Eat it Because It's Good For You

[weinoo]

I eat certain things because they're "good for me." But I've decided that some of the stuff I eat because it's good for me sucks.

For instance: OATMEAL.

Do you ?

[scubadoo97]

My wife has been eating oatmeal every morning. I eat it a few times a week but we eat it as a cold cereal. The cold thing is my preference but my wife has come to enjoy it that way too. Toss in some walnuts and it's pretty good with low fat milk or almond milk

[liuzhou]

Given that so called scientists change their minds everyday about what is "good for us", I tend to eat what ever I feel like eating within sensible limits.

For years we have been told that butter will kill us. Last week they changed their minds. Seems butter is more healthy.

I always ate butter and refused to eat spreads which are basically processed industrial effluent. Now, it seems I was right, not that I ever doubted it.

I eat a fairly balanced diet I think, not because some magazine guru told me to, but because it makes my mouth happy. It hasn't killed me yet and if kill it does, I'll go happy!

P.S. The only way to eat oatmeal is on your kippers of a morning! Or as oatcakes with some real cheese.

Samuel Johnson wasn't entirely wrong!.

[Mjx]

I find the whole 'it's healthy' being placed before all else really, really depressing.

I try to keep a lid on things that may be detrimental to my health, but I won't eat anything exclusively because it's healthy. Partly, this has to do with the fact that a bunch of things I love are measurably bad for me (e.g. most starches mess with my joints/mucosae within minutes), so I have to avoid them, and partly to do with my having spent a goodish chunk of time as a student so broke that food every day wasn't even always a given.

Eating things I dislike, added to the necessary aggravation of avoiding favourite foods, is just not a place I'm willing to go, there's plenty of stuff out there that is healthy for me that I like.

[Hassouni]

For years we have been told that butter will kill us. Last week they changed their minds. Seems butter is more healthy.

I'm not arguing with that, but for my curiosity's sake, what did you read and where? A quick search hasn't yielded any breakthroughs on butter in the news.

[Darienne]

We eat our heavy meal at noon and light one at supper because 'it's good for you' and besides we like it that way.

We eat salad every second night...I mean the entire meal is salads...because 'it's good for you' and besides we like it that way. Well...sometimes we have been known to stretch out to every third night, but only in the cold months.

We eat very little meat for the same reasons...which you either accept or negate...and besides I was raised by a vegetarian Mother eating a steak EVERY NIGHT for dinner, cooked to shoe leather, and I won't touch steak and found out sometime in the 20s that eating red meat at supper gives me nightmares...and not eating red meat at supper gives me a peaceful sleep.

And so it goes.

Oops. Not the 1920s; rather in my 20s. Just about as long ago...

Edited November 6, 2013 by Darienne (log)

[Shel_B]

I eat a lot of things that are "good for me," but I have to like them. I eat some things that are not good for me, because I like them. The problem, which I sometimes overcome, is balance. Halloween, for example, is a bad time for me because there are so many candy bars around, and so I overindulge - but I only eat the ones I like, and that are good for me

As for oatmeal ... well, I like it, and enjoy it a couple-three times a week. No sugar, though, no dairy like cream or milk. I sweeten (when I sweeten) with a thinly sliced banana that melts into the cereal, maybe add some additional fruit, and that's it.

Edited November 6, 2013 by Shel_B (log)

[gfweb]

Individual allergies aside...Outside of high fat is bad, Na+ raises BP and too many calories makes you fat, the claims made for dietary effects on health are pretty exaggerated and way ahead of any supporting studies. Oatmeal for example barely barely affects cholesterol levels. The US TV ad touting a 5 unit lowering by eating oatmeal was laughable. Assuming a cholesterol of 200, a 5 unit swing is within daily variation.

The whole superfood idea, that anti-oxidants make you healthy is awaiting proof (sorry Alton Brown). No study in people has been positive that i know of. A few have failed to show benefit.

All of the snake oil that "Dr" Oz pushes has flimsy, if any, support and he is a scoundrel for doing it.

I feel better now.

[weinoo]

I like oatmeal cookies, though.

[annabelle]

We eat what we like: meat, starch, lots of vegetables and fruits and whole dairy. None of us is overweight nor have we ever been. I've also never used food as a punishment or reward for myself or my children. We have such a distorted relationship with food in modern life that I think a lot of people feel like it is the one area of their lives that they can control. Hence, my insufferable vegan niece who will physically recoil from meats although she was raised on it.

[naguere]

I was brought up in a household where Granddad processed and sold tripe.

Yes you guessed, and I still like it!

He put my dad and aunt through a private education, hunted twice a week and all on tripe.

[Unpopular Poet]

I think moderation is the key -- of course you can't eat a 16 oz ribeye with foie gras sauce every day -- but to say you can never have it is just as absurd as having it every single day. What is good for you is the real question as well -- I know that I could switch to a super healthy diet and never again consume anything that might be fatty or harmful -- unfortunately, I would be miserable, which isn't healthy either. Oatmeal cookies as good, as long as the raisins are replaced with chocolate chips.

[Martin Fisher]

I can't think of a food that I hate, but I've had to move to a somewhat restricted diet because I've become carbohydrate intolerant yet I don't go out of my way to eat certain foods just because they're allegedly good for me.

I happen to love oatmeal!

I have Scotch roots on my Mother's side so oats were a big part of growing up.

My Mom and Grandmother prepared oats in numerous ways....they bought them by the 50lb. bag when I was a kid.

[Arey]

Last winter for the first time in years I bought oatmeal and made it for breakfast a couple of times. Then I decided that oatmeal was more of a nostalgia trip for me. Cold mornings getting ready for school, and for breakfast a steaming bowl of oatmeal with milk and brown sugar and butter melting on top of it. Accompanied by a mug of hot chocolate and buttered toast. The memory was all warm and cozy, but the oatmeal itself was added to my compost bin.

[munchymom]

I love oatmeal! Of course I doctor it up so much that it might as well be oatmeal cookies, so it probably isn't so good for me. Steel cut oats, nice and chewy. A bit of butter, a dash of salt, some maple syrup, whatever nuts and dried fruits might be around... yum.

[liuzhou]

For years we have been told that butter will kill us. Last week they changed their minds. Seems butter is more healthy.

I'm not arguing with that, but for my curiosity's sake, what did you read and where? A quick search hasn't yielded any breakthroughs on butter in the news.

Butter and cheese better than trans-fat margarines, says heart specialist

Butter is bad – a myth we've been fed by the 'healthy eating' industry

At last, the truth: Butter is GOOD for you - and margarine is chemical gunk

And many more...

[Meredith380]

I think butter being healthier than margarine in the US has been old news. But good to know its being widely known.

ETA: it was never in my household growing up. Which was good. Because it tastes like shit.

Edited November 7, 2013 by Meredith380 (log)

[Vlcatko]

Hmm... I eat many things that are supposedly good for me. I eat them because I like them. I also eat many things that probably aren't that healthy for me, some of them are downright junk foods or totally unnecessary in my diet. But I eat them because I like them.

As few others had pointed out, the healthiness of certain foods change from year to year. Also, most of the "dangerous" foods are quite safe when eaten in moderation and that's what I do - I eat whatever I want, in reasonable quantities, while trying to balance all types of nutrients.

I have however tried many new things just because I had heard/read/was said they were "good for me." The ones I liked got accepted into my regular meals, the ones I didn't are re-tried every now and then to see if my tastes haven't changed (lately, it looks like I will finally start eating fish on more regular basis - for the longest time, I couldn't stand the taste of cooked fish).

I am a very picky eater (taking after my mother whom I thank every day for not making me eat things I didn't like) and I don't much understand people who willingly eat something they don't like if they have other options. Of course if you only have oatmeal and nothing else you will have to eat oatmeal to get your sustenance even if you don't like it. But to choose to eat something you don't like... I don't know, food for me is such a pleasure I can't imagine why would anyone ruin it for themselves...

Regarding oatmeal, I had oatmeal porridge for breakfast (cinnamon and apple flavor) and it was delicious. I also add rolled oats to pancakes - yum! I had no idea it supposedly affects cholesterol levels, I always thought people eat it (aside from just liking it) because it is quite filling and will make you full for a long time (doesn't oatmeal count as wholegrain food, i.e. lower glycemic index?).

And butter! Ah! With fresh rolls... Or on bread with radishes... Nothing has ever made me stop eating butter, even when my parents started to use margarine (mainly because it is easier to spread and no one ever heard of whipped butter around here) and were buying butter just because of me.

One thing that I kind of eat because it is healthy are some vegetables - spinach, broccoli, green beans... I hated them as a kid (can you say mushy, anyone?) but when I started cooking my own meals I found out that properly prepared I really really like them.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I eat basically whatever I want, in moderation. Mom used to use oatmeal in particular as an "eat it, it's good for you" thing, but I've always liked it regardless.

However, I'm more likely not to eat something that somebody hands me and says "eat it, it's good for you" - well, yeah, it might be but you just put me off it by trying to sell it that way. I'm more likely to try it if you tell me "eat it, it's yummy."

[patrickamory]

I try to make myself eat more fruits and vegetables, because I do like them. But they are not what I'm naturally drawn to.

I eat a meat and starch heavy diet, with a fair amount of fat. But no processed foods, and very few sweets - I almost never eat dessert.

I do drink a fair amount and I accept that that is probably not good for my health. But it is good for my wellbeing.

We have such a distorted relationship with food in modern life that I think a lot of people feel like it is the one area of their lives that they can control

annabelle I think you are spot-on with this analysis. And younger people (I'm in my 40s) are really hit hard by this. I observe our staffers in their 20s with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. It's not that they don't enjoy and appreciate good food - many of them have more sophisticated palates than I did at their age. They've been exposed to so many more cuisines, and these days, better ingredients, than what I grew up with in the '70s. But at the same time they are so conflicted and confused by the whole concept of eating and food (and body image, males & females both - but that's a whole 'nother topic).

[lindag]

I force myself (very iinfrequently) to eat oatmeal because it is good for me. I don't really like it - I had to eat it as a kid because Mother said so. It's the texture that gets to me. However, I can force it down once in a great while and it feels like an achievement when I do.

[ermintrude]

I've always followed what my grandmother said, eat a bit of everything and not to much of anything.

[heidih]

I am a vegetable fiend and naturally gravitate towards healthy and away from packages goods. Some time ago I vowed never to eat anything I disliked.

My 91 year old hale and hardy father has my same tastes and eats very well with lots of fresh produce. whole grains and meats and fish cooked at home. However he is constantly talking about X or Y being good for you. He seems to have bought into the media that says enjoyment of food for itself has less merit than eating things that will prolong your life or keep you healthy. Of course he also believes that if it is published it must be true...

[scubadoo97]

I force myself (very iinfrequently) to eat oatmeal because it is good for me. I don't really like it - I had to eat it as a kid because Mother said so. It's the texture that gets to me. However, I can force it down once in a great while and it feels like an achievement when I do.

Try it uncooked and cold. No slimy texture

[BeeZee]

the only "good for you" thing I have to consciously "force" myself to consume at times is water. Ironically, I drink plenty of water at work because I keep a large bottle on my desk which I can refill from the cooler...but at home I actually drink less water throughout the day.