Foodstand

annefood 8yr An easy one is to simply read nutrition labels! Right @manfood ? What are your eating habit change thoughts @Rachna @sugardetoxme @ErikMariscal ?

annefood 8yr What do you think @pphlipot ?

manfood 8yr I would opt for skipping a meat / animal option- think veggies and think helping the planet. We need to eat less meat... Even though it tastes so good, less is more....

Arash 8yr Stop eating animal products, eat plants. Pick any one of these reasons:
1. Animal products make you sick - yes even local, organic, grass-fed products sprinkled with pixie dust. The healthiest, longest-lived populations in the world (traditional okinawans, 7th-day adventists, sardinians) follow a 95-100% plant-based diet.
2. Animal agriculture is the single largest contributor to green house gas emissions (it takes 1500 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef)
3. Animal agriculture is the primary reason for amazon deforestation.
4. Animal agriculture by definition involves the torture and slaughter of sentient beings. In that light, consuming animal products is a profoundly selfish act - for a hamburger you are destroying the world for the coming generations.

kendallann 8yr Involving less plastic/disposable items in food purchasing (be it less take out, less delivery, more reusable bags, more bulk bin purchases, buying the bunch of carrots instead of the bagged baby carrots, etc.)!

Arash 8yr Erik, thanks for your insightful comment. What's your reasoning based on?

DietID_TeamDietitians 8yr Great discussion- we are reading Michael Moss's Salt Sugar Fat in next month's book club. I'd love for all of you to read and join in on the discussion.

annefood 8yr Ditto @Rachna !

Arash 8yr @ErikMariscal - Sodium is but one factor in heart disease. Sodium leads to increased blood pressure which is a contributing factor in heart disease. Fundamentally, however, heart disease is an issue of plaque formation in the arteries of the heart due to inflammation of the arterial walls. The single greatest marker for heart disease is cholesterol levels, and sodium intake does not affect blood cholesterol levels (for details see http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/43/2/393.full). Therefore, while sodium is certainly one factor, it is not the greatest indicator or risk factor in heart disease, cholesterol is. And, cholesterol levels are almost exclusively dependent on your diet and are associated particularly with intake of animal products (in contrast to what popular paleo-supermarket-cavemen may be saying). Thus, while I agree that processed foods are not good for you, even organic, grass-fed, non-gmo, free-range animal products will contribute to heart disease because the disease-causing elements are an inherent component in these products.

DietID_TeamDietitians 8yr Thanks for your comments both. This community is about surfacing ideas about how we can eat better and support a better food system. There is no single answer and each person should be allowed to share his or her own opinions. Using even the Dietary Guidelines (before sustainability was removed) as one example, both recommendations - less processed food and less meat - were included. I think both @erikmariscal and @arash have valid points, but we should respect each other's difference of opinions. Keep it positive folks! thanks!

akhilg2002 8yr @ErikMariscal I agree that food is fun! I love the discussion above. Best part is realizing that these are all things we can work on, and are not mutually exclusive. In terms of heart disease, I AGREE that it is something we as a country should focus on (esp cause I do cardiology, and so I have high stakes (and steaks) in this, haha. In terms of focusing on preventing heart disease, the coronary plaque comes from a whole host of factors. One is cholesterol but this is only partly increased from certain red meats. Sodium increases blood pressure, but only partly. The key is realizing that the coronary disease arises from general inflammation of the arteries. So how do we combat the inflammation? Lots of ways. FIRST and foremost, lifestyle changes. Best way to reduce inflammation is usually weight loss and exercise. I'd let my patient eat chicken several times a week if I knew she/he also was exercising, thus reducing their LDL and raising their HDL (as well as affecting other lipoproteins). Additionally plant diets are great for this too, I just have to be realistic and know it's hard to get everyone to change that completely. Perhaps reduction of meats works best as a cultural change to start with. Processed foods are prob my number one target however. Not just for sodium (for which hypertension can cause inflammation) but for the extra sugars they have (increases weight and glucose intolerance leading to coronary disease and and diabetes and other risk factors). So I think targeting processed foods is prob my one big cultural change I'd go for. Thanks for the discussion Anne! Love hearing all the diff approaches!

garv

garv Gonna try this !

annefood

annefood Let me know how you like it @garv !

jyotithakkar

jyotithakkar Hello watch video it's very informative .answered many question. Also all challenges are very good. Really helping me.

annefood

annefood I'm so glad @jyotithakkar !

If you could get the general population to change ONE aspect of their eating habits, what would it be?