Eating healthy, is it over-rated?

Question

I'm not saying that eating lots of junk food is good for you.
I feel that balance is key. Obviously you shouldn't center your diet on processed junk, BUT...you also don't need to be on a detox like diet all your life to be healthy. I feel that detox like diets don't give you any additional benefits to what a normal balanced diet can provide.
I get the impression that many nutritionists nowadays imply that you have to eat lots of vegetables and fruit etc in order to stay healthy. In my experience, eating simple foods that are easy to digest (as a baseline) and then throwing in the odd "super healthy food" does my health a lot better than in the days where I used to go on obsesively strict "pure" diets.
In my own experience too, when I speak to elderly ones, they tell me what they're main foods used to be, and it was really basic stuff. I've asked the most healthy people I've known (hardly even get a cold in years), and they're diets aren't jam packed with fruit & veg....

I went to a Scottish museum a while ago, and contrary to what we've been told about life expectancy in the "olden days" (around 18th century), the Scottish farmers (who's diet was basic, mainly potatoes) had a pretty long life expectancy...some lived to 100!

Obviously, environment and medical science plays a big role in mortality rates, but does the diet have to be "super clean" in order to live longer and healthier?

Mr. Jessup - yes that's another story; fat is treated like an enemy now, but in like the 50's, they used to eat loads of it, piling on the saturated fats...have heart disease etc gone down since we've lowed fats (especially saturated? No, they've increased because of the rise in trans fats and sugar! The three types of fats (even saturated) are good for you in moderation, but not the trans fats because they cannot be broken down by the body.

Adding sugar and refined flower etc to the equation is what causes the main problem.

shop2ear... You didn't understand my question, what I'm asking is, can you stay healthy and live longer by eating a pretty nuetral diet (e.g. meat and potatoes, with SOME other veg too) and still stay healthy rather than eating LOTS of veg and fruit?

Obviously, eating cakes and processed foods isn't going to do you good.

Asasasasa D - the reason why detox diets seem to have an edge over normal balanced diets for weight loss is simply because sodium levels are low and so are carbs, this in turn causes you to lose water retention which makes you slimmer (it isn't fat loss). Another reason, is because you consume very little protein, this in turn causes you to lose valuable muscle. As soon as weight is lost on the scales, a person thinks they're succeeding, but in reality, they're just slowing down their metabolism and getting less firm due to muscle loss.

Suzy - I'm really sorry for your sister. You are right, it can't cure everything.

Answer 1

The key is to eat mostly unrefined foods. That automatically eliminates sugar, flour & trans fats. Natural whole foods are best. There's evidence that the "cave man diet" is the healthiest of all, mostly meats, withsome nuts, berries, and root vegetables like turnips, carrots, potatoes, rutabagas, etc. It's the way were designed to eat.

But to answer the question, a bumper sticker I saw sums it up prety well:

"Eat right, Stay fit, Die anyway"

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Certain snack foods that a lot of people eat line your arteries with plaque. That's a direct step to strokes and heart blockages. A lot of eat healthy talk may be misguided. But this isn't part of that. Eating trans fats really does mess up your interior plumbing for good. And until recently, it was impossible to get a donut or cookie or snack pie or cake without this poison in it. People are catching on, but its use is still too widespread.

Answer 4

Eating healthy is only another method to ensure good health and longevity. It does by no means guarantee that you will live beyond the average life span. Genetics plays a huge role in how our bodies progress and maintain their health. So the question which is asked alot about our health and longevity is, does nature (heredity, genes) dictate how well and long we live or is it nuture (environment, food, exerices)?

Natural foods are best and yes in order to really do well you should have a balanced diet where it allows you to eat things that are not good for you (indulgences) and still eat healthy food.

Answer 5

To me, to eat healthy isn't a cure all. Many people still get sick when they eat good home cooked, fresh meals. A very good example of this is my sister, she's only 51 and was just told she has brain cancer. All her life she's been a health wise person, cooking home cooked meals, no fried foods and big on veggies, raw and steamed. Ran and walked every day and taught her 3 daughters the same. She now has a few short months.

Answer 6

No, it is not at all over rated. You have to eat healthy and exercise, if you eat the wrong things, you pay for it, in more ways than one. You can get all kinds of Health problems.

Answer 7

I think it's over-rated. Look in the stores, watch TV, all the different diet plans out there of which none really work, they just trying to sell you something that they can make you believe works. If there was one that really worked, the word would get around by word of mouth and everybody would know. Everything in moderation. The way to along life is,

Keep a cool head
Keep your bowels moving freely and
Keep your feet warm

Answer 8

hey u can try detox diets to loose weight.detox diets is the natural way to loose weight by juz changing your eating habbits n without exercising and it really works....
http://www.detoxloseweight.blogspot.com
the best website which has so many links for detox diet recipes and tips to loose weight.try them and lose weight at home in a healthy way

Answer 9

yes you are correct!!!!!!