[QUOTE=KarlGauss]
And this relates how to your assertion that if you eat a balanced diet “you’re certainly going to be healthier.”
[/quote]
Er, satisfying basic requirements (in terms of a balance of proteins, essential fats, and carbohydrates) provides the necessary elements to maintain proper functioning of the digestion and respiration processes. I’m not certain why this is even at question. There is a considerable range of variation in diet which, as scavenging/opportunistic omnivores the human animal is able to tolerate, but that doesn’t translate into “2000 calories of saturated fats and a vitamim supplment is just fine.”
[QUOTE=KarlGauss]
Great, you present NO studies and conclude that a balanced diet will make you healthier. Ab absurdum ad absurdum.
[/quote]
I might as well provide studies that walking upright is the favored method of locomotion for H. sapiens. There is considerable debate as to the details of what comprises a balanced diet (though a general consensus is toward plenty of green leafy vegetables, a moderate intake of fats, and crucial minerals in soluable form) but I don’t think anyone educated in nutrional science will agree that you can eat any old thing you want as long as the calories are there.
[QUOTE=KarlGauss]
You seemed to enter this thread with a chip on your shoulder. In response to the OP’s legitimate question, your reply was:Within that sentence, you provided links to some rather generic nutrition-related sites. Upon entering any of those sites, it is not at all obvious where one might find proof, or evidence, or any meaningful discussion of the OP’s question (if, indeed, any of those sites actually contain such a thing). Furthermore, the OP hardly “demanded” anything. He/she admitted scepticism and asked for comment (presumably tolerant feedback).
[/quote]
The o.p. didn’t really ask a question; he made a claim, to wit:[indent]I must say I’m quite skeptical that a balanced diet is really all that important, so long as you get yer calories and yer vitamins. Am I really wrong?/indent]At its core, this statement is ignorant; it belies a lack of understanding of how nutrients are obtained and what biochemical function they serve. Rather than enter into an involved discussion of fundamental nutritional basics (on which the o.p. later indicated he had not intention of educating himself), I linked to several sites that presented this basic information. It’s true that they don’t go into great detail on the technical aspects of nutrition, nor to they cite scholarly articles and epidemiological studies, as the o.p. was clearly not educated on the topic to the point of making any sense out of such.
[QUOTE=KarlGauss]
Notwithstanding my civility in this thread, and my genuine scepticism regarding the dietary advice so blithely handed out by individuals and organizations, your next response was:I don’t know why you felt compelled to attack me in that way, using the phrasing that you did. As noted, I have been totally civil and have made it clear, I hope, that I am eager to learn about the evidence that related to the question at hand.
By the way, in the last quote of your tirade, you mention a “claim” that I’ve made. You’ve lost me there. What claim would that be? Please show me where I’ve claimed anything in this thread. That being said, I now will make a claim - I claim that you, Stranger On A Train have been rude, intolerant, and unhelpful throughout this thread. Such behaviour is your prerogative, of course. But, please exercise that prerogative in the appropriate forum. OK? And, don’t forget to wipe.
[/QUOTE]
:rolleyes: You made an implicit, or at least apparent, counterclaim with your links, that eating a balanced diet doesn’t improve health. The linked studies establish nothing to the effect, of course; all they demonstrate is that late-term modification in diet do not prevent the onset of chronic illness. If this was the point you intended to make–though how it relates to the o.p.'s more general question I’m unclear–then it does indeed demonstrate this, but it says nothing to the more general question of the benefit of balanced nutrition.
You’ll have no argument from me that the benefits of so-called micronutrients, flavonoids, phytochemicals, dietary antioxidants, and so forth fail to meet the standard of clinical trials, and claims that a diet high in Trendy Metabolite Of The Week will prevent you from getting Get Old And Die Disease are at best wishful thinking and at worst bunk intended to sell demonstratably worthless dietary supplements. But it does not follow that there is no demonstrated value in a diet that is balanced between requisite nutrients and essential proteins, and energy-providing complex carbohydrates.
Honestly, I’m not sure what the argument is here, other than your apparently aimless challenging of me for providing links to information on basic nutrition, your claimed civility “notwithstanding.” Perhaps if you’d actually make a claim of some kind, other than my “rude[ness]” and “intolerance” about your tangential non-claims, we could actually engage in a discussion with some factual substance.
Stranger
