What can I eat?!?!?!?!

Nobody REALLY knows what causes cancer.

As for fruits and vegetables, they're a fine source of vitamins A, C and K, simple sugars and undigestible cellulose, and they can keep starch from drying out in your gut if you eat too much starch. If they reduce risk of colon cancer, I bet it's mainly among the starch-eating population.

They are vastly overrated as sources of anything else, in particular they're piss-poor in B-vitamins and quality proteins.
 
Your body can answer this, your mind can not. Listen to your body, not the 'experts'. You are the real expert if you tune into your body's wisdom.
I agree with listening to your body. Our bodies can give us many cues about what we need, but we need our minds to figure out how to get quality food. There has got to be "experts" out there that we can listen to that are doing their research just for the good of people. Or do we ignore everyone because they are potentially paid by some company or government grant?

I can offer some clues as a farmer. Our food quality is getting worse and it is going to be a challenge to find quality food that meets our nutrition needs. Even though you see many farmers driving around in shiny equipment, most are struggling. We have to maximize yields. That's the main goal. You can overcome a lower quality with a higher yield every time. The banks and credit institutions own us, so they determine what you do in your operation. We are forced to use massive amounts of chemicals to maximize yields. Most crops are GMO. Not on our farm yet (hopefully never). I someday, I hope to break this cycle. It's a moral dilemma for me.

I don't want this post to depress you. Things can change if the majority of people will change the way they eat. If the demand for better food is there, there will be more incentive for farmers to grow it.
 
Hi TJ!

There's something weird about how toxicology of carcinogens is determined. Let's see if I can explain it. For MOST toxic substances (that would cause the liver to die, for example), there is a "safe dose" and a dose that is unsafe. Below a certain level, and your liver will always be fine. Above a certain level, the liver always dies. This isn't quite accurate for carcinogens because of the way they work. Carcinogens often work by causing mutations, and mutations are a matter of exposure + bad luck. Therefore, in theory, if you're the unlucky one, a single molecule of a carcinogen can give you cancer. This is why sometimes you see people that "never smoked, never drank" yet got lung cancer anyway. However, repeated exposures to carcinogens certainly do increase your risk of cancer - roll the dice again, and you'll eventually get snake-eyes. And some carcinogens are worse than others. It's tough to see this reported, because even the barely carcinogenic stuff has no theoretical "safe dose" because someone could have really bad luck.

I don't know how that may have influenced the list.

I do know a bit about why meat is so bad. You'll want to cut down on the meat, honestly - maybe not completely eliminate it, but the way it is consumed in the standard american diet increases people's cancer risk by a number of mechanisms. Here they are:

1) Deli meats are kept preserved with nitrates. Those are potent carcinogens.
2) Smoking and grilling produces pyrenes. These are potent carcinogens, similar to the ones in cigarettes.
3) Frying meat produces acrylamides (really, frying anything produces acrylamides, meat is worst)
4) Even if you just "bake" your meat, you're still not safe. Eating a lot of meat makes food get stuck for a long time in your colon and rectum. Partly digested food sitting around is not good for your back end. Meat eating is well known to increase the risk of colorectal cancer.
 
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Hi TJ!


2) Smoking and grilling produces pyrenes. These are potent carcinogens, similar to the ones in cigarettes.

My poor Southern heart just broke a little bit with that point. I know it's true; I've seen the research before. But still.....Did you have to equate my lovingly tended rack of ribs, so full of flavor with the disgusting flavor killer that is a cigarette?


All said in fun, as usual:)
 
Dr OZ goes by "do what I say not what I do" He is in this reality show not sure what is call maybe NY MD? don't know for sure about the title I don't watch it but when the show was being advertised on tv I noticed I six pack of diet coke in his office. I never liked the guy he's full of contradictions.
 
Wow, thanks so much for all the advice and info you guys. That's a lot to digest Ms. Silly! Hee. I know it's all true though, and I too have read all the research (or parts of it that catch my eye that I can understand), but it's still so hard, as a lazy human being, to commit to a new way of eating. We do eat a lot of whole foods and healthy foods, but probably not the percent of our diet we should.
 
I'd still eat your lovingly tended rack of ribs Lomad. I love me some ribs and I don't care that they may have higher carcinogens. :D

Yeah.. wow. I live off my Weber! I always thought it was so much healthier that the frying pan. I'll grill all winter long, except for those few times the ice was too thick to chip away and I couldnt open it or turn the knobs on to melt it! Same with my smoker... I used to think the smoked venison jerky I make is one of the best snack foods... :mad: dont tell me this stuff!:D
 
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Yeah.. wow. I live off my Weber! I always thought it was so much healthier that the frying pan. I'll grill all winter long, except for those few times the ice was too thick to chip away and I couldnt open it or turn the knobs on to melt it! Same with my smoker... I used to think the smoked venison jerky I make is one of the best snack foods... :mad: dont tell me this stuff!:D
I just read my reply and that did not sound the way I meant at all... I love ribs and bbq'd stuff dang it.
 
The only reason anyone should ever watch Dr. Oz is to make fun of him. I've often thought about playing a drinking game based on when he gives unsupported or wrongly supported advice, but I was afraid I'd die of alcohol poisoning after an episode.
 
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To quote Michael Pollan "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."

That's great, but the other day I ate my neighbors Ficus and it was horrible...also, it pissed the neighbor off something awful...I think they're starting a petition...those Ficus owners can be a touchy crowd...

In all seriousness, it's all about moderation which us Americans - as a society - are not very good at, normally (I am Exhibit A). Generically speaking, avoid the processed foods as much as you can, watch sugar, fat, salt and starch intake and you'll be OK...

Now - after reading that list above (sugar, fat, salt and starch) I realized that those things are what make food taste good and life worth living. So...how long do you really want to live? :D As my father once said: You don't live longer, it just seems longer. Then again, he also said: If I knew I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.

So - not much good advice from the Bay Area this evening... :D
 
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Hi TJ!

(some persuasive-sounding stuff, but also)

4) Even if you just "bake" your meat, you're still not safe. Eating a lot of meat makes food get stuck for a long time in your colon and rectum. Partly digested food sitting around is not good for your back end. Meat eating is well known to increase the risk of colorectal cancer.

that's a very popular but false vegan legend. Meat doesn't sit around in your gut, it's easily digested by the stomach and small intestine. If the gut doesn't like it for some reason, it can pass through undigested, but it doesn't just sit around.

What gets to the colon undigested, and then sits around while the colon bacteria work on it, is starch. That's why they make you eat so much fiber to keep that starch from drying out into unmovable bricks.

As for cancers, what causes them is still enormously speculative. Risk factors for populations aren't necessarily risk factors for a particular individual, nor do risk factors identify an actual cause.
 
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It's the quantity of food you eat that is the key. In the UK there is a 100 year old Indian gentleman who runs marathons, he eats a typical Indian diet, nothing special, but keeps the portions small. Just don't eat Fugu fish!
 
It's the quantity of food you eat that is the key. In the UK there is a 100 year old Indian gentleman who runs marathons, he eats a typical Indian diet, nothing special, but keeps the portions small. Just don't eat Fugu fish!

This is also why they think Okinawins live so long. They eat far less than the rest of the world. There are some rodent studies that back this up too.

With that said, I subscribe to the "if you run enough you can eat whatever you want" way of life.
 
I just bought a george foreman grill for inside. best chicken ever! not exactly a fancy outside grill, but whatev.
oh, and so not paleo, cuz it's a domesticated foul fed from a factory farm.