond the fact that there’s a ton of sodium in a fast-food breakfast (most fast-food, in fact), there’s probably filler and god knows what else in there, sure to wreak havoc with people’s bodies in comparison to the other type of breakfast, yet it’s all blamed on the fat content. The sodium alone, forget the fat, would be enough to spike someone’s blood pressure. If I ate a breakfast of \*non-fast-food \* eggs, sausage and hash browns, my blood pressure would probably spike too, and for sure my blood glucose numbers would rise to alarming levels, but it **wouldn’t be from any fat I was consuming, it would be specifically from the hash browns, and ONLY the hash browns**. I’m a diabetic. I’m on a medium-high fat, low carbohydrate diet _for my health_, not to lose weight (though that’s a nice, much-welcomed, side effect). Both my regular doctor and the endocrinologist I saw last week are in full agreement that this diet is best for me, because it keeps my blood pressure low (I was on two different blood pressure medications and my doctor took me off one of them) and it evens out and normalizes my blood glucose numbers. I have proof of that everytime I test my blood sugar, or have my blood pressure taken (today at the doctor’s office it was 96/6something, I forget) so I may go off the other blood pressure medicine too. One indication of an elevated amount of glucose in the blood is an “HbA1c” or just A1c test, which measures the amount of glucose for the last 3 months prior to the test. Normal is generally between 4 and 6. Normal for diabetics is 6-7ish. My pre-diet A1c was 8.9, my current A1c is 6.5 and will be lower next time, since I’ve only been eating this way for slightly less than 2 months. My Total Cholesterol has fallen, as has my LDL (the “bad cholesterol”). At present my HDL (the “good cholesterol”) is about the same, but I expect improvement in the coming months, as are my triglycerides, which are only borderline high anyway. I expect improvement there too. Fat is simply not the evil for _everyone_ that seemingly everyone makes it out to be. In my particular case, it’s not fat that causes problems, it’s fat consumed WITH carbohydrates, or carbohydrates without fat, that have been screwing with my body. I am SO glad I ignored the low-fat/no-fat dogma, and the low-carb backlash. I just had to get that off my chest. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/65 "2007-05-16T20:27:53Z")
Isn’t the OP the same one who compared McDonalds and FritoLay to [sofas sold with death spikes](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=258449)? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/66 "2007-05-16T21:01:29Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] Ya know, arsenic, taken in small enough quantities, may not harm you. But that doesn’t make it a “healthy” food. [/QUOTE] Ah, but according to **pizzabrat** , it’s not an “unhealthy” food either, because it can be eaten in moderation as part of a balanced diet of whole foods. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/67 "2007-05-16T21:35:48Z")
Does this mean that everything I buy at Whole Foods is automatically healthy? Cause man, I can just see myself surviving on their carrot cake, two-bite brownies, string cheese and turkey chili… ---
**Author:** ![samm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@samm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samm)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/68 "2007-05-16T23:36:17Z")
[QUOTE=ENugent] If I cut up a potato and fry it, what have I removed from it to make it less than whole? [/QUOTE] You obviously didn’t read the Wiki article: “Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and of course refined as little as possible before being consumed.” I believe frying is a form of processing. Oh wait, here is more from Wikipedia: Following are common food processing techniques: removal of unwanted outer layers, such as potato peeling or the skinning of Peaches Chopping or slicing, of which examples include potato chips, diced carrot, or candied peel. Mincing and macerating Liquefaction, such as to produce fruit juice Emulsification Cooking, such as boiling, broiling, frying, steaming or grilling deep frying Mixing Addition of gas such as air entrainment for bread or gasification of soft drinks Proofing spray drying ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/69 "2007-05-16T23:40:37Z")
[QUOTE=samm] You obviously didn’t read the Wiki article: “Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and of course refined as little as possible before being consumed.” I believe frying is a form of processing. Oh wait, here is more from Wikipedia: Following are common food processing techniques: removal of unwanted outer layers, such as potato peeling or the skinning of Peaches **Chopping or slicing, of which examples include potato chips, diced carrot, or candied peel. Mincing and macerating** Liquefaction, such as to produce fruit juice Emulsification Cooking, such as boiling, broiling, frying, steaming or grilling deep frying Mixing Addition of gas such as air entrainment for bread or gasification of soft drinks Proofing spray drying [/QUOTE] So, what nutrient-decreasing process do the two bolded terms do to food that _chewing_ does not do? ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/70 "2007-05-16T23:42:57Z")
I’m not supposed to _cut my food up!?_ That definition is so remote as to be insane. I have to bite pieces off my apple instead of cutting it into slices? ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/71 "2007-05-17T00:47:35Z")
[QUOTE=ENugent] I’m not supposed to _cut my food up!?_ That definition is so remote as to be insane. I have to bite pieces off my apple instead of cutting it into slices? [/QUOTE] And remember that ‘cooking’ is also processing it, so you have to gnaw on that unpeeled potato when it’s raw, too. Yeeeuuummmm! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978/72 "2007-05-17T01:10:14Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > So, what nutrient-decreasing process do the two bolded terms [chopping, mincing] do to food that chewing does not do? Some vitamins are lost when the interior of the food (esp. fruits) are exposed to air and light. Also, the juice that spills out of cut fruits and vegetables contains nutrients that used to be in the food and are now gone. The longer the sliced food sits around, the more nutrients tend to be lost. This isn’t really a concern if you’re slicing up your fresh apple or carrot just prior to eating it. But it can make a difference in commercially processed foods where, say, pre-cut carrot sticks or fresh fruit salad sit around in containers for days in the produce section before they actually get consumed. When you chop or macerate your food by chewing it inside your own personal mouth, on the other hand, all the nutrients lost in the macerating process still wind up in your digestive system. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthy-foods/403978.md?page=3)